Westtown Black Civil War Vets Remembered at Chester County Courthouse

Friends of Shiloh AME Church and Cemetery, a group organized to preserve a neglected Black cemetery in Westtown Township, recreated a 160-year-old ceremony last weekend at the Old Chester County Courthouse.

Borrowing from the first Decoration Day held May 1, 1865 — organized by 27 freed Black men to honor Union soldiers buried in Charleston, SC— FoS honored the 14 known Civil War United States Colored Troops (USCT) who are buried at the Westtown cemetery.

At the May 17 commemoration, Rev. Dr. Richelle Gunter, pastor at St. Paul’s Baptist Church, West Chester and president of the West Chester NAACP, described the first Decoration Day and the solemn parade during that first commemoration. Lonnie Nichols, descendant of two USCT soldiers buried at Shiloh (Alfred Bye, his second great grandfather, and Richard Bye, his second great uncle), presented an original upbeat arrangement of “Generations,” a song he wrote.

David Walter, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and a member of FoS, spoke of Civil Rights activist Frederick Douglass’ 1863 visit to Horticultural Hall (now Chester County History Center) in West Chester, where Douglass urged Black men to enlist in the Union Army in order “to bury rebellion and slavery in a common grave."

The names of the USCT veterans buried at Shiloh AME (which has more than 140 graves) were then read, and the Sons of Union Veterans honor guard fired three volleys and sounded Taps

The FoS, a nonprofit group, formed in 2023 to preserve the abandoned and neglected cemetery at Shiloh and Little Shiloh roads in Westtown, Chester County, and educate the community about its rich history. As part of that education, FoS recently raised money from the community to install an historic marker next to the cemetery property, with a dedication ceremony to be held Spring 2026. Anyone interested in these efforts contact friendsofshilohame@gmail.com