Erection
of Headstones For Civil War & Spanish American War Veterans
Albany Rural Cemetery Soldiers' Lot
The
Soldiers’ Lot in the Albany Rural Cemetery is the final
resting place for 149 Union soldiers, many who died of injury
or illness in hospitals around Albany during the Civil War.
New
York State, as well as many other states, passed legislation
to provide for the care, burial and erection of headstones for
veterans of the Civil War and the Spanish American War.
In
1896, Chapter 225 of the New York State Poor Laws was enacted.
Article V., Section 84 of that law entitled “Headstones
to be provided” stated:
“The grave of any such deceased soldier, sailor or marine
shall be marked by a headstone containing the name of the deceased,
and, if possible, the organization to which he belonged, or
in which he served; such headstone shall cost not more than
fifteen dollars, and shall be of such design and material as
shall be approved by the board of supervisors, and the expense
of such burial and headstone as provided for in this article,
shall be a charge upon, and shall be paid by the county in which
the said soldier, sailor or marine shall have died; and the
board of supervisors of such county is hereby authorized and
directed to audit the account and pay the expense of such burial
in the same manner as other accounts against said county are
audited and paid; provided, however, that in case such deceased
soldier, sailor or marine shall be at the time of his death
an inmate of any State institution, including state hospitals
and soldiers' homes, or any institution supported by the state
and supported at public expense therein, the expense of such
burials and headstones shall be a charge upon the county of
his legal residence.”
Under
this law all counties in New York State were required to provide
for the erection of headstones for these veterans.
Records of the proceedings of the Albany County Board of Supervisors
dealing with Section 84 and the providing of headstones are the
source of this latest data base of Military Records added to the
Troy Irish Genealogy Society.
The following data elements are part of this new series of records:
Veteran
Name
Unit Name
Veteran of
Residence – Very few for this item.
Name of Cemetery
Location of Cemetery
Date – This date may be the date of the Board of Supervisors
proceedings where the veterans name is included on the report
(indicated by “R”) or it may be the actual data
of when the headstone was ordered (indicated by “O”).
The
names in this data base are arranged in three separate files as
follows:
1. - Surname of Veteran
2. - Unit Name Veteran Served In
3. - Cemetery Where Interred
CIVIL WAR UNION VETERAN – ORIGINAL ISSUE
HEADSTONE
To the
left of the headstones is a typical Civil War era Grand
Army of the Republic (Gar) flag holder in the shape
of a star. Inscriptions on the star vary by manufacturer
and often include the number of the veteran’s
GAR post.
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