A new monument honors the 10 men from Milltown who fought in the Civil War. MILLTOWN — Four years ago, Rebecca Petry set out to honor Henry Kuhlthau, an ancestor of hers who along with nine other Milltown residents fought in the American CivilWar.
In September, her hard work paid off when a statue was erected in honor of those veterans at the American Legion Post 25 property, across from Borough Hall.
On Nov. 28, Mayor Gloria Bradford presented Petry with a proclamation recognizing her efforts to establish a monument for the 10 men from Milltown who served in the Civil War. In addition to Kuhlthau, the veterans are John Adams, Jacob DeHart, George Heyl, George Roeder, Alexander Conover, John Fine, Eden Huff, John Ochs and James Townsend.
Interestingly, only three of the men were wounded in the war, and only one of them, Kuhlthau, died from his wounds.
Borough Historian Brian Harto said that when he first heard a few years ago that a girl who was 16 at the time was going to create a statue for Civil War veterans, he was shocked but impressed. A monument recognizing the local veterans who bravely fought in the war 150 years ago was exactly what the town was missing, he said.
“I think it’s great what she did,” Harto said. “It’s great to see someone that young care.”
In 2007, as a sophomore in high school, Petry visited Gettysburg, Pa., where she saw that the grave of her great-great-great-great-great uncle was separate from his regiment. Because her family loves to study history, she began to do research about veterans from Milltown who fought in the Civil War, and found that a total of 10 had served in the war.
For her Girl Scout Silver Award project, she chose to plan for a statue to honor her relative and the other men. However, once she started, she realized that creating the statue would not be easy, and it was going to cost $6,000. While most people doubted that she would raise the money, with her family’s help, she raised the necessary funds by holding garage sales and craft sales.
Once Petry had enough money, she met with a company that specializes in statues, and work was begun on the obelisk statue of the soldier.
Although it took a great deal of her time over the past four years, Petry said she always knew she would accomplish her goal to honor her ancestor.
“It was crazy; it didn’t even feel like it happened,” Petry said.
Her mother, Debbie, said she never doubted for a second that her daughter would complete the project and secure her Silver Award. Rebecca, she said, is a determined and hard-working person who loves history and her family very much.
“I always knew she’d finish,” Debbie said. “I’m very proud of her.”