Image showing the 29th Connecticut Colored Regiment, Grapevine Point where they trained, and the unkept gravestone of Mary and Thaddeus Newton.

Honoring the heroic story of Mary & Thaddeus Newton; how their bravery, faith and civic duty helped shape our nation.

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES, May 23, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On June 21st, 2024 @ 11am, Connecticut-based non-profit Alex Breanne Corporation will be holding a Celebration of Life Service at the gravesite of Thaddeus & Mary Newton, located within historic Evergreen Cemetery (https://evergreencem.org/), 769 Ella T. Grasso Boulevard in New Haven, CT. Local clergy and government officials will be in attendance.

Thaddeus Newton was a North Carolina enslaved man. His wife Mary was free. In 1859, she fled to New York where she worked with well known abolitionists (such as Henry Ward Beecher and Henry Highland Garnet) to raise money to free her husband Thaddeus. On securing her husband's freedom, Thaddeus and Mary moved with their family to New Haven, CT. While living in New Haven, 2 of their sons would serve in the Civil War with the 29th Connecticut Colored Regiment. Their son Alexander served as Commissary Sergeant and their 15-year-old son William served as a servant to Captain Charles Griswold. The Newton's had a third son, Stephen, who also fought in the Civil War. Stephen died while fighting with the 54th Massachusetts Colored Regiment, which is the regiment featured in the 1989 Denzel Washington movie, “Glory". Stephen died at the assault on Fort Wagner in Morris Island, South Carolina; his body was never recovered.

During their lives, Thaddeus & Mary Newton were consummate examples of integrity and honor. On arriving in New Haven in 1860, Thaddeus was ill and unable to perform in his trade as a shoe maker. To help support his family, Thaddeus became a peddler, selling fruits from a cart... his wife Mary and sons William and Stephen would help. Mary also pushed a wash cart, used for washing clothes for soldiers at Grape Vine Point (now Criscuolo Park in New Haven, CT). The family would eventually save up $100, which they used as down payment on a $300 mortgage for a home at 18 Winter Street. Thaddeus died of his ailments in 1868, but Mary and her family would live in this home for over 40 years.

Prior to his death in 1868, Thaddeus became a Trustee in the First AME Bethel Church of New Haven, working to secure the property for their building on Sperry Street... a building that still stands today. Thaddeus imparted the importance of religion on his children, his son Alexander becoming an Official with the AME Church after his military service. Alexander published a memoir in 1910 entitled, "Out of the Briars: An Autobiography and Sketch of the Twenty-Ninth Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers."

Over the decades, Mary & Thaddeus Newton's gravestone had fallen in disrepair due to time and the elements. At the conclusion of our memorial event, we will unveil their newly repaired stone, along with a newly installed military stone for their son Stephen, whose body was never recovered after his death during the Civil War in 1863. The Massachusetts 54th Regiment in collaboration with the Connecticut National Guard will also honor Stephen at the event.

The story of Thaddeus & Mary Newton is a love story… one that began with their marriage on Valentine’s day in 1837. Their love was so strong that Mary found a way to free her husband. Theirs was a love story of family and country, having sons who fought for freedom, one dying for it.

In honor of the Newton family, please consider joining us as we celebrate this incredible American family. The event is free. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.

John Mills
Alex Breanne Corporation
john@alexbreanne.org
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