Memorial Day

Memorial Day is set aside to honor those who have died serving our country. 

While we have many in our family who have served in the military, I've been able to determine just one who died in service. 

Henry S. Floyd, from Eddington, Maine, was wounded and missed from his regiment June 25, 1864. According to his military records, his body was never found. 

"The History of the First Maine Cavalry, 1861-1865" states Henry was "Killed in action at Roanoke bridge, June 25, 1864." 

Click here for an account of what is probably the battle in which Henry died - Staunton River Bridge near Roanoke Station, Virginia. 

Henry's mother, widow Louisa Rowe Floyd*, eventually received a pension based on her 22 year old son's service and presumed death. This memorial stone is in the Floyd family plot in the Jonathan Eddy Cemetery, Eddington Cemetery, Eddington, Maine. 

*John and Louisa Floyd are the parents of Edmond Floyd, Harry Edmond Floyd's father. 

Boston Freedom Trail

 

Freedom Trail -  2.4 mile path through downtown Boston; goes by 16 sites important to history of the United States

follow the brick trail

Quincy Market isn't technically on the Freedom Trail but it's next to Faneuil Hall (below)

Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall contain markets

Faneuil Hall opened in 1743. The second floor was the site of many speeches promoting independence from Great Britain. 

There's an entrance to the subway on the side of Faneuil Hall

Old State House - built in 1713. Seat of the Massachusetts General Court until 1798

Massachusetts State House

Old City Hall - There's now a Ruth's Chris Steak House in the building

Home to Boston city council 1865-1969 

Home of Paul and Sarah Revere and family. Built about 1680. Revere family purchased the home in 1770 and lived there until 1800. 

Boston - My Hotel

Omni Parker House Hotel in downtown Boston. Founded in 1855, it's the longest continuously operating hotel in the United States.

Parker House rolls were invented here in the 1870s. 

Boston Cream Pie was also invented at this hotel in 1856.

Unfortunately the hotel restaurants were closed due to Covid-19.

The hotel is on the Freedom Trail 

view from my hotel's front door

King's Chapel (1754), Old City Hall (1860s) & newer buildings

Boston Public Garden & Boston Common

 Boston Public Garden 

established in 1837 - first public botanical garden in the United States

George Washington

Swan Boats - run by the same family for 4 generations

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Boston Common

founded in 1634

50 acres - oldest city park in the country

Soldiers and Sailors Monument

Boston Churches

 St. Stephen's Church

designed by Charles Bullfinch & built 1802-1804

Different congregations over time

Congregationalist, Unitarian, Catholic 

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy was baptized in the church

Her funeral was held in this church

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Park Street Church 

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Old North Church - The enduring fame of the Old North began on the evening of April 18, 1775, when the church sexton, Robert Newman, and Vestryman Capt. John Pulling, Jr. climbed the steeple and held high two lanterns as a signal from Paul Revere that the British were marching to Lexington and Concord by sea across the Charles River and not by land. This fateful event ignited the American Revolution. Built in 1723, Christ Church in the City of Boston, known to all as the Old North Church, is Boston’s oldest surviving church building and most visited historical site. In 1775, on the eve of the Revolution, the majority of the congregation were loyal to the British King, and many held official positions in the royal government, including the Royal Governor of Massachusetts, making Robert Newman’s loyalty to the Patriot cause even more extraordinary. The King gave the Old North its silver that was used at services and a bible. (source)

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Old South Meeting House 

Built in 1729. Organizing place for the Boston Tea Party

deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum

 deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum - Established in 1950, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum is the largest park of its kind in New England encompassing 30 acres, 20 miles west of Boston. ... Providing a constantly changing landscape of large-scale, outdoor, modern and contemporary sculpture and site-specific installations, the Sculpture Park hosts more than 60 works, the majority of which are on loan to the Museum. Inside, the Museum features a robust slate of rotating exhibitions and innovative interpretive programming.

Julian and Elizabeth deCordova remodeled their home in 1910 to look like a castle. They gave their property to the town of Lincoln, Massachusetts with the stipulation that it would become a public museum after his death. 

Two Big Black Hearts by Jim Dine reminded me of the Dancing Hares in Dublin, Ohio. Jim Dine, the artist, included items such as hands, faces, seashells, hammers, and other tools in the sculptures. The two hearts were cast from the same mold. 

Humming by Juame Plensa 

Venusvine by Richard Rosenblum

This was one of my favorites in the park

Listening Stone by Joseph Wheelwright

Otter by Rona Pondick

very strange, almost unsettling to look at

The head is a self portrait of the artist

The castle & Lincoln by DeWitt Godfrey

Children were having fun playing in the cylinders