Alberta cemeteries grew to become the resting place for a lot of U.S. Civil Battle veterans

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Creator, photojournalist and former Calgary Herald journalist David Bly wrote many historic items for the Herald through the years. The next story was written in 2005.

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Many U.S. Civil Battle veterans buried in Canadian cemeteries

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Calgary Herald
Solar., Oct. 9, 2005
By David Bly

William Hatcher Barnett fought many battles as a non-public within the Accomplice States Military.

He was captured by the Union Military close to Richmond, Va., in 1862. He was launched in a prisoner alternate a couple of months later to battle extra battles, together with Pickett’s Cost in 1863, the place he dropped his rifle and picked up the flag from the color bearer who had been shot. The Accomplice troopers suffered large losses in that battle, however Barnett managed to return with the flag to his personal strains.

In 1933, on the age of 90, he got here from Virginia to Alberta to go to his sons. Probably worn out from the journey, he died on July 17, 1933, and was buried within the Bottrel Cemetery, about an hour’s drive northwest of Calgary.

He’s one among dozens of U.S. Civil Battle veterans buried in Canadian cemeteries, says Kathy Brown, a Calgarian captivated with Civil Battle historical past.

Her curiosity in Civil Battle veterans was sparked when an American buddy requested her to examine on an ancestor buried in Alberta. That ancestor was William Barnett, whose grave lay unmarked for 60 years.

In 1993, members of the eighth Texas Unit, a navy re-enactment group, donned their Accomplice uniforms and helped dedicate a grave marker despatched to Canada by the American authorities.

“The U.S. authorities will ship headstones anyplace on the earth the place American veterans are buried,” stated Brown.

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She has compiled an inventory of Civil Battle veterans who lie in Canadian graves, together with biographical data on every veteran. The place doable, she has verified their Civil Battle service by U.S. navy information.

She hasn’t been capable of confirm John Glenn’s navy service, however says native histories point out he was concerned within the Civil Battle, first as a southerner, then as a “galvanized Yankee” — a southerner who switched sides.

Glenn and his spouse, Adelaide Belcourt, settled alongside Fish Creek in 1873, and are thought-about Calgary’s first non-aboriginal residents.

Accounts point out the Irish-born Glenn was drafted into the Accomplice Military at Waco, Texas, in 1861, after which abandoned close to Vicksburg, Miss., as a result of he didn’t condone slavery. He apparently later joined a Union regiment.

He died of pneumonia in 1886 and is buried within the pioneer part of St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Calgary.

Historian Hugh Dempsey stated it might be pure for Civil Battle veterans to seek out their solution to Alberta.

“Within the settlement interval, there was such a big migration of Individuals right here,” he stated. “There actually can be Civil Battle veterans amongst them.”

Not all had been savoury characters. Because the Civil Battle ended, the whisky commerce was starting.

“Some troopers didn’t need to go dwelling when the warfare was over,” Dempsey stated. “A variety of drifters determined to exit west.”

Dave Akers was a kind of, apparently, though Brown hasn’t turned up official information for him. He’s stated to have abandoned in 1864.

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Akers was the proprietor of Fort Whoop-up close to present-day Lethbridge when the North West Mounted Police arrived to drive the American whisky merchants out of Alberta in 1874.

Akers was shot and killed in 1893 as he acquired off his horse at Tom Purcell’s ranch in Pothole Coulee close to present-day Magrath. Apparently he and Purcell had had a dispute over cattle, and Purcell feared for his life. One account signifies he served a three-year sentence for manslaughter.

Two Civil Battle veterans are identified to be buried in Calgary’s Union Cemetery.

“The northerner is buried within the south half, and the southerner is buried within the north half,” stated Brown.

George H. Gowen served with the 4th Georgia Cavalry, seeing motion in Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas.

Brown is uncertain when Gowen got here to Calgary, however believes he adopted his kids right here. He died in 1910 and is buried within the Evans household plot.

The northerner in Union Cemetery is Francis Marion Corridor, who served within the fifth Illinois Cavalry. He got here to Alberta in 1903 and lived at De Winton, Hanna, Gleichen and Lawnsburg close to Three Hills. He died in 1916 within the Calgary Common Hospital.

Brown says about 60,000 Canadians served on either side within the U.S. Civil Battle.

A kind of was Quebec-born Edmond Brosseau, who served with the 2nd New York Cavalry.

After the warfare, he tried his luck within the California and B.C. Cariboo gold fields earlier than settling in northern Alberta, the place he ran a dry items enterprise and named the hamlet of Brosseau after himself.

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He took sick whereas on trip in Minnesota and died on the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., in 1917. He’s buried in Brosseau.

Aaron Franklin, who served with the eleventh Illinois Cavalry, got here to Alberta along with his sons who homesteaded within the Cremona space early within the twentieth century. His predominant supply of earnings was his Civil Battle pension. He died in 1933 and is buried within the Didsbury cemetery.

Albert F. Miller served with the twelfth Wisconsin Infantry and was discharged in July 1865. He lived in Wisconsin and Illinois till 1924 when, apparently a widower, he moved in with a married daughter in Purple Deer. He died in 1925 and is buried within the Purple Deer cemetery.

Three Sherans — brothers Nicholas and Michael and their cousin, James — had been Civil Battle veterans who died in Alberta.

Second Lieut. Nicholas Sheran enlisted within the 99th New York Nationwide Guard in New York Metropolis on July 11, 1864. After the warfare, he went west and labored as a whisky dealer with the Healys in Montana.

He got here to Alberta in 1870 and dug the primary coal mine alongside the Oldman River. He drowned within the Oldman in 1882; his physique was by no means discovered.

Michael got here to Alberta to take over the household enterprise after his brother’s dying. He had served with the 69th New York State Militia for a couple of months in 1862.

He died in August 1885 on the age of 46 years and is buried within the Holy Cross Roman Catholic Cemetery in Fort Macleod.

Michael’s dying introduced James Sheran to southern Alberta to run the coal enterprise. He had enlisted in 1861 and had served with the New York Infantry.

Moreover being concerned within the coal enterprise, he farmed on the west aspect of the Oldman River. He died in 1924 and is buried in St. Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery in north Lethbridge.

“There are most likely extra,” stated Brown, noting she has an inventory of “Civil Battle wannabees,” males whose biographical data mentions Civil Battle service, however for whom she has been unable to seek out additional documentation.