As the Civil War began in April 1861 after the cannonade on Fort Sumter, S.C., volunteers from the North and the South were recruited for battle. One such soldier was that of John Peter Thorn. John Thorn was the caretaker of Evergreen Cemetery that started in February 1856. Over the next 5 years, he and his wife, Elizabeth Masser Thorn, would welcome three sons into their family, along with taking care of the family cemetery in town. What would become of the Civil War?
John enlisted into the Union Federal Army in August 1862. He thought, along with many, that the war would not last more than a few months. He was a soldier within Company B, of the 138th Pennsylvania Infantry. They organized in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and was mainly put with other soldiers from around the area. Mr. Thorn lucked out. Companies B and G were from Adams County. He probably fought with people he knew or knew of around Gettysburg and the surrounding countryside. Colonel Charles L.K. Sumwalt was the commanding officer for Company B.
Since John enlisted and left to serve within the Union Army, who would become the caretaker of the Evergreen Cemetery? That right, folks, his wife, Elizabeth would now become the caretaker. However, her father would also help her within the cemetery for the remainder of the war. John Thorn would be mainly guarding the railroad junction near Ellicott City, Maryland through the first few months from August 1862 to January 1863. John was granted furlough in January 1863 and this was the last time he would see his beloved wife and sons, and extended family at the Gatehouse in Gettysburg. They were also romantic during this furlough, because Elizabeth was pregnant in July 1863.
The word of the Civil War and battles were getting closer to southern Pennsylvania along the Mason Dixon Line. Word through newspapers told stories and notices of the Confederates raiding towns up and down the Shenandoah Valley and moving northward. Citizens were scared and unsure what to do, and so were families with young children. Free Blacks were scared to be caught and sent back down to the South to become slaves or killed. However, in June 1863, Elizabeth, her three young sons, her father and mother cared for the Evergreen Cemetery. The only difference, is that now, Elizabeth, is with child, and six months pregnant. She knew though that the Confederates were approaching, but her husband was not in town.