Interred here are over thirty African-American veterans of the Civil War, the largest concentration in Gettysburg. Regiments which are represented include the 8th, 22nd, 25th, 32nd and 127th USCT, as well as other USCT regiments. There is a plaque in the center of the cemetery that lists the names of the thirty veterans. Each Civil War veteran’s grave is marked with a United States flag and a GAR marker. In addition to serving as a burial ground for the veterans, the cemetery is also where several African-American families dating back to the late 1800s are buried.
The first half-acre of the cemetery was bought by a society of African-American men who called themselves the “Sons of Goodwill” in 1867 and was originally known as the Goodwill Cemetery. The cemetery was expanded in 1906 when another African-American cemetery was forced to close, and the bodies were re-interred here. During the 1920s, the Lincoln Lodge of Gettysburg’s “Black Elks” purchased land adjacent to the cemetery, which gave it its name of Lincoln Cemetery. Every May, the African-American citizens of Gettysburg hold a ceremony here to honor the veterans that are buried here.
Members of the USCT that are now buried in Lincoln Cemetery were once buried at Yellow Hill Cemetery. For more information on Yellow Hill Cemetery, click here.
Other Information
* Read more about Lincoln Cemetery, including information on Lloyd Watts, a soldier with the USCT who served in Virginia.
* A marker was placed at the location by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in 2003. The text of the marker reads: Established in 1867 by the Sons of Good Will for the proper burial of Gettysburg's African American citizens and Civil War veterans. Some thirty Civil War veterans of the U.S. Colored Troops are buried here, having been denied burial in the National Cemetery because of segregation policies. Also buried here are veterans of the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean conflict. First known as Good Will Cemetery, renamed in 1920. Read more about the cemetery and the marker here.
