STUDENT GUIDE TO THE
STUDY OF WAYLAND TOWN CHARACTERS
IN THE CIVIL WAR
This
packet contains clues to the life of your Civil War Character. Use the following questions to guide
you in the quest of his or her life story. Some of the materials in this packet
were saved over many generations by family or friends of your character and
given to the Wayland Historical Society to keep. Some clues come from town
records that by law must be saved. These are primary sources. Others are from books
written about the Civil War period in Wayland, in Massachusetts, or in the
country, which are secondary sources.
The
following questions are to help you get to know your Civil War Character. Try to answer as many questions as you
can. Remember that these are only
clues, not the full story of his or her life,. Some clues have been lost. Some clues may not even be completely correct. Watch out for information that goes
against or conflicts with what other clues have told you. Good researchers consider the source of
the information and the special point of view it represents. The people who
recorded this information could have made a mistake in understanding the
person's life or just in typing (in many cases handwriting) the information. Use your critical thinking to develop
your characterÕs biography or story.
Work
with your teammate to fill out the worksheet that follows, using the
information you have gathered from the class introduction to the Town in the
Civil War and the information in your packet on your Civil War Character.. Then
write the life story of your character.
Add as many interesting details about his/her family as you have been
able to find.
You
will hand in your biography as an assignment. Make note of the questions you
cannot answer because of lack of information. When you take your bus tour you
will visit the home site and gravestone of your character and hear additional
information to add to your biography to create a script on your character for
the final event.
WORKSHEET FOR
THE STUDY OF WAYLAND TOWN CHARACTERS IN THE CIVIL WAR:
Student's
Name __________________________________________ Date
___________________
Teammate Name
_________________________________________
Teacher's
Name __________________________________________
1.The full
name of my Civil War Character is
_______________________________________________________________________
2. When was he/she born? Where was he/she born?
_______________________________________________________________________
3. When did he/she die? Why did he/she die? Where is he/she buried?
What does the gravestone
say?
_________________________________________________________________________________.
_________________________________________________________________________________.
4. How old was he/she in 1865?
_________________________________________________
5. Where did your person live? Locate his/her residence on the class
map. ________________________
6. Who was living with him/her in
1865? List the relationship of
these people to your character
Did anyone
other than direct family members live with him/her? Who? Were they immigrants? helpers? servants?
slaves? (check 1865 census) Why do you think they lived in the same
house?
_________________________________________________________________________________.
_________________________________________________________________________________.
8. What did your character look like? List
source of information.
_________________________________________________________________________________.
9. Begin a list of adjectives used to
describe your character.
______________________________________________
___________________________________.
10. List the
education of your character: Graduate from high school? College? What college? Did he/she graduate?
When?
______________________________________________
___________________________________.
11. Begin a
family tree for your person. Use the back of this worksheet.
12. What did
your person do for a living?
____________________________________________________________________________________
13. How many
people were living in Wayland in 1865? ________________________________________
14. Were
there any blacks living in Wayland in 1865? ________________________________________
15. List the
all the different nationalities of the people living in Wayland in 1865.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
16. What was
the earliest official action taken by the people of Wayland after the Civil War
began?
_______________________________________________________________
17. The first
men to serve in the Civil War were the townÕs Minutemen or Militia. How many
Minutemen formed Wayland's first company of soldiers?
_______________________________________________________________
18. Did your
character or a member of his/her family serve in the Civil War? As Minuteman?
As a Volunteer or draftee in a Regiment? In what regiment and company did
he/she serve?
_______________________________________________________________
19. In what
battles did your person or members of his/her family fight?
____________________________________________________________________________________
20. As more
troops were needed, towns needed to fill its "quota". How did Wayland fill its quota?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
21. Under
what circumstances could a person not serve in the war?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
22. Did the
soldiers get paid for serving in the war?
If so, where did the money come from? How much was paid to each soldier? What was the total amount paid to soldiers who lived in
Wayland?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
23. While the
men were forming companies of soldiers, what were the ladies of the town doing?
Did your character or a family member serve in a Charitable Society? What did
they do?
____________________________________________________________________________________
24. Did your
character or male family member serve in the Soldiers' Relief Society? What did
they do?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
25. How did
the people of Wayland in general feel about the war?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
26. How did
your character or members of his/her family feel about
the war?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
27. Was your
character or members of his/her family injured, captured, or killed during the
war?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
28. How did
the war change the life of your character or his/her family?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
29. How did
the town of Wayland celebrate the return of its soldiers? Did your character
participate in the celebration?
How?
_____________________________________________________________________________________