Match Holder
The 2 3/4 x 3 1/2″ match holder was made with inlaid wood by a Civil War prisoner around 1865. It was given to Civil War veteran Wayland Francis Balch (1839-1937). Wayland served from 1862 to 1863 as a Private in Company E, 11th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry. He saw action in the Battle of Fredericksburg, Mud March, Siege of Vicksburg, and Siege of Jackson. Wayland moved to Westford’s Parker Village after the war, and by 1895, became a member of Troop F Light Cavalry, MA Volunteer Militia, which was later known as the Spaulding Light Cavalry. He was the last surviving Civil War vet in Westford. The match holder was given to the J.V. Fletcher Library by Wayland himself. It came to the Westford Museum in 1983 with much of the library’s historical collection.
W.1983.31.66