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Some men never returned home as they did not survive the war. Some moved on to other towns having seen the larger world, but many returned. Many of those who returned bonded together to form a Grand Army of the Republic post that would influence their community, then and into the future.
Members of the Stephen Davis Grand Army of the Republic Post #11 in Pittsfield left a legacy for Pittsfield that continues into the 21st century with monuments, the annual Memorial Day parade, and the Manson Essay for high school juniors.
The GAR post disbanded in 1926. The GAR hall on Park Street was torn down as part of urban renewal in June 1970. The group's cabin at Camp Benson in Newport, where they held a number of large encampments, is privately owned has been modernized beyond recognition. The concrete steps and flag pole the GAR post had erected in Hathorn Park were removed to provide handicapped access to the park.
Several prominent monuments and the Memorial Day parade remain reminders of the soldiers' commitment to the Union. The Davis Post along with the Woman's Relief Corps (WRC) worked for a number of years to secure funds for the Civil War Monument, which was dedicated along with the opening of the Pittsfield Public Library in a special Memorial Day observance in 1904.
The 7 1/2 -foot bronze statue of a Civil War soldier at parade rest atop a decorative base made from Hallowell granite graces the grounds of the library and serves as a place of commemoration along the Memorial Day parade route.
At the end of the route in the Pittsfield Village Cemetery on Peltoma Avenue is a bronze urn placed near many of the Civil War veterans' graves. Dedicated in a Memorial Day ceremony in 1913, this urn was donated by the Davis Post and the WRC.
In 1868, in Decatur, Illinois, Benjamin F. Stephenson gathered veteran soldiers and sailors into the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The organization was structured with a Commander-in-Chief at the national level, Departments at the state level, and posts numbered in the order they were organized within each state. The GAR Department of Maine was organized January 10, 1868. Most posts took a name which had to be unique within a department and honored a deceased person.
In 1879, returning Pittsfield area veterans formed the local GAR post, which took the name of a 19-year-old member of the 1st Maine Cavalry, Stephen Davis of Stetson. His brother Daniel Davis was governor of Maine from 1880-1881. There were 1st Maine Cavalry fatalities from Pittsfield –– 20- year-old Leonard Small who died of wounds at Salisbury Prison in North Carolina where Davis died; and 24-year-old Madison Libby, who was killed in action –– and the reasoning has been lost for naming the post after a Stetson man.
An entry from the group's journal noted: "A few of the old soldiers of the late rebellion being desirous of perpetuating the remembrance of our hardships, sufferings, and struggles for union, law, and liberty and for our mutual benefit and protection petition for a charter for a post of the Grand Army of the Republic to be established in Pittsfield, Somerset County, Maine."
The group wanted "peace and harmony." They worked to get government aid for the wounded, widows, and orphans and to build retirement homes – and to remember the service of Civil War soldiers.
The Stephen Davis Post #11 served veterans of the area from many regiments, who had to apply to join and had to receive unanimous approval from other members. The GAR used a ballot box patterned after those used by lodges of the fraternal order of Freemasonry. Even one black marble "blackballed" or rejected the applicant.
Enoch Carr, Orin S. Haskell, and Richard Daniels, all from the 1st Cavalry, served as leaders in the Davis GAR post or encampments. Several community and state leaders also belonged to this post, including Dr. John C. Manson and Medal of Honor winner Colonel Walter G. Morrill.
Haskell (1836-1910) served in the 1st Maine Cavalry for nearly four years and rose to the rank of lieutenant. After the war he moved to Pittsfield where he was private secretary and adviser to Going Hathorn, a founder of Maine Central Institute (MCI), started by Free Will Baptists in 1866 to serve as a feeder school to Bates College.
After Hathorn's death, Haskell was co-executor of the estate and served in a number of capacities in the community in helping establish MCI, the first woolen mill in town, and the Pittsfield Advertiser, which he and his son Charles founded in 1882.
He was a charter member of the First Universalist Church and the Stephen Davis GAR Post #11, of which he was the first commander.
John Colby Manson, M.D. (1831-1885), the first regular physician to locate in Pittsfield, enlisted as surgeon for the 24th Maine Infantry Regiment on September 29, 1862 and was honorably discharged for medical reasons on November 22, 1862.
In his years in Pittsfield Dr. Manson served as a town selectman, state representative, executive board member at MCI and originator of the Manson Essay, which he established in 1871 to promote writing and speaking skills. Juniors at MCI are still required to write and orally present an essay.
At the time of Manson's funeral, there was a "long procession embracing a full delegation of students of the MCI .... to follow the remains to their last resting place." This path from the Universalist Church to the Pittsfield Village Cemetery closely approximates the 21st century Memorial Day parade route.
Walter G. Morrill (1840-1935), a native of Williamsburg, enlisted at age 20 as a sergeant in Co. A of the 6th Maine Infantry. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in Co. B of the 20th Maine Infantry on October 8, 1862 and to captain and commander of the company on July 1, 1863.
He received the U.S. military's highest award, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at Rappahannock Station, Virginia, on November 7, 1863.
His citation stated, "Learning that an assault was to be made upon enemy's works by other troops, this officer voluntarily joined the storming party with about 50 men of his regiment, and by his dash and gallantry rendered effective service in the assault."
He was in many skirmishes and key battles, the most famous being Gettysburg where Colonel Joshua Chamberlain led a bayonet charge down Little Round Top against the enemy while Morrill and his Company B skirmishers mounted a surprise attack to the enemy's rear.
With Chamberlain's promotion, Walter Morrill became the commander of the 20th Maine until the end of the war. Morrill was promoted to Lt. Colonel on March 13, 1865.
After the war, Morrill tried a variety of business ventures until he moved and settled in Pittsfield in 1885 to own a livery business and operate the Union Trotting Park. He became famous statewide in harness racing circles as a race promoter offering large purses and the unheard of practice of including women drivers.
He was a member of the Stephen Davis GAR Post #11 and often led the Memorial Day parade.
During his funeral at the Universalist Church in 1935, businesses closed and students in grammar school stood in silent respect at 2:30 P.M. Maine Central Institute was represented by the class presidents and Principal Purinton. Walter Morrill's life was the basis for a historical novel, Yankee Warrior, by Robert L. Haskell.
Over the course of the war, Pittsfield recruits served in 27 different regiments as well as some in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. Many veterans returned to Pittsfield, participated in the GAR – and served their community.
