Elizabeth thorn gettysburg biography

Born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, in 1832, Elizabeth and her parents, John and Catherine Möser, immigrated to the United States in 1854.
Beginning in 2004, Sue served as historical consultant for the Gettysburg Foundation for both the new museum project and for the massive restoration of the.
Elizabeth Thorn (1832-1907) was now six months pregnant, but she stepped out to volunteer.

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'The Angel of Gettysburg' Buried Union Soldiers While 6 Months' Pregnant

For one week, Elizabeth Thorn, her three young sons and her parents abandoned their home during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. When they returned, Thorn not only discovered barely a belonging left at their residence at Evergreen Cemetery, but -- as the fill-in for her husband, Peter, who left his job as its caretaker to fight against the Confederacy -- she was responsible for digging graves for the Union's dead.

The stench of decomposing bodies was overpowering, the terrible smell made all the more repugnant by the stifling July heat. It was no job for a woman who was six months' pregnant, and yet, Thorn somehow met the moment.

"It was only excitement that helped me to do all the work," Thorn recalled in a first-person account posted by the website CivilWarTalk in 2014.

Born in 1832 in Germany, Elizabeth immigrated with her parents, John and Catherine Masser, to the United States when she was in her early 20s. When they arrived in New York, they realized their luggage had been stole

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Caretaker of Gettysburg’s Evergreen Cemetery

At the time of the Battle of Gettysburg, Elizabeth Thorn was caretaker of Evergreen Cemetery, a job normally performed by her husband Peter but he was away serving in the Union Army. Her elderly parents and her three small sons were living with her in the cemetery gatehouse, and she was six months pregnant. The cemetery grounds were littered with dead soldiers and horses, and it was her responsibility to bury them.

Image: Elizabeth Thorn Monument
This 7-foot bronze statue created by sculptor Ron Tunison of Cairo, New York, depicts a weary Elizabeth Thorn, leaning on a shovel as she rests from her work. The memorial was dedicated in November 2002 and honors the contributions of all women who served before, during and after the Battle of Gettysburg.

Peter and Elizabeth Thorn emigrated from Germany and were married on September 1, 1855, the same day the cornerstone was laid for the Evergreen Cemetery gatehouse. The Thorns were the first family to live in the gatehouse when Peter was hired as the first caretaker of the 30-acre E

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Elizabeth Thorn

American cemetery caretaker (1832–1907)

Elizabeth Möser Thorn (December 28, 1832 – October 17, 1907) was an American cemetery caretaker who served as the caretaker of Evergreen Cemetery in Adams County, Pennsylvania, while her husband was serving in the Union Army. While pregnant, Thorn buried approximately one hundred soldiers who had died at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.^[1]^[2]

Early life

Born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, in 1832, Elizabeth and her parents, John and Catherine Möser, immigrated to the United States in 1854. Little was known about her early life. After settling in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, she married another German immigrant, Peter Thorn, in September 1855. Her husband became the first caretaker of Evergreen Cemetery in February 1856, earning $150 a year and living with his family in the gatehouse rent-free in exchange for digging graves and maintaining the grounds. He enlisted in the Union's 138th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment on August 16, 1862, leaving his wife in charge of the cemetery. She had three y