Veterans Memorial Hall in Rockford: SUVCW

A successor organization to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) is the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) which was established in 1881.  Also, the Ladies Auxiliary was founded.

Both organizations are to carry on the mission of the GAR.

A local camp (different groups in the SUVCW are called camps) of the SUVCW was organized in Rockford and met at the Memorial Hall from 1903 to 1957.

They reorganized in 2005 as the Logan Camp No. 26 and still meets in the same Post Room where the original camp met.

To continue the legacy of the GAR to honor the memory of Civil War vets, the SUVCW cleans and replaces grave markers of Civil War veterans, and members conduct ceremonies to commemorate the history of the war.

They meet the first Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m.

--Old Secesh

Veterans Memorial Hall & Museum in Rockford, Illinois-- Part 2: It Was a GAR Thing

Display cases throughout the building contain artifacts, photographs and other items from America's wars, including recent conflicts in the Middle East.  The museum contains 15,000 such pieces in its collection.

When memorial Hall opened in 1903, the first organization to meet in the Post Room was a local contingent of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), the first and eventually the largest veterans organization of the Civil War veterans in the country.

Founded in Decatur, Illinois, in 1866, its peak membership exceeded 409,000 Union veterans, including five U.S. presidents.  

This national organization established the pension system for veterans, funded homes and hospitals for soldiers, widows and orphans; and created Memorial Day to honor all deceased veterans.

--Old Secesh

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War

Since I mentioned the Sons of Union Veterans in the last post, here is some more information about them.

From Wikipedia.

The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUV) grew out of the largest organization of Union veterans established after the war, The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR).  Much the same as the Sons of Confederate Veterans grew out of the United Confederate Veterans organization.

It would be necessary to find the next generations to carry on the group's good name as they died out.  This is why the American Legion has its Sons of the American Legion.

The SUV was established in 1881 and was founded by Major Augustus P. Davis for the preservation of the principles of the GAR.  Local groups are organized into camps which then are grouped into departments

Membership on 2022 was 6,574 with headquarters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  Commander-in-Chief in 2022 was Peter J. Hritso.

--Old Secesh

Why Do We Commemorate Memorial Day?-- Part 2: The Role of the GAR

One of the first Decoration Days was held in Columbus, Mississippi,  on April 25, 1866, by women who decorated graves of Confederate soldiers who perished at the Battle of Shiloh who perished at the Battle of Shiloh, with flowers.

On May 5, 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War,  the tradition of placing flowers on veterans' graves was continued by the  establishment of Decoration Day by an organization of former Union veterans, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR).

General Ulysses S. Grant presided over the first large observance of the day,  when a crows of  about 5,000  people gathered at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on May 30, 1873.  The orphaned children of soldiers and sailors killed during the war placed flowers and small American flags atop both Union and Confederate graves throughout the whole cemetery.

This tradition continues to this day.

Until World War I,  Civil War soldiers were the only ones so honored on this day.  Now, all American military who died are honored.

--Old Secesh

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Woodstock

Same source as previous post.

SOLDIERS' and SAILORS' MONUMENT

Stands in the center of the City Park (now referred  to as Woodstock Square).  Erected by members of the Woodstock Woman's Relief Corps (part of the Grand Army of the Republic, GAR) in 1909.

Cost $3,000.  The money was raised over several years.  One year the Relief Corps had a restaurant at the McHenry County Fair which fed hundreds of people morning, noon and night.

The committee in charge:

Mrs. Martha Rose, Mrs. Lucy H. Renich, Mrs. Lena B. Seiler, Mrs. Nettie Judd, Mrs. Mabel Hanaford Monroe  (chairman), Mrs. Anna Ackley, Miss Emily Whitson, George Eckert, A. Sill, F.E. Hanaford, C.D. Judd and Fred Eppel.

(There was also a Hanaford in the previous post.  Wonder if they're one and the same?)

--Old Secesh

Roster of the Harley Wayne GAR Post #169, Marengo, Illinois

From McHenry County, Illinois, Genealogy.

