Monday, May 26, 2014

Military Monday -- Heather's Honor Roll Project (Memorial Day, May 26, 2014)





Wallingford, Connecticut Town Hall

Among the Honor Roll memorials located on the grounds of the Wallingford, Connecticut Town Hall is one for "Fallen Men Of The Civil War From Wallingford."

The wording on this particular memorial is important to note because it points to the distinction between Memorial Day and Veterans Day here in the U.S.  While Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for the men and women who died while serving, Veterans Day celebrates those who served.

Originally Memorial Day was known as "Decoration Day."  Decoration Day was initiated after the American Civil War to commemorate both Confederate and Union soldiers who died while serving in the Civil War. The origins of Decoration Day and the claim to various "firsts" surrounding the holiday are varied if not controversial. You can read more about the background of Decoration Day and how the name for the holiday changed to Memorial Day beginning back in 1882 here at Wikipedia.  The name of the holiday was officially changed to Memorial Day by federal law in 1967 and in 1968 the "Uniform Monday Holiday Act" established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May each year.

In honor of Decoration Day/Memorial Day it is altogether fitting that this year's contribution to Heather's Honor Roll Project is a Civil War memorial located in Wallingford. Connecticut.  Credit for the photographs of the memorial go to  my cousin, Bruce Marquardt, who took photos of the Civil War, World War I, World  War II, Korean and Vietnam War memorials located on the grounds of the Wallingford Town Hall.  The World War I memorial was posted for Veteran's Day last year.  Future holiday posts will feature the memorials in Wallingford for World War II, Korea and Vietnam.    



There are 24 Wallingford, Connecticut men who died in service during the Civil War.  The names of  those who died are by rank and are not in overall alphabetical order.  While the name and ranks are clearly visible and legible in the photographs above, for purposes of searchability the names of the fallen transcribed below.

                           Arthur H. Dutton                                              Oliver S. Munson
                           George N. Bailey                                              John H. Boughton
                           Oscar Crusias                                                    Delevan W. Ives
                           Austin Phelps                                                    Patrick Condon
                           George V. Dagle                                                Edward B. Dolph
                           Bernard Dougherty                                            Demetrius S. Dowd
                           Patrick Dunn                                                      Edward Early
                           Edward Hazard                                                  William Maschmeyer
                           Frederick Mayer                                                Patrick Lynch
                           Thomas Lynch                                                   Harry Parson
                           Samuel Richards                                                Jonathan Swift
                           Edward Westerhood                                           William H. Moore

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Memorial Day image from http://nationalharbor.com/event/memorial-day.

All Memorial photographs by, and courtesy of, Bruce O. Marquardt.

Photograph of Wallingford Town Hall by the author.

Honor Roll name transcription by the author.
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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew
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