Editing Emmitsburg, Maryland (section)

==History==
Emmitsburg was named for its founder, William Emmit, in 1785.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n118 119]}}</ref> However, a settlement (named first "Silver Fancy" and later "Poplar Fields")<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Emmitsburg|volume=9|pages=343–344}}</ref> preceded the town, particularly since British authorities restricted colonists' expansion during and after the [[French and Indian War]].

In 1757 Lutherans led by pastor George Bager built a church, which they shared with a [[German Reformed]] congregation until 1798. After the [[American Revolutionary War]], Catholic missionary Rev. [[John Dubois|Jean Dubois]] established a mission church, then a seminary, at Emmitsburg. Later [[Elizabeth Ann Seton]] established a convent, with a school and hospital. Soon, the number of Methodists in Emmitsburg led to the formation of a circuit around town, rather than share a minister with Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The [[Union Army|Union]] fortified Emmitsburg to stop the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] invasion of the Union territory in June 1863 during the [[American Civil War]]. Half the town was burned to the ground in a mysterious fire on the night of June 23. Folklore has it that "The Great Fire", as it was known, was started by a Union sympathizer to prevent advancing Confederates from taking supplies from the town.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} However fate spared the town a battle between the opposing forces, which instead [[Battle of Gettysburg|took place 12 miles north]] of it in Pennsylvania near the town of [[Gettysburg, Pennsylvania|Gettysburg]]. The town was briefly held by the retreating Confederates on July 4.