‘Tales from Pioneers & Soldiers Cemetery’ Archives
Every Life is a Unique Story Worth Telling
239th in the series Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery See Events to find details for Alex Weston’s tour, “Grave Matters: The Story of a City as Told Through its Cemetery” on October 5th. By ALEX WESTON Alex Weston Fleeting glimpses of a vanished worldOver 22,000 people are buried in Minneapolis’ Pioneer & Soldiers Memorial Cemetery, but there are only 1,820 grave markers. The privileged are more likely to havetheir stories preserved. This works as a metaphor for history itself. History is not “what happened in the past,” but rather a web of stories we tell about the past. Like the grave markers at Pioneer & Soldiers Memorial Cemetery—which represent only around 8% of the individuals buried there—the evidence from which we construct these stories is fragmentary. We get only fleeting glimpses of a vanished world. Some stories get passed on, while most are forgotten. Generally, the privileged are more likely to have their [...]
“An Intelligent Man, a Good Fellow and a Brave Soldier”
from the series Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery... Number 238 in a Series By SUE HUNTER WEIR This quote from the Leavenworth Daily Times sums up the life of Alonzo J. Brown, a Civil War veteran, and may be why, when his life was upended by illness, friends and colleagues came to his aid. During the Civil War, Alonzo Brown enlisted in Company G in the 1st Kansas Infantry attaining the rank of captain. He was wounded and mustered out in 1863, but re-enlisted in the 22nd Veteran Reserve Corps where he performed light duty until the War’s end. Although he served in those two units for five years, Brown considered himself as having performed ten years of military service. The undocumented five years most likely refer to unofficial service during an attack on his hometown Lawrence, Kansas. In 1856, William Quantrill, leader of a band of lawless Confederate raiders, attacked the town, known as an anti-slavery stronghold. They killed more than 180 men and [...]
A Few Words Here and There Unlock the Story
from the series Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery... Number 237 in a Series By SUE HUNTER WEIR Sometimes it only takes a few words to open the door to a much larger story. In the case of Maria Chinn, the words, which appeared in her daughter’s Obituary, were “Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.” Why are they so important? Because Hamilton was a major terminus on the Canadian Underground Railroad. An estimated 30,000-40,000 Blacks settled in Ontario before and during the Civil War. Not all of them had been enslaved but many, perhaps the majority, had been, and it is likely that Maria and her parents were among those who were. Maria’s story is an important one. It is often difficult to find information and documentation for women who had been enslaved. Maria was born in Kentucky on December 18, 1845. Her parents, Isaac Wilson and Sarah Dorsey, were also born in Kentucky but relocated to Canada some time before the end of the Civil War. By 1865, Maria, [...]
