The La Vista GAR Memorial and Civil War soldiers

There is a Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Memorial at La Vista Memorial Park, just east of the office building and just west of the entrance road. The memorial stone is:


I took this photo, and the one below, on 12 November 2008, just after Veterans Day. The photo below shows small flags placed on the stones in the GAR Bivouac area:



I went back to La Vista and took photographs of each of the stones in this area. They are:

Inscription:

F.H. Reckel

Co. K.

113 Ill. Inf.

Inscription:

John C. Darville

11 Ill. Cav.

Inscription:

Capt.

J.W. Heath

Co. E.

10 Minn. Inf.

Inscription:

Julius N.

McFarland

Indiana

Pvt. 1 Cl., 17 Inf.

October 23, 1913

Inscription:

Capt.

Francis T. Moore

Co. L.

2 Ill. Cav.

Inscription:

Johnston Winters

Co. B

102 Ohio Inf.

There is an upright stone in this area with a Civil War veteran:

Inscription:

Rev. T.R. Palmer, D.D.

Lt. Col. 13th Mich. Vol. Inf.

Dec. 6, 1829

July 2, 1920

Civil War Soldiers buried at La Vista Cemetery in National City CA

....
There is a G.A.R. section at La Vista Memorial Park in National City, California with a number of well-kept in-ground graves and a monument to the men buried there.

Out in the "non-endowment" area of the cemetery are several stones that bear notations that commemorate Civil War veterans. The ones I saw and photographed (before my camera juice ran out today) were these:

1) David Palmanteer:

David Palmanteer,

Co. K,

?? PA Inf.

[note, the flag obscures some of the stone. I didn't see any years):

2. Leonard F. Davis:

Lieut. L.F. Davis

Co. "A"

21 Wis. Inf.

There are additional in-ground stones (above the front one) for Leonard F. Davis and his wife that read:

Leonard F. Davis

1825-1906

and

Sarah E. Trimble

wife of

Leonard F. Davis

born

Aug. 6, 1831

died

Oct. 13, 1890

3) B.F. Fletcher

....

B.F. Fletcher

Co. A

16th ME. Inf.

I will go back to La Vista soon to see if I can find more Civil War soldiers gravestones and photograph the stones in the G.A.R. memorial area.
.....

Graves of Civil War Veterans in San Diego County

One of the absolute "best" genealogy books about San Diego area people is the book The Civil War Veterans of San Diego, CA by Barbara Palmer, Ph.D., published by the author, 1999 (on the Genealogy Reference shelf at the Chula Vista, Civic Center Branch, Public Library - Dewey 973.749 PALMER).

This book describes:

* California and San Diego in the Civil War
* Cemeteries Studied for the survey
* Other Cemeteries in San Diego
* Additional Research Sources - includes libraries, historical and genealogical societies, etc.
* Specific Genealogical Records Available in San Diego - by subject (e.g. military, death, probate, etc.)
* General Findings concerning Civil War Veterans
* Civil War Veterans buried in San Diego (in studied cemeteries)
* Civil War Veterans with Burial Locations unknown (but who died in San Diego)
* State of First Enlistment of Civil War Veterans

This is an excellent reference work - not just for Civil War veterans but for all local genealogy researchers - the research sources and specific records available in San Diego are very useful in describing holdings.

Of course, the Civil War veterans, and their burial locations, are the focus of this book. The author used records from two Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) posts in the San Diego area to identify the Civil War soldiers. The information available for each veteran found in a San Diego cemetery, using codes, includes:

A. Veteran's Official Tombstone (info. from the official government tombstone)
B. Veteran's Unofficial Tombstone (info. from unofficial or family tombstone)
C. Cemetery information (cemetery name, grave location, date of death/burial, age at death, nativity, marital status, etc.)
D. Heintzelman Post #33 G.A.R. (code for info. for this specific post)
E. Datus E. Coon Post #172 G.A.R. (code for info. for this specific post)
F. Information on Veteran's Wife (if located, including birth/death info, age, nativity, marital status, info in quotes are in cemetery records).

