Civil War marker in Maple Grove Cemetery Image by G Roberts

This article was just going to be about Maple Grove Cemetery in Bangor, Maine, the smallest of the three active cemeteries the city maintains. The other two are the Pine Grove and Oak Grove cemeteries.

I chose Maple Grove because it is small (just four acres), only about four miles away from my home, and was created in the 1800s. I like to search old Maine cemeteries for veteran grave markers which I then photograph, make notes, etc.

My original plan of attack was to research the Bangor cemeteries starting with Maple Grove. To help with this I found the original Works Progress Administration (WPA) cemetery layout thanks to Digital Maine website.*

My plan changed when I found a Civil War veteran marker for a soldier who died at the battle of Gettysburg.

The inscription on the marker reads, “Sergt. William S. Jordan, a member of Company G 20th regiment ME. Vols., died of wounds received in the battle of Gettysburg July 3, 1863, at the age of 22 years, 6 months. Son of Joseph W. & Cordelia Jordan” The star-like emblem reads “GAR,” which stands for Grand Army of the Republic (Union forces).

Intrigued by this marker, I did some research on Maines’s 20th Regiment as well as Maine’s involvement in the Civil War, especially regarding the battle of Gettysburg, and realized how woefully ignorant I was about the topics.

Several pages could be written on Maine and the Civil War but that is beyond the scope of this article. I also found more Civil War veterans buried at Maple Grove cemetery, bringing the total to eight.

The ability to walk through old Maine cemeteries, find markers like this, and share them with MOCA members makes all these trips worthwhile.

* The WPA maps are also included in MOCA Cemetery Records. For example, you can see the link to the Arundel Cemetery (Kennebunkport) WPA map at the top of the MOCA page.

Glenn Roberts
MOCA Newsletter
2026 Spring |LVIII No 2