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Memorial Day: GAR Civil War Vets (part 3)

Illustration: “The March of Time,” by Henry Sandham, 1896. This painting shows a parade of veterans of the U.S. Civil War during Decoration Day. General William Tecumseh Sherman is in the front row at the far right. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Introduction: In this article – the third in a three-part series – Melissa Davenport Berry looks back over the years at Memorial Day services involving Union veterans of the Civil War. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.

Today I conclude my Memorial Day special looking back at the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, Navy, and Marines who served in the Civil War. For years these veterans honored their departed comrades-in-arms on Memorial Day.

The Grand Army of the Republic was formed in 1866. The GAR lasted until 1956 when its last member, 109-year-old Albert Woolson, died.

Photo: the Grand Army of the Republic badge, authorized by the U.S. Congress to be worn on the uniform by Union Army veterans. Credit: Parsa; Wikimedia Commons.

All That’s Left of the GAR to Celebrate Memorial Day 1952

In observance of Memorial Day 1952 the four remaining GAR veterans were featured in the Evening Star newspaper:

The Evening Star included Douglas Story in their feature; he passed away the month before the article was published:

Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 25 May 1952, page 161

The photo caption under each man’s picture in the feature article provides further information.

Israel Broadsword, one of the few men alive who voted for Lincoln. The laws of Kansas, where he lived at the time, allowed males under 21 to vote. Born in Putnam County, Ohio, in 1846, he served with the 51st Missouri Infantry.

James A. Hard, 110, is the oldest living American veteran. A native of Victor, N.Y., he enlisted in the 32d New York Infantry in 1861 and was mustered out after two years’ service. He is honorary marshal of all Rochester (N.Y.) Memorial Day parades.

William A. Magee, a veteran of the 12th Ohio Cavalry. Mr. Magee later re-enlisted in the Regular Army and retired in 1898. He now is a resident of Van Nuys, Calif.

Albert Woolson, born in Watertown, N.Y., in 1847. Mr. Woolson enlisted in 1864 in the 1st Minnesota Heavy Artillery, and was mustered out at the end of the war. At 105, he is the ranking officer of the GAR. The portrait was presented to him by the children of the Duluth schools.

Douglas Story, one of the last of the thinning blue line. Mr. Story passed away on April 22. He was born in Polk County, Ill., in 1844, enlisted in the 136th Illinois Infantry in 1864, and was mustered out after six months’ service.

This article reports:

The solid ranks of blue which held off Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg and brought the Confederacy to bay at Appomattox comprised the mightiest fighting force ever assembled up to that time. At peak strength in April 1865, the Union Army had more than a million men in the field. During the course of the whole war, there were approximately 2,988,000 enlistments, of whom over 350,000 died in service.

In the 87 years since then, time has, of course, taken a much greater toll. Today the ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic number exactly four men – James A. Hard, William A. Magee, Israel Broadsword, and Albert Woolson – each a centenarian who once marched to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and knew Abraham Lincoln as his Commander in Chief. At the 83d and last encampment of the G. A. R. in 1949, six members were present out of the 16 then surviving. By April of this year only five remained, and the recent death of Douglas Story, 107, of Los Angeles, left only four of the old guard, whose portraits, all taken within the last few weeks, are shown here.

Still surprisingly alert and agile, the four grand old men of the Grand Army will join millions of other Americans in celebrating Memorial Day, an occasion especially dear to them, since it was originally commemorated in honor of men they knew who had died to save the Union. (See: The Origins of Memorial Day.)

Shortly after the Civil War ended, the first G. A. R. veterans’ post was formed in Decatur, Ill., and the first convention was held in November 1866 in Indianapolis. In 1868, Gen. John A. Logan, commander of the G. A. R., sent an order to all posts that May 30 be set aside to hold commemorative services and decorate the graves of fallen comrades. Since then, the occasion has become a legal holiday (in all but seven Southern States) and its significance extended to cover the deceased of all American wars since then.

Here are some cool finds on these venerable vets of the GAR, the last of their kind.

Israel Broadsword Receives Medal

In 1947 Israel Broadsword received a citation and medal for his Civil War service from Major E. V. Smith, University of Idaho ROTC instructor.

Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 23 December 1947

Read Israel’s story: Wonderful 1946 Christmas Present: Civil War Vet Gets New Uniform.

What a Grandfather! James A. Hard with 4th Generation Tots

For his 107th birthday in 1948, James A. Hard, a proud great-great gramps, was photographed with his descendants (from left to right) James Peter Eksten Jr., Royce Racinowski, and Kathleen Pittenger, in Rochester, New York.

Photo: James A. Hard with descendants. Credit: Rochester and Monroe County Library Historic Scrapbooks Collection, New York.

William Magee in Full Uniform

Here is William Magee in full uniform, ready for a GAR meetup.

Photo: William Magee. Credit: Richard Mullally.

Douglas Story & Three Generations

Taken on 25 November 1949, this photo shows 105-year-old Douglas T. Story in San Fernando, California, with the next three generations of his family, (from right to left): his daughter, Mrs. Dulcy Potee; his granddaughter, Mrs. Marjorie Bruno; and his great granddaughter, Mary Diane Bruno, 8.

Photo: Douglas Story with descendants. Credit: Valley Times Photo Collection, U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, California.

Memorial Statue of Albert Woolson

These photos show the memorial statue and plaque for Albert Woolson in Duluth, Minnesota, where he died in 1956 at the age of 109 – the last Union survivor. With his death, the GAR ceased.

Photos: Albert Woolson Memorial Statue, Duluth, Minnesota. Credit: William Fischer Jr.; Historical Marker Database.

Have a meaningful Memorial Day!

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Note on the header image: “The March of Time,” by Henry Sandham, 1896. This painting shows a parade of veterans of the U.S. Civil War during Decoration Day. General William Tecumseh Sherman is in the front row at the far right. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

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