The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War – New Hampshire Department will hold a dedication ceremony for a new Grand Army of the Republic sundial, to take place on the State House Plaza in Concord on Nov. 19, 2013 at 1 p.m.
Nov. 19 is the 150th anniversary of the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery by President Abraham Lincoln. At that event, he presented the Gettysburg Address, one of the best-known speeches in American history. The Address will be read at the Nov. 19 dedication.
New Hampshire’s original G.A.R. sundial was dedicated on April 9, 1942, coinciding with the 1865 surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant. That sundial’s whereabouts became unknown sometime in the last decade.
G.A.R. memorial sundials are also located at state houses in Iowa, Illinois and Ohio.
“The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War are direct lineal descendants of Civil War Veterans. Organized in 1881 by the Grand Army of the Republic, it became the legal heir of the G.A.R. by an act of Congress in 1954,” said Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War – New Hampshire Department Deputy Commander David Nelson. “The S.U.V.C.W. – New Hampshire Department feels that not only is it an honor and privilege to replace the missing sun dial, it is also our duty as descendants of the G.A.R. to do so.”
The Hardtacks, a New Hampshire-based musical duo, are scheduled to perform Civil War-era music as part of the ceremony.
In addition to the S.U.V.C.W. – New Hampshire Department, Cocheco Pattern Works of Somersworth, Concord Photo-Engraving, McBey Machine Shop and Patriot Foundry and Castings of Franklin, Cassidy Brothers of Rowley, Mass., and the N.H. Department of Cultural Resources donated or discounted their services, or made financial contributions for this project.
For more information about the S.U.V.C.W. – New Hampshire Department, visit nhsuv.iwarp.com/Deptnh.htm.
