The Longmeadow Historical Society Our One Hundredth Year 1899 - 1999
Volume 1, No. 1	June 1999

This newsletter was edited by Denise Brown and Judy Mish. Contributors were Elliot Levy, Judy Mish, Betsy Huber Port, and Linda Rodger. It is our intention to publish at least twice a year. The next issue is planned for October, 1999. We welcome submissions on local historical topics from readers. Please call Denise Brown at 567-2386 if you are interested in submitting an article.

Epaulets, riding spurs, a full standing portrait, a commission from Abraham Lincoln, a notice in the Springfield Republican of his body’s return to Longmeadow, an eloquent memorial book- all are compelling objects in the Howard M. Burnham collection at Storr’s House. They give a glimpse not only into one young man’s nobility, patriotism, and military pride, but also into a father’s broken heart and a community’s grief.

Though only 21 and in the Union Army but one year, Longmeadow’s Howard Mather Burnham was commissioned Second Lieutenant and placed in command of Battery H, Army of the Cumberland at Murfreesboro in April, 1863. Within days he was appointed Chief of Artillery, First Division, Fourteenth Army Corps and faced the daunting task of moving the battery’s artillery over the Lookout range of mountains to Chicamauga in Georgia. Writing his mother, Burnham described the experience as "terrible": " Such marching I have never seen and never want to see again." Men were nearly choked by dust. As exhausted horses expired on the mountain inclines, they were shoved to the side and replaced by mules.

But if he felt the harshness of Southern heat and stony mountain terrain, he also found some pleasures in camp life: "Yesterday I rode down to the Tennessee river and had a glorious swim-reminded me of the old Connecticut." Even in the midst of the arduous move through mountain passes, his spirits were high. He relished his commission: "Oh! This is a glorious life!" he exclaimed in his last letter.

Two days later, on September 19th, Howard Burnham took a fatal miniball in the chest. He lingered on two hours in the now famous Battle of Chicamauga (the "River of Death"). Numbers for Burnham’s Battery H tell the tale of furious fighting and severe casualties- 51 men, killed or wounded; 30 horses, dead. Until his last breath, a brother officer wrote, Burnham heroically directed attention away from himself: "His last inquiry was for the safety of his battery." The New York Herald’s correspondent, who gave a detailed description of the fatal battle, described Burnham as a gentleman, a man of "unusual worth."

Condolence letters to his parents, Roderick Henry Burnham, Esq. and Katherine Livingston Burnham, resonate with respect for his valor and selfless, high-toned qualities. But perhaps the highest tribute to the character of Howard Mather Burnham was in his own words: When he eagerly enlisted in Springfield’s City Guard and volunteered to conduct his fellow enlistees in drills, Howard’s friends were quick to remind him of war’s mortal consequences. He replied, "‘All right-if I fall ‘twill be all right. My life is no better than the life of others.’"

That the young Burnham really did know what he was facing is even more poignantly expressed through Roderick Burnham’s journal, parts of which are reprinted in the memorial book. The journal shows a broken-hearted father’s ordeal in bringing home his only son’s body. It is a story in itself. Roderick Burnham was actually fulfilling a parting request made by the young. Howard when he left to fight for the Union, a request which fused family love with patriotism and united father and son: "‘If I fall, Father, you will bring me home."’

On September 21st Roderick Burnham left to bring his son home. At the Chattanooga cemetery, where the body had been interred after Chicamauga, he was shown the fresh shallow grave of Howard Mather Burnham, but it was not until February 3rd that the remains of Second Lieutenant Burnham’s body actually arrived in Springfield. There were difficulties at the cemetery. Because an embalmer could not be found, Roderick Burnham engaged a carpenter to tightly caulk a coffin which was to be placed inside another caulked box for shipping. But when the ambulance cart arrived with the outer box, Roderick Burnham discovered that it had been made too short and would not accommodate the coffin. (Reading between the lines, one can surmise that services of a war time carpenter were hard to come by, even a carpenter who had mismeasured. Surely there had to be a long wait.) In what must have been despair, Roderick Burnham had the body re-interred, returning to Longmeadow on October 9th with just a painted headboard.

