GAR Sword, etched with Post name

Solomon

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Aug 20, 2017
Location
Knoxville, TN
Thought I would post a few pics of a GAR sword I recently acquired, as it is a neat piece of memorabilia from the CW veterans era. I have seen pictures of a nearly identical sword on page 110 of "Plates, Belts, and Swords of the GAR and SUV of the Civil War," by Douglas Roussin, which is a great reference book for the GAR/SUV collector to have on the shelf!

The sword is etched on one side with "Post 73 GAR 1895" and on the reverse with "McPherson", which I'd initially assumed was the name of the respective veteran. But as Roussin correctly asserts, it was the name of GAR Post 73, in Abington, MA (founded 1868) as I discovered searching the GAR and Kindred Societies archives in the Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/rr/main/gar/index.html) and the SUVCW website (http://www.suvcw.org/garrecords/) - also great resources! The etchings on this particular sword are ever-so-slightly different than the ones pictured by Roussin, so this post must have had multiple swords commissioned by the manufacturer, W.M. Read and Sons, of Boston, MA.

These seem to be relatively rare, as far as CW sword collecting goes, and thrilled to have this one in my humble collection!

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Very Nice Piece. Thanks For Sharing.
 
Good bassing at Cleveland pond in the Ames Nowell park.

My federal ancestors were many states away from the plethora of Massachusetts posts and societies. That looks like a beautiful example of a veteran's sword.

Read (Reed) and Sons of Boston. I'd have to hit the books but the senior apparently goes back to at least the 1860s and the company continuing into the 20th century.

A Read marked SUV sword
https://www.jjmilitaryantiques.com/..._desc=Swords US - Post Civil War#.XDWFgHbYpEY

Cheers
GC
 
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