Forever at Westwood: Cemetery tour will memorialize Black men who fought in the Civil War

OBERLIN — They were ordinary Americans in extraordinary times, some successful and others flawed, some born free and others into slavery. When their nation called, they answered, enlisting in the newly formed United States Colored Troops to fight in the Civil War. Today, researcher Adrienne Sato has identified about 60 Union soldiers who are buried at Oberlin's Westwood Cemetery. The Oberlin College sophomore, who hails from Kentucky, has spent the last year as an intern at the Oberlin Heritage Center. She is deep into the creation of a self-guided tour that will tell the stories of the Black heroes buried on Morgan Street — when finished, residents will be able to walk among the gravestones and hear soldiers' biographies read aloud. "The goal is to imagine what life was like during this time period for this specific group of people," Sato said Tuesday night during a Black History Month talk about those who served in the USCT. When the Black fighting units were formed in 1863, they were not universally embraced. They swelled the Union ranks, allowing it to field larger armies than the Confederacy, but there were concerns the USCT would alienate border states, Sato said. "Although it was technically legal for Black units to be formed, it took Ohio a bit longer because there were still some obstacles in the way," she said — Gov. David Todd resisted allowing the state to have Black troops. Two men swayed him: John Mercer Langston, the first Black congressman from Virginia and namesake of Langston Middle School in Oberlin; and Oridantus Simon Bolivar Wall, a mixed-race attorney and politician who studied at Oberlin College. At their urging, the 127th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, also called the 5th USCT, was formed and placed under Gen. Giles Waldo Shurtleff, a white man. The unit included five Oberlin men. Those buried at Westwood served in USCT units all over the country. Wilson Bruce Evans was an exception. A Black man who was born free, he enlisted in a white regiment in September 1864. Evans is known as a prominent abolitionist who operated an Underground Railroad haven from his home. Robert Nelson, born into slavery in Kentucky, became a private in the 117th USCT. After being discharged, he moved to Oberlin with his wife and had 10 children. Pvt. Benjamin Frank Griffith was born in the South and mustered in the USCT in October 1863. Within the month, he'd gone AWOL, probably to care for a son who eventually died of disease, but eventually returned to his unit. "It shows a more human side of the soldiers," Sato said. "It shows him more as a family man who had parts of him that were not entirely of the military." Born in North Carolina, Phillip Hudnell joined the 102nd USCT. He mustered in Detroit in 1864 and was promoted to corporal. After the war, he married and settled in Oberlin, working as a farmer, laborer, janitor and engineer before dying in 1912. Others traveled more difficult roads. James Butler was a "white passing" musician who joined the 37th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He was injured in 1862 and spent the next year in the hospital, then was moved to the Reserve Corps. Sato said Butler was unhappy there and deserted. He was later found and forced to serve three months of hard labor with his leg in a ball and chain. After moving to Oberlin, he worked on the railroad and became a painter. In 1903, Butler became "involved in a particularly tricky business," Sato said — in a fit of rage, he shot his boarder to death, and later claimed the man had been having an affair with his wife. Butler later pleaded guilty and spent most of the rest of his life in prison. Thomas Hartwell was born into slavery in Virginia and moved to Oberlin sometime before 1860, serving as a minister and laborer until enlisting in the 23rd or 27th USCT — there are conflicting records, according to Sato. He was injured in battle in Virginia and partially paralyzed. Accounts also show he was demoted from corporal to private for conduct unbecoming of a soldier and breach of arrest; he also faced charges that today would be called attempted murder. Later, Hartwell returned to Oberlin, where he was known for dispensing medicine, even though he wasn't a licensed physician. He died of old age in 1883. Richard Chambers was born into slavery in North Carolina. His family was freed when their owner died, and moved to Oberlin where they struggled financially. Chambers worked from the age of 14 and sent the money home. After enlisting in the 88th USCT in 1864, he continued sending his pay back to support his mother and siblings. He mustered out in 1865 and died of consumption (tuberculosis) the next year at the young age of 18. Those and many more stories will be part of the self-guided tour, which will be accessible via smartphone, Sato said. Reflecting on what she has learned, Sato said almost every person she researched left the military either with illness or injury, and they faced more challenges than white soldiers did. The biographies are drawn from numerous sources, including cemetery and military databases, history books such as "Bravely to the End" by Margaret Christian and "They Stopped in Oberlin" by William Bigglestone and Oberlin newspaper archives. The work is not yet complete. Amanda Manahan, museum education and tour coordinator at the Oberlin Heritage Center, said Sato's work has been extensive and yielded far more USCT veterans at Westwood than had been expected. She said the cemetery tour will continue to evolve as more Union soldiers are added. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.