In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, museums throughout Maine are exhibiting items from their collections that represent local participation in the conflict. Wiscasset’s Old Jail and Museum is participating in this event, called the Maine Civil War Trail.

In 1862, President Lincoln called for volunteers, and the state of Maine heeded this call, sending over 65,000 men to join the Union Army. One hundred and thirty men from Wiscasset and neighboring towns, mostly fishermen and farmers, but also teachers and college professors, fought to save the Union. Thirty-two of them were lost.

One stark memento of human loss can be seen in the Old Jail exhibit. It is a Civil War cap, called a kepi, that has a bullet hole in the back. This kepi was worn by Private Joseph A. Hall, a Union soldier from Maine’s 16th Regiment, which was organized at Augusta and mustered on August 14, 1862. A number of other relics from the Lincoln County Historical Association collections bring to life the reality of war and its effect on our community.

Also on exhibit at the Old Jail is a selection of wood engravings of sketches by Winslow Homer. The images are actual pages from Harpers Weekly, a publication for which Winslow Homer was a war correspondent.  

Because photography was not in general use at this time, artists like Homer sketched the action and woodcarvers on the staff of the paper engraved the drawing on a block of hard wood, such as maple. After the edition was printed, the image was scraped from the wood to ready it for the next engraving.

The Old Jail on Federal Street in Wiscasset is open to the public from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays until Columbus Day.  The Maine Civil War Trail follows along the coast from Kennebunk to Castine, then inland to Bangor, Augusta and Livermore and proceeding to the western mountains including Kingfield, Bethel and Bridgeton.

The Lincoln County Historical Association is an all-volunteer nonprofit that provides stewardship for the 1754 Chapman-Hall House in Damariscotta, the 1761 Pownalborough Court House in Dresden, and the 1811 Old Jail and Museum in Wiscasset. For more information about volunteer opportunities at any of the sites, please visit www.lincolncountyhistory.org.