Civil War Museum Exhibit Honors Teacher Who Joined the Union Army

A display at the New England Civil War Museum showcases yet an area teacher who did not hesitate to put his career on hold and sign up for the Union cause.
 
The Benjamin Loomis display includes a sword and carte de visite, the small photograph and informational hand-out popular in the late 1800s that is the equivalent of the modern-day business card. 

Loomis was born in March of 1838. He was in the midst of life as a teacher when he raised a company of soldiers from Tolland, his hometown. When the company arrived in Hartford, it was merged into Co. K of the 22nd Connecticut Regiment, according to museum records. 

Since Loomis recruited most of the soldiers in the company, he was elected captain and presented the sword that is on display. 

Loomis carried the sword, made by Collins & Company in Collinsville, for his entire nine-month term of service. The 22nd Connecticut, made up of men from Tolland and Hartford counties, drew duty protecting the fortifications  around Washington D.C and was a skirmisher during the siege of Suffolk in Virginia, according to museum records. 

Loomis returned home in 1863. In addition to teaching, he was an inventor, painter, a shipping clerk, a hotel manager, and a sewing machine maker, according to museum records. He died in 1907.

He was married three times and had two daughter, both of whom died at a young age, according to museum records. 

The New England Civil War Museum is located on the second floor of the Vernon Town Hall in the fully preserved Grand Army of the Republic Hall. 
Until August 21, the museum is open on Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.