A True Son of a Union Veteran of the Civil War

A goodly number of Civil War reenactors are genealogy nuts as well... and of them quite a few are members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW)... by proof of lineage. In fact I am proudly joining the Austin Blair Camp (No. 7) of Jackson, MI in a little more than a week, at the Jackson Civil War Muster - through my great great grandfather, James M. Warner (a private and articifer in the 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery, Co. A).

After the War, Union Veterans formed the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) - and was the literal forebearers of the SUVCW.

Here however, is a picture of a true son of a Union Civil War veteran. Taken recently at a Civil War reenactment at Charlton Park in Hastings, MI. The fellow on the right, a reenactor and good guy, Keith Harrison, only looks like he should himself be a veteran of the War.

But the father of the gentleman on the right (and I need to find his name - mea culpa) actually fought in the Civil War. Quite a few years later, he, late in life, fathered this sharp and remarkable gentleman. He recalls as a small boy sitting on his father's lap on the porch hearing firsthand stories about the War. There are few true sons of a Union Veterans. I believe the Austin Blair Camp had one who passed away a few years ago. And the number grows smaller every day.

Interestingly, there are yet a number surviving - living - widows of Civil War veterans!

The last Civil War veteran, Albert Woolson, died in 1956 at the ripe old age of 109 years!