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Memorial Ceremonies

“Where the First Footsteps Rest”
 
A Story of Unity at Old Methodist Cemetery, Chaplin, Kentucky
 
The wind moved gently through the fields of Old Methodist Cemetery, Chaplin, Kentucky—an old, quiet place where the nation’s earliest footsteps still rest. On this day, however, the silence gave way to something rare: every generation of American service, every lineage society, every men’s and women’s organization standing shoulder to shoulder to honor the long arc of sacrifice that shaped the United States.
They gathered not for one war, nor one soldier, but for the entire story of America’s beginnings, all buried in one sacred ground.
 
I. The First Defenders — The Revolution
The ceremony began with the earliest names—men who fought when the United States was only an idea whispered in taverns and carried on the backs of farmers.
 
Captain Jessie Davis Cpt Davis Rev War grave marker
                                                                             Captain William Kincheloe  Grave of Patriot LT Wm Kincheloe
Captain Newell Beauchcamp Newell Beauchamp monument
 
Their service stretched back to the Revolution itself, when Kentucky was still a frontier and the nation’s future was uncertain. The Sons of the American Revolution—Isaac Shelby Chapter and Big Sandy Chapter—stood at attention, their color guard led by Scott Gilter, President of the Kentucky Society SAR, flags snapping in the breeze.
The ladies of the NSDAR—Cox’s Station, John Fitch, and Salt River Chapters, Thomas Nelson Jr Society NSCAR, River Raisin Chapter NSUSD 1812—placed flowers at the stones of these early captains, honoring the men who fought so the nation could be born.
 
II. The Second War for Independence — War of 1812
 
Next came the men who defended the young nation a second time:
 
Pvt. John Combs  John Combs War of 1812
                                                                        Major William Milton Davis Milton Davis damaged grave marker
Sgt. Thomas Sims Graves  Patriot grave marker, Thomas Graves honored
 
Members of the United States Daughters of 1812, Col. Yelverton Peyton Wells Chapter 508, stepped forward. Their ribbons and badges caught the sunlight as they honored the men who stood against invasion and helped secure America’s place among nations.
 
III. The Frontier and the Fight for Texas
 
The story moved westward—toward the struggle for Texas independence and the tragedies that followed.
 
Colonel James Wood, veteran of the Texas Revolution
 
James Wood, survivor of the Goliad Massacre, Captain William Parsons Miller’s command, 27 March 1836
lGoliad TX survivor Col James Wood
 
The Daughters of the Republic of Texas honored these men with solemn pride. Few stories in American history carry the weight of Goliad, and the crowd fell silent as the name was spoken. A survivor of that massacre rested here, in Kentucky soil—proof that history’s great tragedies often end far from where they began.
 
IV. The Mexican–American War
Two brothers were remembered next—sons of Kentucky who marched into a war that expanded the nation’s borders:
 
Newton Davis Lt Newton Davis Marker monument
                          Lieutenant Thomas Jessie Davis LT Jessie Davis monument
Their service bridged the years between early frontier wars and the coming national storm.
 
V. The Civil War — Blue and Gray Together
 
Then came the names that still echo through Kentucky’s hills:
 
Union Soldier, Pvt. William Vandyke, Co F 8th KY Cav  SVR members pose before Wm Vandykes grave Civil War Confederate Soldier Cokendolpher honors
Confederate Soldier, Pvt. James K. Cokendolpher, Private, Company B, 2nd Kentucky Cavalry, Duke’s Old Squadron, Morgan’s Men
 
On this day, both were honored—because the purpose was remembrance, not division.
Members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War—Camp 5 (Elijah P. Marrs) and Camp 1 (Fort Duffield) stood in formation beside the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
 
The United Daughters of the Confederacy, Ben Hardin Helm Chapter 126 of Elizabethtown, placed flowers for Pvt. Cokendolpher.
The moment was powerful: Union blue and Confederate gray, standing not in opposition but in shared reverence for the men who lived, fought, and died in a war that reshaped the nation.
 
VI. The Ceremony of Many Hands
 
Though the men’s organizations provided honor guards, commands, and historical context, it was the ladies’ organizations who carried the ceremony with grace and leadership.
Their presence—DAR, UDC, USD1812, DRT—wove together the threads of America’s earliest generations.
The SAR color guard, joined by members of the SUVCW, SCV, and other heritage groups, presented arms in a unified salute. Flags of every era—13 stars, 15 stars, 28 stars, and the modern 50—stood together like a timeline made of cloth.
The cemetery, once quiet, now felt alive with centuries of American memory.
 
