Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Cemetery, People

Location

38465 NY-12, Clayton, NY 13624, USA

Lat/Long

44.226368, -76.076491

Grant Recipient

Town and Village of Clayton

Civil War Medal of Honor recipient Private Joesph Lonsway (1844-1925) is buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery in the town of Clayton in Jefferson County, New York. According to his Medal of Honor certificate, Private Lonsway was honored for his “distinguished gallantry in action” on October 16, 1864 at Murfrees Station, Virginia, when he volunteered to swim across the Blackwater River under enemy fire to seize a ferry boat being used by Confederate forces. Where others failed, he succeeded in getting the boat back across the river safely, which ensured capture of a Confederate fortification across the river.

Private Lonsway was born in Clayton and was of French ancestry. He enlisted on October 12, 1863 to serve three years and mustered out, being discharged on July 31, 1865. He served as a private in Company D, 20th Regiment of the New York Volunteer Cavalry.

His obituary published in the Watertown Daily Standard on January 22, 1925, described how in 1921 he was able to realize his dream of attending memorial services for the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Armistice Day, getting to meet President Harding and General Pershing, and walking in the Armistice Day parade. His obituary noted that he was a “beloved veteran” and “one of the most colorful characters of the Thousand Island region.”