Civil War History

Captain Knott Martin House // 1770

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This gambrel-roofed Georgian house on Franklin Street in Marblehead was built before the American Revolution for Mr. Henry Lane, a sailmaker, but is best-known as being the home to Captain Knott V. Martin. Knott Martin (1820-1898) was born in town as was descendants from early settlers of Marblehead, and after attending local schools, became a shoemaker beginning at the age of just thirteen. After over a decade as a shoemaker, he began a butchershop and had a slaughterhouse to the rear of his property. When the Civil War broke out, Captain Knott was among the first to reach Faneuil Hall to begin duty. A Boston Globe article from 1918 detailed his finding out of the war, “Late in the afternoon of April 15, 1861, Lieut. Col. Hinks of the 8th Mass. Regiment rode into Marblehead to notify the Commanders to be ready to take the first train, the following morning to answer President Lincoln’s call for troops… I found Captain Martin in his slaughter house, with the carcass of a hog, just killed. On communication to the Captain my orders, I advised him to immediately cause the bells of the town to be rung, and to get all the recruits he could. Taking his coat from a peg… with his arms stained with blood and his shirt sleeves but half rolled down, he exclaimed, ‘Damn the hog!” In a battle at New Bern he was wounded by a spent cannonball and lost eight inches from the main bone of his right leg, becoming permanently disabled. Following his discharge from the War he was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives serving in that capacity during 1866 and 1867.  He was then appointed Messenger to the House of Representatives for two more years. In May 1869 he was appointed Postmaster in Marblehead, a position he held until he retired on May 16, 1885. Knott Vickery Martin died at his home in 1898, but it has been lovingly preserved ever-since.

Island Grove Park Memorial Arch // 1912

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The Abington Memorial Arch and Bridge at Island Grove Park was dedicated on June 10, 1912 as part of the town’s bicentennial observances. The Grove had been a popular meeting place for the Massachusetts Anti-slavery Society, with William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Abby Kelley Foster, and Lucy Stone among the many prominent reformers who spoke there. Abington resident and Civil War veteran, Capt. Moses Arnold, donated a large marker in 1909 to commemorate the abolitionist meetings at Island Grove, this act led the local GAR Post to begin planning a Civil War Memorial Bridge and Arch for the community. The 17-acre park is comprised of a peninsula jutting into Island Grove Pond, a 35-acre body of water which was created by impounding the Shumatuscacant River in c. 1700 for industry. The area has a significant history, first as an industrial site, then as an amusement park, before it became the wooded park it is now. The Memorial Arch and Bridge serves as the main entrance to the park, and was designed collectively by architect, J. Williams Beal, landscape architects, the Olmsted Brothers, and sculptor, Bela Pratt. The municipal park is a beloved local landmark and host to many events.

Ames Sword Company Offices // c.1865

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Adjacent to the main Ames Manufacturing Company mills in Chicopee, Massachusetts, this handsome brick structure has ties to industry and the economic growth of the city in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Tucked away on Grape Street, at the edge of the Chicopee River, this building was built following the American Civil War as the offices of the Gaylord Manufacturing Company, a later subsidiary of the Ames Manufacturing Company. The company was run by Emerson Gaylord, a manufacturer, who produced leather belting and swords for the military just before and during the War. After the Civil War, the Gaylord company manufactured cabinet locks and society swords. In 1881, the adjacent Ames Manufacturing Company consolidated its own sword department with the Gaylord Manufacturing Company, forming the Ames Sword Company. The company would close in the 1930s, and today, this handsome brick building with corbelled cornice and segmental arches, sits vacant, awaiting preservation and a new life.

Gen. Davis Tillson House //1853

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The General Davis Tillson House was built in 1853 and is one of the best examples of a high-style Gothic Revival residence in the Mid-Coast region of Maine. Located on Talbot Avenue in Rockland, Maine, the house was first owned by General Davis Tillson (1830-1895), a prominent local businessman who owned lime manufacturing facilities and the town’s main wharf before enlisting for service in the American Civil War. Tillson had attended the United States Military Academy at West Point (1845-1851) but did not graduate due to an injury which forced the amputation of one of his legs. During the Civil War, Davis Tillson fought with distinction at the Battles of Cedar Mountain and Second Bull Run. Promoted up to Lieutenant Colonel, then Brigadier General, US Volunteers on March 21, 1863, he later served as Chief of Artillery, and commanded defensive fortifications in the siege of Knoxville before the conclusion of the war. Afterwhich, General Tillson was selected to serve as Director of Freedmen’s Bureau in Georgia and Tennessee. The Bureau was established in 1865 by Congress to help millions of former Black slaves and poor whites in the South in the aftermath of the Civil War. The Freedmen’s Bureau provided food, housing and medical aid, established schools and offered legal assistance. It also attempted to settle former slaves on land confiscated or abandoned during the war. After two years in Tennessee, Tillson would return to Rockland to his home and spend the rest of his life in Maine from this home. The General Tillson House is notable for the use of brick and the steeply pitched gable roof with jigsawn bargeboards.

George’s Island – Fort Warren // 1847

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Located seven miles by boat from downtown Boston, Georges Island is a must-visit location for history-buffs and those looking to see the city from a new vantage point! The island in its early days was used for agriculture for 200 years until 1825, when the U.S. government acquired it for coastal defense. Fort Warren was first-dedicated in 1847 and is named for Revolutionary War hero Dr. Joseph Warren, who sent Paul Revere on his famous ride, and was later killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Fort Warren is a pentagonal bastion fort, made of granite, and was constructed from 1833 to 1861, overseen by Col. Sylvanus Thayer, and completed shortly after the beginning of the American Civil War. Fort Warren defended the harbor in Boston, Massachusetts, off-and-on from 1861 through the end of World War II. It’s highest use was during the Civil War, where it served as a training facility and as a prison for Confederate officers and government officials. Unused after WWII, Fort Warren was acquired by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by the Federal government and is today maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation as the centerpiece of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.

Have you been to Georges Island?

Dr. Henry Janes House – Waterbury Municipal Center // c.1890

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Probably best known for being in charge of all the military hospitals in the Gettysburg area after the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, Waterbury, Vermont native, Dr. Henry Janes (1832-1915) had a decorated career and gave much to his country and hometown. Janes attended local schools before enrolling at St. Johnsbury Academy, later graduating from New York City’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1855. After a few years working in NY and MA, he moved back to Waterbury to take up a private practice. This was disrupted by the Civil War where he was a major surgeon on the front lines and had over 250 surgeons under his command. After returning home from the war, Dr. Janes was involved in politics and business, and had a home built in town. According to local historians, this present home of Janes was built in 1890, but it definitely could date to the 1870s with Stick style features. Upon his death, the Dr. Janes home was gifted to the town for use as a public library. When Tropical Storm Irene hit the region in 2011, the town offices were destroyed and Vermont Integrated Architecture was hired to expand the Janes House adding space for town offices, meeting space, a modern library and to reconfigure the historic home for the Waterbury Historical Society. Everything about this is perfect, down to the paint colors!