The Boston Evening Gazette placed Howard Mather Burnham on "the long and luminous roll of patriots" for our country and described him as "the pride and joy of one of loveliest homes that adorn the Connecticut valley" (the brownstone across from Storrs House at what is now 702 Longmeadow Street). His distinguished ancestors included the early settlers of Hartford and the celebrated Cotton Mather. In the Springfield Republican’s notice of the funeral, services were described as "highly interesting and the attendance large." Mention was made of the relics on display in the home, "not the least touching of which was the head-board of his grave on the bloody field. " Longmeadow’s Pastor Harding, who presided at the services, spoke for the community’s grief and pride. He remembered Howard as giving "his village playmates their first lessons in military tactics. But," he added, "little did we dream, while looking upon that mimic parade, that the boy-captain, marching his file of holiday recruits up and down the common, to the beat of a toy-drum, was to die in a gigantic civil war, at the post of duty, as commanding officer of Battery ‘H’ Fifth U.S. Artillery."

Judy Mish, Board Member

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Remembrance of Wars Past

We honor over 125 soldiers lost from the town of Longmeadow during this season every year. There will be several reminders of past wars during our Long Meddowe Days Weekend from Friday, June 4th through Sunday, June 6th. It is time to honor those commemorated on the war memorials and teach young people about local history. For the first time, there will be a Civil War encampment on the town green. In the past only colonial or revolutionary era encampments have occurred here.

Longmeadow supplied 166 men to the Civil War, and 27 of them died. Local resident Elliot Levy has over five years experience presenting Civil War encampments. He has traveled to Gettysburg to meet over 30,000 fellow enthusiasts and has made trips locally to places such as the Holyoke Public Schools. In December of this year, Mr. Levy’s group will appear on Connecticut Public Television talking about New England’s involvement in the Civil War.

These historic presentations use authentic style reproduction uniforms, equipment, and artillery. Original artifacts and clothing are far too valuable and fragile to use, but objects owned by local hero Lieutenant Howard Mather Burnham are on display at Storrs House and cart be seen over the weekend.

A group of up to I5 people will set up three officer’s tents and ten enlisted men’s tents opposite the Community House from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. You will see a "company street," campfire area, flags, and more. Please stop by, ask questions and interact with the soldiers. Residents young and old will learn about camp life, how a soldier lived, what he wore, what weapons he used and even what he ate. Every half hour there will be a military drill and cannon demonstration. Please ask Mr. Levy to tell you the amazing story of the historic cannon retrieved from a faraway land.

Memorial Day ceremonies will be held on the green on Sunday, June 6th at 12:00 noon at the War Memorial. All are invited to attend this 45 minute service led by members of the Albert T. Wood American Legion Post, assisted by local clergy. Elliot Levy will speak about Longmeadow’s participation in the Civil War, and a wreath will be placed on the memorial. Members of the U.S. Marine Reserve from Westover will do a gun salute. Names of men lost in all U.S. wars will be read, followed by taps.

Betsy Huber Port

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Longmeadow in the Civil War

The following article is the text of the speech to be given at Memorial Day services, June 6, 1999 by Elliot Levy.

In the Spring of 1861 the country was at war with itself. Eleven southern states had seceded. President Lincoln issued a call for volunteers, and Longmeadow men answered that call.

Many were farmers. Others had such vocations as teamsters, laborers, mechanics, clerks, students and carpenters. Muster papers also show that Longmeadow sent off to the Civil War a hotel keeper, a stone cutter, a painter, a blacksmith, an artist, a gilder and a spectacle maker. They joined the approximately three million men who fought on both sides during the Civil War. Their ages ranged from 18 to 45.

Their average age was 25 years, 4 months. They went off to fight in such units as the 10th Massachusetts Infantry, 37th Massachusetts Volunteers, 13th Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, the 5th Massachusetts Artillery, and the lst, 3rd, and 4th Massachusetts Calvary.

To Longmeadow’s credit, and to show their support, the voters pledged to pay each volunteer the sum of $100 or $200, depending on when they volunteered. This liberal pledge was made before any such law was passed by the Massachusetts Legislature.

Longmeadow men fought in many of the major battles of the Civil War. Spottsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, Fair Oaks, The Wilderness, Sailors Creek, White Oak Swamp, Chicamauga, and South Mountain were some of the engagements in which Longmeadow’s soldiers saw action.

By the end of the war in 1865, eight brave and honorable men from Longmeadow had given "their last full measure of devotion." They were Elias Coomes, killed at Fair Oaks, 1862; Carlo Brown, killed at New Bern, N.C, 1862; George Cook, killed at Cold Harbor, 1864; Timothy Mullins, killed at Sailors Creek, 1865; James Elliot Bliss, killed at White Oak Swamp, 1862; William Smith at Gum Creek; Asahel Gage, Jr. at South Mountain, 1862; Lt. Howard Burnham, killed at Chicamauga, 1863.

