On January 21, 2026, I was honored to be invited to present “Resurrecting Lost Voices: The George W. Gould Story … Adventures in Digital Archiving” via zoom to the Phil Kearny Civil War Roundtable of Northern New Jersey.
They were a great audience, and I had a terrific time speaking to them. They also did a really nice write-up on my work with the ongoing Gould project, which is featured on the front page of the latest edition of their regimental bulletin (below)
Honoring Pvt. George W. Gould … For Wreaths Across America 2025, I made the long drive again to Paxton MA to lay a wreath on the grave of my adopted Civil War soldier, Pvt. George W. Gould of the 25th Mass. Vol. Infantry, who sacrificed his life at Cold Harbor in 1864 to save the Union & end human chattel slavery. At the same time, I seek to honor all those who died for our country. There’s a tag on the wreath that tells his story & a QR code link to this website that I created to honor him
I was honored to be invited to present at the event “Our Roots, Our Voices,” a celebration of American History, on Saturday November 8th at 9:30AM in South Hadley MA. Fittingly for the theme of the event, my topic was Resurrecting Lost Voices, the George W. Gould story.
This is an in-progress excerpt from my presentation:
This is the flyer describing the event:
This is the handout I created and distributed at the event:
Resurrecting Lost Voices Handout
As part of their “We the People” series celebrating the 250th birthday of the United States, news anchor Chris Pisano of Western Mass News TV interviewed Stan Prager about the George W. Gould project and the creation of this website honoring him. The segment aired on WMN on September 26, 2025. This is an enhanced version of the video, with corrections to minor errors from the original broadcast:
This video is the original as it was first broadcast:
A link to the story at Western Mass News is here: How One Western Mass Man Honors the Legacy of a Civil War Soldier
Special thanks to Patrick McKeon, a local historian and member of the Leicester Historical Commission, who contributed to this story. I remain extremely grateful to Patrick for his ongoing help and support with this project.
On my Memorial Day visit to Paxton today to honor my adopted Civil War soldier, Pvt. George W. Gould, killed at Cold Harbor in 1864 to save the Union and end human chattel slavery, we first observed the Memorial Day parade and dedication, and George W. Gould’s name was read aloud among the honored dead. Afterwards, I placed a flag on Pvt. Gould’s grave just as the American Legion paid respects with a gun salute and taps. It was very moving. Watch the video for more.
Memorial Day 2025
“Resurrecting Lost Voices” Presentation to the Cape Cod Civil War Roundtable, March 24, 2025
I was honored to be invited to present Resurrecting Lost Voices:The George W. Gould Story via zoom to the Cape Cod Civil War Roundtable. It was a great group, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. A video version of the presentation is included below:
For Wreaths Across America 2024, I made the long drive again today to Paxton MA to lay a wreath on the grave of my adopted Civil War soldier, Pvt. George W. Gould of the 25th Mass. Vol. Infantry, who sacrificed his life at Cold Harbor in 1864 to save the Union & end human chattel slavery. At the same time, I seek to honor all those who died for our country. As I placed the wreath, the church adjacent to the graveyard began broadcasting Christmas music from the steeple. Very fitting. There’s a tag on the wreath that tells his story & a link to this website that I created to honor him
For Memorial Day, I made the drive again today to Paxton MA to lay a wreath on the grave of my adopted Civil War soldier, Pvt. George W. Gould of the 25th Mass. Vol. Infantry, who sacrificed his life at Cold Harbor in 1864 to save the Union & end human chattel slavery. There’s a tag on the wreath that tells his story & a link to this website that I created to honor him, which hosts his transcribed letters home.
For Wreaths Across America 2023, I made the drive again today to Paxton MA to lay a wreath on the grave of my adopted Civil War soldier, Pvt. George W. Gould of the 25th Mass. Vol. Infantry, who sacrificed his life at Cold Harbor in 1864 to save the Union & end human chattel slavery. At the same time, I seek to honor all those who died for our country. There’s a tag on the wreath that tells his story & a link to this website that I created to honor him
Memorial Day trip to Paxton MA to put a flag on the grave of my adopted Civil War soldier Pvt. George W. Gould who was killed at Cold Harbor in 1864 to save the Union & end human chattel slavery. My visit coincided with the American Legion gun salute & taps, which was very moving. This website, created to host his transcribed wartime letters & to honor his sacrifice, remains a labor of love!
For Wreaths Across America 2022, I made the drive once again today to Paxton MA to lay a wreath on the grave of my adopted Civil War soldier, Pvt. George W. Gould of the 25th Mass. Vol. Infantry, who sacrificed his life at Cold Harbor in 1864 to save the Union & end human chattel slavery. There’s a tag on the wreath that tells his story & a link to this website that I created to honor him, which hosts his transcribed letters home. The flags on the grave are ones I placed earlier this year. Huzzah Pvt. Gould!
For Wreaths Across America, I made the long drive once again today to Paxton MA to lay a wreath on the grave of my adopted Civil War soldier, Pvt. George W. Gould of the 25th Mass.Vol. Infantry, who sacrificed his life at Cold Harbor in 1864 to save the Union & end human chattel slavery. There’s a tag on the wreath that tells his story & a link to this website that I created to honor him. The flags I placed on earlier visits are still in place.