VII. One Cemetery, One Story, One Nation
 
Old Methodist Cemetery is not large, but on this day it held the weight of:
 
The Revolutionary War
The War of 1812
The Texas Revolution
The Goliad Massacre
The Mexican–American War
The Civil War—Union and Confederate
 
All in one place, all in one Kentucky hillside, all honored by descendants and patriots who refused to let their stories fade.
The ceremony closed with a single truth spoken aloud:
 
“Here lies the beginning of America. Here lies the price of its survival.”
 
And as the flags dipped in final salute, the wind carried the sound across the stones—across the centuries—reminding everyone present that the story of the United States is not written in books alone.
 
It is written in the ground beneath our feet.
 

Honoring the Union Veterans of Cranor Cemetery

Cranor Cemetery

A Day of Brotherhood, Memory, and Descendants Standing Together

Today, members of Camp Calhoun #2, SUVCW and SVR, gathered at Cranor Cemetery in Saint Charles, Kentucky, to render full honors to the eight Union soldiers laid to rest together in this small hillside cemetery — a rare and powerful reminder of the brotherhood forged in the Civil War. Camp Calhoun #2 created the new sign, had it professionally made, and worked with the City of St. Charles to install it.

These men served in the 25th Kentucky Infantry, the 17th Kentucky Infantry, and the 17th Kentucky Cavalry — regiments whose histories are woven through some of the hardest campaigns of the war. As the document notes, “Cranor Cemetery is the final resting place for these 8 men who bravely answered the call to serve and defend their nation.”

What made today especially meaningful was the presence of descendants, introduced by Bob Ward, who stood only a few feet from where their ancestors now rest. Their presence transformed the ceremony from remembrance into living history.

THE SOLDIERS WE HONORED

Each man’s story was read aloud — stories of hardship, wounds, illness, capture, and perseverance:

  • Pvt. George Henry Messamore
    25th KY Infantry → 17th KY Infantry
    Medically discharged for chronic rheumatism just ten days after consolidation. Buried here after a long life as a Christian County farmer.
  • Cpl. / 1st Lt. John M. Cranor
    25th KY Infantry → 17th KY Infantry → 17th KY Cavalry
    Wounded by tuberculosis, later returned to serve again and rose to lieutenant. His disability discharge states he suffered from “Phthisis Pulmonalis.”
  • Pvt. Thomas Ewing
    25th KY Infantry → 17th KY Infantry
    Irish-born miner, wounded during the Siege of Atlanta, July 30, 1864.
  • Pvt. Joshua Blanchard
    17th KY Cavalry
    Served to the end of the war; later a farmer with a large family in Christian County.
  • Pvt. Virgil A. Hamby
    25th KY Infantry → 17th KY Infantry
    Wounded at Chickamauga; hospitalized in Chattanooga and Nashville.
  • Sgt. Levi Branson Trotter
    17th KY Cavalry
    Rose from private to commissary sergeant; buried under a government stone supplied in 1891.
  • Pvt. Fields B. Blanchard
    25th KY Infantry → 17th KY Infantry
    Wounded at Shiloh — the casualty sheet records he was “wounded… slightly in the groin.” Later captured near Atlanta and paroled at Goldsboro.
  • Pvt. Daniel M. Hamby
    25th KY Infantry → 17th KY Infantry
    Wounded at Dallas, Georgia, May 27, 1864; hospitalized in Nashville.

Brotherhood in Life — Brotherhood in Death

These eight men likely fought side by side, marched the same muddy roads, endured the same hunger, and carried the same hopes for the Union. After the war, many settled in the same community — and now rest only steps apart.

As the document notes, “this is indeed a rare and unique occurrence… for 8 Union veterans who very much likely served side by side… to be laid to rest together.”

Today, their descendants stood together as well.

Camps Working Together

The new Cranor Cemetery interpretive sign and installation were made possible through the combined support of:

  • Camp 1 – Fort Duffield………………………………………..Camp Calhoun 2
  • Camp 3 – Nelson Garfield……………………………………Camp 5 – Elijah P. Marrs

Their contributions ensured that these soldiers’ stories will be preserved for generations.

Final Reflection

In a cemetery no larger than a grocery store, eight men who helped save the Union lie together in quiet Kentucky soil. Today, their descendants, their modern brothers of the SUVCW and SVR, and three supporting Camps stood united to honor them.

Their service lives on — not only in stone, but in memory, family, and the continued work of those who refuse to let their stories fade.

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