This Memorial Day will be observed during the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War in the United States, after an attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. Following the war, flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers, beginning in May 1868. The time of remembrance was first called Decoration Day and later named Memorial Day, to honor the sacrifices of all veterans of wars.
     Many Eastporters had fought in the war between the states, including five members of the Call family. The late Jim Jollotta, who wrote a column for The Quoddy Tides, noted, "Mr. Frederick Call could boast of having four of his brothers join him in the struggle. A record to be proud of. Those four, Stephen, William, Levi and John, with their fifth brother, did justice to their family and their country."
     The brothers were the sons of John and Sarah (Ewan) Call, and Jollotta guessed, "If President Lincoln had lived, the Call family of Eastport would have undoubtedly received one of his famous letters, but unlike the Bixby letter, this one would have been of happy gratitude for the soldierly manner in which they had performed for the betterment of our country."
     When the Civil War began, the oldest Call brother, fisherman William, was living in Gloucester, Mass., with young wife Eunice (Ackley) from Cutler. He served in the 1st Battalion, Massachusetts Heavy Artillery Company and ended his enlistment with the rank of sergeant. He married Mary Jane Goodenow in 1865 and went back to fishing, but his mother Sarah and brother Stephen had joined his household.
     There is no information on the Civil War service of the next oldest Call brother, John, who moved to Grand Rapids, Mich., and worked as a teamster. He and his wife Ellen lost their only child, a daughter, at age one, but they were still alive at age 83 and living in Nelson, Mich., during 1910 U.S. Census.
     Stephen J. Call enlisted in November 1861 and served in Company D, 32nd Massachusetts Infantry. He saw much active service and lost his right arm in the Battle of the Wilderness. Although he had been living in Gloucester with his family, Stephen Call died in Eastport in 1908 when he drowned off the C.R. Stickney & Company wharf on his way to his vessel anchored in the harbor. He is buried in Hillside Cemetery.
     Levi, the fourth Call brother who served in the Civil War, enlisted in 1862 at age 21. He served three years, being discharged with honors in 1865. Levi purchased Barnes Island, off Deer Island, when he got home, married Howe Mitchell, and spent the rest of his life there.
     Brother Fred enlisted for service in the Union Army while still in his teens and was mustered into the Seventh Maine Regiment, later being transferred to the First Maine. When he passed away in December 1926, his obituary noted that he fought in the First Maine throughout the entire Civil War. "He had many narrow escapes and thrilling experiences during the campaigns in which he took part, and among other battles he participated in those of Fredericksburg and Gettysburg."
     Charles Eldridge, in W.H. Kilby's Eastport and Passamaquoddy, wrote of the First, "This regiment lost heavily in the engagements before Fredericksburg and Petersburg, the aggregate loss in the former being 476, in the latter 464. In this regiment, Eastport had a large representation, and all or nearly all were huddled together in Co. K, while a few appear on the rolls of Cos. A and M."
     Fred Call was a proud member of the Grand Army of the Republic and took part in the Memorial Day services to remember his fallen comrades-in-arms. He and another eligible Gettysburg veteran, Peter M. Kane, travelled to Gettysburg, Penn., in 1913 to join in the 50th anniversary of that battle and represent all the Eastporters who had fought there. His obituary called the trip "one of the outstanding events of his declining years" and the Eastport Sentinel noted in the July 16, 1913, edition "The Gettysburg veterans are home again, coming back with weary feet and tired body but filled to the brim with delightful memories, not only of scenes of half a century ago renewed, but with the realization of the unitedness of this great nation, which most of them, it must be admitted, did not have before they pressed cordial, brotherly hands of Johnny Rebs, whom once, in their uniforms of the Confederacy, they strove to kill."
     Upon hearing of Fred Call's death, one of his daughters-in-law received a letter from J. Sox Brown in Centralia, Wash., who served in the Seventh Maine. He wrote on January 15, 1927, "Your kindly note of January 2 -- informing me of the death of my comrade, Fred W. Call, you may believe, cast a shadow of gloom over the holiday festivities, but, as old age is swiftly enveloping all of us old vets, we cannot feel surprised that the last roll call comes frequently these days. Fred Call was a soldier of the first class -- in the same company with him for one year and, on innumerable guards, pickets, skirmish lines and battlefronts, I know his sterling worth, his integrity and personal courage. He never faltered nor shunned battle stroke. 'Duty well done' was his watchword, and I know he did it well."