The imposing fifteen foot tall stone monument topped with a Celtic cross in the Christ Church circle commemorates the 152 Christ Church members “known to the Treasurer” who served our country in World War One. It is named The Wayside Cross, a designation that has long indicated, among other things, a sanctified place or a place of Christian worship. A Wayside Cross is a source of pride in a community. Ceremonies were held when they were dedicated, and volunteers lovingly and diligently maintained them. The Christ Church Wayside Cross memorial was commissioned by the Church and was  designed by architect and parishioner William Dominick, who also designed the current Christ Church, which was built in 1910. The monument was installed in 1924 with Masonic honors.

Many familiar Greenwich names are inscribed on the brass plaques on the north and south sides of the base of the monument: Alexander, Barnes, Burgess, Close, Day, Dominick, Duff, Finn, Griswold, Lockwood, Marks, Mead, Merritt,  Nichols, Pearson, Persons, Phillips, Pryor, Rockefeller, Rowland, Smith, Strickland, Taylor, Twachtman, Whelan, Williams, Wilmot. Many family names appear more than once. Five of those listed are women: Eleanor McFadden, Clara Hyde Montgomery,  Helen Louise Vanderwercken, Mary Vroom and Jennie Woollard. Five soldiers lost their lives: Arthur Cleveland Coxe, George William Locke, John Richard Perkins, John Thomas Pryer and Henry William Wiesel. Each of these names is marked with a star beside his name on the plaque.

The Celtic cross represents the cross over the sun indicating Christ’s supremacy over the pagan sun. The inscription on the west side of the base reads “In Honor of Those Who Served” and below that, “In Memory of  Those Who Died in the World War 1914 – 1918”. John 15:13 is quoted on the east side of the base: “Greater Love Hath No Man Than This That He Lay Down His Life for His Friends”. The symbol below the quotation is a Christogram, an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a symbol of Christ in the Christian Church.

The two small square parian marble markers at the southern base of the monument identify the location of two time capsules interred by  Masons. The markers were designed, cut and carved by Masons.  The one on the left was buried in 2015 by  “Union Lodge No. 5” of Stamford, the fifth lodge chartered by the Grand Lodge of Hartford and the lodge to which Greenwich Masons belonged until forming the Greenwich Lodge in 1857. “A.F. & A.M.”, “Ancient Free and Accepted Masons”, refers to  Freemasonry, which evolved from the guilds of stonemasons and cathedral builders of the Middle Ages. The traditional Masonic image of the compass and level on this marker also incorporates the letter G, a sacred reference added in the 20th century. “Est November 1763” indicates the date the Stamford Lodge was founded, and “Time Capsule – Open 2063” directs that the capsule be opened on the 300th anniversary of the lodge’s founding date.

The second and more simply inscribed marker indicates that the time capsule buried under it was created by  Acacia Lodge number 85, the Greenwich lodge which was chartered in 1857 by the Grand Lodge in Hartford. The name Acacia refers to the wood used to build the Ark of the Covenant as described in Exodus 25:10. This time capsule is to be opened in 2107 when the Acacia Lodge celebrates its 250th year. The image of the compass and level is the traditional Masonic image which has been used for centuries without the G.

Many thanks to Andrew Melillo, the Worshipful Master for Acacia Lodge 85, for generously sharing a wealth of Masonic information.

Emily Ragsdale