This was the roster of the Marengo, Illinois, Harley Wayne GAR Post #168.  Unfortunately, there was no date given.

The names were given, but I went through the list and recorded what units the men were in during the war.

There were 31 men listed.

These were the Illinois Infantry Regiments and how many from each one:

95th:   8  All ten companies from McHenry and Boone counties.

15th:   4   Companies A, D and F were from McHenry County.

141st:   3  Company F from McHenry and Kendall counties.

153rd:   2  Company K from McHenry County.  Company B from McHenry and Boone counties.

5th:   1

23rd:   1

36th:    1

37th:   1

65th:  1

93rd:    1

CAVALRY

9th:   1

15th:   1

OTHER STATES

125th New York:   1

10th New York Cavalry:   1

14th  Iowa

19th Michigan:    1

12th Wisconsin Artillery:    1

11th Vermont Artillery:   1

--Old Secesh

The Marengo, Illinois, Grand Army of the Republic Post (Harley Wayne Post #169)

The McHenry County Historical Museum in Union, Illinois, has a display on the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) that existed in the county at one time.  One of them was Marengo's Harley Wayne Post #169.

It was organized on December 29, 1882 and was the second GAR post in the county and named after Captain Harley Wayne who was killed at the Battle of Shiloh.  Our McHenry County Round Table president had told me that this man's mansion was in Union.  

Almost a third of the post members had belonged to the 95th Illinois Infantry Regiment that was primarily from McHenry County.  They met every second and fourth Friday in large gatherings at the Marengo Opera House.

After 1905, the meetings attracted smaller numbers  of veterans and were much more infrequent.  The last recorded meeting took place on December 8, 1922 when seven of the remaining twelve members got together.

They officially disbanded in 1930.

The last Marengo veteran, Samuel Wise, died in 1936.

--Old Secesh

McHenry Co. CWRT-- Part 3: Preserving the Past: John Brink's Notebook

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT) has also spent money for repairs to two items in the McHenry County Historical Society Museum in Union (where we met) and we had the opportunity to see where our money went.

One was the Civil War diary of John Brink notebook.  He served from 1862 to 1863 and took a trip to Murfreesboro, Tn. after the Battle of Stones River.  He was from McHenry County.

The other is also a Brink notebook which has the names of about 400 soldiers from McHenry County.

Both are now preserved and in the museum's Civil War exhibit, which also has a lot of GAR artifacts.

The topic for June's MCCWRT discussion group will be Civil War Veterans Organizations and will be held at the Panera Bread Company restaurant in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

--Old Secesh

David H. Budlong-- Part 2: On to Missouri, Idaho and Montana and GAR and Woman's Relief Corps (His Wife)

From the 1894 Journal of the Grand Army of the Republic.

David H. Budlong from Couer d' Alene, Idaho.

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Montana Territory  1885

David H. Budlong  from Cooke in Gallatin County.  Notary Public

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Report of U.S. Secretary of the Treasury  1882

David H. Budlong, 5th Missouri District had collected $15,454. 84.

$145,571.72   1881

He must have left Missouri in 1882 which is why his collection was lower.  Bryan S. Langston was also listed in 1882 with the 5th Missouri District and he collected $138,281.62

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From the Journal of the Annual Convention of the Woman's Relief Corps National Convention 1893.

1893, Mattie B. Budlong of the C.C. McReynolds Corps of Couer d' Alene, Idaho, named president.  Installed by David H. Budlong.  (White Corps)

--Old Secesh

Henry Mack's Obituary of the 57th USCT

From the December 14, 2014, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder  "Civil War veteran Henry Mack, 107 years old, dies.  Buried April 11, 1945."

From the April 13, 1945 issue.

Funeral services for Henry Mack, reported to be one of the oldest Civil War veterans in the country, who died at veterans hospital, Sunday, April 8, were held Wednesday, April 11, at Zion Baptist Church with Reverend Claude Ireland, chaplain of the Minnesota Soldiers Home, officiating.

