Albion students will fix Civil War markers at Mount Albion

Seventh-graders will also research Civil War vets in county

Photos by Tom Rivers – Many of the markers for Civil War soldiers at Mount Albion Cemetery are rusted. Albion seventh-graders and teacher Tim Archer will restore the markers as part of a service-learning project.

ALBION The cast-iron markers are sprinkled around Mount Albion Cemetery, and many of them, put in years ago to honor Civil War soldiers, have turned to rust.

Albion teacher Tim Archer and seventh-graders want to restore the shine to the markers, put at graves by the Grand Army of the Republic. Students in Archer’s service-learning class will create a map and database of the marker locations.

They will use wiry brushes to remove rust and Archer will coat the markers with Rust-Oleum.

File photo – These bronze markers by the Civil War cannon at the cemetery haven’t rusted, but they have oxidized. Archer said students won’t be working on these ones. Nearby cast-iron markers, however, will be given a new shine.

Students have other Civil War initiatives planned for the school year. They are going to research the names of every Orleans County resident who died in the Civil War and compare that with the 463 names carved in marble slabs inside the tower at Mount Albion Cemetery.

Archer thinks not all soldiers who died in the war were included in the memorial. He and his students would like to create a database of all of the soldiers from the county who died in the war. Right now, he said there isn’t an accurate list with all the names.

The Civil War memorial at Mount Albion Cemetery includes the names of 463 residents who were killed during the Civil War. However, the memorial may not have included every local resident who perished in the war.

Archer and his students know one resident who served in the Civil War was buried at St. Joseph’s Cemetery on Brown Road in an unmarked grave.

The service-learning class, which is a requirement for all seventh-graders, has reached out to the Veterans Administration for a headstone for John Frost, who died in 1915.

Archer and the students have also contacted the offices for Congressman Chris Collins and State Assemblyman Steve Hawley about helping with the headstone.

The class has also learned about Herbert Charles Taylor, who is buried at Hillside Cemetery in Holley/Clarendon. Taylor is believed to be the only Orleans County resident who was killed at Gettysburg.

Archer and the class would like to have a historical marker at the cemetery about Taylor, noting his service to his country and death at Gettysburg.