Perhaps the most rewarding part of writing this blog is watching how it connects our community. Today I have a follow-up to one of my recent posts which is a perfect example.
A little more than two weeks ago I posted a blog titled “History in a cigar box.” It described a treasure trove of information about the veterans buried in our Webster cemeteries, which had been found in a cigar box in a storage room at the American Legion. On more than 150 small notebook pages, someone had meticulously recorded, in hand-written notes, each veteran’s name, personal details, which cemetery he is buried in, and what lot number. Most of them also included much more information, including the soldier’s rank, war(s) and battles he fought in, enlistment and discharge dates, even his commanding officer’s name. No one seemed to know who had gathered all that information and kept such detailed records, or why.
A few days after I posted the blog, it was re-printed in the Webster Herald as my History Bit, which I write monthly for the Webster Museum. The photo which accompanied both the blog and the Herald article was the one you see above, with the cigar box and a soldier’s photo.
Just a few days after that, I received this email from Janice Smith, which cleared up one of the mysteries:
Your story on page one of the Herald shows my dad Harry Brewer. And I’m about 99.8% sure that it was him who collected the notes about Webster soldiers. He ran his own gas station on Empire at Plank Rd., and he saved everything. He had at least 25 empty cigar boxes upon his death (he sold cigars, never threw out anything). He was a dedicated member of the Legion for 67 years.
Also, the photo on page three shows the kind of little flip-page note book he used to record credit purchases in for his best customers. At the end of each month he’d tally up each customer’s charges and write them a statement and mail it to them. That’s some of his handwriting.
I connected Janice with Cherie Wood, the current caretaker of the pages. About a week ago, we all met at the Webster Library so Janice could look through her father’s old records and hopefully shed some light on why he created them.
Her father, she remembered, was very interested in genealogy and in his Webster neighbors. He grew up on East Main Street in the village, and even as a teenager would sit at his uncle’s gas station at the corner of Empire and Plank, and listen to the men talk and tell stories. Later, when he owned the station, he started writing those stories down on his little notepad.
“He was curious,” Janice said. “I can remember sitting in the station when he was talking with someone whose grandfather had been in the wars, and was writing notes about them.” And he clearly kept adding to his records as he learned more; on some of the pages, subsequent notes are written with different pens, and often there was so much information it flowed onto the back of the page. Like the one soldier who fought in 18 Civil War battles, each one listed individually, and was present at Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.
Janice also added a very interesting footnote to the story of Sylvester Brewer, whom I mentioned briefly in the original blog.
Sylvester — Harry Brewer’s distant cousin — was taken prisoner at Spotsylvania during the Civil War and spent three months in the infamous Andersonville prison in Georgia. He survived his imprisonment, and upon his release, traveled by foot all the way home to Webster. Janice estimates it took him about three months. When he got home, he walked into the West Webster Hotel (where the Jade Palace is now) where his father was bartending. Sylvester was so emaciated from the war, imprisonment and long trip home that his father didn’t even recognize him.
Why Brewer was keeping the records is still not clear. But the fact that the pages record exactly where each veteran’s gave is located seems to indicate they were referenced when the American Legion placed flags every Memorial Day.
“I think he was involved in placing the flags,” Janice said. “He was always involved in decorating (the graves).”
Whatever the reason Harry Brewer decided to fill his little notebook with details about our local veterans, we owe him a huge debt of gratitude. His curiosity, connection with the Webster community, and his passion for collecting stories have enriched our knowledge and helped us remember and honor our fallen heroes.
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(posted 6/27/2026)
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