Lifelong Newtown resident Chris Layda’s curiosity recently led him down a road of discovering that some of his ancestors were just as local as he is.

“I traveled these roads my whole life and.. You assume and you daydream, but now that I know for certain, it’s a strange feeling knowing that my ancestors walked these same roads,” Layda said in a recent phone interview.

Not only were his ancestors residents, but letters, luckily preserved, share insights into Civil War maneuvers. Now Layda hopes the letters and the soldier who wrote them will be remembered. He wants to partner with a local organization or group to help digitize the archive and make it “available for all to access.”

While Layda’s parents were in town for over 50 years, he says his Newtown lineage is “not unbroken.”

“I discovered my Newtown connections last winter,” he shared.

Those discoveries came about thanks to his curiosity and online search engines. Layda began by searching the internet for his grandfather. He pieced together his family tree thanks to other publicly posted family trees and search engine results. When he began to look through the results, “I found this interesting item from the University of North Carolina [at Chapel Hill].”

There was no questioning that the “interesting item” was about Newtown, as it mentioned “Coldspring” and “Botsford.”

He shared his discovery with his father, Richard Layda, who remembered that his great-grandmother had once possessed letters relating to an ancestor who fought in the Civil War. It was part of family lore. Layda said his father “almost fell over” when he learned that after a stranger had purchased those letters from his great-grandmother, they ended up at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

And they are still available.

The letters and entire collection are in the Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The collection’s overview reads, “William Henry Cooley (also spelled Coley) was the son of Zalmon Cooley of Cold Spring, Fairfield County, Conn. He served in Company H, 1st Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers in the summer of 1861 and re-enlisted in the fall in Company G of the 7th Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers. The collection includes Civil War letters written to his family by Cooley serving in northern Virginia and on the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The letters contain considerable information on military life, conditions at camp, events around him, rumors, activity of his unit, guesses about the future, and other matters. Also included are a tintype of William Henry Cooley; three letters written by his sister, Eliza Gilbert; and a fragment of a letter by Eliza Gilbert’s husband Walter.”

The collection is held in copyright and called “The William Henry Cooley Papers, 1861-1864, Collection #03678-z.”

When Layda first began his ancestry search, he said, “I didn’t know what I would find.” Now he is working to transcribe the letters.

Not only did William Henry Cooley fight in the Civil War, but, according to Layda, he was one of three brothers who did. One of the brothers, George S. Coley, is listed on the Liberty and Peace Monument, known to most as the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, on Main Street. The names of local veterans of the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and World War I are included on the monument.

“Henry gave his life for the cause and he has kind of been forgotten,” Layda reflected. Later he added, “And he left us this written account.”

Reading through the letters, Layda said, “really brought me close to the human that Henry was and his sacrifice, his love for his country.”

“It’s a direct letter of his personality and spirit... I just think that he was a patriotic young man who was doing what he thought was right,” said Layda.

According to Layda, William Henry Cooley died from a battle wound June 1, 1864, and was buried at Hampton National Cemetery in Hampton City, Virginia.

After reviewing the collection, which Layda said consists of 148 pages of 48 letters, Layda has a feeling for more than just William Henry Cooley’s personality and the war maneuvers.

The first letter was written on May 31, 1861, and it was sent to “Cold Spring, Botsford Station, Fairfield County, Conn.” The last letter was written on May 29, 1864.

“They are a heartfelt and emotional first hand account from a young 21-year-old soldier’s experiences and a snapshot in time for our country, as well as our town,” Layda said.

Later, he wrote in an e-mail, “One hundred-fifty-seven years after his death, I believe that William Henry Cooley absolutely deserves to be recognized for his service and to be celebrated as a Newtown Civil War Veteran who made the ultimate sacrifice at the young age of 23 years old.”

Sharing some of his discoveries, Layda wrote, “With many Coley family members in the area, apparently they attempted to change the spelling of the family name from Coley to Cooley. ‘Henry’ is listed as William M Coley in the 1860 Census but as William H Cooley in his enlistment records. Further confusing is that Henry used his middle name as his common name. Names didn’t matter as much then I guess. Regardless, the letters tie him to Cold Spring, Botsford, so it is certainly the same person. He enlisted two weeks shy of his 21 birthday. Was not married or did not have children and was employed as a Hatters apprentice in 1860. He enlisted for an initial three months, came home for a short period, and then re-enlisted for a duration of three years serving at various locations in coastal South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Virginia. At the time of the letters Henry and Frances were the last remaining children to be living at home.

“His father Zalmon was a shoe maker, later a fish peddler. Zalmon and Laura Coley had 12 children, starting their life in Weston, later moved to Newtown and, judging from the 1860 Census crosschecked with the 1857 map of Newtown, lived somewhere near where the Swenson Granite yard is now located on Route 25. My third great-grandmother, Sarah Coley, was roughly the middle child and had moved out before they relocated to Newtown. Henry had two brothers who also served in the Civil War. George S. Coley of Newtown was four years older and his oldest brother Charles W. of Bridgeport was 13 years older than Henry. Henry was the third youngest of the 12 children.”

The letters mention neighbors, places, and businesses. A “Sheppards” hat factory is noted, as well as a button shop, according to Layda. William Henry Cooley wrote of looking forward to drinking cider with family at a friend’s house, a home that still stands, according to Layda.

Layda described, “The letters express in detail the day to day life of a young soldier and his Regiment’s maneuvers. The excitement of a young man seeing the world beyond Newtown, the architectural wonders of the day — such as Washington DC, called ‘Washington City,’ at the time under construction — living situations at camp, and the uncertainty of his own fate.

“A theme of patriotism and duty are in every letter. Assurances from Henry that he is content and sure in his decision that he wants to serve his country and despite the risk expresses optimism that he will make it home to Newtown,” Layda wrote.

One part of William Henry Cooley’s letters that stands out to Layda reads, “Oh Father I cannot give up the idea but that I shall return to old Conn again and to my home rendered so desolate in my absence but I hope the time is soon to come when the star spangled banner will wave in Triumph o’er every hill and its folds be unfurled to every breeze in our own native land and we that have gone forth to defend this Country in this her hour of peril may have the honor and proud satisfaction of seeing the Country free from traitors and enemies and The Union preserved.” From William Henry Cooley to Zalmon Cooley, Folder 1, in the William Henry Cooley Papers, 1861-1864 #03678-z, Southern Historical Collection, Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Though William Henry Cooley died and is buried in Virginia, certainly through Layda’s efforts, he is now finally home in Newtown.

Information gathered from the William Henry Cooley Papers, 1861-1864, Collection #03678-z,, Southern Historical Collection, Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was used in an as reference for this article.

Eliza Hallabeck can be reached at eliza@thebee.com.