A memorial to Templeton Civil War soldiers who died in battle created by another veteran when he returned to Templeton from the war has been restored by current community members and will be displayed in Grange Hall.
The story of the memorial began with Capt. V.P. Parkhurst, who survived the Civil War and then returned to E. Templeton. “Feeling strongly about the loss of life during the war, he built a hall in the center of town, right in front of J.K. Crossroads is today,” according to Brian Tanguay, Narragansett Historical Society President and Curator. “He called it Memorial Hall and installed two beautiful frames mounted to each side of the second floor dance hall. Each frame stood 10½ feet tall and 7 feet wide. Within each frame were two granite slabs engraved with the names of the men who died during the Civil War along with their regiments. Altogether, there were seven regiments represented and 49 names,” Tanguay said.
“In the early ’70s, the building which was later known as the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) Hall, was taken down. The late Col. Edwin Tucker, who represented the Narragansett Historical Society, halted the demolition once the main wall was taken down and had the frames removed safely, since they were too large to move down any stairway,” Tanguay stated.
“The frames were moved into Templeton resident, the late Ralph Henshaw’s barn and covered. The granite stones were mounted in the carriage shed attached to the main building of the Historical Society at 1 Boynton Road, where they remain to this day,” according to Tanguay.
In 2016, Henshaw spoke to Tanguay of his concerns about the imminent danger to the frames due to the possible collapse of the barn. Tanguay responded and when the frames were uncovered, he asked if they were part of the altar of the Trinitarian Church, due to their intricate woodwork and massive size. Henshaw was unsure where they had come from as they had been stored there for over 50 years. “The double insert spaces in each frame raised the question of why there was such a space, and we soon came to the conclusion that it was to hold those four granite slabs,” Tanguay said.
“A plan was soon put together to move them out of the barn and to a safe location. John Manca president of Aspen Trucking in Gardner, volunteered to place them in one of his empty box trucks until they could move them to their final space,” Tanguay said.
That move happened about a year later when a plan was designed by Tanguay and Michael Matuszewski to cut a slot in the second floor of the Grange Hall between two windows and slide the frames in using a sling and a man lift run by Harris restoration of Templeton. Together with eight other volunteers, the plan worked and about two hours after the frames were delivered, they were safely laid on the stage of the Grange Hall, Tanguay said.
“A master woodworker and an expert in restoration of vintage furniture, Alan Cyganiewicz of Gardner and he supervised the safety of the frames in moving and in preserving them; he traced and cut out two panels that will fill the void just above each pair of granite slabs,” Tanguay continued.
“To this day, we have no images of what filled that area, but a sliver of an image that hinted it might be a regiment flag, probably in canvas. We took these panels to several artists over the next three years to find someone willing to paint them,” Tanguay said.
Time passed until a chance meeting at Tanguay Jewelers with Sonja Vaccari, a mural artist from Royalston. “I was having some work done at Tanguay Jewelers in Gardner. I was chatting with Brian Tanguay and we were talking about art. He said he had this project on the back burner and had been looking for an artist to do the work. He described the art project and I said I’ll do that,” said Vaccari. “Within two weeks, they were completed to finally give those two frames the finishing touch they so desperately needed,” Tanguay said.
“He (Tanguay) suspected the original panels had had eagles, as he had a very old photo of the memorial and he saw a partial picture of an eagle. There are two memorials so he wanted two eagles facing one another as they are going to be on either side of the stage. I sketched out (Civil War style ) eagles and painted them in that style,” Vaccari said.
“We can now finish the frames, stand them up upon the stage wall and insert the granite slabs back where they were originally installed back in 1880. We are so thankful to all of those who came out and lent a hand in moving, storing, restoring and painting this important memorial to the men who gave their lives during the Civil War,” Tanguay continued. Renovations continue on the Grange Hall. It is hoped the hall will be opened to the public within the next two years.
Vaccari has painted her whole life and began painting murals about 15 years ago. Along with the painting of the panels for the memorial, other local projects Vaccari has completed include collaborative mural work with other artists on a foundation in Athol across from Starretts, as well as the altar wall at the Phillipston Memorial Church. When not painting murals, Vaccari also paints on canvas. More information about Vaccari and her work can be found at www.sonjavaccarimuralist.com.
Carla Charter is a freelance writer from Phillipston. Her writing focuses on history with a particular interest in the history of the North Quabbin area. Contact her at cjfreelancewriter@earthlink.net.