Civil War Memorial to be Re-Dedicated on Sunday

A once-lost and forgotten memorial to a group of Dorchester men who served in the Civil War will be re-dedicated this Sunday at 12:30 p.m. in Lower Mills. A refurbished stone tablet honoring 51 members of Washington Street's First Methodist Church who fought for the Union will be unveiled, along with a new, stone scuplture of a kneeling soldier designed by a local man.

The stone tablet, inscripted with the names and the motto "Not for Conquest but for Country," was lost after the original church was demolished in the 1960s to make room for a new church, the Wesley United Methodist Church. Civil war enthusiasts discovered the tablet several years ago in a Cape Cod junkyard and teamed up with the Dorchester Historical Society to return the six-foot plaque to its rightful place. Earl Taylor, president of the Historical Society, says more than 30 different donors helped to raise $7,000 needed to restore and improve the memorial.

"The new monument was designed by Michael Sand [a former Washington Street resident and artist], who presented the design as a gift to the Historical Society," says Taylor.

The Wesley United Methodist Church is located at 1076 Washington Street.


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