The crowd of local area residents who gathered at Hampshire Center Cemetery along Harmony Road on Thursday night were offered insights into what it was like to live during the time of the War of 1812.
The cemetery walk was presented by the Ella Johnson Memorial Public Library District, 109 South State Street. It was led by Kelly Sheahan, reference, inter-library loan and historical collections specialist at the district.
While the Village of Hampshire was not incorporated until 1876, there were settlers who came to the area long before that time and are now at rest in Hampshire Center Cemetery.
Philip Terwilliger, Moses Fifield and Charles Bell were all soldiers who served during the War of 1812. Mary Polly Low Terwilliger, Lolly Bassett Boyes, and Elizabeth Boyes were pioneer women of that era.
Re-enactors on Thursday night were: Alli Sarro, Callan Van Ingen, Ron Anderson, Jack Wise, Pat Holcomb and Cathy Carlton. The Boone County Conservation District lent uniforms for re-enactors to wear during the cemetery walk.
President James Madison was the Commander-in-Chief during the War of 1812. Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that became “The Star-Spangled Banner” after he watched the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy in Baltimore Harbor.
Terwilliger, Fifield and Bell all fought during the Battle of Queenston Heights that took place in present-day Ontario, Canada. It was the first major battle of the War of 1812.
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Anderson said Fifield served with the New Hampshire militia. Fifield was paid by a rich man to serve as a substitute soldier in the rich man’s place.
After Fifield’s wife died in 1851, Fifield moved to the Hampshire area with his daughters. He died in 1881.
Wise said that Bell was paid to be a substitute soldier in the Battle of Queenston Heights and in the Battle of York. A stab wound that became infected caused Bell to have one of his limbs replaced with a wooden leg. In addition to having served as a soldier, Bell was a tailor and a teacher.
Sarro said Philip Terwilliger was taken prisoner during the War of 1812. Philip later married Mary Polly Low and moved to the Hampshire area where they lived with their eight children. Mary died in 1880 at the age of 84. The street that runs past Hampshire Elementary School is named Terwilliger Avenue.
Sheahan told the crowd that communications during the War of 1812 were not as advanced as they are today.
The Treaty of Ghent signed on December 24, 1814, officially ended the War of 1812.
On January 8, 1815, British forces, who were unaware at the time that the war was over, mounted an attack in New Orleans against an army led by Major General Andrew Jackson. The British forces were defeated in that battle. Jackson later became the seventh president of the United States.
Denise Moran is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News