WISCONSIN

Department

“ DISPATCH”

Winter 2011 Issue Published by the SUVCW Department of Wisconsin

Inside — Commander’s Column.1,2

What’s new ……….. …...2

Patriotic Luncheon ……..3

Wis. Pioneer ………..…4

Cleaning headstone……5 Camp 1, 2 News.…...... ..6

Camp 5 News …..…..…..7

Camp 8 News …………..8

Camp 8, 56 news,..,…... ..9

Events Calendar..……...10

Comments From Your Wisconsin Department Commander Brothers, Where has all the time gone, we are approaching the Christmas and New Year holidays. I would like to thank all of the camps that participated in Wreaths Across America. It is this time of year we sit back and reflect on all of the sacrifices that our service men and women have endured through our countries history. We must keep their history alive and honor them whenever we can. We should give a helping hand to our current returning veterans and their families. Contact your local Veterans Affairs office to see if there are any Veterans and their families that might need your help, especially during the Christmas season. I would like to welcome home Dan Croninger’s son Tim, he returned home from Iraq. We have the Department Mid-Winter meeting and Patriotic Luncheon coming up on Feb. 4th, 2012. The meeting will be 9:00a.m. – 12:00 p.m. the Luncheon will start at 12:30p.m. Camp #1 will be holding a member orientation seminar at Building #1 soldiers home district at the Milwaukee V.A. grounds on Sunday Feb. 26th. 2012. from 12:30p.m. -4:30p.m. You will learn a lot about our organization. New members get a lot out of it and old members pick up a few things that they missed the first time. I will look forward to seeing you at both events.

By now camp commanders should have looked at their camp resource cd that was given to them at the Department Encampment. There is a lot of information to help run your camp. There is a camp goals work sheet for planning goals for your camp. Each camp should it some thought. There also a 30 second and a 60 second advertisement commercial that could be used by camps in recruiting in their area plus many other bits of information useful to your camp. If you haven’t looked at it take some time to do so. If you haven’t received one please contact me and I will make sure that you get one for your camp.

In closing have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you Next year. Yours in Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty,

Thomas J. Brown, Commander

“PRESERVED BY THE GRACE OF GOD”

PAGE 2 DEPARTMENT OF WISCONSIN SONS OF UNION VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR

What’s new? The Mid-Winter meeting.

Annual Lincoln Tomb Ceremony All are invited to participate in the 56th Annual Lincoln Tomb

Ceremony, sponsored by the SUVCW and MOLLUS, commemorating the 147th Anniversary of President

Lincoln’s death. It will be held at the Lincoln tomb in Oak Ridge

Cemetery in Springfield, IL at 10 AM on Saturday, April 14, 2012.

Headquarters Hotel: President Abraham Lincoln Hotel, 701 E. Adams St., Springfield,IL 62701. The room rate is

$90.99 for single/quad. A10% dining discount at Lindsay’s

Restaurant is included. Call 1-866-788-1860 for reservations and

mention “Sons of Union Veterans”. Reserve your room by March 16, 2012. After this, the remaining blocked

rooms will be released. Shuttle service will provide transportation

between the tomb and the hotel. Luncheon will be held at the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel at 12 noon. The luncheon program will feature the

Battlefield Balladeers, doing songs of the era with audience participation. Luncheon cost is $28 per person. Send

registration form below to: Robert M. Petrovic, PDC

6519 Cherokee Lane Cedar Hill, MO 63016-2527

Make check payable to “National Organization, SUVCW”. Cancellation of lunch reservations must be

made by no later than April 1st. The Dr. Benjamin Stephenson Memorial Service, hosted by the Dept. of Illinois, will take place at his grave in Rose

Hill Cemetery, Petersburg, IL, at 3 PM. The cemetery is located

on IL Hwy. 123 on the east side of town. Traveling to Petersburg from Springfield, use Hwys. 29 and 123 or 97. For event info, go to the SUVCW web site (suvcw.org) or contact Robert Petrovic at: rpetro7776@aol.com or 636-

274-4567. SEND TO:

ROBERT M. PETROVIC, PDC 6519 CHEROKEE LANE

CEDAR HILL, MO 63016-2527 For more info and the mail-in form, go to the following webpage. http://suvcw.org/mollus/oldsave/2012lincolntomb.pdf

What’s new in the Dept.

