Historic find in Raynham, Mass: Discovery of a Civil War book

[Ian David]

Another historic find in Raynham: Discovery of a Civil War book adds to impressive list of local historic artifacts

By Sharon Holliday, Enterprise correspondent

A handwritten book with the names of residents who served or died in the Civil War was recently found in a closet in the Raynham town clerk's office.

The book, its parchment cover crumbling with age, lists 17 Raynham men who died during the Civil War and others who served during the conflict.

“The town clerk at that time wrote everything in script, so it's kind of hard to read,” Town Clerk Helen Lounsbury said.

The discovery added to the local historic artifacts that spotlight the region's role in the War Between the States.

There are the bayonets, swords and black ammunition bag kept in a case at Whitman Town Hall; the Civil War drum and sword at Rockland Town Hall; a soldier's boot on display at the Brockton Historical Society, and the records found in West Bridgewater of local men who served in the Union Army.

There is also a pictorial record of local men who fought that bloody war.

In a photo taken in Taunton during the 1860s, young men in uniform are lined up as they prepare to march off to war.

In 1938, two elderly Civil War veterans posed for a camera in Brockton.

More:
http://enterprise.southofboston.com/articles/2007/03/01/news/news/news03.txt