P’ville History Buff to Hold Ceremony for Local Civil War Vets
Since reading his first book on the Civil War when he was seven years old, Glenn Hayes has immersed himself in the war between the states.
During much of the past decade, the lifelong Pleasantville resident has made repeated trips to Gettysburg, successfully joining others who spoke out at public hearings to help prevent a chain department store from opening within a cannon shot of the historic battlefield. He also participated in the 150th anniversary events.
On Sunday afternoon, he gets to appreciate a small slice of Civil War history much closer to home.
Hayes has organized a ceremony at All Souls Cemetery on Marble Avenue in Pleasantville at 2 p.m. to honor Civil War veterans who are buried in his home village. There will be representatives on hand from various organizations or a branch of the military who will place a wreath by the grave of each of the 12 Civil War veterans interred at All Souls. There are also 39 more buried at the Methodist church’s cemetery in the Old Village.
While Sunday’s ceremony is mainly to commemorate the recent 150th anniversary of the war’s end, Hayes also has a greater purpose in mind. He wants to raise awareness about the veterans buried and would like to convince the government or other groups to replace the faded gravestones of the long-deceased soldiers.
“Hopefully, this will give attention to the ones in the Old Village where you can’t even read them,” he said.
Hayes took on the task of looking after the Civil War veterans’ graves after he visited his parents’ plot at All Souls one day. He noticed an overturned headstone and went to see if he could straighten it out.
“It said 5th New York Zouaves, so I knew right away it was Civil War,” he said.
He researched and found 11 more buried at All Souls. He has since written a biography for each one of the dozen soldiers. During Sunday’s ceremony Hayes will read their names and provide a small amout of background about each one.
Hayes said that many local residents are puzzled about why there would be Civil War vets buried at All Souls. Most don’t realize that the cemetery, which is operated and maintained by Holy Innocents parish, was established in 1861. While some of the soldiers died from their wounds, most settled nearby and were buried there when they died, he said.
The public may attend the ceremony; however, Hayes asks visitors to walk if they live in the village or try to carpool since parking in the area is limited. He cautioned that visitors who do drive will need to find legal on-street parking on the nearby side streets and not use the lots of businesses that are open.
He anticipates that the ceremony will last close to an hour.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
