Photo by Deb Gau Members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War dressed in Civil War-era uniforms and perform a rifle salute honoring Frederick Stricker, the last Union veteran buried in Lincoln County.

MARSHALL — He volunteered to serve the Union in the Civil War, and was an active part of a Marshall veteran’s group. But for more than 80 years, George S. Mead didn’t even have a grave marker mentioning his service.

That changed this weekend, as members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War honored Mead as the last Union veteran buried in Lyon County. The group also dedicated a new headstone for Mead.

“My reaction was, it’s time,” said Paul Bridgland of the Marshall Cemetery Association. “To me, I feel it is closure for him.”

Members of Camp 56 of the SUVCW visited the graves of five different Union veterans in southwest Minnesota this weekend. Dressed in Civil War-era uniforms, the men held ceremonies recognizing the last Union veterans buried in Yellow Medicine, Chippewa, Lincoln and Lyon counties. They also dedicated a headstone for a fifth Union veteran buried in Ortonville.

The ceremonies were part of an ongoing project to identify and recognize the last Union veterans buried in each of Minnesota’s 87 counties. After this weekend, group members said, they were up to 67 counties.

“It’s a really rewarding experience,” said Camp 56 Senior Vice Commander Mike Huttner. “It’s important to honor all these people and keep their memories alive.”

SUVCW members came from all around the state, from Edina to Brainerd and Barnesville.

On Sunday, the SUVCW, the local American Legion honor guard, and a few Marshall community members gathered at Marshall Cemetery to honor George S. Mead. Mead served in the 12th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War, and was an active charter member of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Post in Marshall. He died in 1941, at the age of 98.

“Of the 169 Union Civil War veterans known to be buried in Lyon County, George S. Mead was the last,” Huttner said at the ceremony.

As part of the ceremony, Huttner read some of Mead’s biographical details. Mead was born in Shenango County, Ohio, in 1843. In 1861, when he was 18 years old, he enlisted in the Wisconsin Infantry. Mead served with his regiment while they were attached to the Department of Kansas at Fort Leavenworth, Fort Scott, Lawrence, and Fort Riley. He was mustered out in 1862.

After the war, Mead settled in Minnesota and married. In the 1880s, the Mead family was living in Underwood Township in Redwood County, Huttner said. They moved to Marshall around 1895. George’s wife Catherine and son Wallace both died in 1930, and George went to live with his son Wesley in Deuel County, Nebraska.

An obituary in a Deuel County newspaper said Mead was also the last Union veteran there. When George died, Wesley Mead brought his father back to Marshall, where he was buried in a family plot beside Catherine and Wallace.

At first, George Mead wasn’t on Marshall Cemetery’s records of Civil War veterans buried there, Bridgland said. That might have been partly because Mead’s grave didn’t have a headstone, he said.

Bridgland said the Cemetery Association worked together with the SUVCW to request a stone for Mead. The new grave marker was installed before Memorial Day.

SUVCW members made three more stops at area cemeteries on Saturday and Sunday. In Montevideo, they honored Benjamin Henry Happy, the last union veteran buried in Chippewa County. Happy died July 10, 1938, at the age of 91. Research by SUVCW member Vern Barker said Happy served in the Indiana 1st Cavalry, as a blacksmith. He was also listed as a prisoner of war on July 4, 1863, in Helena, Arkansas.

In Hanley Falls, the group honored Ole Simundson, the last Union veteran buried in Yellow Medicine County. Simundson died in 1931, at the age of 86.

Huttner said Simundson was born in Norway in 1844, and immigrated to Fillmore, Minnesota, in 1863. In 1865, at the age of 20, he enlisted in the 1st Minnesota Infantry Battalion. “His company traveled to Virginia, and arrived at Appomattox shortly after the surrender of General Lee’s Army,” Huttner said.

Simundson’s family lived in Redwood County, and moved to Yellow Medicine County in the 1890s. “A property ownership plot map from 1900 shows his 240-acre farm was located a little northwest of Hanley Falls, in Section 10 of Sandnes Township. The farm straddled the Yellow Medicine River on the south side of what is now 210th Avenue,” Huttner said.

Later in life, Ole and his wife Hannah moved into Hanley Falls.

In Tyler, the SUVCW honored Frederick Stricker, who was the last Union veteran buried in Lincoln County. Stricker died in 1933, at the age of 92.

Stricker was born in Germany in 1841, and immigrated to Iowa with his family in 1858, Huttner said. In 1861, when he was 20 years old, Stricker enlisted in the 20th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

Stricker served with his regiment through the entire Civil War, Huttner said. The list of battles he fought at included Fort Henry, Shiloh, Port Gibson, Champion Hill, Big Black River, Vicksburg, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Jonesboro, and Bentonville, and he was part of Sherman’s march to the sea.

After the war, Stricker married and settled first in Steele County, Minnesota, and then in Hope Township in Lincoln County. By 1905, Frederick and his wife Dora had moved into Tyler.

Huttner said SUVCW members use a lot of different resources to identify and find Union veterans buried in Minnesota. “It’s gotten a whole lot easier in the computer age,” he said. Often the group will start with records listed on websites like Find a Grave, or the records different states kept of Union soldiers.

Each of the ceremonies in Hanley Falls, Tyler and Marshall was attended by a few community members. At Tyler and Marshall, members of the American Legion were present as an honor guard.

Members of the public said it was good to have a chance to honor area Civil War veterans.

“They deserve the recognition,” said Kitty Mercie. Kitty and Darrell Mercie said they read about the SUVCW coming to Marshall, and thought they should attend the ceremony.

“It’s really an honor to have this group come out here,” said John Thostenson, who was one of the local residents attending the Hanley Falls ceremony.

“What they’re doing is wonderful,” said Duane Blake, who was at the Tyler ceremony.

Huttner said getting to travel and honor Minnesota veterans has been a positive experience for the SUVCW group.

“We get a real kick out of it, and we meet some really nice people,” he said.