Upriver History: On Nov. 2, 1887, Suffield voted $3,000 for its Civil War monument
A first try in 1865 had fallen apart; this time the vote was unanimous.
SUFFIELD - On Nov. 2, 1887, a special town meeting in Suffield unanimously voted $3,000 for a monument to the town's Civil War soldiers, according to "Suffield Old and New," the history section of the town's 1921 250th anniversary book.
It was the town's second try. The first effort came at the annual town meeting on Oct. 2, 1865, which named a committee to get estimates. The committee reported that November that a monument would cost $2,000, and the town appropriated the money, but the effort failed. In February 1866 the appropriation was rescinded and the committee discharged, the book says.
Support never went away, the history says, but it took more than two decades to take shape. After the 1887 vote, committees were appointed and a granite monument went up on the Common, nearly opposite the Town Hall.
It was dedicated on Oct. 17, 1888, with veterans of the regiments Suffield men had served in. The Twenty-Second Regiment and veterans' posts held their reunion at the Town Hall that morning and were escorted at noon to the monument by the Sons of Veterans. Valentine B. Chamberlain of New Britain gave the oration, according to the book.
How this story was made: AI tools helped research and draft this story, working from the sources cited and linked above. It was fact-checked against those sources, and our editor, Joshua Allen, reviewed and approved it before publication. See an error? Email upriverdaily@gmail.com.