Civil War vet returns home
HODGDON, Maine — On Saturday, the cremated remains of a Civil War veteran will be laid to rest next to his parents at the Hodgdon Cemetery, ending a months-long trip from an Oregon state hospital to Maine.
Pvt. Jewett B. Williams, (1843-1922) a Civil War Veteran of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment-Company H will be laid to rest with full military honors in the Hodgdon Cemetery, located on the Walker Road. The graveside service will begin at 2 p.m. and a reception will immediately following at Mill Pond Elementary School. The public is invited to attend.
Williams’ ashes were discovered at the Oregon State Hospital, where they had been stored for nearly 100 years. They have since traveled across the country with a group of Patriot Guard Riders who handed the remains off from one set of motorcyclists to the next.
A small ceremony was held in Augusta when Williams’ ashes arrived in the state. It was then announced that he would be traveling farther north to the family cemetery in Hodgdon.
He will be arriving in Houlton with a police escort from the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office, Maine Patriot Guard Riders and the
United Veterans Motorcycle Club at about 1 p.m. Saturday. The Houlton Police Department and Maine State Police will join the procession at the Interstate 95 exit and proceed through downtown Houlton before heading to Hodgdon.
A small ceremony will be held at the Hodgdon United Methodist Church before Williams will be transported by a horse-drawn carriage to the Hodgdon Cemetery. Three groups of Civil War re-enactors are also expected to be on hand for to re-create an 1873 Civil War funeral service, complete with a gun salute.
Tanya Marshall Pasquarelli, a local amatuer historian from Hodgdon, was selected by the Williams family to serve as their spokesperson for the ceremony. Pastor Rob Smith of the Hodgdon United Baptist Church will speak at the cemetery. Brigadier General Douglas Farnham, adjutant general for Maine Army National Guard will also speak.
“I work on genealogy here in Hodgdon and volunteer with the ‘Find A Grave’ website,” Pasquarelli said. “When people need information on their ancestors in Hodgdon, I come up to the cemetery and photograph the stones.”
A white marble stone, similar to his parents’ grave markers has been ordered and Pasquarelli is optimistic it will arrive prior to the ceremony.
Hodgdon Town Manager Jim Griffin said town officials have been busy over the past week getting the cemetery ready for the ceremony.
“I think it’s really nice to have him buried up here next to his mom and dad,” Griffin said. “The Williams family is quite honored to have him come home and we are too.”
On Friday and Saturday, Sept. 16-17, a cemetery clean-up day was held, with volunteers spending the day trimming bushes, re-setting stones and cleaning the Williams’ grave markers.
“A lot of stones have fallen over through the course of many years,” Griffin said. “We are standing them back up, resetting them and trying to secure them so they aren’t so wobbly.”
Griffin said he had not received very many phone calls at the town office regarding the burial. The few that have called in have been supportive of the decision to have Williams buried in Hodgdon, he added.
Parking information
Roadside parking will be available on the Hodgdon Mills Road, McIntyre Road, Horseback Road and McIntyre Field. These locations require a short walk to the Hodgdon cemetery. Additional parking is available at Mill Pond Elementary School where shuttle buses will be available at the school to transport guests to and from the cemetery. Shuttles will begin loading/transporting at 1 p.m. until 1:50 p.m.
Roadside parking will be prohibited on the Walker Road and in the cemetery before and during the funeral service. A reception will follow at the Mill Pond Elementary School.
For further information, contact Pasquarelli at tanyap@myfairpoint.net or 207-521-0497.
