Public Memorial Ceremony Honoring Civil War POW Jackson Martin (Memorial Day Weekend Observance)

Public Memorial Ceremony Honoring Civil War POW Jackson Martin
Saturday, May 23 · Filey’s Cemetery · Dillsburg, Pennsylvania

On Saturday, May 23, the community will gather at Filey’s Cemetery in Dillsburg to dedicate a newly installed headstone for Civil War prisoner of war Jackson Martin, a York County native and member of Company H, 7th Pennsylvania Reserves.

Captured at the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864, Martin endured nearly a year of imprisonment at Andersonville and Florence Stockade. He survived captivity, but returned home with his health destroyed by disease and starvation. Unable to support himself in the years that followed, he fell through the cracks of postwar society. No one ever secured a soldier’s pension on his behalf. He died in poverty and spent his final days in the county poorhouse. When he was buried in 1928, no headstone marked his grave.

After nearly a century without recognition, his name will be formally restored through a public memorial ceremony centered on remembrance, historical reflection, and ceremonial honors. The program will include a graveside dedication, interpretive remarks placing Martin’s experience within the broader story of returning Civil War veterans, and a moment of collective reflection honoring those whose sacrifices were overlooked in their own lifetimes.

This observance is intentionally concise and dignified. It is not a spectacle, but a civic act of remembrance. We gather not as parties or offices, but as a community fulfilling a shared responsibility to honor a soldier who should never have been forgotten.

Members of the public are warmly invited to attend.

As planning continues and this observance is further developed, additional details, including program elements and participant information, will be shared here.