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Greg C. Beckman Presents on "The Case of the Wrong Headstone" at Our April 2017 Program

3/22/2017

2 Comments

 
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Join us at our March meeting and program on Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 7:00pm!

About the Program

The Case of the Wrong Headstone 

Greg will talk about the journey of the three Beckmann brothers who emigrated from the Grand Duchy of Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach to the United States circa 1860. Greg discovered that one of the Beckmann brothers served in the Confederate States of America Army during the Civil War, but was buried by Union forces under a headstone with the incorrect surname and regiment. This led Greg to contact the National Cemetery Administration and request that his ancestor's headstone at Camp Chase Cemetery in Ohio be corrected. 

About the Speaker

Greg C. Beckman teaches social science at El Dorado High School. Before becoming a teacher, he practiced law in Southern California (1994 – 2000). 

In 2014, Greg became interested in his family genealogy when his Uncle Wally encouraged and inspired him to discover the Beckmann family origins. Greg's family search has taken him to Ohio, Texas, Mississippi and Tennessee, as well as having led him to the discovery of countless family documents. 

The resources he used included military records, church marriage records, city directories, vital records, land records, naturalization records, censuses, newspaper articles, photos, and books. 

Several newspapers in three states have written up some of his experiences. But you'll get the whole story in this talk.
2 Comments
Dave Deatherage link
1/9/2020 05:02:19 am

My great grandfather's youngest brother is buried at Camp Chase Cemetery. I have been able to trace his service in the Confederate army from enlistment to imprisonment in1864 and his death in January, 1865 - he was among a group of 35 Virginia cavalrymen who were captured near Winchester, Va on Sept 13, 1864 and sent to Camp Chase POW camp.

The 35 cavalrymen can be identified in prisoner enrollment registers created by Union clerks at Camp Chase during the war. 10 of these prisoners died in the prison and are buried in the cemetery.

I discovered that the headstone one of these soldiers is inscribed with the wrong name and I notified the Dept of Veterans Affairs office at Dayton, Ohio of the error. I also found a descendant of this soldier and gave him this information - he also contacted the V.A.

All this was years ago and despite repeated contacts and inquiries, nothing has been done. What did Greg Beckman have to do to put a fire under the V.A. and get them to replace the headstone with one with the correct name?

Thanks,
Dave Deatherage
College Station, Texas

Reply
Gregory C Beckman
1/15/2020 09:59:35 pm

Mr. Deatherage,

At first the NCA was passing the buck around with me. One has to be relentless and keep contacting them until you get the desired result. Also, in order to correct a headstone, I believe the request must come from a family member with the correct proof demonstrating the error (e.g. compiled military service records which one can acquire from Fold3).

Hope that helps.

Greg Beckman

Reply



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