From Memoirs of the Sedgwick Post No. 10 by Gideon Stolz. WHC 0064.001.0001.

Charter Member Gideon Stoltz from Memoirs of the Sedgwick Post No. 10 by Gideon Stolz. WHC 0064.001.0001.

Earlier this year we received a donation of records related to the daily operations of the Sedgwick Post No. 10 of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) based in Salem, Oregon (2015.028.0001).  Materials include receipts at Salem-based businesses, correspondence between members and newspaper clippings about events and members.  Volunteer Doug just finished cataloging these records.  Click here to read through the list of materials: 2015.028.0001 GAR Records

The following information was compiled by John Neal for an exhibit about the G.A.R. in the Mid-Willamette Valley several years ago:

The Salem chapter of the G.A.R. was founded September 26, 1882 and named for General John Sedgwick, the highest ranking Union casualty during the war.

After hearing of a fellow veteran S. Illingsworth’s burial in a potter’s field, the Sedgwick Chapter resolved to find a more dignified resting place for their comrade in arms. They secured a lot in what is now City View Cemetery’s G.A.R. Circle and transferred his remains to the new location with a War Department marker.   This was the first of several hundred burials facilitated in part by the efforts of the G.A.R and their auxiliary organizations to provide an “honorable and final resting place.”