OTISFIELD — The 1839 meetinghouse on Bell Hill Road will be transformed Sunday into a Civil War encampment for the first time in many years to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

Members of Maine’s Company A, 3rd Maine Regiment Volunteer Infantry, will be camped out on the common surrounding the Bell Hill Meetinghouse on July 31. The day-long event will include a service inside the meetinghouse. Jean Hankins of the Otisfield Historical Society said this year marks the 98th consecutive year of annual services at the Bell Hill Meetinghouse.

Beginning at 1:30 p.m. and also following the 2:30 p.m. service inside the meetinghouse, members of Company A, 3rd Maine Regiment Volunteer Infantry, will display tents and other accoutrements of a typical army camp scene. They will also be on hand to field questions about an ordinary soldier’s life and experiences during America’s pivotal war.

Polly Bartow, vice president and chairman of the program committee of the Bell Hill Meetinghouse Association, said at least one Otisfield soldier was a member of the Company A, 3rd Maine Regiment.

According to its website, Company A, 3rd Maine Regiment Volunteer Infantry is a nonprofit educational and living history organization dedicated to preserving the memory of Maine’s role in the Civil War. The organization teaches others what life was like for Maine soldiers and civilians during the Civil War through living history events, battle re-enactments, and educational presentations.

Information on the organization’s website states that Company A of the 3rd Maine was a regiment of about 1,600 men recruited early in the war from several communities of Maine’s Kennebec River Valley and was known as the Kennebec Regiment.

Company A was formed from a Bath militia unit called the Bath City Grays, which mustered into federal service on June 4, 1861. Shortly before traveling to Virginia and their first encounter with Confederate troops at the Manassas railroad junction, Company A exchanged their gray militia uniforms for federal blue.

During the next three years the 3rd Maine participated in most of the major campaigns in Virginia and Pennsylvania, operating as part of the Army of the Potomac. It mustered out of service on June 28, 1864.

Hankins said the 2:30 p.m. service will feature a special program titled “Otisfield and the Civil War: A Small Town Responds to the Nation’s Crisis.” Speaker Dr. Glen Lawton will draw on letters and diaries written by Otisfield soldiers to explain how Otisfield responded to America’s Civil War.

The pastors of the East Otisfield Free Baptist Church and the Spurr’s Corner Church of the Christian Missionary Alliance will provide invocational and concluding prayers.

Hankins said the Civil War themed music during the service will be directed by Priscilla Delehanty. Violinist Patti Gordon will play “Ashoken Farewell” and the Community Choir will provide vocal music of the period.

Following the service, an ice cream social will be held outside on the common. Hankins said the adjacent 1839 Bell Hill Schoolhouse will be the site for participants to test their skill at such games of yesteryear as jacks, pick-up sticks and cat’s cradle.

Proceeds from the voluntary collection will help the nonprofit Bell Hill Meetinghouse Association maintain both of its historic buildings.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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