For example, here is one entry:

"Adams, Frederick F.B. F.F. Adams, Co
B 43rd Ohio Vol Inf 1861-1864
B. F.F. Adams, October 5, 1842 - October 28, 1928
C. MH/Div. 4 DOD/B 10/28/1929-2/23/1930 A. 86/__/23 O. died Seattle WA (grave stone says date of death is 1928)
D. Frederick F. Adams N: Ohio A:39 O: Merchant CW: Co B 43 Ohio Inf (Sgt) E/D: 10/61 - 9/64 LOS: 34 mos GAR: 3/31/81 SP: 4/30/1890 RE: 12/10/1890 TR: 12/13/1910 S: H
F. Mary Virginia, his wife March 2, 1854 - October 30, 1887 "He giveth His beloved sleep" DOD/B 10/30-11/1/1887 A: 34 N: California M: Married J/S: "Adams, Mary d. 30 Oct (1887), 35 yrs, bur. Mt Hope Cem" "

The cemetery abbreviations are:

* CAL = Calvary Cemetery (also known as Mission Hills Cemetery and Pioneer Cemetery)
* CV = Cypress View Mausoleum (opened in 1927)
* FR = Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery (opened after 1883)
* GW = Greenwood Cemetery (opened in 1907)
* HC = Holy Cross Cemetery (opened in 1919)
* MH = Mount Hope Cemetery.

For the Civil War veterans whose burial place is unknown or is outside the city of San Diego, the information offered was gleaned from GAR records of the two San Diego posts.

A typical entry is:

"Abrahams, W.F., N. Steubenville, Ohio CW: Co F 84 Ohio Vol Inf (Pvt) Term: 90 days E/D 5/62-9/62 Camp Delaware, Ohio GAR: 5/28/1904 Died 3/31/1915 age 63. Buried: Los Angeles S: DC."

There are 182 pages of veteran listings in this book. The book has source notes and photo credits, and an index of the Civil War Veterans and their wives.

I found this book on the library shelf several years ago and have used it often. About a year ago, I had to answer a query received from a correspondent about a Civil War veteran ancestor and I wanted to find out if he was in the book and if so to gather his information from the book. Unfortunately, he was not in the book even though I found that he is buried in Glen Abbey Memorial Park in Bonita, but without a Civil War designation. This probably means that he was not a GAR Post member and therefore was not a "target" of Barbara Palmer's study.

A book of this type, whose records are not online in any form, but may be available in a cemetery list published by a society, is priceless for a local historian. A bonus for San Diego area researchers is the survey of local repositories and available source records.

Albert F. Dill stone in Mount Hope

I described the Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego last week. While I was there, I photographed a number of interesting stones in the Grand Army of the Republic area of the cemetery.

Here is the stone for Albert F. Dill (1840-1905) and his wife Isabelle Gay Dill (1848-1924).

The information on the stone about Albert's service reads:

"Co. E, 43rd Mass. Inf. 1862-1863

Acting Ensign U.S. Navy, 1863-1865"

I wonder how many other Civil War veterans served in more than one military service organization?

Albert Freeman Dill was born 27 September 1840 in Eastham, Massachusetts to Freeman and Elizabeth (Collins) Dill. He married (1) Susan Horton on 6 April 1862 in Eastham, Massachusetts, and they had at least two children - Nellie F. Dill (born 1862, died ????) and Albert F. Dill (born 20 April 1864, died 7 September 1864). In the 1880 US Census, Albert (age 40, born MA, a sea captain) and Isabella Dill (age 32, born MA) are residing in Oakland CA with a Michael Collins family. In the 1900 US census, A. F. Dill (born Aug 1840, married 30 years, born MA, parents born MA, a pilot) and wife Isabel G. Dill (born June 1847, married 30 years, 3 children, born MA, parents born RI) reside at 239 Boston Avenue in San Diego, San Diego County, CA. They have three children, Alice L. Dill (born Dec 1882 in CA), Burt S. Dill (born Nov 1889 in CA), and Harold W. Dill (born Jan 1895 in CA).

I took this picture because I wondered if Albert F. Dill, and his children, were distant cousins of mine. Since he is from Cape Cod, I am quite sure that they are, since my Elizabeth Dill was born in Eastham in about 1794. I can trace Albert's line back to Peter Dill, the immigrant in about 1660. Perhaps some of Albert's descendants will see this post and contact me at rjseaver@cox.net. He, and they, has a wonderful New England ancestry - especially on Cape Cod and in early Plymouth!