EVERETT – Among the thousands of grave markers are inscriptions for S.A. Terwilliger, 29 Wisconsin Infantry; John Smith, 47 Indiana Infantry; and Joseph Cassin, 9 New York Calvary.
Michael O’Leary / The Herald
The former soldiers were among the more than 150 Civil War veterans who moved to Washington in search of a new life after the war and came to rest at Evergreen Cemetery.
“They are not dead. They are dead only if you forget,” David Dilgard, a historian at the Everett Public Library, told a crowd of more than 100 people on Saturday.
The crowd – some in blue Union uniforms and others in gray Confederate ones – gathered Saturday afternoon to commemorate the Civil War veterans buried at the cemetery in the first “Echoes of Blue and Gray” ceremony.
The cemetery has identified 153 Civil War veterans, including two African-American Union soldiers and one Confederate soldier, said Jim Shipman, the cemetery’s historian.
The war divided the country over slavery and other issues from 1861 to 1865. It happened outside Washington state, but its ramifications shaped lives here.
“It’s part of our heritage of fighting for freedom and ridding the country of slavery,” said Georgina Paul, an African-American whose great-great-grandfather, William P. Stewart, fought for the Union and settled in the early 1880s in Snohomish. Stewart is buried at the Grand Army of the Republic cemetery in Snohomish, said Paul, of Everett.
The ceremony made David Volker, who lived in Everett for 10 years before moving to Snoqualmie, mull over what he doesn’t usually think about.
“Not to repeat the past,” said Volker, 41. “By keeping the past fresh in your mind, you won’t repeat it.”
During the ceremony, everyone from the very young to seniors were encouraged to dedicate silent prayers on behalf of the sacrifices made by the soldiers so many years ago. The silence was in contrast to the busy traffic on nearby roads.
Jeanne Gallaway tried to imagine the haggard, exhausted faces of the soldiers and appreciate what they did.
“Brother against brother, family against family, they lost so much to give us freedom,” Gallaway said.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
