civil war veteran henry mumford
April 16, 2016 - Lynn Woltemath of River Valley Monuments puts the finishing touches on installation of Civil War Veteran Henry Mumford's grave. Below, you can read the story behind the picture.
henry's grave in 2015
By Sharla (Sitzman) Cerra: When I discovered Henry's grave and the state it was in, I knew something had to be done. I posted a picture on Facebook and got a few people saying essentially, "Tut, tut, that's sad." That was not going to get the job done. Willard Binder told me it had been in this state since he was a kid, so that's about 80 years. That's long enough. So in October 2015 I started a fundraising campaign to pay for the installation of a military tombstone at Henry's grave (the stones themselves are free) as well as at three unmarked graves, and a military stone in honor of a Table Rock veteran whose body was not recovered.
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Henry's military service was with Company C of the 2nd brigade of the First Nebraska, from August 1864 to February 1865. You will find Henry and his brother Luther about two-thirds down the second page of this roster.
Melissa's application for a widow's pension, based on Henry's military service
who was henry mumford?
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Henry died young, only in 31 (1846-1877) so it has been hard to find things about him as a person.
I learned that he was born in Pennsylvania in 1846. I learned that he came to Nebraska before the Civil War. The 1860 census shows him and his brother Luther here with their parents, Martin J. and Maria. Martin J. Mumford was his father; he is buried in an unmarked grave in the Table Rock Cemetery. His brother Luther (1830-1882) is also a Civil War veteran, also buried in the Table Rock Cemetery. Henry also had sisters Ruby (1833-?) and Frances (1833-1911), and a brother Thomas (1840-1914). Henry was the youngest of Martin J. and Maria's children. I learned that his wife's name was Melissa, and they were married somewhere in Pawnee County in 1868, I learned that a little daughter is buried next to him, Alice, who died in 1872 at age 2. I learned that Henry's father was Martin J. Mumford, a prominent man in Table Rock. Martin lived a long life here in Table Rock and then appears to have moved to St. Joe and elsewhere and his place of rest is unknown. I know that Maple Country School, which has been one of the museums of the Table Rock Historical Society since 1966 (50 years at the time of this writing) was also known as the Mumford School. That school was built in 1874. Henry would have known it, probably helped build it. His father probably financed it in part, perhaps even donated the land it was on. After Henry's death, Melilssa married a man named John Richardson, who was a prominent citizen in Table Rock. John is buried in the Table Rock Cemetery. She had a daughter with him, Laura, who later married a Covert. That's all we know about Civil War veteran Henry L. Mumford. Was he a good man, a bad man, a sad man, a hard worker, a drunkard, a deeply religious man? How did he die, illness or accident? Did he have any other children? We may never know. But we do know that his place of rest should be honored with a tombstone and a Civil War star. |
Little Alice's grave, next to Henry's
Brother Luther Mumford's grave, in another part of the Table Rock Cemetery.
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Maple Grove country school -- the Mumford School -- in about 1906, almost 40 years after Henry Died, and 60 years before it became a museum.
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Maple Grove -- the Mumford School -- today.
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an application for a military stone was mailed in february 2016
To secure a military tombstone, one must prove the military service -- the unit and the dates, and must prove where the veteran is buried. This information was secured and a stone requested in February 2016. Scroll down to see the application.
the application for a military tombstone was successful
The stone arrived in February 2016.
Lynn & Becky Woltemath of River Valley Monuments, after installing Henry Mumford's new tombstone. They had signed off on the application to accept delivery of the stone, stored it until time to install it, and installed it.