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On April 12th, 2011, our new exhibit on the Civil War opened
at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial
Building. This was 150 years, to the day, after the first
shots were fired on Fort Sumter marking the beginning of the American
Civil War. It is appropriate that the exhibit be mounted in this
building which was built in 1892 as a memorial to the 40 Huntingtonians who died, for the union, fighting in that war.
The inspiration for the exhibit was the return of a portrait of Jacob
Conklin Walters in his uniform, one of the first members of our
community to die in the war. The portrait passed through the
Walters family , ultimately ending up in the care of his great-grandson
John Ferguson. After he died, John's widow Joan offered it to the
family and they weren't interested in it, and she felt it belonged up
here and returned it to
Huntington under the care of the Society. |
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The portrait (shown above) is on display along with a
collection of memorabilia from that era. There is a
selection of flags, from that period from the Society's extensive
collection of historical flags, some of which are shown here. The
most significant flag, shown above, is the large 5 foot by 8 foot piece with a star
shaped arrangement of stars (shown above), made by the women of
Huntington and flown over the Sammis store, shown below, following notification of
each Union victory. |
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Some of the other scenes from the exhibit, and the opening, are shown.
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