Richard Hill Gets His Due for War of 1812 Service-- Part 1

From the September 15, 2002, Central Maine.com "War of 1812 veteran gets his due" by Beth  Quimby, Portland   Press Herald.

Taps was finally played for Richard Hill on Saturday, some 151 years after his death.  He was a black War of 1812 sailor and these military honors were delivered at the so-called "Colored Ground" burial area at Portland, Maine's Eastern Cemetery.

Hill is believed to have witnessed the British attack on Fort McHenry in 1814 which led to Francis Scott Key writing the words to what is today known as the "Star-Spangled Banner."

He and his grave site were forgotten after his death in 1861 at the hands of his son, who murdered him outside their home on Munjoy Hill.  Unfortunately, all is not yet correct with him as his new stone is engraved with his death year as being 1881.

Military honors were  provided by the Harold T. Andrews American Legion Post 17 of Portland and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6859 0f Portland.

His new stone was paid for by the  federal government and stands  beside Portland's black American Revolutionary War veterans at Congress and Mountfort streets.

--Brock-Perry

Antioch, Illinois, to Honor War of 1812 Veteran

From the May 29, 2021, Daily Herald (Chicago Suburbs) Antioch to dedicate monument for War of 1812 soldier."

A monument for Antioch's oldest-known soldier, Captain Leverett  Barnes, who served in the War of 1812, will be dedicated at 10:30 a.m., Monday, May 31, at Hillside Cemetery, Route 173 and Hillside Avenue.

The dedication is part of a Memorial Day service sponsored by Antioch  American Legion Post  748, Sequoit  VFW Post 4551 and the Lakes Region  Historical Society.

A reception will follow at the VFW Hall, 75 North Avenue.  In case of bad weather, the entire  event will be held in the hall.

I had no idea we had a War of 1812 veteran buried near us.

--Brock-Perry

Traveling Body of Capt. John Gwinn of the USS Constitution-- Part 5: Leaving Philadelphia and Heading to D.C.

Continued from April 10, 2021.

Once the coffins were dug up, thousands of people lined the streets of Philadelphia as they were escorted to the railroad station.  Flags were lowered to half-mast, church bells rang, and a Navy band played the funeral march.

The procession was followed by  representatives from all military branches , members of multiple VFW posts, auxiliaries in white dresses and gold-lined capes.

There was even an attempt to have the coffins carried to Washington, D.C.,  board the USS Constitution, which had just begun its famed National Cruise at the time.  But the timing was not good and preparations to transport by train had already been made.

The bodies arrived by train on August 24, 1931,  and the coffin was carried to its new grave site at Arlington National Cemetery.  There the bodies of Captain John Gwinn and his wife Caroline, arrived at their final destination.

They were buried at Lot No. 2913, Section 4.

--Brock-Perry

The Traveling Body of Captain Gwinn-- Part 4: Getting the Captain Moved to a Better Burial Spot

Letters were written to the Philadelphia Record, the Naval Historical Foundation, the National Naval Liaison Officer of the VFW and the Philadelphia  County Committee of the VFW suggesting the exhumation of Captain Gwinn and his wife Caroline, and reburial at Arlington National Cemetery.

A new coffin was made  to hold the couple's remains.  During the transfer from the old coffin to the new one, 22 uniform buttons were removed from the which is a testament to the enduring  quality  of the U.S. Naval officer's garments. still intact uniform coat.

The moment of exhumation also afforded a closer look at Captain Gwinn himself, as no other images  are known to exist (which is why I just had a picture of his gravestone).  

The undertaker in charge of the project, Charles O'Neill, who was also commander of the Liberty Bell Post 1906, VFW, remarked "...never [have I seen] such large jaw bones as those of Captain Gwinn, also that there were four teeth missing, and in addition, that Captain Gwinn had red or auburn hair.  Might also add that when the grave digger took hold of the skull of Captain Gwinn [it] broke in half across the skull."

--Brock-Perry