Ten more would die during the war from such diseases as typhoid and dysentery. Furthermore, three Longmeadow men, -James Coomes, Nathaniel Taylor, and Nathaniel FOX, would be among the approximately 13,900 men to die under horrible conditions at the infamous Andersonville Prison.

The Civil War lasted four bloody years, and in the end 620,000 men died, while many more were wounded. We know the sacrifices made by the men of Longmeadow. We honor their memory-

Elliot Levy

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Historical Award Winner

The Longmeadow Historical Society is pleased to announce that Meaghan S. McCormick, a senior at Longmeadow High School, is the winner of the 1999 Longmeadow Historical Society/ Timothy Paige Historical Award.

Each year the Society presents a cash award to a Longmeadow student in grade 8 through 12 who submits the best essay or project that promotes a better understanding of the history of Longmeadow or its residents. The award will be presented at Long Meddowe Days.

Meaghan is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey McCormick of Longmeadow. She will attend Middlebury College in the fall.

The title of Meaghan's essay was The Great Awakening and Its Effect on the Society and Religion of the Connecticut River Valley.

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The Longmeadow Historical Society

The first organizational meeting of the Longmeadow Historical Society was held June 3, 1899 in the "old chapel" (a building adjacent to First Church, torn down to make way for the church’s parish house, was the site of town meetings for many years.) Supper was prepared by the Ladies Sewing Society, and afterwards they gathered with interested friends around an old oak "study table" that had belonged to the first minister of First Church, Reverend Stephen Williams. A display of town artifacts inspired interest as a proposed constitution and bylaws were presented.

The fledgling society moved quickly and with due regard to legal niceties. By November of that year it had secured papers of incorporation from Boston and had elected its first officers. The stated purpose of the society was to encourage an interest in the history of the town by providing lectures, and collecting papers, furniture, and articles illustrating town life in past times. Dues were 50 cents per year.

The first exhibition sponsored by the Society took place in the chapel in October of 1899. Besides special Longmeadow artifacts, it included a reproduction of an old kitchen with fireplace and spinning wheel.

At its first annual meeting on October 31st, three ladies presented papers on historical subjects: Mrs. McQueen spoke on "Longmeadow of the Past"; Mrs. S.E. Meacham on "Old Home Life in New England"; and Mrs. C.S. Gates on "Legendry, Lore, and Superstition." Members voted at that meeting to lend the society’s support to Memorial Day observances.

In 1907 Miss Sarah Storrs, a descendent of Longmeadow’s second minister, the Rev. Richard Salter Storrs, died and left all her real estate and some money to be used to establish a library. The real estate included the historic Storrs homestead which was built in about 1786.

In 1932 when the Storrs Library Association decided to build a new library, it offered the use of Storrs House to the Historical Society on the condition that the society restore, repair, and maintain it. The house was moved twelve feet to the south and about thirty feet back to make room for the library. In the process it was provided with a new foundation but lost its front porch, a glassed porch on the south side and two additions.

The Historical Society spent about $2,200 restoring Storrs House in 1932 in time for the town’s sesquicentennial the following year. The arrangements between the Storrs Library Association, which owns Storrs House, and the Longmeadow Historical Society, which maintains it as a museum, has continued to the present day.

Over the years the society has lent furniture and artifacts from its collections to the Connecticut Valley Historical Museum, the Connecticut Historical Society, the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, the Smithsonian, and the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Storrs House is open throughout the year on Wednesday and Thursday mornings or by appointment. During Long Meddowe Days, tours will take place Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.

Linda Rodger, Board Member

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Weathercock Pin

When the Historical Society began Long Meddowe Days in 1980, it adopted as the logo for the event the rooster that perches atop First Church and enjoys its bird’s eye-view of the passing scene on the green below.

The rooster weathervane is a common sight on church steeples across New England, and so it is no surprise that the First Church of Deerfield should also boast a similar weathercock on its steeple. Now a replica of that weather vane is available as a lovely pin to wear on a blazer or jacket.

Made of pewter with a gold finish, the pin will sell for $20, with all proceeds benefiting the Longmeadow Historical Society. Stop by the Historical Society booth at Long Meddowe Days to purchase your very own rooster! Or, call Denise Brown at 567-2386 to order one.