Communication 3 – May 2013

The CompanionMassachusetts Commandery of The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States

Commander Frederick Stevens saluting after placing a wreath at the Lincoln statue during the annual Lincoln Day observance—co-sponsored by MA MOLLUS—in Hingham, MA, where President Lincoln’s ancestors settled in the 17th century. From the top right, counter clockwise: The Old ship Church, in Hingham, site of the Lincoln Day memorial service; salute before the statue of Massachusetts’ Civil War Governor John Andrew; MA MOLLUS Companions meeting at the event (Bob Anderson, Frederick Stevens, and Warren Wells); and a Hingham unit leading cer-emonies at the cemetery on the hill above the Old Ship Church.

Lincoln Day Observance in Hingham, Massachusetts

Save the Dates!October 3–5, 2014

Massachusetts Welcomes 2014 National CongressAlthough far to the north of the battlefields, Massachusetts is rich in Civil War history. Compan-ions from across the country will join together in the Bay State in October 2014 to celebrate the ac-complishments of MOLLUS over nearly 150 years. The Congress will be held in the historic town of Framingham, which was home to General George Gordon, who created a “model” regiment and commanded troops in numerous battles, including Cedar Moun-tain, Second Bull Run, Chantilly, and Antietam. Framingham is also the location of Plymouth Church, where the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” was first sung, and Harmony Grove, where William Lloyd Garrison burned the Con-stitution during a fiery Abolition-ist speech. The three-day program includes visits to the Framingham History Center, which displays beautifully preserved artifacts of the war within a restored 1872 Civil War memorial building; a bus tour of civil war related loca-tions, including the monument to the first all African-American regiment (the 54th MA, subject of the film Glory) at the Bullfinch-designed state capital; Faneuil Hall, where Daniel Webster gave his great speech on “Liberty and Union”; and the Wayside Inn, in nearby Sudbury, celebrated in Longfellow’s famous “Tales of the Wayside Inn.”

Banquet and SpeakerThe Congress banquet, on Satur-day, at the Framingham Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center, will feature a presentation by William K. Martin, Jr., author of Letters to Lincoln. We expect 50 or more

non-MOLLUS Civil War enthusi-asts to join us for the program. More information on the Con-gress will be forthcoming, but for now, save the dates, and plan to join us in Framingham on October 3–5, 2014.

2

June 6, 2013 makes the 100th anniversary of the birth of J. T. Lenahan O’Connell, an active Companion in

the Massachusetts Commandery (1957–), a former MA MOLLUS commander (1963-66), and former two-term National MOLLUS Commander (1967–71). Lenahan O’Connell is a graduate of Boston Eng-lish High School (1930), Boston College (1934), Boston University Law School (JD, 1938), and the U.S Army Judge Advocate General Law School of the University of Michigan (1944). During World War II, Reserve 2nd Lt. O’Connell was a Battery Officer in the 79th Division, then a 1st Lt. and Service Battery Commander and S-4 in the 86th Division. He subsequently served as an attorney with the Judge Advocate in the Pacific and rose to the rank of Lt. Col. by the end of the war. Lenahan, who was secretary of the Massachusetts Civil War Centennial Commission, has a special inter-est in the contribution of Massachusetts Irish-American units in the Civil War. He is now working with MA

100th Birthday of Former Commander Lenahan O’ConnellMOLLUS to place in a Boston courthouse a plaque hon-oring Col. Patrick Rob-ert Guiney (9th Mas-sachusetts Volunteer Infantry). We wish Companion O’Connell a very happy birthday and say that we are profoundly grateful for his exemplary service, both to his country and to MOLLUS.

Lenahan O’Connell (center) with his brothers, Kevin and Finbarr, at Subic Bay, Philippines, July 1945.

The Massachusetts Commandery membership stands at 41, with 36 Hereditary, 5 Associate

plus one Dual. Our Dual member is Robert An-derson. Bob is a member of the CT Command-ery who lives in Norfolk, MA. We gave him a warm welcome at the Lincoln Day ceremonies on

February 2, and appre-ciate his willingness to actively participate. February 2nd was cold but sunny and dry. I again presented a wreath at the statue of Abraham Lincoln. Salutes were fired by the 22nd MA Regt.

Re-enactors. At the reception, we displayed my copy of “The Vicksburg Citizen” of July 4, 1863 (printed on wallpaper) and “The Official and Il-lustrated War Record,” by Gen. Marcus J. Wright, ably assisted by Col. Benjamin La Bree and James P. Boyd A.M., Commissioner of War Department, Washington DC 1899. Meetings in November and January focused on the 2014 Congress. Members are volunteer-ing for the many and various jobs to be done.

Commander’s Spring Report Frederick A. Stevens, Jr., Commander, MA MOLLUS

We are also being greatly assisted by consultation with Mr. Robert E. Schecter of Bartleby Scriveners in Framingham, MA. In addition to preparing a book for us, Bob is willingly assisting in some of our other projects. Progress continues on the res-toration of our old silk banner. Completion date is expected to be later this year. We continue with the project to honor Col. Pat-rick L. Guiney, a MOLLUS member, for his service as last commander of the 9th “Irish” Regiment and Register of Probate. The plaque will be placed in Brook Court House, on New Chardon Street, Boston. The project is spearheaded by past C-in-C Lenahan O’Connell with assistance by past com-mander Warren Wells and Robert Schecter. As yet, we have not been able to recruit a son of Bayard Lincoln to take over the ROTC awards. The job has therefore fallen to me with assistance from Brendan O’Connell. We mourn the death of Walter Stratton Kerr, Jr. of Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Walter was a doctor, once the Commandery Surgeon.

Loyally,Frederick A. Stevens, Jr., Commander

3

MA MOLLUS at 2013 “Tribute to Abraham Lincoln” in DC

Photographs by David Otis Whittemore, MA MOLLUS

New Civil War FilmThis is to alert you to a new Civil War film com-ing this summer from Ron Maxwell (director of the acclaimed “God and Generals” and “Gettys-burg”), called “Copperhead.” It’s about a farmer in upstate New York, Abner Beech, who is against slavery but opposes the war Lincoln is waging, for Constitutional reasons. Some consider him a patriot and others a traitor. The film is inspired by actual events from the classic book, and stars Billy Campbell (most recently in the National Geographic Channel hit “Killing Lincoln”).

Civil War Round TableCaptain Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Awards DinnerDate: Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013Time: 6:00 pmPlace: Ken’s Steak House, Framingham, MASpeaker: Frank J. Williams, Author, Lincoln Histo-rian, Founder of the Lincoln Forum, Retired Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court.Ceremonial Units: 54th Mass. Regiment and The Mass. Sons of Union Volunteers.Information: cwrtmass@comcast.net