FEB 4, 2012 MID-WINTER

MEETING Dept. of Wisconsin Mid-Winter Meeting, 9 a.m. - noon, Bluemound Gardens, Wauwatosa Annual Patriotic Luncheon, 12:30 p.m., Bluemound Gardens, Wauwatosa

The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and Auxiliary to the SUVCW cordially invite you to attend their 42nd annual Patriotic Luncheon, honoring Presidents Washington, Lincoln and McKinley on Saturday, February 4, 2012, at Bluemound Gardens, 11703 West Bluemound Rd., Wauwatosa, Wis.

At 12:30 p.m., lunch will be served and will precede guest speaker, Rev.

Robert Miller, author, scholar and Chicago Civil War Roundtable past president, whose remarks are entitled "Abraham Lincoln: the Civil War's Greatest Theologian." A doorprize raffle and silent auction will again be featured. Cost of the lunch is $18 per person.

Congratulations to Alan

Hembel.

Alan was elected to the Commandery

of the Wisconsin M.O.L.L.U.S. for a

2 year term from 2012 - 2014.

3

Come to our 42nd Annual

Patriotic Luncheon

Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 12:30 p.m. Bluemound Gardens

11703 W. Bluemound Rd., Wauwatosa, Wis.

Guest Speaker: Rev. Robert Miller Author, Scholar and Chicago Civil War Roundtable Past President "Abraham Lincoln: the Civil War's Greatest

Theologian"

Meal Choices includes tossed salad, pasta salad and assorted relishes, potatoes and

vegetables, jello, rolls and butter, cake and coffee, tea or milk

A. Roast Beef - with natural gravy B. Roast Young Tom Turkey - slow roasted breast meat with homemade dressing

Hosted by C.K. Pier Badger Camp #1 and Auxiliary #4

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War

Sponsored by the Society of Mayflower Descendants, Sons of the Revolution, Society of the War of 1812, Sons & Daughters of the Pilgrims, Sons of American Colonists, Colonial Dames of the 17th

Century, Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution, Sons of Confederate Veterans, and Society of Ancient Planters.

For more information, call (414) 425-4648

Mail this form and check ($18 per person), payable to C.K. Pier Badger Camp #1 before Jan. 28th to: 6623 North Cape Road, Franklin, WI 53132-1227

Name(s): ___________________________________________________

Meal Choice(s): ___________________________________________________

Organization: ___________________________________________________

Phone: _______________________________

Unfortunately, this year we can admit no one at the door on the day of the luncheon

PAGE 3 WINTER 2011 DEPARTMENT DISPATCH

PATRIOTIC LUNCHEON

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PAGE 4 DEPARTMENT OF WISCONSIN SONS OF UNION VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR

Wisconsin Department Pioneers

When Roy Lewis married Ida Hollister, he soon found that he was also marrying the Auxiliary to the SUVCW. Three years earlier, in 1906, when Ida was 21, she joined Shamokin, Pennsylvania’s Auxiliary #18. Her father, Pvt. Samuel Hollister, Co. I, 48th Penn. Vol. Inf., had just died and this was a way of honoring his memory. Roy and Ida had been married a year when Ida was elected Auxiliary President. Shamokin was a coal mining and railroad town of several thousand. Roy was born on January 23, 1887, the eighth of eleven children. Ida was the second youngest of ten children. After graduating school, Roy went to work for the railroad as a switchman. In 1912, Roy’s job brought the couple to Milwaukee. There Ida transferred to C.K. Pier Badger Aux. #4 and was soon elected Treasurer. The two had three children: Harry J. (1912), Mary L (1913) and John Raymond (1914-1978). Harry served during WWII as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. In 1922, when all the children were school age, Sr. Ida returned to a more active role in the Auxiliary, serving as Dept Patriotic Instructor and as Personal Aid to Wisconsin’s first National President, Minnie Groth. This latter position involved some travel. It was apparent Ida was going to need some help and husband Roy joined C.K. Pier Badger Camp #1 in March 1923. His grandfather, Pvt. Peter, K. Snyder, had served in Co. F, 178th Pennsylvania from

