By Pat Maurer
Correspondent
Clare City Manager Jeremy Howard reported a very special ceremony in Clare’s Cherry Grove Cemetery recently during his report to the City Commission.
“Sunday, October 7 at 2 pm, the last Civil War Veterans of Clare County Ceremony at Cherry Grove Cemetery in Clare was held.” He said, “I was honored to be able to attend and say a few words from the City of Clare. Mary Warner, Utility Billing Clerk and Cemetery Clerk was also able to participate and laid flowers on the grave of the last Clare County Veteran.”
Howard continued, “The ceremony detailed the incredible Civil War journeys of Reverend William N. Younglove and Mr. Elias Riegle. The men died one day apart in January of 1939.”
“Reverend Younglove personally knew President Lincoln and his cabinet and family, John Wilkes Booth and General Ulysses S. Grant,” Howard reported. “Additionally, he was at Ford Theater on that tragic day.”
Younglove died January 10, 1939. Riegle died January 11, 1939.
Howard explained, “Mr. Riegle fought under General Sherman during his famous campaigns in the southeast in the final year of the war.”
The ceremony featured General Orlando M. Poe Camp 444 – Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Honor Guard dressed in Union Engineer and Infantry uniforms and firing three volleys with reproduction Civil War era rifles with Echo Taps being performed by high school (Clare Band) students,” Howard said.
The General Orlando M. Poe Camp 444, which is headquartered in Cadillac said in a press release about the event, “The City of Clare has been highly supportive of Camp 444’s lead -up to the Last Union Veterans of Clare County Ceremony.” It continued, “Clare City Manager Jeremy Howard described the significance of honoring the lives of the last two soldierly connections to the Civil War for the city, saying “The City of Clare is excited to participate as a stakeholder in this event. It is a honor to have the final two Civil War Veterans in Clare County … buried at Cherry Grove Cemetery. The unique circumstances and the time of their deaths add to the story even more. The two gentlemen being honored were truly witnesses to some amazing times in our history and would have had a perspective on the events that very few were able to say they took part in during our country’s history.”
The release said, “The ceremony provided the public a window into the past of the ceremonies and rituals of the Civil War Veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic. Additionally, the General Orlando M. Poe Camp 444 Honor Guard was attired in Union Army Engineer and Infantry uniforms.”
The General Orlando M. Poe Camp 444 is the newest Camp in the Department of Michigan of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), which was established in 1881. The Orlando M. Poe Camp 444 was established in 2021 and represents five counties in northern Michigan: Clare, Osceola, Roscommon, Missaukee and Wexford. They document and preserved graves, monuments, and memorials honoring Union Veterans. They also provide patriotic and historical education and are dedicated to preserving the history and legacy of heroes who fought and worked to save the Union.