G.A.R. POST 241

Inscription

G.A.R. POST 241
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC
POST NAMED FOR CAPT. JEREMIAH
HATCH WHO DIED IN CIVIL WAR,
MOVED FORMER CHURCH HERE 1883
FOR USE AS HALL. CLOSED 1926.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2025

Chartered in 1881, the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Hatch Post 241 was made up of veterans of the Civil War Union Army in the town of Friendship in Allegany County, New York. The post was named for Captain Jeremiah Hatch, a prominent and well-respected member of the community who perished in the Civil War in 1862. Also locally referred to as Professor Hatch, he was a lawyer, founding member of the local Masons lodge, and served as the principal of the local Friendship Academy prior to the war. Sadly, Captain Hatch died of disease at Suffolk, Virginia on December 21, 1862.

In 1883, Post 241 purchased and moved a former local Baptist church building on Main Street to Elm Park Island, later known as Island Park. The former church would serve as the post’s hall until 1926 when the post closed. By that point, only two members were still living, James K. Morgan, age 82, and Alfred Hills Sr., age 87. Due to dwindling numbers, they dissolved the post and deeded the hall to the recently organized local camp of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, named Morgan-Hills Camp 201 in honor of these two men (Buffalo Evening News, June 11, 1926).

The hall was donated in 1967 to the town of Friendship (Wellsville Daily Reporter, May 1, 1967). As of 2025, it serves as a public meeting space for the community.