Ceremony Held for Last Civil War Veteran Buried in Hubbard County

The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War stopped by Park Rapids last month to hold a ceremony for the last Civil War veteran buried in Hubbard County.

The congressionally chartered organization was formed in 1881 by the Grand Army of the Republic with the purpose of perpetuating the memory of the men who saved the Union and honoring all who have served our nation.

The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War seeks out and marks graves of Civil War veterans, observes the care and upkeep of Civil War memorials, and holds a special ceremony for Union veterans.

“We did intensive research throughout the winter to find all of the Civil War soldiers that we possibly could for Hubbard County, and then we were able to determine, to the best of our abilities with the internet today who the last Union veteran was buried in the county,” explained James Johnson, Junior Vice Commander for the Sons of Union Veterans of Civil War.

That veteran was Private Frank Christian Teus, a man who was only 19 years old when he enlisted in the 47th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in Kentucky and Tennessee, serving as security against guerrilla attacks on the railroads. It’s the mission of the Sons of Unions Veterans to mark all of the graves of Union vets across all of Minnesota.

“We’re doing all 87 counties, and it’s a national effort with the Sons of Union Veterans to do every county,” stated Johnson. “A large effort of what we do, when we locate all these soldiers in all these counties, is we find that there are hundreds of them in the state without headstones. So our goal this year is to receive 250 headstones for Civil War soldiers.”

The Sons of Union Veterans does their best to hold an authentic ceremony, one that is very similar to what they did for fallen soldiers of the Union during the Civil War.

“The ceremony was based off the old Grand Army of the Republic’s funeral rites. We modernized it a little bit,” said Johnson. “It’s a tradition for a veteran. We weren’t alive when this gentleman passed away. But since we’re marking his grave as the last Union veteran of the county, it just seemed the honorable thing was to fire a volley for him and play ‘Taps’ for him again. I see a need to take care of the first veterans, so that’s kind of what I’m doing.”

These ceremonies often are ways to bring closure to families related to those Civil War veterans, but it can also be a way to bring a family together.

“There’s two Civil War soldiers buried in Cook County,” Johnson added. “When we were done with the ceremony, we asked everybody who was a descendant to gather around so we could take a picture, and all the people that were there started gathering around. All of these people were related and none of them knew each other. So we had a family reunion – it was amazing.”

The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War will be making a stop in Crookston on May 18 to honor another two Union veterans, with one being a Medal of Honor recipient, and a second stop later that same day in Halstad to hold a ceremony for a third Union veteran.