November 1862 to July 1863. He had seen action at Fort Magruder, on the approach to Richmond and at Ballow’s Bridge. He died before Roy was born. Roy’s father, Henry, was active in fraternal Orders. He was a member of the Odd Fellows and the Patriotic Order of the Sons of America. In 1923, Ida formed the Milwaukee Drill Team and was elected Dept. President. She was in charge of the convention arrangements during the National GAR Encampment held in Milwaukee that year.

In 1926, Br. Roy was elected Camp Commander. The National Encampment had intensified interest in the Allied Orders and Br. Roy led a Camp of just under 200 men. With the encouragement of the local GAR post, the Camp organized a drum corps, starting with eight men. Over the next 25 years the unit doubled in size and grew in popularity. After his term, Br. Roy served as Camp Patriotic Instructor, on the Camp Council, and as Camp Guide. The family made a trip back to Shamokin, Penn. in 1930. Br. Roy’s parents died four days apart that September. Ida continued to rise in the Auxiliary hierarchy and was elected National President in 1936. At the 1937 National Encampment in Madison, a marble GAR memorial bench was placed at the city’s hospital. The following year, she was instrumental in a joint project with the Wisconsin Dept. SUVCW and LGAR. The Orders placed a bench at Milwaukee’s Soldiers Home and dedicated it during the Dept. Encampment held in the city that year. When Roy was elected Dept Commander in 1938 and was re-elected the next year, the bench tradition continued with dedications at Baraboo and Madison. Since the Great Depression, Wisconsin’s membership had declined from 1500 in over 30 Camps to about 400 in 14 Camps on the eve of World War II. Personal tragedy befell the Lewises when Ida’s mother died while visiting Milwaukee in 1939. During the 1943 National Encampment in Milwaukee, Br. Roy was elected Jr. Vice Commander-in-Chief. It was customary for the National Encampment to elect a candidate form the host department to that high post. Sr. Ida’s health was failing and she died on August 9, 1944 at age 60.

The genial Br. Lewis was elected Sr. Vice Commander-in-Chief in 1946, but due to his own illness, did not attend the National Encampment the following year and lost the election for Commander-in-Chief. He ran again for CinC the following year, but lost the election to a Michigan man with 50 years service in the Order. He continued to serve the Order as Dept. Counselor and Dept. Patriotic Instructor. Br. Roy remarried in the 1950s. Lydia Barfknecht (1893-1984) had one daughter from a previous marriage.. He died on March 20, 1964 at age 77 and was buried next to Ida in Holy Assumption (now St. Martin of Tours) Cemetery in Franklin. Despite living on Milwaukee’s near south side, the couple had chosen a serene Church cemetery, which at the time was “out in the country,” as their final resting place.

From: Ancestry.com

History of the

Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865 by Samuel P. Bates; Harriusburg, PA, 1868-1871

C.K. Pier Badger

Camp #1 Minute Books and Membership Register, 1923-1950

Article from Steve Michaels, PC-in-C

ROY R. LEWIS (1887-1964) “A Woman’s Influence”

By Steve Michaels, PC-in-C

5

Cleaning an old headstone

PAGE 5 WINTER 2011 DEPARTMENT DISPATCH

Biological Growth Removal Albany, NY. Two months after Headstone was sprayed with D/2 Biological Solution. No scrub bing or washing. Biodegradable, no bleach, no acid. Tested and used by National Park Service, the Veterans Administration, the Association for Gravestone Studies and many Veteran and Civil War

