Chat
|
Daily Search
|
My GenForum
|
Community Standards
|
Terms of Service
|
|
|
(note: i am not a relation)
York News-Times (NE) - March 28, 2003
Deceased Name: Rutson J. Bullock: Proper burial service, marker planned for Civil War veteran
YORK --Nearly 75 years after his death, Civil War Veteran Rutson J. Bullock will finally be the recipient of a proper veteran memorial service and his grave site will be appropriately marked.
"All veterans should be honored, because they have served their country. It's my obligation to make sure that this man is honored as such."
-- Don Sandman, York County Veterans Services.
Bullock, who died Aug. 1, 1928, at the age of 83, was buried in Greenwood Cemetery on Aug. 3, that same year. But today, there is no stone marking his tomb -- and family members say there was never a proper, formal service honoring him as a veteran. But that's about to change.
Don Sandman, the York County Veterans Services Officer, said he was recently contacted by a descendant of Bullock's from Hampton. The woman explained the situation, and asked if there was anything that could be done -- because he was a veteran. Sandman eagerly agreed to find out.
"All veterans should be honored, because they have served their country," Sandman said. "It's my obligation to make sure that this man is honored as such."
The local veterans officer called several offices in Washington D.C., to determine if the federal government would provide a stone for this unmarked grave, as he was a Union soldier. They have agreed. A stone, which will designate his service, will be paid for in full by the federal government.
And after further probing into other organizations, a group based in Lincoln called the Sons of the Union Veterans has agreed to provide a military presentation during a formal memorial service that will be held after the stone has been placed.
Sandman said the group will actually present arms and the colors, while dressed in authentic Civil War uniforms -- depicting the type of service Bullock was entitled to so many years ago. They will also place a wreath at his grave.
Sandman said he has been informed that descendants and other relatives of Bullocks -- from all over the nation -- will be traveling to York for the ceremony, as well. When all of this will happen is still unknown -- but he said he expects it to be mid-summer.
Quite a bit of information has become available regarding Bullock's life -- which has helped Sandman and others put a face to the memory of this veteran.
He was born May 29, 1845, the son of Louis and Betsy (Reed) Bullock. According to his obituary, Bullock was one of the early members of the Robert Anderson Post G.A.R. The obituary reads of the G.A.R. in 1928, as "now reduced to 20 members, 16 of whom reside in York."
Bullock was actually born in Penfield, Ill., the son of a Christian minister. His parents died when he was a young boy, and he was reared in the home of one of his uncles, Rutson Rodman Bullock, an early Iowa pioneer.
On June 3, 1866, he married Sarah Catherine Cross. They celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary shortly before his death. He was also survived by three children -- George A. Bullock (a hardware merchant), Mrs. Rena Nine and Mrs. Eugenia Brisbin, both of whom lived in York. His brother, W. F. Bullock, also lived in York, as did four grandchildren and a number of great-grandchildren, at the time of his death.
"Mr. Bullock descended from the founders of the nation and was intensely patriotic," his obituary says. "He served in the Civil War in Co. H, 105th Regiment of the Illinois volunteer infantry."
He joined the service on Aug. 15, 1862, as a private, and was honorably discharged at Bowling Green, Ken., on Jan. 10, 1963.
"At the close of the war, he engaged as a driver in a wagon train, hauling mining machinery to Nevada, Colo., for the Columbia Gold Mining company. The trip out with wagons consumed four months of time and was attended by many dangers and hardships. On this trip, he passed over the old trail just a few miles south of York that was used by travelers to the Far West."
Apparently, Bullock and his family moved to Seward in 1874, and then to York four years later. He lived in York for 50 years, "a respected, energetic and active public citizen."
There is no indication as to why the services weren't provided at the time of his death, nor why there was never a marker at the grave where his wife has also since been buried. Sandman speculates that there was probably a wooden marker at one time, which likely disintegrated over the years.
Among the paperwork Sandman has sent to Washington, as proof of Bullock's service, is his obituary from the York newspaper, a formal declaration for a widow's pension, a declaration for pension, and a death certificate.
Copyright, 2003, York News-Times, All Rights Reserved.
Notify Administrator about this message?
Followups:No followups yet |
| http://genforum.genealogy.com/bullock/messages/2657.html | ||
 |
Link to GenForum Add Forum |
|