Location

The Easement

Discussions about a monument to Michigan on the Antietam Battlefield acknowledged it would need to be on private property due to Park regulations. Board member Brian Egen recalled the triangular piece of farmland he had been privileged to visit in 1991 while doing research about the battle.

The story of Egen’s connection to this section of the battlefield and the Wilson family goes back to that Fall when as a young college student he first met “Lil” Wilson. Having been born and raised in Monroe, Egen had a special affinity for the 7th Michigan – notably Company D, raised almost exclusively from his hometown. He had done extensive research on First Lieutenant John A. Clark of that regiment, killed on September 17. His hastily marked grave was well known from the Alexander Gardner image taken shortly after the battle. Egen was planning the dedication ceremony for a military tombstone at the officer’s forgotten final resting place in a Monroe cemetery the following May. In 1991, he was the same age as Clark when killed in action.

Prior to the ceremony the following spring, Egen desired to visit the site of Clark’s grave on the battlefield. Thanks to the 1978 classic Antietam: The Photographic Legacy of America’s Bloodiest Day, he knew the location. Egen made the drive to Sharpsburg in November of 1991. Since that section of the battlefield was in private hands, clearly identified on the National Park Battlefield brochure, he required permission from the landowner to walk the ground.  Summoning courage, Egen proceeded up to the front door of the post-war house on the old Hagerstown Pike. He speculated that the owners received hundreds of such solicitations and anticipated a cool or even disagreeable response. Overcoming his other concern of disturbing the family, he knocked on the exterior storm door. Immediately, the loud barking of a large dog erupted inside. As his heart rate slowly settled, the vacuum of the inner door opening drew the storm door closed with authority. His heart raced again. A woman opened the storm door slightly; tongue-tied, Egen tried to explain the purpose of his call. With graciousness, the woman – Lillian Wilson – granted permission for access to her land. On that brisk November afternoon, Egen walked solemnly over the ground where his fellow townsman had fallen.

Not knowing if Mrs. Wilson still lived in the farmhouse or was even connected to the property, Egen determined to make another unannounced visit. After attending a conference in Gettysburg in March 2013, Egen and his wife Jody drove directly to the farmhouse outside Sharpsburg. Proceeding to the same door he had approached in November 1991, the same thoughts and emotions coursed through his mind. His knock on the door produced an equally instant and sustained dog barking but this time from a small, apparently feisty, lap dog. Once again, a woman opened the inner door and the vacuum with the storm door drew it inward.

Egen identified himself as a member of the Michigan Historical Commission, introduced his wife, and mentioned his purpose. The woman was receptive, open to hearing more, and acknowledged that a Mississippi group had worked with her and her husband on a monument recently. Having a good understanding at this point that she was the woman who greeted him when a college student, Egen said, “you may not remember me, but I knocked on your door twenty some years ago and” – before he could continue, the woman interrupted: “you were wearing a blue coat!  Oh, my gosh! My husband and I have often said to each other, ‘I wonder what ever became of that young man who was doing a study of the soldiers who fought on our land.’” Egen remembered that he was wearing a reproduction sky-blue Federal Great Coat on that chilly November day in 1991. As if it were a family reunion after many years apart, joyous smiles and hugs abounded.

They had met only once, a score of years ago. Yet Egen felt a special bond as the woman affirmed it would be a “noble thing to honor these soldiers.” She was “supportive of what you are trying to accomplish.” She would discuss with her husband offering a piece of their land for a home to a monument. As the Egens left for Michigan, they felt anticipation – and deep gratitude to “Lil” Wilson, who would become a key ally in the effort to erect Michigan’s monument at Antietam at long last.

By summer of 2013, Dempsey and Egen had made a trip to Antietam to meet with an attorney from Hagerstown, Maryland to draw up the purchase of a 400 square foot easement.  Around that time, Mr. Wilson had passed away and shortly thereafter, the property went up for sale. Knowing that the NPS has long wanted to obtain that section of property and the various preservations groups would quickly aid in that process, the MCWA knew time was of the essence to ensure that the paperwork would be finalized. Egen made a call to Mrs. Wilson to express his condolences and to discuss the signing of the paperwork.  Mrs. Wilson said that prior to her husband’s passing they discussed it once again and he wanted to make sure that this would happen.  She said that she had met with the attorney over the weekend and signed the paperwork.

At 5:26 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, Dempsey was sitting in a rocker on the front porch of his home in Plymouth. His cellphone rang; it was Egen, a fellow member of the Michigan Historical Commission. Dempsey answered, “Hello, my friend.” “Hello,” was the reply, “are you sitting down?” Egen had just received a call from the surviving owner of land at the epicenter of the Antietam battle, thanks to good work by a Maryland attorney representing the Michigan Civil War Association, a nonprofit corporation created for the primary purpose of erecting a Michigan monument at Antietam. Sitting down? Dempsey held his breath for a moment, wondering if it might be bad news. “Yes,” he replied to Egen, both hopeful and concerned.

“The MCWA is now the owner of an easement on private property on the Antietam battlefield,” Egen said brightly. There was silence for a moment; Dempsey had nothing to offer except a candid but rather insipid “Wow.” “I talked to Mrs. Wilson. I called her to extend our condolences [on the recent passing of her husband]. She appreciated that, and then said she had signed the paperwork.” And so, after months of hoping, planning, working, and praying, a simple phone call conveyed that people of Michigan had, after over a century and a half, returned to hallowed ground, where their ancestors struggled, fought, bled, died, and had acquired a four-hundred square foot easement on which to erect a memorial to that unselfish service.

Tears welled in Dempsey’s eyes as they talked a bit more. That they had represented the millions of Michiganders before and after to secure a site to commemorate their forebears’ heroism and sacrifice meant something beyond his comprehension. His emotions were the yardstick, and they told of how important this was to Michigan. Dempsey felt grateful to God, to the Wilsons, to the National Park Service personnel who had cooperated in finding the location and assenting to the effort, to those working with the two commissioners within Michigan’s history structure, and to Egen, whose investment in Antietam was unparalleled in Michigan. Dempsey said he was in awe of the moment. He struggled to find words. It was a moment to cherish.   

In early 2015, the Civil War Trust (now, the American Battlefield Trust) announced a fundraising campaign to acquire the Wilson Farm property that would ultimately surround the location for the Michigan monument. Calling it the epicenter of the bloody battle, the Trust noted it as the most blood-soaked ground on that entire battlefield.

Fundraising and Awareness

In an effort to stimulate awareness, and to clearly establish Michigan’s role during the battle, Jack Dempsey and Brian James Egen co-authored Michigan at Antietam: The Wolverine State’s Sacrifice on America’s Bloodiest Day. Published in 2015 by The History Press, all proceeds from this book, along with several others written by Dempsey on Civil War topics, raises money to get the project underway.

Since the time of acquiring the easement, MCWA has been in the quiet phase of fundraising.  It is hoped that in 2024, the active phase of fundraising will commence.  From sales of the books, donations, several grants, and passing the hat during book talks and presentations, nearly $50,000 has been raised.  A major donation of $25,000 was given to the MCWA in the winter of 2024.