DVIDS – News – CTNG helps unveil Civil War soldier’s gravesite and his parents’ restored headstone

The Connecticut National Guard bereavement team assisted in unveiling a new headstone for Pvt. Stephen Newton, a soldier with the 54th Massachusetts Colored Regiment, during a Newton family life event celebration at Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut, June 21, 2024.

The ceremony was the culmination of a restoration and research project by John Mills, founder of the Alex Breanne Corporation, which also included the unveiling of the restored tombstone of Newton’s parents: Thaddeus, a former slave, and Mary, a free woman who worked with prominent abolitionists such as Henry Ward Beecher and Henry Highland Garnet to raise the funds needed to buy Thaddeus and many other enslaved families in the South.

“The story of Mary and Thaddeus Newton is a love story,” Mills said. “One that began with their wedding on Valentine’s Day 1837; a love so strong that Mary found a way to free her husband. Theirs was a love story of family and country. Three of their sons served in the fight for freedom during the Civil War, one died for it.”

Three of her sons continued their mother’s commitment to freeing slaves from captivity and joined the Union Army following President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that men of color could serve in the military.

Private Newton joined the militia on April 18, 1863, and was assigned to the 54th Massachusetts Colored Regiment, the Union’s second all-black regiment, which was portrayed in the famous 1989 film “Glory.”

On July 18 of the same year, the 54th Regiment participated in the Battle of Fort Wagner on Morris Island, Charleston, South Carolina. Despite outnumbering the Confederates by more than 3,000 men and successfully scaling the fort’s breastworks, the 54th Regiment, led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, failed to capture the fort, suffering significant losses from Confederate artillery.

One of these casualties was Pvt. Stephen Newton.

“On July 18, 1863, Stephen died during the attack on Fort Wagner,” Mills said. “His body was buried in a mass grave on the edge of the battlefield, his remains were never properly identified and thus never returned to Connecticut.”

After Stephen’s death, his brother Alexander joined the 29th Connecticut Colored Regiment, the Nutmeg State’s first all-black regiment, which became famous for being the first Union regiment to enter the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, after it was sacked on April 3, 1865. He brought with him his younger brother William, who served as a servant to the commander of B Company, Captain Charles Griswold.

“The Newton story is an American story,” said U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “It is an American story about freedom fighters, and it continues to this day. The men and women in uniform today raised their right hands to declare their allegiance not to a government, not to a president, but to the Constitution of the United States, which now includes an amendment banning slavery.”

Also in attendance was Angela Leavy, Mary and Thaddeus’ great-great-great-granddaughter, who said in an interview with WSHU that she was surprised to see so many people come to honor and remember their ancestors.

“I still can’t process all of this,” Leavy said. “It was a blessing. I get to share this story with my children and grandchildren. I have history to pass on.”

For many in attendance, it was the first time they had heard of the Newton family, despite their significant influence on the city of New Haven and the country. In addition to Stephen and Alexander’s military service and Mary’s efforts to abolish slavery, Thaddeus also made significant contributions to the city despite suffering from a fatal bout of tuberculosis.

“The reason (this event) is important is not just their individual stories, but the symbolism behind their stories,” said New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker. “Because there are so many other people we don’t know about who have walked a similar path.”

Thaddeus became a trustee of the First Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and worked diligently to raise the funds needed to purchase land for the place of worship – a building that still stands today. After the war, Alexander followed his father’s devotion to his faith and became an officer of the same church.

Thaddeus succumbed to his illness on March 15, 1868, after spending less than 10 years at liberty. Mary died in 1904 after suffering severe burns from a cauldron of boiling water. Knowing her death was imminent, she planned her own funeral, setting aside money for the ceremony, choosing her coffin, making her own shroud, and selecting the plot where she would be buried next to her husband.

Several years ago, the tombstone of Mary and Thaddeus Newton fell over and began to crack. It too was slowly being reclaimed from the earth and was in danger of being lost forever when Mills took on the task of uncovering the family’s history.

As part of his efforts to research the Newton family’s lives, his nonprofit funded the restoration of the headstone. And since Stephen’s remains were never found after the war, he never received a proper headstone, so he worked with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to have one erected next to his parents.

The Newton family grave at Evergreen Cemetery was also added as an official location along the Connecticut Freedom Trail, an organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the stories of freedom and dignity of the state’s black and African communities.