Location: Glenwood Cemetery, 260 Washington Avenue, Everett
Coordinates: 42°25’19.6″N 71°01’52.3″W
Date dedicated: Unknown
Designer/manufacturer: Unknown
Details on Everett’s two Civil War memorials have been difficult to uncover. In the interest of including this city sooner rather than later, the information on hand will be posted here and updated if/when additional information becomes available.
Everett was a part of Malden (being known as South Malden) during the war, and therefore the community’s involvement in the Civil War is tied with its neighbor. Everett officially separated in 1870, becoming its own town, then in 1892 it incorporated as a city. To commemorate the latter occasion, a short history of South Malden/Everett was published, entitled Everett Souvenir. According to this publication, 37 South Malden men signed up for service at the beginning of the war. No doubt there were many more South Malden men who signed up as the war progressed but due to the difficulties of identifying and separating South Malden from Malden men when all were categorized as one by both the city and the state, no complete record for Everett in the war exists. As the author of the Everett Souvenir wrote, “…the record of their names and deeds was never brought together, and is even now imperfect…”[1] The interwoven history of Everett and Malden is perhaps the main reason why no major monument was built in Everett.
In 1883, the veterans of Everett formed the local Grand Army of the Republic Post No. 156 and named it after Lt. James Amory Perkins of South Malden (Everett). Lt. Perkins served with the 24th Massachusetts Infantry. The regiment led an assault on Fort Wagner, which guarded the entrance to Charleston Harbor, on August 26, 1863. This was the same location which the 54th Massachusetts so famously assaulted, as depicted in the film Glory. A month after that unsuccessful attempt, another assault, spearheaded by the 24th Massachusetts, was successful in taking the outer works, forcing the Confederates to abandon the fort. Lt. Perkins was killed by artillery fire during the assault.[2]
The Everett Grand Army of the Republic post was responsible for both memorials in Everett, though exactly how and when they were placed is unclear. The first involved the placement of a Civil War cannon—a 15-pounder Parrot rifle—at the Grand Army soldiers plot in Glenwood Cemetery. This was joined by a stone obelisk with a commemorative bronze plaque dedicated “To the memory of the members of the James A. Perkins Post 156, veterans of the 1861—Civil War—1865.” The soldiers plot was the focal point of Memorial Day ceremonies led by the Grand Army members for decades.
The site has recently been refurbished as part of the city’s master plan for improvements to the cemetery. [3] The landscaping includes new stone decking to better support the cannon which, at the time of the photograph shown above, is temporarily in storage until the completion of improvements.
Broadway Soldiers’ Memorial
Location: In front of Everett Community Health and Wellness Center, 548 Broadway, Everett
Coordinates: 42°24’36.9″N 71°03’09.9″W
Date dedicated: Unknown
Designer/manufacturer: Unknown
The James Amory Perkins Post No. 156 also placed a memorial outside the second Everett High School (the building was constructed in 1922 and is presently a community health center). This simple stone slab (again, the date of which is unknown) is inscribed, “Dedicated to God, and erected in memory of those who served in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Civil War 1861 – 1865.”
[1] Everett Souvenir (Everett: Everett Souvenir Co., 1893), 31.
[2] James L. Bowen, Massachusetts in the War, 1861 – 1865 (Springfield, MA: Clark & Bryan, 1889), 377.
[3] “Glenwood Cemetery Improvements Approved,” Everett Independent, February 10, 2021