SOUTH BRUNSWICK — This month marks 150 years since a call for more soldiers to serve in the Civil War reached South Brunswick residents. To commemorate, the South Brunswick Library’s August exhibit is dedicated to the nearly 150 men who served in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Ceil Leedom, a retired South Brunswick librarian and volunteer with the township’s local history collection, began working on an exhibit in 2011 after discovering a book about how to locate Civil War veterans. While Leedom had names of some soldiers for several years, the book she found helped her organize and discover the dozens the men who volunteered, and some who gave their lives.
“I used the book’s suggestions and discovered 60-something soldiers who signed up, and about 70 others who are associated with South Brunswick,” Leedom said.
Leedom began her journey with township minutes from 1862, which contained a list of names of soldiers who received $60 in exchange for their 9-month enlistment in the militia. These men became part of the 28th regiment, which formed after a threeyear call of enlistment went grossly unfulfilled.
“After the initial war, there was a realization that it was going to last a lot longer than they thought,” she explained. “In 1862, the federal government called for 300,000 men to sign up for three years. Then, they wanted 9-month men in an attempt to attract more people who would only have to serve a shorter amount of time.”
Photocopies of these minutes, containing the list of the men who served, are just a portion of the items on display throughout the month at the library.
Many of the veterans are buried either in the Kingston section of South Brunswick or in nearby towns, and a monument was constructed in a Cranbury cemetery with a list of those who were killed in action during the Civil War — approximately 30 men.
“I made sure to include something about the men who are buried in the cemeteries,” Leedom said.
A great challenge to Leedom during her research was locating veterans who were listed in the 1890 census; the census was destroyed in a fire in 1921. Fortunately for Leedom, a separate military census from that year survived, providing valuable information, some of which is on display at the library.
“Although the 1890 census burnt up, the veteran census survived, so that can be used,” Leedom said. “You can find a whole list of people who were living in South Brunswick from the Civil War veteran records. They may not have necessarily come from South Brunswick, but they were associated with it.”
Leedom also used the digitized records from Trenton and New Brunswick newspapers, hoping that obituaries would mention if someone was a Civil War veteran.
“Mostly, you find funeral notices, but you’re hoping to find something that says someone was a Civil War veteran,” Leedom said. “There are little studies on the militia men who were from South Brunswick.”
During her research, Leedom came across a diary of a South Brunswick man named Peter Shann from the Civil War era that was not previously analyzed. She is currently transcribing the diary, which discusses his friend, Alan Colby, who lost a leg during the Battle of Fredericksburg. Pages from this diary are on display at the exhibit.
“The 28th regiment only saw two battles,” Leedom said. “Shann’s friend got part of a leg cut off and his diary discusses how he helped his friend.”
The display also includes small anecdotes about some of the men who died in battle, such as Tom Jolly, a married man who lost his life in the Battle of Fredericksburg.
The display will be up through the end of August.