w w w . a m h e r s t c i t i z e n . c o m • M A Y 2 5 , 2 0 1 0 • the Amherst Citizen • �

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seems he was on the forefront of the movement in New Hampshire to thus honor the fallen. Having busi-ness dealings in Boston, perhaps he was aware of the Forest Hills stat-ue erected in 1867. The first public Civil War sculpture in New Hamp-shire wasn’t erected until October 1869, in Claremont, with Peterbor-ough just a couple months behind. In Amherst, the voters appropri-ated $500 (a significant sum but not nearly enough) and appointed the first committee in March 1868. The following year foundry propri-etor Harrison Eaton was appoint-ed to investigate its construction. More than a year after that, Lieu-tenant. J. Byron Fay (1829-1886), tin smith and twice-wounded veteran, and two others were appointed to a committee to propose a plan with cost estimates, which they did, pro-jecting $4000. It wasn’t until the March 1871 town meeting that the citizens appropriated $3000 and au-thorized the committee of Harrison Eaton, John F. Whiting, mills pro-prietor, and J. Byron Fay, town clerk at that time, to locate and erect it. By the end of 1871, Amherst had its soldiers’ monument. A granite boulder acquired by town modera-tor Wm. A. Mack from the farm of Levi J. Secomb in Amherst was used for the foundation stone.

The tablet honors 25 citizen sol-diers of Amherst who died in (or from) the “War of the Rebellion” 1861-’65. About 104 men of Am-herst served in the Civil War, not counting non-resident substitutes paid for by Amherst. (The town’s quota in 1862 for 3-year enlistments was 86 men.)Sculptor

The bronze statue was designed by sculptor Martin Milmore (1844-1883) of Boston, who immigrated from Ireland as a boy. Weighing about a thousand pounds, it was cast by Ames Foundry at Chicopee, Mass.

Milmore’s first Civil War memo-rial, erected in Forest Hills Cem-etery by the city of Roxbury, Mass. “brought immediate popularity to the sculptor as well as the type. The first four New Hampshire towns to erect Civil War statues all turned to Martin Milmore, three of them selecting copies of the Forest Hills figure,” namely Claremont, Peter-borough and Amherst, according to researcher David Ruell. After “the Claremont monument was unveiled as the first public sculpture in the state, Martin Milmore’s work ... set a standard for Civil War memori-als. Most of the 54 sculptured war memorials erected in NH during the next half century followed the same pattern, a full sized statue of a Civil War infantryman standing on a granite pedestal. (More elabo-rate multi-figure monuments were built in Manchester, Nashua, Ports-mouth, and Dover.) ... The Amherst statue was the last of Milmore’s works erected in the state. ... Few of the later Civil War figures can match [Milmore’s soldiers] in senti-mental impact or aesthetic quality.”Peterborough’s Statue

When Peterborough’s monu-ment, a seven-foot statue atop a sev-en-foot granite base, was dedicated in June 1870, at least 5000 people witnessed the event and the Milford Band played, reported the Farmers’ Cabinet of Amherst. It is probable that Lieut. Fay, as a veteran, would have attended this event. (Fay lived in the relocated Stewart House at 101 Boston Post Road.)

Peterborough’s statue today stands on Grove Street, atop steep granite steps, in front of the old DAR Hall surrounded by piles of cannon balls. It is virtually the same as Amherst’s except for two things: first, there is an inscription on one side of the metal base giving the name of the sculptor and date and on the other side the name of the foundry where cast, whereas no such identification is on Amherst’s; and second, whereas the color of Amherst’s is a weathered, streaked oxidized green-grey, Peterborough’s statue is a gleaming brown. Peter-borough’s tablet names 43 men and two wives. First Memorial Day

The first Memorial observance in Amherst was conducted by Mil-ford’s Post of the Grand Army of the Republic in June 1869. Veterans and other citizens decorated the graves of fallen soldiers, first in Milford, then in Amherst. There was a cer-emony at a band stand on the Com-mon and a procession that includ-ed the Lawrence Engine Company of 41 firefighters, a guard of rifle-men, singers from the high school, and cornet band, and afterwards all were entertained by the ladies in the court house.

The next observance occurred in May 1874 with Lt. Fay as Chief Mar-shal, the same groups participating. After ceremonies at the cemetery, where school children decorated the graves with flower bouquets or wreaths, the procession returned to the Soldiers’ Monument for prayer, speeches, and a poem by newspa-per editor E. D. Boylston about the fallen. Once Amherst had its own G.A.R. Post, installed July 1879 with J. Byron Fay as first commander and named for Charles H. Phelps, they conducted the Decoration Day cer-emonies. Capt. J. B. Fay was still in-volved and the monument still a fo-cal point.Veterans of Other Wars

In 1985, the Historical Society of Amherst installed three additional bronze tablets to honor Amherst veterans and deceased of the Span-ish American War of 1898, Mexican Border Conflict 1916-’17, Korean War 1950-’53, Vietnam War 1961-’73, and World Wars I and II.Sources:“The Public Sculpture of New Hamp-shire” by David Ruell, Ashland, NH, 1980; unpublished paper, at NH Historical Society, Concord.“Amherst in the Great Civil Con-flict of 1861-1865” by Edward D. Boylston, 1893 (see archive.org).

Town of Amherst

Memorial Day Observance

Friday, May 28, 2010

SUNSET PARADE FEATURING

AMHERST’S YOUTH & CEREMONIES

5:30 p.m. Parade forms on Large Common

6:00 p.m. Parade Steps Off

Ceremonies after on the Large Common

(Parade will be held rain or shine—except thunderstorms!)

For info call Marie Grella 673-4905 or e-mail mgf1225@aol.com

u Amherst’s First Memorial Day Observance continued from page 1

Alex Lyon placing flags on the grave sites of his grandfather, Elliott P. Lyon, US Navy WWII and great grandfather, Walter Mitchell Lyon, US Army WWI.

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