Lincoln Cemetery

The cemetery was established in 1867 by the Sons of Good Will and was designated as a burial site for African American residents. Lincoln cemetery holds about thirty members of the United States Colored Troops.

The Lincoln Cemetery is located in the 3rd ward between South Washington Street and Long Lane. This ward was designated specifically for African Americans living in the town. For many years, restrictive covenants and other measures added to property deeds limited opportunities for Black families to live in other parts of the town. 

Many of the soldiers of that time were denied burial in the National Cemetery a few blocks away because of segregation policies. In 1906, the Lincoln Cemetery merged with the other Black cemetery in town, which was located near the AME Zion Church. The church no longer could afford to maintain their cemetery and appealed to the Sons of GoodWill for help. This led them to the decision to disinter and reinter all the bodies in the Good Will Cemetery, which now became the only African American cemetery in Gettysburg.

Because the town of Gettysburg wanted the land that AME Zion’s cemetery was located on, they pushed for the consolidation of the two cemeteries. In 1916, after the Sons of Good Will ceased to exist, due to the death of most of the members, some of the land of Good Will Cemetery sat was sold to Lincoln Lodge 145, an African American Elks Lodge. The members of this organization became the cemetery’s caretaker, especially in 1920 after all of the lots were sold and entrusted to their care. This is how it came to be known as the Lincoln Cemetery. The Lincoln Lodge was responsible for the cemetery until around 1934, when its last member became incapable of caring for it. After that, the care of the cemetery fell into hands of concerned citizens and members of the community.

Labbe, Savannah. 2018. “The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History.” Separate but Equal? Gettysburg’s Lincoln Cemetery. https://gettysburgcompiler.org/2018/03/12/separate-but-equal-gettysburgs-lincoln-cemetery/.