Civil War Veterans Are Buried Here

Wild honeysuckle and bittersweet were among the overgrowth of vegetation beyond the gates of Stepney Cemetery, at the corner of Pepper and Green streets. Volunteers with the Save Our Stepney Task Force pruned trees and cut and cleared the brush from around the stones in the Saturday morning heat.

SOS was sprucing up the cemetery for the Commemoration of the 150th Year Anniversary of the Civil War. Joel Leneker, president of SOS, said 31 Monroe veterans of the war waged between the Blue and the Gray are buried there.

"Some trees planted here a long time ago have grown out of control and it's time to cut them back," Leneker said.

On Saturday, Sept. 15, the Connecticut Blues Fife & Drum Corps will perform at a ceremony on Stepney Green and Leneker said all 31 names of Monroe's Civil War veterans will be read.

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"We'll also honor the veterans of the War of 1812," he said, adding it is the Bicentennial of the war between America and the British.

The Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address will be read and the Battle Hymn of the Republic and the Star Spangled Banner will be played.

Stories will be shared from the Civil War, including one about a peace rally that took place on Stepney Green, according to Leneker.

He said the Civil War veterans buried at the cemetery had served in New York, Michigan and Indiana, as well as in Connecticut.

Some of the tombstones at Stepney Cemetery date back to the late 1700's, Leneker said, adding there are six veterans from the War of 1812 and five who served in the American Revolution.