Jasper Grays Civil Singers present concert

The Colfax Public Library and the Colfax Historical Society are co-hosting a concert by the Jasper Grays Civil War Singers, a group of Newton men who perform music of the 1861 through 1865 era in period dress.

They will be appearing at the First United Methodist Church in Colfax on Sunday evening, July 12, at 7 p.m. The concert is open to the public at no admission charge.

The Jasper Grays perform a variety of music from the Civil War years, including patriotic songs, songs about the soldiering life, battlefield deaths, domestic scenes, emancipation songs, hymns, tunes, etc.

Members of the group (pictured above, front row, left to right) are Larry Hurto, John Keller and Gary Kopsa. Back row is Mark Wagner and Barry Hurto. They tell something of the origin of the various selections they sing.

The historical Jasper Grays was the first company to leave Jasper County for the war on July 9, 1861.

It is thought they wore gray uniforms (even though they were a northern unit) probably in emulation of the cadets of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. (Uniformity of dress in the opposing armies was not established until 1862, the first full year of the war.)