The Hearts of the Children

The very last verse of the Old Testament prophesizes that the hearts of the children will be turned to the fathers, and that's what I witnessed at Concordia Cemetery on Saturday afternoon.

A Google's-eye View of Concordia

Minutes after bidding farewell to Maria Wiedrich, I found myself parking in a Mexican deli parking lot across from Concordia Cemetery. "Honor, Sacrifice and Courage: Erie County during the Civil War Featuring Wiedrich's Battery" was poised to begin in a few minutes, and I hustled across the street on the heels of two uniformed members of the Grand Army of the Republic, or what most of us on history's periphery refer to as the "Union Army." This event, sponsored by Friends of Concordia Cemetery, was what brought me to New York in the first place, with the aforementioned Diane Pesch-Savatteri at the head of the group.

First a word about the Friends. Concordia, one of the oldest cemeteries in Western New York, is home to approximately 20,000 departed, over 500 of them war veterans. A dark page in its 162 year history happened just 20 years ago, when the treasurer of Concordia absconded with a small fortune belonging to the working cemetery, bankrupting the business. With no caretaker, the grounds became overgrown and in disrepair...until an army of volunteers united to take back the cemetery. And so the hearts of Buffalo's children were (and are) turned to their fathers. To this day, the friends are joined by numerous groups such as scouting units and school clubs to maintain the grounds and maintain the dignity of the sacred site. Concordia is a beautiful National Historic Site where I felt a half dozen emotions at once, among them joy, reverence and gratitude. The heroes of Concordia are not comprised solely of the deceased; many are alive and well, and push lawn mowers.

Here's a piece about the cemetery...

I feel incapable of sharing all that I felt over the next two hours. The event officially kicked off with an introduction from Diane, who introduced three historians (Thomas Grace, PH.D from Kent State, Buffalo News Editor Scott Scanlon and Erie County Historian Doug Kohler) who each did their part to lay the foundation for what we were about to experience within the grounds. If technology and I become friends, I will feature recordings of their presentations in a future post.

With Buffalo News WNY Refresh Editor Scott Scanlon

These gentlemen were followed by a brief presentation from General Grant and President Lincoln, including a recitation of the Gettysburg Address.

#16 and His Security Detail

Following the presentations, groups were formed to visit the graves of several soldiers, including members of Wiedrich's Battery. At each gravesite, a reenactor performed a first person biography of the fallen soldier they were representing. Just prior to this, I made a beeline to visit with and shake the hands of those in the Wiedrich's Battery reenactment group. 

Something began happening at that point that amazed and humbled me a great deal. Having been introduced during Mr. Kohler's presentation as the great-great grandson of Michael Wiedrich, I was now being approached by a steady, non-stop stream of event participants, many of whom were also relatives of departed soldiers. Additionally, the very men I was approaching to meet and ask for photos, the reenactors, were approaching me for photo ops. I immediately realized my DNA meant something to them, a representative, however ill-equipped, of my progenitor. My heart was turned to my father. 

I also met Joyce Wiedrich from Rochester, whose line traces back to and intersects Michael's. Her enthusiasm for genealogy was exceptional, crediting familysearch.org with helping her to trace her lineage. She and I were presented with Wiedrich's Battery t-shirts.

The most emotional portion of the event for me was a sacred moment during which Private John McHugh was honored for his service in the Army during the late 1800s. In 1877, Private McHugh was awarded the Medal of Honor (sometimes referred to mistakenly as the "Congressional Medal of Honor") for "gallantry in action." That's a big deal. A huge deal. As of this writing, only 3,508 of these medals have been awarded since 1861, and there have been literally millions of soldiers, sailor, marines and airmen since then. The award is typically presented by the president; Private McHugh's was presented by General Sherman. So here we were, gathered at the grave of a man who had died in 1910 and was buried with no fanfare, his original gravestone identifying him only as "An Old Soldier." An actor portrayed McHugh as he related a life of heroism followed by hard times. And when he was done, my eyes moistened considerably as a VFW post performed a real, bonified 21 gun salute. This was not a reenactment anymore, these guys were the real deal. I don't do well when Taps is played.

Truth be told, just seeing these photos again forced me to catch my breath. 

If I hadn't made plans for 4:00, I would have probably stayed until sunset. I wanted to be a Friend of Concordia not just in spirit but in action. I hadn't seen enough, didn't have enough time with these amazing people, hadn't adequately paid my respects to those buried here. I was now certain as I've ever been about anything that I would be returning to Concordia, yes, all the way from Texas, almost certainly in 2022. Bravo Diane!! Bravo Friends!!

What was to come at 4:00 promised to be a truly religious experience.

(Thanks to Bonnie Fleischauer, Joyce Wiedrich and Google for photos used here. A great video of the day's events can be seen by copying and pasting this link to the Friends of Concordia Facebook page:   https://fb.watch/99Pro6fUr1/     )