Library Exhibit Details Life Of W.H. Mershon
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
A collection of items from the W.H. Mershon estate are on display at the Warsaw Community Public Library.
Mershon, a Warsaw native, lived from 1845 to 1931. During the Civil War he was a drummer boy, participating at the Battle of Shiloh.
The exhibit, to the right of the Indiana Room entrance, details Mershon's career with historically significant photographs, documents and a 214-page journal.
William Mershon's effects were found in a closet in California and offered for auction on the Internet in September 2004.
Mershon filled four scrapbooks of clippings, ribbons, programs, flyers and more, covering his entire life.
Bob and June Tess of Warsaw purchased much of the collection, bringing Mershon's artifacts back "home."
The shelves contain Civil War-era medals and veterans reunion ribbons. The walls are lined with photocopies of his journal.
When he was 16, Mershon enlisted with the 30th Indiana Volunteer Infantry as a musician, serving from Sept. 13, 1861, until Nov. 11, 1865.
In the days before radios, drummers like Mershon sounded reveille, meal times, drills, assembly, battle calls, battlefield maneuvers and taps.
First and foremost, the musicians were soldiers and Mershon saw battle. At Shiloh, Tenn., one of the first major engagements of the War Between the States, Mershon subdued a Rebel colonel.
The display features a 140-year-old Ambertype photograph of Mershon with a Navy pistol. It's the gun he used to capture the Reb officer.
Photographs, programs, ribbons and flyers detail the highlights of Mershon's life:
• Major W. H. Mershon was leader of the military band detailed to accompany the body of President Abraham Lincoln from Chicago to lie in state in Springfield, Ill.
• After the war Mershon traveled with the "Alleghanians" as band leader.
• He founded the Mershon School of Music in the Warner Building on Washington Street, Warsaw, in 1894.
• He was the choir instructor during at least two Warsaw High School graduations.
• He was commander of Kosciusko Post No. 114 and attended many soldiers reunions.
• He went with 500 other Hoosiers to dedicate the Indiana memorials in Shiloh National Military Park.
• He was director of the music department at Manchester College. He worked in Colorado and California. He is buried in the Sunshine State.
WCPL is at 310 E. Main St., Warsaw. [[In-content Ad]]
A collection of items from the W.H. Mershon estate are on display at the Warsaw Community Public Library.
Mershon, a Warsaw native, lived from 1845 to 1931. During the Civil War he was a drummer boy, participating at the Battle of Shiloh.
The exhibit, to the right of the Indiana Room entrance, details Mershon's career with historically significant photographs, documents and a 214-page journal.
William Mershon's effects were found in a closet in California and offered for auction on the Internet in September 2004.
Mershon filled four scrapbooks of clippings, ribbons, programs, flyers and more, covering his entire life.
Bob and June Tess of Warsaw purchased much of the collection, bringing Mershon's artifacts back "home."
The shelves contain Civil War-era medals and veterans reunion ribbons. The walls are lined with photocopies of his journal.
When he was 16, Mershon enlisted with the 30th Indiana Volunteer Infantry as a musician, serving from Sept. 13, 1861, until Nov. 11, 1865.
In the days before radios, drummers like Mershon sounded reveille, meal times, drills, assembly, battle calls, battlefield maneuvers and taps.
First and foremost, the musicians were soldiers and Mershon saw battle. At Shiloh, Tenn., one of the first major engagements of the War Between the States, Mershon subdued a Rebel colonel.
The display features a 140-year-old Ambertype photograph of Mershon with a Navy pistol. It's the gun he used to capture the Reb officer.
Photographs, programs, ribbons and flyers detail the highlights of Mershon's life:
• Major W. H. Mershon was leader of the military band detailed to accompany the body of President Abraham Lincoln from Chicago to lie in state in Springfield, Ill.
• After the war Mershon traveled with the "Alleghanians" as band leader.
• He founded the Mershon School of Music in the Warner Building on Washington Street, Warsaw, in 1894.
• He was the choir instructor during at least two Warsaw High School graduations.
• He was commander of Kosciusko Post No. 114 and attended many soldiers reunions.
• He went with 500 other Hoosiers to dedicate the Indiana memorials in Shiloh National Military Park.
• He was director of the music department at Manchester College. He worked in Colorado and California. He is buried in the Sunshine State.
WCPL is at 310 E. Main St., Warsaw. [[In-content Ad]]