Newton's Civil War Soldiers' Monument

The last of the Newton Civil War soldiers to have died in the month of January appears below.  Please plan to join us on May 18, 2014 to rededicate the Newton Soldiers' Monument, built in 1864 and one of the oldest monuments to Civil War soldiers in the country.
Albert F. Potter

Albert F. Potter, 20, was unmarried and working as a Clerk when he enlisted as a sargeant with Company B of the Mass. 44th Regiment on September 12, 1862.  Less than five months later he died of fever, on January 29, 1863 in New Bern, NC.  Potter was born in 1842 in St. Albans, VT to Frederick A. and Mary P. (Forbes) Potter.  In 1850 Potter lived in New Bedford, and in 1860 appears on census records as living in both North Brookfield and Newton during that year.

The Mass. 44th organized in Readville, MA and moved to New Bern (or Newberne), NC from October 22-27, 1862.  This regiment saw action at Rawle’s Mills on November 2nd and joined Foster’s Expedition to Goldsboro in December of that year.  The regiment stayed in Newberne until February 10th, 1863, but Potter had died before then. 

Potter’s name is included in a publication entitled A Historical Record of the Soldiers and Sailors of North Brookfield, MA.  Potter is buried in North Brookfield.  Potter’s name appears alphabetically on the Newton monument and was listed there when the monument was dedicated in July 1864.

Information for these soldier stories is obtained primarily from ancestry.com, and a complete bibliography is available by request.