Mr. Mack, a native of Fayette City, Alabama, was 107 years old at the time of his death.  He was vice commander of the Minnesota  Department of the Grand Army of the Republic.  He fought in the Civil War in the Fifty-seventh Infantry Colored Volunteers from Arkansas.

Members of the Johnny Baker Post were the active pallbearers.  Internment was at Crystal Lake cemetery.

Surviving are a step -son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Johnson, with whom he made his home.  Woodward Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Henry Mack, Born a Slave, Served USCT-- Part 5: 'There's a Lot of Damn Good Fight in Me Yet!'

His second wife, Sadie Johnson, died in 1935.  Then in his nineties, Mack moved in with her son from a previous marriage and his wife, Clarence and Allie Johnson.  They regularly drove him to GAR meetings and Sunday services at Zion Baptist Church.

With the United States engaged in World War II, Mack was in his 100s when he climbed the stairs for the first time in years, loaded a shotgun and put on his Army jacket.

When his family members found him on a nearby porch, he was headed to an Army recruiting station.

Told that he was too old to go to war again, Mack said:  "There's a lot of damn good fight in me yet!"

--Old Secesh

Born a Slave, Henry Mack Served in Union Army and Lived to Be 107-- Part 1

From the January 30, 2021, Minneapolis Star-Tribune "Former slave, Civil War vet lived final decades in Minneapolis" by Curt Brown.

The picture shows him at the age of  104 in 1941.  Five Civil War veterans were honored at the Third Annual Good Will dinner at Post 166 Jewish War Veterans.  He is bottom row, right.

Grave No. 384 in Section A-3 commemorates one of the most remarkable lives among the 240,000 military and family members buried  at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

This is the grave of Henry Mack, an escaped slave, Civil War veteran who lived to be 107.  He died in 1945 and was buried in the area where early black veterans were interred.

Mack was born into Alabama slavery sometime between  1836 and 1838 according to pension records.  Newspapers later settled on 1837 for his birth year.

"I only know my birthday being July 4th as having been told by my parents and master," Mack said in a 1912 interview.  "He concluded:  "I am 75 years old and past."

At age 100 in 1937, he was described as being in great shape for a man of his age.  The Minneapolis Star-Journal reported in 1941 that Mack, at 104, was "trim, alert, conversational," a busy man" with little time for reminiscing" given his schedule as a "patriotic instructor" and one of the last members of the Civil War veterans group, the Grand Army of the Republic.

--Old Secesh

The Civil War Monument at Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 2: The Civil War 18

The plaque listing the Civil War 18 has the GAR insignia on it, which stands for the Grand Army of the Republic, which was the postwar organization of those who served in the Union military.

It has, of course, 18 names on it:

Fishman, John

Hejduk, Michael

Hlavin, James

Hrdlicka, Frank

Hudek, Prokop

Kakuska, Jacob

Kaspar, William

Macal, Anton

Mitchell, M.

--Old Secesh

Death and Funeral of Theophilus Lyle Dickey

From Find-A-Grave site.

JUDGE T. LYLE DICKEY LAID TO REST

Ottawa, Ill., July 28, 1885.

The funeral of the late Judge T. Lyle Dickey took the place at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. W.H. Wallace, at three o'clock yesterday afternoon.  Although the heat was excessive at that hour the attendance was very large, nearly all the business houses in town having closed from two until five o'clock.

A special train from Chicago, having on board the State officers and many Chicago friends, arrived at twelve o'clock, the procession, consisting of Company D,  G.A.R.,  the City Council and the Judges of the Supreme Court, formed at  the Supreme Court, formed at the Supreme Courthouse, where the remains had been lying in state, and moved through town to "Two Oaks," where services were held.

After the service the procession moved to the beautiful little private burial ground on the edge of the bluff and consigned  to the final resting place, the remains of T. Lyle Dickey.

--Old secesh

Nebraska in the Civil War-- Part 4: "Galvanized Yankees" and SUV, CWRT, SUVCW, MOLLUS and DUVCW

Later in the war, some of the soldiers serving at Fort Kearny were "Galvanized Yankees," former Confederate soldiers who had changed their allegiance to the Union.

