COVENTRY – Private James Stewart Hoyt, who served in the Civil War, will have his memorial service this Sunday Oct. 18th from 1:30-3:30 p.m., at the Coventry Union Cemetery and Coventry United Gospel Church.
Each year, the Coventry Town Museum, in concert with others from the community, decides on an individual from the local area who fought in the American Civil War.
The process of choosing the person to be honored is quite simple, explained Janine Hakim, President of the Coventry Town Museum.
Hakim said that the man doing a bulk of behind-the-scenes research on chosen candidates – and the man who sparked the original idea of the memorial service – is William Searfoss, a local historian.
After a list of possible people is comprised, it’s examined by the Coventry Town Museum Board until an individual is identified.
“It all began with Pvt. Charles Moon, Company H, 5th NY, Heavy Artillery, who died at Salisbury Confederate Prison on Nov. 24th or 25th during the war,” said Searfoss.
Searfoss went on to explain how he was able to obtain a memorial marker to be placed at the family plot in the Coventry Union Cemetery, thanks in part to help from his mentor, Fran Lynch. He also said he reached the Coventry Museum Association. The museum director, Phyliss Lerwick, agreed to the idea, but suggested more of a memorial program with historic Coventry to provide a backdrop for the event. The community heavily embraced this event, and it even saw support from outside the community.
“It was an all-out memorial service for a local kid who died in a major war. He laid buried in an unmarked grave with thousands of his comrades and never got recognition or anything else he deserved back home,” said Searfoss. “The most moving thing is how people can grieve so deeply for an ancestor or a neighbor they could never have known. It was the justice that Charles Moon had been denied some 140 years ago and it was a good thing to see.”
Some 10 years later, the event is still going strong with much support drawn from the community. This year honors Private James Stewart Hoyt.
“Mr. Hoyt’s time in the military was the shortest of anyone we’ve honored before. After he was “mustered” in, he began to serve that May and was killed in the battle of Chantilly that September of the same year,” Hakim said. “Hoyt was killed as he was charging up a hill into battle. A bullet punctured him in the heart and he fell dead. He was only in his early to mid 20s when he was killed. Back home, he still lived with his parents on their 200 acre farm. He died so young that he was not able to get married. He was not given the chance to come home and resume a civilian life.”
It should be noted that Private Hoyt had no direct family or descendants in the area who could be located by the association. It was recorded that Hoyt did have a brother and two sisters.
The younger brother of Private Hoyt fought in the Civil War some years later. He survived his time in the military and was able to come home, but later moved to Jersey City, New Jersey to work as an engineer.
