The John S. Coney Civil War Sword: Finds Through the Local History Room

I have been spending time inventorying the contents of the Local History room for awhile now, and I have made several exciting finds in the process.  This is about one of them.

In 1928, the North Reading Annual Report noted the receipt and acceptance of a Civil War sword from Miss A.G. Brooks of Westborough, Massachusetts.  The donation was specifically requested to be put in an appropriate case and displayed in the Flint Memorial Hall.  There are reports in the vertical file in the Local History room about this sword in several places, but there is no mention made of what became of it after it was given.  The sword was described as a ceremonial sword presented by the Town of North Reading to Lt. John S. Coney on 19 Sep 1862 as he went to war for the second time.  He had first enrolled as a private for 3 months, which was pretty common early in the war.  After he was discharged, he later enrolled again, this time as a Lieutenant, and he went off to war again with unit that had a number of North Reading men in it. 

The mystery of the sword and its whereabouts needed solving!  I asked one of the librarians about it, and she knew about its existence and where it was likely to be.  We went searching and sure enough: it is in the Library in a storage closet waiting to be found and appreciated.  It still has a sheath but has lost any straps that would have been used to hang it from a soldier's shoulder.  It also still needs an appropriate case for display, preferably one that would let the sheath and bare sword be seen.  The sword was engraved in two places, one with Lt. John Coney's name and the other saying it was presented by the Town of North Reading and the date of presentation (Sept. 1862).