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New Civil War monument honoring Black servicemen unveiled in Princeton, Illinois

The monument honors 45 Black servicemen who fought for the Union during the Civil War.

PRINCETON, Ill. — A new Civil War monument honoring Black soldiers was unveiled in Princeton on Friday. 

The project, called "Lift Every Name Who Served," was started by the Bureau County Historical Society (BCHS) earlier this year. It came shortly after a local historian, Sarah Cooper, wrote an article connecting Black Civil War soldiers to Bureau County

These soldiers were not included in the county's Soldiers and Sailors Monument and according to the society's executive director, the article inspired an area donor to fully fund the project. 

The monument honors 45 Black Union servicemen who fought for the 29th Regiment U.S. Colored Infantry, the 8th U.S. Colored Infantry and the 13th U.S. Colored Artillery. 

According to Cooper's article, the 29th Infantry was present when Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia. The infantry itself was formed in Quincy, Illinois, but many men returned to the state after the war ended, with some residing in Bureau County. 

Charles Moses was one of those soldiers. He lived in Princeton with his wife, Priscilla Parham. BCHS teamed up with the Bureau County Genealogical Society and was able to contact Moses' great-granddaughter, Frances Clarke, who attended the unveiling ceremony. 

"It's important that he served because he was a person who was once enslaved," Clarke said. "And he served in a war that changed the trajectory of life in the United States."

The monument is located at the corner of Park Avenue West and South Pleasant Street in Princeton. 

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