The Civil War soldier from Maine whose remains were stored at the Oregon State Hospital for nearly 100 years has finally come home.

Army Pvt. Jewett Williams of Hodgdon, who fought for the Union Army with the famed 20th Maine arrived at Togus in Augusta with his remains in a cardboard box wrapped in an American flag.

Williams’ ashes traveled across the country in style, accompanied by a battalion of Patriot Guard Riders who handed the box off from one group of motorcyclists to the next. More than 150 Patriot Guard Riders participated in the Maine ceremony in Kittery, which took place after riders dismounted and carried his ashes across the Piscataqua River on the Memorial Bridge.

Togus will not be his last stop though because a pair of cousins from Aroostook County have claimed Williams’ ashes.

The cousins said he will be laid to rest next to his parents in a family plot in Hodgdon.

 

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