Forgotten Civil War Soldier in Hope Cemetery

William A. Yurvati (from the September 2000 issue of “Along the Saucony”)

Hope Cemetery in Kutztown contains the burial sites of several Civil War veterans. Until recently, one veteran's grave, located in an isolated corner of the cemetery, puzzled local Civil War researchers. A headstone which marks the grave carries the inscription: "John A. Patten; CO I, 9h RGT; June 13, 1904; Age 63 years; buried by the citizens". At first, the soldier's name could not be matched with any Pennsylvania Civil War regiment muster roll. However, microfilmed newspapers from the time of death revealed the forgotten soldier's true identity.

According to the Kutztown Patriot, on July 11, 1904, a stranger registered at the Keystone Hotel under the name of John A. Patten, Several residents observed him wandering around town for the next two days. On the evening of July 13th, his body, with a fatal gunshot wound to the forehead, was discovered on the campus of the Keystone State Normal School (now Kutztown University). His coat pocket contained, among other personal items, a note that included a request for some "Christian friends" to "bury me kindly". The local Justice of the Peace empaneled an inquest. The death was subsequently ruled a suicide.

On Thursday, July 14, 1904, the body of John Patten was laid to rest by Christian burial in Hope Cemetery in an area reserved for the indigent. Kutztown citizens contributed twenty-nine dollars to defray the cost of the funeral.

A week later, the Patriot reported that a letter, addressed to the Kutztown postmaster, revealed that the sender had known Patten since childhood in New Jersey. Furthermore, the letter stated that Patten had enlisted as a private in Company I, 9h Regiment, New Jersey Volunteer Infantry in Salem County, New Jersey in 1861. A published history of the 9h New Jersey confirmed the service of John Patten, Mustered at Camp Olden in Trenton on October 8, 1861, Pvt. Patten's regiment participated in campaigns in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Notable regimental battle credits included engagements at Roanoke Island and New Bern, both in North Carolina.  At some point after John Patten's burial, a headstone was procured to mark his gravesite. Why this despondent Civil War veteran chose Kutztown to be the place where he would take his own life remains a mystery.

In the end, the charitable community of Kutztown provided Civil War veteran John Patten, at the time an unknown stranger, with the dignified funeral and final resting place he had desired.