One of the 18th VT Regiment’s ongoing projects is to create a listing of all men from St. Albans who served during the Civil war. They plan to locate then photograph their gravesites, and if needed, place a veterans marker on their grave. Once completed the data will be available at the St. Albans Historical Society Museum.
Following the Camp Holbrook historical roadside marker ceremony on Sept. 24, 2011, members of the18th traveled to the Greenwood Cemetery, located on North Main Street where they placed veterans markers and miniature American flags on seven graves to include: Louis Smith, George Church, Aldis Owen Brainerd, Leonard Warren, Lester Greene, and Harmon Vernal, all of whom served in the Civil War and were credited to St. Albans.
Each of the seven Civil War veterans was offered a prayer and a rifle salute.
The 18th VT is a non-profit group that continues to raise funds for the preservation of Vermont’s Civil War heritage. It provides educational programs, and resources for identification and preservation of historical collections. Projects include historical walks around St. Albans, guiding visitors to the sites of the St. Albans Raid, funding and erecting monuments, producing Civil War programs, authorship of books, and the luminaria in the Soldiers Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pa.
The 18th VT has also contributed to battlefield preservation projects wherever Vermonters have fought.
In 2010 the 18th VT replaced the damaged headstone of Capt. George Conger, a retired member of the 1st VT Calvary, who in 1864 organized and led a posse in pursuit of Confederate raiders who had robbed the banks in St. Albans.
By ANN HAWKSBY
Messenger Correspondent
