Retired professor Robert Romer spurs effort to honor black soldiers in Amherst
1
2
3
4
5
AMHERST - While Robert Romer was taking a walk the day before Memorial Day, he noticed that small American flags had been placed next to gravestones in the West Cemetery in honor of those who had served their country.
Conspicuous by their absence, though, were flags at the gravestones marking the final resting places of four black men who were Union soldiers during the Civil War.
Romer deduced that it was likely an oversight, not a slight, and quickly purchased flags for them at Hastings. But the incident got him thinking about how the town can better recognize the contributions that Amherst's African-American community made toward ending slavery.
It's a topic that holds great interest for Romer, a retired Amherst College physics professor who wrote the book "Slavery in the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts." Now he's working to organize a ceremony, coinciding with the sesquicentennial of the beginning of the Civil War, to honor the black residents of Amherst who served in either the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment or the Massachusetts 5th Cavalry. More than 20 served; at least five lost their lives. Nearly 200,000 black soldiers and sailors participated in the Union's efforts overall.
"They were a large fraction of people who fought for the Union and this is a matter of how black men were willing to die for freedom," Romer said. "I think more people ought to be aware of it."
The 54th Regiment achieved its fame from the assault on Fort Wagner near Charleston, S.C., on July 18, 1863, a bloody battle that caused the deaths of more than 100 men, including its commander, Robert Gould Shaw, a white abolitionist from Boston.
Plans taking shape
Romer said he is working with Steve Connor, the town's veterans agent, Town Manager John Musante and members of the Historical Commission on plans for recognizing the dedication of all the black soldiers who called Amherst home, in particular those who are buried in the historic West Cemetery - including those who do not have gravestones.
He has also been consulting with Amherst historian James Avery Smith. Smith, who authored "History of the Black Population in Amherst, Massachusetts 1728 to 1870," said the town should regard the African-Americans who participated in the Civil War as role models, despite Amherst's anti-war bent.
"I think this would be a great thing for the town, a positive thing to establish a tradition," Smith said.
Jim Wald, chairman of the Historical Commission, said in an email that the ceremony could also be used as a launching point for a public effort to make the African-American section of the West Cemtery more attractive to visitors. In its existing state, people move over poorly maintained grass not knowing if they are walking over burial plots, he said.
"The plan is to substitute more appropriate and attractive planting for the grass, and to add a marker and other features calling attention to the importance and dignity of the site," Wald said. "A carefully defined path and a bench are among suggestions."
Those buried there
Charles A. Finnemore, a member of the all-black 54th regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment - a regiment memorialized in the movie "Glory," starring Denzel Washington - is among the four Civil War veterans who have marked graves.
Finnemore, who was wounded in an 1864 battle at Olustee, Fla., was discharged in 1865; during his time away his 15-month-old daughter, Hattie, died from a smallpox outbreak. He lived in Amherst for many years afterward. His gravestone fell into disrepair and was split in two, only recently being repaired as part of ongoing work to protect the historically significant elements of a cemetery best known for Emily Dickinson's grave.
Charles H. Thompson, an Amherst farm laborer who joined the 5th Calvary, John D. Thompson, who died in Army training camp in Readville in 1864 before joining the 5th Cavalry, and Genalvin C. Marse, who served in the Connecticut 29th Colored Infantry and saw combat in the long siege of Petersburg, Va., in 1864, are the other black soldiers with marked graves, Romer said. Marse came to Amherst after the war and served as a janitor at Amherst College's Chi Psi fraternity. The "Boys of Chi Psi," says the inscription on the monument, placed it there as a "loving tribute to a faithful servant."
Amherst Planning Director Jonathan Tucker, who has researched the history of the West Cemetery, said another black Civil War soldier, Arthur Jackson, is also buried there. John N. Langley, Jason Champlin, Jarvis Jackson and Henry Thompson are likely there, too, Tucker said.
There is a good possibility that additional black soldiers rest under the marker that reads "In Memoriam to Five Amherst Unknown Civil War Veterans," Romer said, since it is placed in a section of the cemetery that was reserved for Amherst's black residents.
Romer said he would like to get the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, local Boy Scout troops and Hope Church and Goodwin Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church involved in planning the ceremony. He is aiming for a summer or fall event.
Tablets await display
While the gravestones are the impetus for the recognition ceremony, Romer said additional African-Americans are listed on tablets recognizing more than 300 local residents who fought in the Civil War. The half-dozen marble tablets, which measure 56 inches by 75 inches and weigh about 800 pounds each, have been in storage since a mid-1990s renovation of Town Hall.
The plaques were commissioned in 1893 by E.M. Stanton Post 147 of the Grand Army of the Republic and for many years were mounted on the wall in the basement of Town Hall.
In 2009, Town Meeting appropriated $65,000 in Community Preservation Act money to put the tablets back on public display. Of that amount, $25,000 went toward cleaning and restoration. That work, done by Monument Conservation Collaborative of Norfolk, Conn., included removing a yellowish tint from the white marble, and applying black acrylic paint where appropriate to ensure all names on the plaques are visible.
Another $20,000 was allocated for an engineering analysis and design work related to the installation, with the final $20,000 designated for the actual installation.
Romer said that he would like to put together a black history map for Amherst that could include both the West Cemetery stones and the tablets, when their final location is selected.
According to information compiled by Tucker, Finnemore was one of nine men in the 54th Infantry Regiment who came from or served on behalf of Amherst. The others were Sanford Jackson, who died in Beaufort, S.C., from wounds suffered in the assault on Fort Wagner, Jason Champlin, Francis W. Jennings, William Jennings, William H.H. Jennings, John N. Langley, Alexander Taylor and James Thompson.
Fifteen soldiers in the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry came from Amherst or served on behalf of the community. In addition to Charles and John Thompson and Arthur Jackson, they include Samuel Freeman, Jarvis Jackson, Windsor Jackson, William Jennings, Howard E. Paxen, Joseph J. Solomon, Lorenzo Sugland, Christopher Thompson, Henry Thompson, Charles Turner, Charles Waters and William Williamson.
