The remains of nearly 30 Civil War veterans found in a funeral home’s warehouse have been buried

PAWTUCKET, RI (AP) — For decades, the cremated remains of more than two dozen American Civil War veterans sat in storage at a Seattle funeral home and cemetery.

The simple copper and cardboard urns gathering dust on the shelves had only the names of each of the 28 soldiers – but nothing to connect them to the Civil War. Still, that was enough for an organization dedicated to locating, identifying, and burying the remains of unclaimed veterans to conclude over several years that they were all Union soldiers deserving of a burial service with military honors.

“It’s amazing that they were still out there and we found them,” said Tom Keating, Washington state coordinator for the Missing In America Project, which called on a team of volunteers to confirm their war service through genealogical research. “It’s something long overdue. These people have been waiting a long time for a funeral.”

Most of the veterans were buried in August at Tahoma National Cemetery in Washington.

In a traditional service for Civil War veterans, the historic 4th U.S. Infantry Regiment in Union uniform fired musket volleys and the crowd sang the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Names were called for each veteran and their unit before their remains were brought out and stories of their exploits were shared. Then, they were buried.

Among them was a veteran held at a Confederate prison known as Andersonville. Several were wounded in battle, and others fought in critical battles, including Gettysburg, Stones River, and the Atlanta campaign. One man survived being shot because of his pocket watch—which he kept until his death—and another left the Confederate Army and joined the Union forces.

“It was something, just the finality of it all,” Keating said, adding that they were unable to find any living descendants of the veterans.

While some remains are hidden in funeral homes, others have been found where they fell in battle or by Civil War reenactors combing through old cemeteries.

Communities often turn reburials into major events, allowing residents to celebrate veterans and remember a long-forgotten war. In 2016, a volunteer motorcycle group escorted the remains of an Oregon cross country veteran to his final resting place in Maine. In South Carolina, the remains of 21 Confederate soldiers recovered from forgotten graves beneath the stands of a military college football stadium were reburied in 2005.

Sometimes reburials are controversial. The discovery of the remains of two soldiers from Manassas National Battlefield in Virginia prompted an unsuccessful attempt in 2018 by several families to have their DNA tested. The Army denied that request and reburied them as unknown soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

Along with those buried at Tahoma, Keating said, others will be buried at the Washington State Veterans Cemetery, and one Navy veteran will be buried at sea. The remains of several Civil War veterans were sent to Maine, Rhode Island and other places where family connections were found.

Among them was Byron Johnson. Born in Pawtucket in 1844, he enlisted at age 18 and served as a hospital steward in the Union Army. He moved west after the war and died in Seattle in 1913. After his remains were delivered to Pawtucket City Hall, he was buried with full military honors in his family’s plot in Oak Grove Cemetery.

Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien said holding Johnson’s funeral was the right thing to do.

“When you have someone who served in a war, but especially this war, we want to honor them,” he said. “It became more intriguing when you think that this individual was left there and not buried in his own community.”

Grebien said the burials recall important lessons about the 1861-1865 War to Preserve the Union, fought between the Union Army of the North and the Confederate States of America at a cost of hundreds of thousands of lives.

“It was important to remind people not only in Pawtucket, but in the state of Rhode Island and across the country that we have people who have sacrificed their lives for us and for many of the freedoms that we have,” he said.

Bruce Frail and his son Ben – both longtime active in the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War – were on hand for the service. Ben Frail was also a re-enactor at Johnson’s service, portraying a Union Army captain.

“It’s the best thing we can do for a veteran,” said Bruce Frail, past commander in chief of the Sons of Union Veterans and state coordinator for the Missing In America Project.

“The feeling you get when you honor someone in this way is indescribable,” he said.

The task of piecing together Johnson’s life story was left to Amelia Boivin, the liaison officer at Pawtucket City Hall. A history buff, she recalled getting the call asking the city to take possession of his remains and bury them with his family. He got down to business and Johnson’s story became the talk of town hall.

She determined that Johnson grew up in Pawtucket, had two sisters and a brother, and worked as a pharmacist after the war. He left to make his fortune in the west, first in San Francisco and finally in Seattle, where he worked almost until his death. Johnson apparently never married or had children, and no living relatives have been found.

“I felt like it was kind of a resolution,” Boivin said. “It felt like we were making amends for someone who would otherwise have been lost to history.”