A young man John Peter Thorn originally from Reckershawn, Germany, was born in July 1826. John wanted a better life and sailed to the Americas when he was in the mid twenties. He sailed to the Americas on a clipper ship named the “Wheland”. His passenger number was 9011999547002, and he arrived on June 30, 1852 by passage through Ellis Island, New York. The Pennsylvania countryside had a large german population center, so he was following his countrymen to live a better life.
Mr. Thorn was hired for the North American Mining Company in Gettysburg at a copper mine that was on High Street. The main entrance was two doors west of Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church and between the Church and the Courthouse. It’s near the old church convent. The mine first opened in 1850, but was temporarily closed due to the amount of work to make it productive. The mine was opened by George Proctor. Within the main shaft, the depth of it was over 100 feet.
Two years after arriving into Pennsylvania, he aided the Masser family from Germany to Gettysburg in 1854. Elizabeth Catharine Masser was born in December 1832. She and her parents were originally from Hesse Darnstadt. Sadly, during the voyage over on a clipper ship to the United States, their family belongings were stolen.
The Masser family moved to Gettysburg and during that time, John Peter Thorn and Elizabeth Masser became romantic and married on September 1, 1855 within the St. James Lutheran church in town. That same day, on September 1, the first cornerstone of the above building was laid at the Gatehouse for the entrance to the Evergreen Cemetery. The Cemetery was founded in 1853. Rev. Samuel Simon Schmucker placed the foundation stone for the Gatehouse, and less than three months later, the building was completed. The pricetag to build such a building was around one thousand dollars back in 1855.
John Peter Thorn and Elizabeth Masser Thorn, now married, were looking for more of a permanent home. Her parents were looking for the same. John Peter accepted a new position as the first caretaker for the Evergreen Cemetery on February 8, 1856. The amazing thing about the Gatehouse (the archway to the Cemetery) is that there is a northern and southern “house” to it. The northern section was taken by John and Elizabeth, while her parents moved into the southern section. Their family was expanding so it was nice to have family very close by.
Not much is known of the Thorn and Masser family between 1856 and the start of the Civil War in April 1861. However, Peter Thorn was the caretaker of the Evergreen Cemetery and his job was to help families burying their loved ones. He would care for the grounds and mow and clean up the weeds and plant flowers around the cemetery to make it look nice. His family would be close by in the Gatehouse.
In the time period of between their wedding date and the start of the Civil War, their family grew in size. They would welcome three sons. Frederick was born in July 1856, George in August 1858, and John in February 1861. All the sons would encounter the war from the confines of Evergreen Cemetery.