May 22, 2024
Introduction: In this article – the second in a three-part series – Melissa Davenport Berry looks back over the years at Memorial Day services involving Union veterans of the Civil War. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.
Today I continue with my Memorial Day special looking back at the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, Navy, and Marines who served in the Civil War. For years these veterans honored their departed comrades-in-arms on Memorial Day. All these veterans are now among the departed, of course – so we honor and remember them all.
The Grand Army of the Republic was formed in 1866. The GAR lasted until 1956 when its last member, 109-year-old Albert Woolson, died.
Some of the images in this article are courtesy of the Norwell Historical Society (NHS) GAR Scrapbook Collection. The NHS is in Norwell, Massachusetts.
Union Drummer Boy Philip S. W. Judd
In 1949 the press caught up with 98-year-old Philip S. W. Judd (1851-1949), a former drummer for five Civil War regiments. Philip is the son of Schuyler F. and Kate (Heenan) Judd.
He was only 10 years old in 1861 when his mother made him a uniform just like his father’s (Col. Schuyler F. Judd of the 106th New York Volunteer Regiment). Philip and his brother (Charles F. Judd, two years younger) were unofficially attached to troops training at Ogdensburg, New York, to replace older drummer boys strong enough to shoulder rifles.
And with daddy a colonel and commanding officer there was no fuss about age; the brothers were juiced in. These two brave half-pints drummed their way through several battles.
To the boys, the atmosphere of drilling and camping out and the patriotic fervor which swept the North as the guns boomed at Fort Sumter was as natural as the air they breathed.
“We didn’t mind it a bit,” said Philip, “It was a new experience to us youngsters, like going to a circus. School was a tame business.”
Philip told the reporter he is hoping to get a repeat visit from the Connecticut Modus Fife and Drum Corps, as he had on May 31 the year prior. Memorial Day is also his birthday!
Philip did get a bright surprise: 14-year-old Joan Loughlin, of the St. Augustine’s Catholic Girls Brigade Fife and Drum Corps, dropped in to give him good wishes on Memorial Day. Philip taught Miss Joan some new Yankee numbers on the drum, telling her: “This is the way we drummed in my day.”
Union Drummer Boy James Marion Lurvey
Another lad that made the scrapbook pages was James Marion Lurvey, who entered the Civil War at age 14 as a drummer for the 40th Massachusetts Volunteers, and he served at the Battle of Gettysburg in the Medical Corps. The photo below of James was taken 29 May 1949.
The photo caption for this photo reads:
The Last of the Old Guard. New Hampshire’s Grand Old Man, 101 years old last December, believed to be the state’s last veteran of the Civil War. He served in all the following Massachusetts units: “A” Co. 40th Infantry, “B” Co. Veteran Reserve Corps 13th Infantry, and “H” Co. 4th Heavy Artillery.
Here is a photo of James in uniform, serving in “H” Co. 4th Heavy Artillery, 1864-65. The photo was taken by Mr. Cross, Ft. Richardson, Virginia.
James married Sarah Maria McConnell and left descendants.
Six Civil War Vets at GAR Reunion Total 617 Years
Attending the 82nd Encampment of the GAR in Michigan in 1949, these six aged veterans tallied up at 617 years and received a warm welcome and wishes from the hundreds who came to the event.
In this photo we see (left to right): Charles L. Chappel, 102, Long Beach, California; William H. Osborn, 104, Joplin, Missouri; John H. Grates, 103, Atwater, Ohio; Theo A. Penland, 99, Portland, Oregon; Albert Woolson, 102, Duluth, Minnesota; and James A. Hard, 107, Rochester, New York.
The Last GAR Survivors in Massachusetts
Here are 16 Massachusetts GAR members on Memorial Day, 30 May 1943. A few are scions of Plymouth’s Pilgrims that came over on the Mayflower.
They are (top row, left to right): George W. Thomas of Plympton; Charles L. Robinson of Melrose; Lewis Josselyn of West Hanover; Prince A. Phinney of Brookline; (second row, left to right): George Howard of Brockton; William H. Burns of Attleboro; Harry B. Vogell of East Weymouth; George A. Gay of Pepperell; (third row, left to right): Charles F. Staples of Leominster; Alphonso Witherell of North Hampton; George N. Alden of New Bedford; Charles B. Burt of Springfield; (bottom row, left to right): Albanus D. Claflin of Attleboro; Thomas A. Corson; Julius A. Fitts of Medfield; and Albert A. Davis of Lowell.
Stay tuned for more…
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Note on the header image: “The March of Time,” by Henry Sandham, 1896. This painting shows a parade of veterans of the U.S. Civil War during Decoration Day. General William Tecumseh Sherman is in the front row at the far right. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
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