LOCKPORT: Lockport Civil War veteran to be honored

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November 18, 2008

By Bill Wolcott<br><a href="mailto:wolcottb@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail Bill</a> The Niagara Gazette Tue Nov 18, 2008, 01:01 AM EST

Jefferson and John Baylis, twin brothers from Lockport who fought in the Civil War, are buried at the Glenwood Cemetery near Rattlesnake Hill.

Jefferson Baylis was the oldest Civil War veteran from Lockport when he died in 1937. His great, great-grandson Don Holtz has worked to have the Baylis brothers honored for Remembrance Day. An older brother, Samuel Baylis also served in the Civil War and is buried in Michigan.

The grave-side ceremony is adapted from a 1917 service used by the Grand Army of the Republic to re-dedicate a member’s headstone. Remembrance Day is held the Saturday closest to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address which took place on Nov. 19, 1883. National ceremonies are held annually in Gettysburg, Pa.

Members of the Col. John B. Weber Camp No. 44 and the Weber Guard, Sons of the Veterans Reserve, will honor and mark the final resting place of Jefferson Baylis, the last Civil War veteran to be buried in Lockport. Baylis was the past commander of the Spout Post No. 76, the Grand Army of the Republic.

A score of Civil War re-enactors will be among the participants Saturday.

Holtz, who was born in Newfane, will be with seven local descents. Holtz, who was stricken with Parkinson’s disease in 1992, has been a Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War re-enactor. He will dress in the uniform of the Grand Army the Republic.

The former Williamsville teacher can’t carry a musket but dresses as a member of Sanitation Commission. Those are the soldiers who set up the hospitals after a battle.

William A. Christen II of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War plans a procession of military, civilians and descendants, followed by a prayer, placing of a wreath and a three-gun salute with muskets.

The Colonel John B. Weber Camp No. 44, which has headquarters in Lackawanna, was formed just five years ago. It has grown from 20 to 50 members and tries to find who were last surviving local Civil War veterans.

Jefferson Baylis was the last member of the Sprout Post in Lockport.

Dave Kruetz has been invited to recite the Gettysburg Address as Abraham Lincoln. Ben Maryniak, a member of the Chaplain P.G. Cook Camp, the Buffalo Camp 223) portrays Chaplain Cook. Maryniak, an author, historian and re-enactor, is president Buffalo Civil War Round Table and the state historian for the Sons of Union Veterans.

The Baylis twins were born Dec. 8, 1843 on the Wayman farm in the Town of Lockport. The brothers served two terms in the Civil War, a total of four and a half years. Lockport soldiers were members of the 49th New York Regiment, Company H of Lockport.

The Niagara County historian led Holtz led to find he had grandfather who fought in the Civil War.

“I put it together bit by bit through genealogy and military records,” he said.

Jefferson Baylis served as a non-combatant in the Peninsular Campaign in Virginia, south of Washington, D.C. He was also stationed in Gettysburg after the battle.

Jefferson Baylis married Betsy Howd in 1866. He had four daughters and a son and was the commander of the Sprout Post of the GAR. The Sprout Post, which was built for the Grand Army of the Republic, gave way to the United Spanish War Veterans.

John R. Baylis was the court crier in Lockport for many years. He died at 76.

The ceremony is scheduled to coincide with the 52nd anniversary of Remembrance Day, sponsored by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and the Sons of the Veterans Reserve in Gettysburg. Nov. 19 is the anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Glenwood Cemetery was incorporated during the Civil War on Oct. 31, 1863.

Prior ceremonies were in Niagara Falls and Marilla. The ceremony is open to the public.

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