Prior to the Battle of Gettysburg, John Peter Thorn and his wife Elizabeth would have three young sons. During the battle, they saw the struggles and hardship during the fighting around East Cemetery Hill and had to escape and find shelter at another farm south of Gettysburg. When they returned to the Gatehouse, they saw the aftermath of the battle, with dead horses and soldiers laying around, and their own processions taken from their house. They had to watch their mother and grandfather bury the dead within Evergreen Cemetery. At the height of the battle, Elizabeth was six months pregnant. She had to find the strength and determination to bury approximately 100 soldiers within the cemetery, since she was the acting caretaker.
On November 1st, 1863, Rose Meade Thorn was born. Due to the ailments that Elizabeth had to endure during the aftermath of the battle, Rose would only live till fourteen years old. Her husband, John, would return after the the Civil War was surrendered in April 1865 back to Gettysburg and resume his profession at the Evergreen Cemetery. Elizabeth and John, after the battle of Gettysburg, would have another four children.
Louisia Katharina Thorn would be born in July 1866, but she would only live about two and half years and pass away on Christmas Eve 1868. Their final son, Ehre Philip Thorn would be born and died in May 1873. Both are not on the tree below since they lived under five years old. All of John and Elizabeth’s children except for Harry Peter Thorn are buried within Evergreen Cemetery.
In previous versions of these families trees, I went into depths for each family member if they had children. I may do that for some, but not for everyone. Here’s the breakdown of the Thorn family.
Their first son, Frederick E. Thorn would have 7 children with his wife Saranda Maria Sterner. They would have 7 children, five of them were daughters. Their first son, Charles Frederick Thorn would serve in the 87th Infantry division within the 336th Machine Gun Battalion, Company D, within World War I. He was commissioned as Captain in France in August 1917. He would survive, and later become a member of the Adams County Historical Society. He was buried in 1961 within the Gettysburg National Soldiers’ Cemetery. His wife, Mary Stoops would pass away in 1966, and she is buried with him.
Their second and their daughters were young when they passed. Emory died in childbirth, living only two years from 1882 to 1884. Their third daughter, Dora had a terrible death. She was born in 1886 and died in 1902. She was sledding at the Lutheran Seminary Campus, and somehow fell into a septic tank, and because of the cold, drowned due to hypothermal. Their second son, George David Thorn married his wife Verna Kitzmiller in 1912. He was a railroad employee on steam trains. From his work around the steam and the coal, he would develop tuberculosis. They passed within two years of each other in 1960, and in 1962. They are buried in Moreland Memorial Park, in Baltimore.
Frederick and Saranda’s last two children were both daughters, Hazel and Emma. Hazel Louise Thorn would graduate from Gettysburg High School in 1907 and would marry in September 1912 to Lester Augustus Deininger. They would move up to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and open a photography studio that was open for forty years. It would seem that Hazel and Lester didn’t have any children. They are both buried in Watsontown.
Emma would marry Morgal Henry Peter Beckley and they would have a daughter together. Their daughter’s name was Margaret Beckley Brown and would graduate from Gettysburg College in 1940. Her husband, David Geist Brown was a World War II veteran and was a navigator of the 44th Bomber Group nicknamed the “Flying 8-Balls”. He would survive, and they would marry in 1946.
Margaret would live till 2011, while her husband to 2000. Their daughters, Ginger “Virginia” Ann Brown and her sister Barbara T. “Bobbie” Brown both passed away in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Ginger had a daughter and she is still alive today in 2026.
Their second son, George David Thorn would marry Lottie E. Mickley and both are buried within Evergreen Cemetery. They would have 5 children together, however, there would be no descendants that would survive through 1975 from the historical data I could research. Their third son, John Thorn would marry Mia Meade Comfort, and they would have no children. Mia Comfort was born in July 1863, just twelve days after the Battle of Gettysburg ended. Her last daughter, Lillian Elizabeth Thorn would marry Harry F. Young. They would have no children together either, and both are buried within Evergreen Cemetery.
You can find most of the Thorns resting with their parents Peter and Elizabeth within Evergreen Cemetery.