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May 17, 2026 Dedication Honoring Homer Sherwood as the Last Civil War Veteran to be buried in Monroe County Michigan.  

01 Civil War reenactors and a riderless horse stand during a dedication ceremony for Private Homer Sherwood at Rice Cemetery. Photo by Heather Finch

02 A new bronze marker rests on the grave of Private Homer Sherwood, the last Union Civil War veteran buried in Monroe County, following a dedication ceremony at Rice Cemetery. Photo by Heather Finch

03 An honor guard fires a salute during the dedication ceremony for Private Homer Sherwood at Rice Cemetery. Photo by Heather Finch

Last Union Veteran Buried in Monroe County Honored at Rice Cemetery

By Heather Finch

A riderless horse stood near the old stones at Rice Cemetery on Sunday, May 17, as flags moved in the wind, an honor guard raised rifles and a small crowd gathered around the grave of Private Homer Isaac Sherwood.

Sherwood, who served with Company I of the 5th Michigan Cavalry during the Civil War, was honored with a bronze star marker recognizing him as the last Union veteran of the war buried in Monroe County.

The dedication was organized with help from Nash-Hodges Camp No. 43 of Blissfield, Department of Michigan, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, and Andrew Noland, the cemetery sexton who has been working to preserve and document Rice Cemetery’s history.

“More than 160 years ago, as a young man from Monroe County, Homer Sherwood answered the call to serve during one of the most difficult times in our nation’s history,” Noland said.

Sherwood enlisted in 1864 at age 16 and served in Virginia with the 5th Michigan Cavalry, part of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade associated with Gen. George Armstrong Custer. Noland said Sherwood later joined forces under Gen. Ulysses S. Grant near Richmond before the surrender of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

David Ingall, a Nash-Hodges Camp member and longtime Monroe County Civil War researcher, said the marker is part of a national effort by the Sons of Union Veterans to identify and mark the graves of the last Civil War veterans buried in counties across the country.

Ingall said Nash-Hodges Camp No. 43 covers Monroe and Lenawee counties. The camp marked the last Civil War veteran buried in Lenawee County in 2018, he said, and Sunday’s dedication completed that work for Monroe County.

“Today, we honor and remember the last Union Civil War veteran buried in Monroe County, Private Homer Isaac Sherwood, with a bronze star marker on his grave headstone,” Ingall said.

According to Ingall, Sherwood was born April 14, 1848, in Cone, was orphaned before age 10 and later lived with a family in nearby Macon. He enlisted at Tecumseh on Aug. 24, 1864.

After the war, Sherwood returned to Cone, married Martha Otten and raised a family. He attended the 75th anniversary reunion of the Battle of Gettysburg in 1938, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Eternal Light Peace Memorial. Sherwood died Oct. 15, 1943, at age 95.

Ingall said Sherwood was not the last Union veteran from Monroe County to die. That was Private Joseph Remley of Erie, who died in 1945 at age 100 but was buried in Elmore, Ohio. Because Sherwood is buried at Rice Cemetery, he is recognized as the county’s last buried Union Civil War veteran.

The day also pointed to the depth of history in Rice Cemetery. Speakers said the cemetery is the final resting place of at least three War of 1812 veterans and dozens of Civil War veterans. Ingall said his research puts the number of Civil War veterans buried there at 35.

Among them are Daniel Robert McFall, a 17th Michigan Infantry sergeant who received the Medal of Honor for actions at Spotsylvania, Virginia, in 1864, and Private Reuben Howard, a Civil War soldier who survived Andersonville. The Confederate prison camp, formally known as Camp Sumter, held about 45,000 Union soldiers during its 14 months of operation, and nearly 13,000 died there, according to the National Park Service.

The work of remembering those names is continuing across generations. David Ingall’s son, Austin Ingall, also participated Sunday, adding a younger preservationist’s presence to the event.

The dedication closed with an honor guard salute and a reminder that local history often rests in quiet places.

“As we conclude today’s ceremony, let us remember that history is not only found in books and monuments, but also in the lives of ordinary people who answered extraordinary calls to duty,” Noland said. “By dedicating this plaque today, we ensure that future generations who visit this cemetery will know his name, his service and the sacrifices made by those of his era.”

Gravestone raising Blissfield and Petersburg Cemeteries

Parades

                                                         Veterans Day 1998                             Veterans Day 1999                                                    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Veterans Day 2013  Gary Holmes, Butch Miller, Tim Ernst, Montgomery Hall                        

Gravestone Dedications    

Civil War Veteran Honored with Headstone

More than 93 years after he was first laid to rest in the Ogden Zion Cemetery, William Harrison Marshall has a headstone.

On Thursday, members of the Marshall family, members of Nash-Hodges Camp #43 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, and the director of the Michigan Historical Museum helped dedicate the previously unmarked grave of the Civil War veteran, who died April 18, 1918. His remains are in the Ogden Zion Cemetery in Ogden Township.

“This is a great day to be an American and to be a member of the Marshall family,” said Mark Lindke of Ann Arbor, great-grandson of William Harrison Marshall.

 Adrian College Homecoming / 150th Anniversary of 4th Michigan & Camp Williams

( September 24, 2011  Displays were setup, 25 people helped to man displays, fire rifles, fire a small cannon, camp life, talk about medical and answer questions.  At the beginning of the football game an Honor Guard comprised of 3 Adrian College Alumni presented the colors ( which is a relpica of the original that was presented to Col. Dwight Woodbury of the 4th Michigan in June of 1861 on the Adrian College Campus which the men called Camp Williams.  A six man rifle Squad along with a small cannon fired a salute as the game ball was launched to the field from behind them.

Gary Holmes at 2013 150th Gettysburg Remembrance Day

2 spots where Gary took dirt from to take to Gettysburg

Martin Loop Marker Dedication and Cemetery Tour October 14, 2018 / The stone in the 3rd picture was just raised the day before the tour

Dedication of the Corp. William H. Crittenden Marker May 23, 2021

Austin Ingall Honors Monroes forgotten black soldier with the placing of a headstone.

May 18, 2025

, Nash-Hodges Camp #43 performed a military marker dedication and unveiling ceremony

for Private Aaron Bromley at Woodland Cemetery in Monroe, Michigan (his gravesite was previously

unmarked). This was Brother Austin Ingalls (age 16) 2025 American Battlefield Trust Youth Leadership

Team local history project. He is the first high school student picked for this honor in Michigan. Brother

Austin spent months working with the City of Monroe and numerous other organizations, researching

Private Bromley, Monroe County African American soldiers and the 102nd U.S.C.T. Approximately 100

people attended the ceremony, organized and carried out by Brother Austin. Nash-Hodges, Camp #43,

SUVCW was one of the sponsors and assisted Austin in unveiling the Civil War military marker.

Department Commander David Kimble led Co. A, 14th Michigan Volunteer Infantry, Sons of Veterans

Reserve as the Honor Guard. The beautiful replica regimental 1st Michigan Colored Infantry flag was

brought from Lansing by Chairman/Curator of Save the Flags, Matt VanAcker and carried by Monroe

resident, Xavier Allen. All the speakers were outstanding, including the emotional singing of "Battle

Hymn of the Republic" by the Monroe Second Missionary Baptist Church Choir. It was a dignified

ceremony and a very memorable day.