Then And Now

Then and Now: A Civil War Soldier Returns to Lynnfield

With Memorial Day right around the corner, we find a 151-year-old document for a Lynnfield soldier who apparently came home from the Civil War in 1862.

I'm glad I came across this item with Memorial Day just around the corner. Over time, this weekly column is beginning to resemble an online museum of Lynnfield History. For our latest exhibit we have discharge papers from Private S.R. Moorland of the 22nd Mass. Volunteers from the Civil War on March 3, 1862. He was apparently a Lynnfield resident. From what I can make out on this document, Private Moorland was actually a Lynnfield resident, not somebody who trained at the former camp - and that the Army paid him $38.52 to cover the cost of a 22-day, 440-mile journey home from what is very likely Hall's Hill near Alexandria, Virginia. In an article back in the late summer of 2011, I talked a little bit about the history of Lynnfield in the …

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'A Civil War Christmas' Blends Seasonal Vocals, Instrumental Masterpieces

Concert at Unitarian Universalist Church in Wakefield on Dec. 23 highlights the holiday music of 19th Century America.

The following is an announcement from the Standing Room Only Concert Series: In the Boston area during the Civil War, Christmas trees were a new phenomenon and many of our favorite carols were being penned by local composers.  Nationwide at that time our country faced a divisive split in allegiances, however, that makes this election season look tame. With “A Civil War Christmas” on Sunday, December 23 at 7:30 at the Wakefield UU Church, the Standing Room Only concert series presents music that inspired Americans at our most difficult time to keep the faith - in each other, in the founding principles of the United States, and in the interdependent web of all existence. The first half opens with “Ashokan Farewell”, the haunting theme from …

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Then And Now

Then And Now: Camp Stanton

Each week, Lynnfield Patch takes a photo from the files of the Lynnfield Historical Society and talks about what's there now.

This week's photo is tough to get a very good look at, but it's Camp Stanton - the Civil War-era military training camp that existed in Lynnfield up until around the World War I era. I did not have a date for when this picture was taken. Given the quality of the image, I'm assuming it was sometime in the late 1800s, possibly even while training for the actual war was underway. But that's just speculation. The camp was located near the present day Route 1 close to the Holiday Inn on the Lynnfield/Peabody Line. An article on Lynnfield Patch last summer marking the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War talked a little bit about the site and the soldiers who trained there. Over in neighboring Wakefield, they recently had a day of …

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Library Exhibit Features Civil War Artifacts

Joint effort by library and historical society created the Lynnfield in the Civil War exhibit.

The following information was provided by the Lynnfield Public Library: The Lynnfield Historical Society and the Lynnfield Public Library have collaborated on Lynnfield in the Civil War, a display of daguerreotypes and artifacts from Civil War era Lynnfield.  View daguerreotypes, an 1862 almanac, discharge papers, and a Civil War era sword in the library’s large display case in the magazine area.  Take a look at a map of 1860s Lynnfield locating the homes of some of the Lynnfield residents who served in the “War Between the States.”  This display will be ongoing at the Lynnfield Public Library through January, 2012.  Thank you to Roy Sorli of the Lynnfield Historical Society for providing the collection of artifacts.  For more information…

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