THE CIVIL WAR
The Argus-Press
Hunley Sinks Housatonic Feb. 17,1864
Petersburg July 1864 - April 1865
Sherman’s March Sept. - Dec. 1864
Lee Surrenders April 9, 1865
Lincoln Assassinated April 14, 1865
The H. L. Hunley became the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel Feb. 17, 1864. The innovative vessel then itself sank before it returned to shore.
Union soldiers capture a Confederate earthwork during the 10-month-long siege of Petersburg, Va., July 1864. The long battle ushered in trench warfare.
Gen. William T. Sherman inspects battlements at Atlanta in 1864. After his capture of Atlanta, Sherman went on to capture Savannah and divide the Confederate States of America.
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender in the Wilmer McLean house at Appomattox Courthouse, Va., is seen April 9, 1865, ending the Civil War.
On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was at Ford’s Theater in Washington when John Wilkes Booth stormed into his box and shot him in the head, killing him.
Owosso, Michigan
Tues., April 12, 2011
Marking the fallen
Courtesy Photo
A GROUP OF Civil War re-enactors attends a gravesite dedication ceremony in Syracuse, N.Y., for Civil War nurse Lucy J. Blanchard. Len Thomas traced Blanchard’s history from the Michigan area to central New York and discovered her grave there was unmarked, prompting him to get her a headstone.
Area man records gravesites of Civil War veterans By CHRISTINA GUENTHNER Argus-Press Staff Writer SHIAWASSEE COUNTY — Len Thomas spends his free time making sure those who fought for the freedom of our country continue to have their own place in history. The Swartz Creek resident has spent his retirement inventorying the graves of Civil War soldiers located in Shiawassee, Genesee and Lapeer counties. Thomas said the task began after he and his wife Sharon inventoried Elmwood Cemetery near New Lothrop — where most of Sharon’s family is buried, including her greatgrandfather, who served in the Civil War. What the Thomases found disturbed them. “As we inventoried, we found 48 Civil War veterans buried there,” Len Thomas said. “However, nine of them had unmarked graves and no one would know about them without researching the matter.” The couple realized if just one cemetery had so many unmarked Civil War graves, there must be hundreds more locally. So began their hobby, which has turned into somewhat of a passion. “We’ve walked more than 120 cemeteries,” Thomas said. “Most of the cemeteries we walked were in very good condition. Vandalism, carelessness and general over-
MEMORY — which Newman joined in 1999. “I honestly think their eyes popped out of their head when I told them I’m related to Lincoln,” Newman recalled last week. “I don’t think I had a choice (but to join).” As the nation marks the 150th anniversary of the “War Between the States,” it’s business as usual within the Corunna camp, with members sporting authentic Union uniforms and firing cannons during cemetery ceremonies, presenting educational programs, maintaining Civil War monuments and dedicating the tombstones placed on unmarked veterans’ graves. These duties further the purpose of the non-political, patriotic group, which is “to keep green their memory,” said Gary Granger of Corunna, a disabled veteran whose great-greatgrandfather, Cpl. G.W. Hill of Gratiot County, enlisted twice during the Civil War. Granger said he first became aware of his forbearer when he was a child and saw Hill’s military sword — which the veteran pilfered after the war — hanging on a wall in his aunt’s house. As a member of Sons of Union Veterans, Granger has dug into Hill’s Civil War service, reading the history of his military unit. “It’s fun, and it’s also informative,” Granger said. Cpl. David Loomis, from the Ovid area, assisted fellow Union soldiers who were fighting the
sight have taken their toll on these graves, causing many of them to remain unmarked. Some are unreadable, so we had to rely on earlier cemetery records.” Along the way, the Thomases have created a list of all the Civil War participants they could find in each of the three counties. Though they make no claims that the list is complete, the couple has made the document as accurate as it can be, to their knowledge. “The spelling of names continues to be a deterrent. Grave markers, census lists, Civil War records and human errors in listening to and writing down names create an almost insurmountable issue in attempting to write a document,” Thomas said. They provided copies of the list to local historical societies, including the Shiawassee Historical Society, with the hope their work will generate a renewed interest in families, governmental agencies, historians, genealogists and cemetery boards and workers to preserve the heritage for future generations. Through their journey, the Thomases ran across the story of one woman so compelling it led them to central New York on a trip to find her grave. Thomas discovered in his research a Civil War nurse named Lucy Blanchard, who died in 1911 in Fenton. Thirteen years after Blanchard died, a
chapter of the Daughters of the Union Veterans of the Civil War based in Fenton was named after her; but the chapter had no records of its namesake. Thomas discovered Blanchard’s remains were shipped back to New York, where she was from originally. She was buried in a cemetery in Syracuse, N.Y. Intrigued by her story, the Thomases went to visit the cemetery in New York, where they discovered her grave was not marked. However, while they were there the couple met some women from the Syracuse chapter of the Daughters of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, who also took an interest in her story. Thomas and his wife worked to get a headstone for Blanchard, which the government provided free. The couple paid to have it installed. To mark the occasion, the Syracuse DUV held a dedication ceremony Nov. 13, 2010. “After 99 years, she finally has a headstone,” Thomas said.
Continued from Page 1 Battle of Stones River in Middle Tennessee by hauling needed supplies in wagons from Nashville. Loomis walked all night in freezing rain, at one point charging across a field to attack Confederate soldiers. He became ill, was hospitalized in Memphis and discharged. The youngest of Loomis’ 13 daughters lived in Owosso, said his descendant, Mike McMillan, a lawyer in Owosso who joined Sons of Union Veterans in 1984. Camp member Leston Curtis of Carland, a retired Universal Electric worker, has dedicated himself to finding the graves of his and his wife’s Civil War veteran ancestors. Curtis discovered the grave of his great-grandfather Samuel Sloat — who served in the First Artillery, Battery C, before dying of an unidentified disease — in the military cemetery in Marietta, Ga. He’s still looking for the final resting place of soldier George Haines, who was an ancestor on his wife’s side. “We think it’s in Henderson — I’ve been told that’s where his wife is buried,” Curtis said. “We’re going to do some field work.” Dave Hilliker, a custodian at Corunna High School, has had better luck unearthing information about his forbearer, James Hilliker of the 8th Michigan Cavalry. The soldier, limited in his service by hemophilia, did guard duty during the war until
he was captured by the Confederate Army. According to a record Dave Hilliker found, James Hilliker requested extra pay for the time he spent as a prisoner of war in Macon, Ga. Like many Sons of Union Veterans members, Hilliker enjoys participating in Civil War re-enactments, dying his beard black to play the role of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Occasionally he will take a Confederate soldier’s role, opening him up to playful accusations by fellow camp members of being a “cross-dresser.” It was Shiawassee Township resident Henry Bastian’s greatgrandfather, boat builder Sgt. Fletcher Joyner, and an interest in military history that led Bastian to join Sons of Union Veterans. The organization — originally formed by Union veterans in 1866 under the name Grand Army of the Republic for veterans of the war — is open to male descendants of a soldier, sailor or marine who served honorably for the United States of America between 1861 and 1865. Those who don’t qualify as an ancestor but who demonstrate a genuine interest in the Civil War are invited to join as associates. The Corunna post’s namesake, Major Henry F. Wallace, lived on a farm south of Corunna. Mustering in as a first lieutenant in Monroe, Wallace was wounded at the Battle of Pittsburg Landing and was pro-
moted to captain. Transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps due to his wounds, Wa l l a c e died in 1867 from yellow fever.
The Civil War veterans memorial at Owosso’s Oak Hill Cemetery is shown. There are more than 1,200 Civil War veterans’ graves in Shiawassee County.
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