Medfield Historical Society Programs 2010-11

David Jones, author of Two Brothers: One North, One South will speak on his book at Medfield Historical Society program for October, at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church on North Street. Admission is free, all are invited

The recent novel tells the story of the Prentiss brothers, whose loyalties were split during the Civil war. The story's Medfield connection is William and Clifton Prentiss were the grandsons of The Rev Thomas Prentiss, the fourth minister in Medfield in 1770. Prentiss and his wife owned the house that still stands at the corner of North St. and Lowell Mason Rd.

Early in the Civil War William slipped across the Potomac and joined the Confederate Maryland Battalion at Harpers Ferry. At that time Clifton joined the Union army, becoming a major in the Army of the Potomac. Throughout the war, the brothers fought, brother against brother, on opposite sides. Just before the end of the war both were wounded in the same battle of Petersburg and, each at a different time, was befriended by the acclaimed poet Walt Whitman. This intriguing story will come to life better when the author recounts his research and interest that led to the book.