Lincoln Cemetery
Burial site of Gettysburg’s African American citizens and Civil War veterans

In keeping with the customs of the times, African American veterans were mostly denied the honor of being buried in the National Cemetery. The lone exception was Henry Gooden of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, who served in the 127th USCT, buried in the US Regulars section of the National Cemetery in 1876. For the most part segregated even in death, there are some thirty members of the US Colored Troops buried in Lincoln Cemetery. These men who fought for freedom and the Union were there laid to rest with honor and dignity.

People
»	Kitty Payne
»	Lloyd W. Watts

Here you’ll find Lloyd Watts who enlisted in the US Colored Troops in 1865 and served in Virginia. You’ll also find Isaac Buckmaster who served in the 8th U.S. Colored Troops and both he and his brother were wounded in battles fought in the battle of Olustee Florida. The 8th U.S. Colored Troops, along with other U.S. Colored Troops, were present at General Lee’s surrender at the Appomatox courthouse.

Not all who are buried here are veterans. Take for example Abraham Brian, a farmer in Gettysburg who left his land during the battle. Union forces occupied Brian’s farm during Picketts Charge. After the battle, the government paid Brian $15 for damages. This amount was more than some and less than others in the area received—reimbursements did not cover damage inflicted by Confederate troops or in combat actions.

Many of the town’s earliest black residents were re-interred when the towns "Colored Cemetery" was cleared in 1906 to provide space for new houses. All totaled, an estimated 198,000 African Americans enlisted in the U.S. Army and Navy during the war and risked all to fight for their rights, their families and the Union.

Resources

• Betty Dorsey Myers. Segregation in Death: Gettysburg’s Lincoln Cemetery. Gettysburg, Penn.: Lincoln Cemetery Project Association, 2001.

People in the Places

Pencil sketch of Catherine Payne and her children. (Chester County Historical Society)

Catherine “Kitty” Payne (1816-1850)

Mary Maddox of Rappahannock County, Virginia, inherited her husband Samuel’s estate when he died in 1839, with any remainder at her death to go to their nephew Samuel Maddox. In 1843, Mary emancipated all seven of the people she held in slavery. They included 27-year-old “Kitty” and her four children, Eliza (5), and Mary (4), James Arthur (2), George (2 mos.) along with two men named Ben and James. Virginia’s manumission laws required them to leave the state with in a year. Mary Maddox accompanied them to Adams County, Pennsylvania, to help them settle there, even filing a deed of manumission with the local court. Her nephew Samuel Maddox, who was deeply in debt, went to Adams County to claim his future inheritance. He and other men kidnapped Catherine “Kitty” Payne and her then three children (infant George had died) and took them back to Rappahannock County. He was about to sell them but Payne somehow charged him with trespass, assault, and battery. The young family was imprisoned for safekeeping.

Meanwhile incensed citizens in Adams County tried and convicted the kidnappers in their absence, with white and black witnesses testifying against them. Back in Rappahannock County, Virginia, however, the Payne family remained in jail in Rappahannock County for almost a year. Quakers in Adams County and Loudoun County, Virginia, devoted themselves to her case, but Maddox was acquitted on a technicality. Eventually, his accomplice was captured and sentenced in Adams County, and Maddox renounced his claim. The family was liberated again. They resided with Loudoun Quakers over the winter before returning to Adams County in the spring.

Resources

• Mary (Goins) Gandy. Guide My Feet, Hold My Hand. Mary (Goins) Gandy, 1987.
• Debra McCauslin. Yellow Hill: Reconstructing the Past: Puzzle of a Lost Community. Gettysburg, Penn.: For the Cause Productions, 2005.
• Daphne Hutchison and Theresa Reynolds, On the Morning Side of the Blue Ridge: A Glimpse of Rappahannock County’s Past. Warrenton, Va.: The Rappahannock News, 1983.

Lloyd W. Watts (1834-1870?)

(Adams County Historical Society))

Lloyd W. Watts was the fifth son born to Valentine and Violet Watts in Carroll County, Maryland. The free black family moved to Adams County, perhaps so that the children could go to school, by 1848. By 1850, however, Valentine Watts died and the older sons worked as laborers to support the family. Lloyd, however, learned to read and write. Brother John, one year older, enlisted in the United States Colored Troops in August 1863, and Lloyd followed in February 1865. He was then 29 years old, 5’ 7” tall, with eyes, hair, and skin all described as black. In training at Camp William Penn he was quickly promoted to sergeant. With his unit, Company B of the 24th USCT, he served first at Camp Casey near Alexandria, Virginia (the installation protected Washington, DC), guarded Confederate prisoners at Cape Lookout, Maryland, and distributed supplies in Roanoke, Virginia.

After their respective units mustered out in 1865, the brothers returned to Gettysburg. Lloyd Watts taught in the “Colored School,” and served as a deacon and trustee of St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. In 1866 he helped found a civic association, the Sons of Goodwill. The group organized an Emancipation Day celebration and appointed a committee to establish a cemetery. At the time, white cemeteries, including the newly established National Cemetery for veterans who died in the Civil War, excluded people of color from burials. The Sons of Goodwill founded Lincoln Cemetery in 1867. At various times, Lloyd Watts served as president and secretary on the organization’s Board of Managers and helped maintain what was then called the “Good Will burying ground.” During his lifetime and beyond Watts earned the good will of the people of Gettysburg.

Resources

• Betty Dorsey Myers. Segregation in Death: Gettysburg’s Lincoln Cemetery. Gettysburg, Penn.: Lincoln Cemetery Project Association, 2001.

Interest-African American, Adams County, Pennsylvania, >African-American, >AF Adams