Raymond, Walter
Walter Landor Raymond was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1846 and moved to Andover in 1846. He graduated from Punchard School in 1862. [1] In 1862, Walter Raymond's father requested that his son, Walter Raymond, then 16 years old, be allowed to enlist in the Union Army. Walter was mustered on September 12, 1862. He served until June 18, 1863. He reenlisted and was mustered into Company L of the First regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry on January 6, 1864. On August 16, 1864, he was taken prisoner by the Confederate Army in Malvern Hills, Virginia. Unfortunately, Raymond died of disease and starvation on December 25, 1864 in Salisbury, North Carolina as a prisoner of war. He is listed on the marble plaque in the Hall. His story was brought to national attention after Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote an article The Noble Army of Martyrs.
His picture hangs in Memorial Hall (in Memorial Hall Library). Charlotte Helen Abbott, a friend of the Raymond family, began the tradition of placing flowers beneath his portrait every Memorial Day. It was handed down through several Andover women through the years and, for many years, adopted Memorial Hall Library staff.
His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Raymond, set up a charitable trust, The Walter Landor Raymond Fund for needy persons, veterans, their widows, and descendants.
A monument in Spring Grove Cemetery commemorates his sacrifice.
REFERENCES
- ↑ Sermon on the death of Walter L. Raymond, 1865, book in Andover Room
See
- Andover Boy's Bravery Recalled by Civil War Tributes. Andover Historical Society Newsletter
v.17 #2, Summer 1992.
- Massachusetts, Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in Civil War, Volume VI, page 214 (Andover Room R 973.74 Mas v.6)
- Portrait of Walter Raymond - located in the Hall of Memorial Hall Library. (scroll to Second Floor)
--Eleanor 16:29, June 12, 2007 (EDT)
--Leslie 10:15, July 5, 2012 (EDT)
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