By the end of the war, more than a third of men of military age in Nebraska Territory has served in the Union military (3,157).

In addition to the 1st Nebraska, the territory raised three other full regiments of cavalry as well as several battalions of militia.  Thirty-five Nebraskans were killed in action during the war, while another 204 died of other causes, mostly disease.

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THE CIVIL WAR TODAY IN NEBRASKA

Today, several groups exist in Nebraska that trace their ancestry to postbellum veterans organizations like the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS).  There is also at least one Civil War Round Table.  Four camps of the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War (DUVCW) are also listed.

--Old Secesh

Old Abe and Friends-- Part 4: Retired, Fame and the Fires

In 1864, Old Abe, already famous, was presented to the State of Wisconsin and lived in his own room at the Capitol Building.  He was often taken on the road to help raise money for veterans causes.  In 1880, he made his last appearance for a GAR meeting in Milwaukee.

In 1881, there was a small fire in the Capitol Building.  Old Abe raised the alarm and it was put out, but not after he had inhaled much smoke and he later died of it on March 26.

On September 17, 1881, his stuffed remains  were placed in a glass display case in the rotunda.  The remains were later transferred to two other buildings before being returned to the Capitol Building in 1903.  Sadly, another fire in 1904 destroyed Old Abe's remains

Since 1915, a replica of Old Abe has presided over  the General Assembly Chamber and another one is on display at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison.

For 100 years, the J.I. Case agricultural company incorporated Old Abe in its logo and he is also on the insignia of the 101st Airborne Division in the Army.

--Old Secesh

Wyoming Gets New Sons of Union Veterans Camp-- Part 1

From the March 28, 2019, Sheridan (Wyoming) Press  "Camp of Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) Chartered."

There hasn't been a camp in Wyoming for a long time, but there is one now.

The charter was signed by Commander in Chief Donald W. Shaw in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and was approved by the Commander of the Department of Colorado and Wyoming William Buvinger on November 18, 2018.

The charter was presented and officers sworn in at the  Fort Caspar Museum on February 23, 2019.

The SUVCW is a fraternal male heritage organization dedicated to preserving  the history and legacy  of veterans who served in the Union military.  Organized in 1881 and  chartered by Congress in 1954, the SUVCW is the legal heir and successor of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) formed in 1866,

--Old Secesh

Col. Ethelbert Ludlow Dudley-- Part 2: Medical Profession

From Find-A-Grave.

Born 1818 in Fayette County, Kentucky.

Died 22 February 1862

Buried in Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, Kentucky.

Educated at Harvard  and the Transylvania Medical School.  He served as professor of Anatomy at Transylvania and at the time of his death had also joined the new Kentucky Medical School in Louisville.

The GAR Post in Lexington, Ky. is named for him.

From the  Feb. 26, 1862, Observer and Reporter:

Remains of Col. Ethelbert Dudley arrived 24th and funeral held today..  Big parade and burial in Lexington Cemetery.

--Old Secesh

General Cornelius Attwood's Death-- Part 1

From Find-A-Grave.

From the January 24, 1888, Worcester Daily Spy.

General Attwood's Funeral

Veterans Follow An Honored Comrade to the Grave

The funeral of Gen. Cornelius G. Attwood took place yesterday, geld at his late residence West Roxbury.

There was a large attendance of military and personal friends of the deceased, the Loyal Legion, Edward W, Kinsley Post 113, G.A.R., the Tigers and the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Regiment Association being represented by about 158 comrades....

The remains were then conveyed to Mt. Benedict cemetery.

--Old Secesh

General Cornelius Attwood-- Part 6: Find-A-Grave

Born 27 October 1836 in Bangor, Maine.  Died 19 January 1888 in West Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Buried:  Mount Benedict Cemetery in West Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Post Cmdr. Edward W. Kinsley Post, No. 113, Grand Army of the Republic, Boston, Massachusetts.

--Old Secesh