More Than Two Dozen Civil War Soldiers Were Laid To Rest After Their Remains Were Found In A Seattle Funeral Home

The veterans were buried with full military honors in a ceremony involving musket volleys fired by an infantry regiment in Union Army uniforms.

Sean Verma/Missing In America ProjectThe remains of the 28 U.S. Civil War veterans in urns following their discovery at the funeral home.

The Civil War was the deadliest war in America’s history. More than 600,000 soldiers lost their lives, and the conflict had drastic impacts on the social and political fabric of the country.

When the war came to an end, some veterans moved across the U.S. to carry on with their lives. Many of them settled in Seattle, made homes for themselves, and stayed there until they died. Recently, the cremated remains of 28 of these veterans were discovered in storage facilities at a funeral home and cemetery in the city.

The Missing in America Project, a non-profit organization that tracks down and inters the unclaimed remains of veterans, carried out extensive genealogical research on the men. Volunteers determined that all of the soldiers had fought in the Union Army, including one who deserted the Confederacy.

Now, most of these veterans have been given a long-awaited military burial at Washington state’s Tahoma National Cemetery.

Identifying The Veterans’ Remains In A Seattle Funeral Home

Public DomainThe remains were discovered inside a funeral home similar to this one, Butterworth & Sons, Undertakers in Seattle, c. 1900.

Many of the details about how these remains found their way to the funeral home and why they were not claimed when the veterans died are still unknown. The urns were all labeled with names, but there was no indication of the men’s connection to the Civil War. The effort to trace the stories of the deceased was led by volunteers with the Missing in America Project (MIAP).

“It’s amazing that they were still there and we found them,” Tom Keating, the organization’s Washington state coordinator, told the Associated Press. “It’s something long overdue. These people have been waiting a long time for a burial.”

Although genealogical research revealed the Civil War background of each veteran, volunteers were unable to locate any living descendants. For that reason, the men were interred at Tahoma National Cemetery with full military honors.

The ceremony included the U.S. 4th Infantry Regiment dressed in Union uniforms, a musket volley, a rendition of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and a series of speeches that shared fascinating stories about each individual.

The Incredible Stories Of The 28 Civil War Veterans

While it is unclear when MIAP became aware of the remains of the 28 Civil War veterans at the Seattle funeral home, the organization spent years combing through details to pinpoint their histories. Using genealogical data, volunteers tracked down each soldier and determined that they had all fought for the Union Army.

One soldier was revealed to be a survivor of Andersonville, the notorious Confederate prison in Georgia. Others were found to have fought in the Battle of Gettysburg. One deserted the Confederate Army to become a Union soldier, and another survived being shot thanks to his lucky pocket watch.

Public DomainAndersonville Prison in Georgia where one of the soldiers was imprisoned.

These remarkable stories were shared with an audience as the men were finally interred. “It was something,” Keating said, “just the finality of it all.”

Most of the veterans were buried at Tahoma National Cemetery, but others were sent across the country to New England, where family connections were discovered. One of these soldiers was Byron Johnson, a hospital steward for the Union Army, who was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in 1844 and was just 17 when the Civil War broke out. After the war, he settled out West, and he died in Seattle in 1913.

Johnson’s remains were delivered to Pawtucket City Hall, and he was buried with military honors at a family plot in Oak Grove Cemetery.

@repgabeamo/InstagramCivil War reenactors honor Byron Johnson at his funeral in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

“It’s the best thing we can do for a veteran,” Bruce Frail, another state coordinator for the Missing in America Project, told the Associated Press. “The feeling that you get when you honor somebody in that way, it’s indescribable.”

After reading about the discovery of 28 Civil War soldiers’ remains, look through 55 haunting photos showing the devastation of the U.S. Civil War. Then, learn about 11 of the weirdest celebrity funerals and burial requests.