The Sons of Union Veterans of the American Civil War hope readers can help them find George M Green who lived in Hull in the 1940s
An appeal has been launched to find the final resting place of a Hull man believed to be the last known American Civil War veteran in the region. The Sons of Union Veterans of the American Civil War (SUVCW) was founded in the USA in 1881, to carry on the memories of the men who fought to preserve the Union and abolish slavery in America.
The group’s aim is to locate the graves of veterans of the American Civil War – which took place between 1861 and 1865 – in the UK. They say there are a surprisingly large number, including many in Yorkshire and East Lincolnshire.
Back in the 1980s it had been researching the last surviving veterans of that war, and it had identified a George M Green who lived at 39 Belvoir Street, Princes Avenue, Hull in the 1940s who was a Civil War veteran. Now the SUVCW want to find his grave to commemorate his service.
Michael Hammerson, graves registration officer with SUVCW said: “One of our most important remits, as the only overseas branch of an organisation founded in the USA in 1881 to perpetuate the memory of the men who fought to preserve the Union and abolish slavery in America, is to identify and commemorate the Last Veteran in our region, and it seems very likely that it is Green.
“We are really anxious to find where he is buried – and, indeed, the date of his death, which remains unclear. If his grave can be found, and does not have a stone, we can obtain one from the US Veterans Administration. We have already obtained several, and are dedicating another in London at the end of the month. We wonder if any of your readers could help us to identify him and where he is buried?”
Michael said the group had discovered that George M Green claimed a veteran’s pension from England in 1921. He had served in the 15th Maine Volunteer Infantry, and a further article in the Portland, Maine, Evening Express from May 1947 mentioned him, giving his address as Waterloo Cottage, North Marine Road, Flamborough.
This week he was also sent a brief record from the US Veterans Affairs Master Index, citing a George M Green, Corporal, Co. B, 15th Maine Infantry, born April 5, 1845, resident at the Sailors Home, Hull, England – but the record is undated.
He told how the organisation has had a long term interest in this period of history – and not just the war, but its origins, and its aftermath, and its legacy.
He said: “If you actually tell people about it they find out they’ve got veterans buried in their local cemetery, they’re fascinated. In my own local cemetery in London’s Highgate we’ve got three veterans there, one of their stones actually says he served in the American Civil War.
“We’ve also got a brother of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin – and we’ve also got Abraham Lincoln’s chiropodist. Lincoln developed very high regard for him, and used to send him off on secret missions to negotiate with the enemy -it’s amazing what you find out.”
“It’s not really a militaristic organisation. It was all originally based on the Masons, which is a bit strange, but nowadays, it’s mainly educational, commemorative.”
He explained how many from the area journeyed across the ocean to join the fight.
He said: “A high proportion of them were from here and travelled there. A lot of them just went over as young men to fight, mainly for the North. We identified about 120 odd Confederates buried over here, but most of them went off to fight for the North against slavery. Some of them had been immigrants who went out there, but for some reason or other came back.
“We have a guy in D.C. who can get pension files for it. They charge you $80 for a copy of a file and the records vary so much. Sometimes there’s a huge amount of information on these guys and sometimes all we’ve got is a pension card giving his name, regiment and the fact that he claimed the pension from England. And as we’ve got several hundred of those and it costs $80 a time, it is a slow job.”
He added: “It’s really an important period of history for understanding the way the Western world is today.”
If you have any information about Mr Green, please email coreena.ford@reachplc.om
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