Community Corner
A Closer Look at the Medfield Men Who Gave Their Lives During the Civil War [Video]
The Medfield Historical Society presented "The Medfield Men Who Gave Lives During the Civil War" Monday night at the First Parish Unitarian Church on North Street.
The basement of the was full Monday night as the presented “The Medfield Men Who Gave Lives During the Civil War (1861-1865).”
Twelve Medfield soldiers died during that war with many of the names – Frank Chenery, James Chenery, John Chenery, Richard Derby, Joseph Hardy, Allan Kingsbury – recognizable today. The bodies of seven soldiers were never returned to Medfield.
One hundred and fifty years earlier, Medfield residents gathered in the same spot for a town meeting after being asked by the Recruiting Committee to “bravely do your part in striking down the Rebbellion [sic], which for the sole purpose of perpetuating slavery, seeks to destroy this blessed Union and all our Free Institutions, or whether we shall leave this glories work undone and take the consequences. No time is to be lost!...God save the United States and confound the Rebel Confederacy!”
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This authentic town meeting invitation and other documents were read aloud at Monday’s presentation in a presentation led by Town Historian and Historical Society Curator Richard DeSorgher. The presentation was filled with letters from deceased soldiers, music of the era, photographs old and new, and stories of identified unmarked graves.
One of the unmarked graves was that of Daniel McMahon, which was recently identified in Chattanooga, Tenn. National Cemetery by former Medfield Historical Society President George Gray while he was visiting family in the area.
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Gray told his story of recovery Monday night.
Robert Gregg, president of the Vine Lake [Cemetery] Preservation Trust, also told the story of identifying the grave of Gabriel Strang who is buried in Petersburg, Virginia.
“We now have two of the seven veterans identified as being buried in distant cemeteries,” said Gregg.
Pianist Charlotte Reinemann, singer Matt Reinemann, and reader Kabir Thatte helped bring the program to life.
On Nov. 7, the Medfield Historical Society will present “Singing the Holy Cause of Freedom,” which will give an account of many of the 82 Medfield boys who marched off to war after receiving a town send-off, said Medfield Historical Society President David Temple.
“We will be transported in time to the Medfield of the 1860s and get a flavor for what it was like living in Medfield during that tragic but exciting period,” Temple said. Era-appropriate songs will be sung, and an original flag flown during the Civil War will be on display as will a variety of Civil War memorabilia from the vault of the Historical Society and from private collections.
On Oct. 15 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., there will be a walking tour of the old section of the Vine Lake Cemetery to “honor and recognize 24 of the 53 Civil War veterans buried there. A re-enactment color guard, drummer, and women volunteers will lead us to each site where stories of these men will be told,” according to the Vine Lake Preservation Trust's website.
“It’s a grand event,” said Gregg.