Cemeteries: Andrew Johnson National Cemetery TN Antietam National Cemetery MD

Congressional Cemetery DC

Natchez National cemetery MS

New Hampshire State Cemetery NH

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier VA

United States Naval Academy MD

Vicksburg National Cemetery MS

D/2 Biological Solution's newest distributor Granite City Tool Co Contact: Jerry Mascola 800 451 4570 granitecitytoolco@myfairpoint.net Have questions? Please contact me Ted Kinnari President D/2 Biological Solutions Westport, MA 02790

917 693 7441

If you are like me, you have ordered several new headstones for our ancestral Civil War veterans or you have tried to clean the existing markers. This email was sent to me as a means to have people like us use a product that may be the solution to an old problem – getting the aged marker to look like new again. That is without doing damage to the marker. While I have not tried the solution, it does come with a pedigree. Notice that the product was sprayed on and not scrubbed. If any of you have used this product, please let us know how it worked.

MERRY

CHRISTMAS

And a

Happy new

Year!

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CAMP #1 and CAMP #2 NEWS

PAGE 6 DEPARTMENT OF WISCONSIN SONS OF UNION VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR

CAMP #1 NEWS

Brother Aronis PDC, presents the Cushing award to Brother Brown, representing Camp 1. This award is for the camp with the previous year’s highest percentage membership gain.

CAMP #2 NEWS

Below: Camp #2 was active in

“Wreaths Across America”.

Bill Raftery was the Officer of the

Day and Program Co-ordinator.

Ron Knaus was

Master of Ceremony.

Alan Hembel is shown below at the

podium with Ron Knaus on the left.

Secretary of the Wisconsin VA, John

Scocos, in the tan coat, attended the

ceremony.

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PAGE 7 WINTER 2011 DEPARTMENT DISPATCH

CAMP #5 news

Your Camp news could be here

but it needs to be submitted.

Please join Camp 5 in congratulating Brother Ronald Aronis PDC on 25 years of service to the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. His 25th anniversary of service was the spring of 2011.

Above, Department Commander Thomas Brown is shown presenting the 25 year pin to Brother Aronis.

Ron Miswald PCC

Secretary/Treasurer Camp 5

The above pictures were taken during the Campbellsport Union and St. Matthew's Cemetery clean-up and registration day on Saturday Sept 24. Members attending were Brothers Ron Aronis, Andy Bollen, John Planinsheck, and Rich Young. They recorded 20 individual grave sites.

CAMP #5

NEWS

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CAMP 8 NEWS

PAGE 8 DEPARTMENT OF WISCONSIN SONS OF UNION VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR

After marching to the headstone of Rueben Johnson, a Mohican Union soldier, the

members above of Camp #8 take their places for the dedication. Shown in the Honor Squad, from l to r, are Jim Schumann, Dan McGraw, Brian Peters, and Randy Novak. With the

National colors is Mike Wertel and with the Camp colors is Mike Bolden. Standing at

grave is Kim J. Heltemes as the Honor Guard.

Although the new markers were not delivered in time for the dedication, it still took place on October 8, 2011. When it came time to march into place the Mohican Veterans joined the Camp members with the National colors and their own staffs. These staffs signified their duties in service with eagle feathers. Each veteran wore an eagle feather as a sign of their bravery given to them from the tribe. The Native Americans honor their veterans with high esteem. The Mohican Veterans took their place as the Camp members took theirs. Camp #8 uses a modified GAR 1917 funeral service for their dedications. It has places for music so the Mohicans were invited to play the drums and dance in to the dedication. However, the drums did not show up. It was somewhat disappointing but the dedication ceremony went on without them. Tribal members unveiled the grave marker, spread ashes of a properly disposed American flag as well as buried a grommet from the flag on the grave. It is part of the ceremony that has touched a lot of people through the years of Camp #8’s dedications. There are times where up to 40 people are reduced to tears as that part of the ceremony when Taps is played and the flag portion is done with family members. After the dedication, we were invited to a PowWow. There was a spread of food set up and we were the guests of honor. We felt really privileged to be honored by the Mohicans for the meal and then later as the Pow Wow started. Camp #8 members hope that this is only the beginning of a great friendship. There is a lot of research work ahead of us as the Mohican Tribe has asked if we could help them identify their ancestors and get the graves in proper order. We realize that the Mohicans and Camp #8 have the same goal in mind – honoring our ancestors that served with the Union.