For Veterans Day 2021, I once more made the long drive to Paxton MA to place a flag on the grave of my adopted Civil War soldier, Pvt. George W. Gould of the 25th Mass. Vol. Infantry, Company F, who sacrificed his life at the bloody battle of Cold Harbor in 1864 to save the Union & end human chattel slavery. There is a tag attached that tells his story & links to the transcribed Civil War correspondence of Pvt. Gould on this website I created to honor him. I was pleased to find that the flag I placed on Memorial Day remains in place. I hope to find the time in warmer weather to clean and restore the adjacent gravestone of his daughter, Ada, which stands in sharp contrast to Pvt. Gould’s grave, which I cleaned and restored back in 2019 … Huzzah Pvt. George W. Gould!
For Memorial Day 2021, I made the long drive to Paxton MA to place a flag on the grave of my adopted Civil War soldier, Pvt. George W. Gould of the 25th Mass. Vol. Infantry, Company F, who sacrificed his life at the bloody battle of Cold Harbor in 1864 to save the Union & end human chattel slavery. There is a tag attached that tells his story & links to the transcribed Civil War correspondence of Pvt. Gould on this website I created to honor him. Huzzah Pvt. George W. Gould!
Through the courtesy of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, State House Art Commission, I was extremely fortunate to obtain permission to share a rare color slide of the 25th Massachusetts Presentation State Color Flag, presented by the ladies of Worcester in March 1864, just months before Private George W. Gould sacrificed his life at Cold Harbor to save the Union and end human chattel slavery. The flag is beautiful, if in particularly fragmentary condition. I am thrilled to add this additional element to honor the memory of Private Gould.
As part of my commitment to Wreaths Across America 2020, I made the long drive today to Paxton MA to lay a wreath on the grave of my adopted Civil War soldier, Pvt. George W. Gould of the 25th Mass. Vol. Infantry, who sacrificed his life at the bloody battle of Cold Harbor in 1864 to save the Union & end human chattel slavery. There is a tag on the wreath that tells his story & links to the transcribed Civil War correspondence of Pvt. Gould on this website. The two flags in front are ones I placed there earlier this year, on Veterans Day and Memorial Day. Huzzah to Pvt. George W. Gould!
For Veterans Day 2020, planting a flag and honoring Pvt. George W. Gould of the Massachusetts 25th, who sacrificed his life at Cold Harbor in 1864 to save the Union & end human chattel slavery. Huzzah!
Today
On Memorial Day, I drove an hour to an ancient cemetery to place a flag on the grave of my adopted Civil War soldier, Private George W. Gould, who sacrificed his life to save the Union and end human chattel slavery. As I honor him, I also honor all those who died for our freedom.
As part of my commitment to Wreaths Across America 2019, I drove to Paxton MA to lay a wreath on the grave of my adopted Civil War soldier, Pvt. George W. Gould, who sacrificed his life at the bloody battle of Cold Harbor in 1864 to save the Union and end human chattel slavery. There is a tag on the wreath that tells his story and links to the transcribed Civil War correspondence of Pvt. Gould on this website. I am gratified to see that flags I placed on his grave on Memorial Day & Veterans Day are still in place and waving o’er the snowy landscape. Huzzah Pvt. Gould!
Placing a Wreath on the Grave of Pvt. George W. Gould
Wreaths Across America 2019
Made the drive once again to Paxton MA on Veterans Day 2019 to place a flag on the grave of Pvt. George W. Gould, who died at Cold Harbor Virginia in 1864 to save the Union and end human chattel slavery.
Placing a Flag on the Grave of Pvt. George W. Gould, Veterans Day 2019
Before (L.) and After (R.) … Today, July 15, 2019, I made the long drive to Paxton, MA with the express purpose of cleaning the gravestone of my adopted Civil War soldier, Private George W. Gould. I purchased a professional conservation kit, studied up a bit, and then spent 1 1/2 hours cleaning and scrubbing the stone. The results are quite extraordinary!
When I arrived I was pleased to see that the flag I had placed on Memorial Day was still there, along with the laminated tag I had attached to it referencing this project that includes a link to this website.
On my last visit, I noticed how bad the stone looked: dirty, discolored and marred with lichen and other growths.
I came equipped with a professional conservation cleaning kit that I had purchased, which was recommended to me by someone who regularly tends to soldiers’ graves. I also brought along several gallons of water. I read the instructions prepared by a conservator carefully, watched a helpful video, and set off on a mission to carefully clean this stone.
While the final phase of cleaning involves utilizing a biologic called D/2, a safe biodegradable liquid that removes stains from mold, algae, mildew, lichens and air pollutants, most of the process consists of spraying water on the stone and scrubbing. Lots of scrubbing …
Scrubbing the Stone
… lots and lots of scrubbing
It is tedious work, to some degree, but highly rewarding. And even exciting: gradually, the identifying marks of the original stonecutter became visible at the lower right hand corner of the stone! This was fully obscured prior to clean.
It turned out to be a lot of hard work, but the final result was quite impressive when compared to the original state of the stone!
The difference is especially apparent when juxtaposed with the nearby grave of Gould’s daughter, Ada, who died of illness in an orphanage when she was only seventeen years old. I plan to return and clean her gravestone next . . .
My work today is intended as a tribute and a salute to Private George W. Gould, who died at Cold Harbor in 1864 to save the Union and end human chattel slavery.
Resurrecting Lost Voices 