Last year, Old Abe Camp #8, was asked by the Mohican Tribe to celebrate Memorial Day with them. They have stepped up the tradtion of honoring their veterans – this time including the lost names of their tribal members. As they researched their history, the names of six Civil War veterans surfaced. Over grown tribal cemeteries were turned back over to the Mohicans. They began the task of decorating the known graves and finding out about the unmarked graves. Ten new markers were ordered and the dedication was planned. The Red Springs Cemetery near Gresham, Wisconsin, was abandoned so the Mohican Tribe asked if they could have it returned to them. Usually, cemeteries are neglected by the owners and when that happens, the townships are given the rights to the property via a state law change from about 6 years ago. But in this case, the town wasn’t taking care of the cemetery. Families were contacted about the cemetery and soldiers graves were getting identified for the first time in over a hundred years. The Stockbridge Mohicans then got ahold of Kim Heltemes so Camp #8 could combine with the tribe for a proper dedication.

With tall scared White Pine trees in the background at the Red Springs Cemetery, Camp #8 members are shown with the Mohican Tribal members. Camp members are Kirby Scott, Dan Wilson, Kim J. Heltemes, Denny Eagan, Brian Peters, Randy Novak, Mike Wertel, Mike Bolden, Alan Petit,

Paul Johnson, Camp Commander Vince Barker, Dan McGraw, Kim J.

Heltemes, and Jim Schumann. The Mohican Veterans are shown to the right along with family members of Mohican soldiers. Photographs are the courtesy of Kirby Scott.

Mohican/Munsee Stockbridge

Dedication Oct. 8, 2011 and Camp #8

By Kim J. Heltemes, PCC

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CAMPS 8 and 56 NEWS

PAGE 9 WINTER 2011 DEPARTMENT DISPATCH

Camp Secretary Mark Campbell reads the history of Judge Joseph P. Kirby at his grave in the Brown Cemetery in Henderson, MN.

Col. Wm. Colvill Camp # 56

Above upper left; Jeff Leas and Commander Tom Brown (on the left) sits with Brian Peters. Above upper right; members of Camp 8 eating their “Bean Dinner” – an annual dinner tradition. Above left; Vince Barker is getting installed by Dept. Commander Tom Brown as Kurt Kirk reads along. Above right; Camp Commander Vince Barker (l) initiates member Mike Bolden (r). Chaplain Dan Wilson is in the middle. Bolden lives at Camp McCoy.

More Camp #8

news

RETURN ADDRESS

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The Wisconsin Department Dispatch is published three times per year for members of the

Wisconsin Department, SUVCW. Articles, photos and news items may be submitted to:

Kim J. Heltemes at:

svc@suvcw-wi.org Editorial deadlines are April, August, and Dec.

Visit us on the Web at

http://www.suvcw-wi.org

NOTICE!

Newsletter EditorEditorEditorEditor: Kim J. Heltemes

SEND TO:

Dec 25 Christmas Feb 1, 2012 National Freedom Day Feb 4 Dept Mid-winter meeting Feb 12 Lincoln’s birthday Feb 14 Valentine’s Day Feb 22 George Washington’s birthday April 14 Lincoln Tomb Ceremony

EVENTS CALENDAR

2011-2012 Dept. Officers

Commander Tom Brown commander@suvcw-wi.org

SVC Kim J. Heltemes svc@suvcw-wi.org

JVC Alan Petit jvc@suvcw-wi.org

Secretary Brian Peters secretary@suvcw-wi.org

Council 1 Bruce Laine council1@suvcw-wi.org

Council 2 Dale Brasser

Council 3 Kent Peterson council3@suvcw-wi.org

Counselor Steve Michaels counselor@suvcw-wi.org

Patriotic Instr Brian McManus pi@suvcw-wi.org