Several members of Henry Casey Camp 92 Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War participated in a commemoration of President Abraham Lincoln, sponsored by the Clinton County Historical and Genealogical societies at their museum in Wilmington. Pictured left to right: Ray Fannin, Kelly Hopkins, Steven Powell, and Charles Rose.
Submitted photo
WILMINGTON — President Abraham Lincoln died 159 years ago on April 15, 1865. Over this past weekend, the Clinton County Historical and Genealogical societies commemorated Lincoln’s life with a program at their museum in Wilmington.
Several speakers and exhibits provided visitors an opportunity to learn about Lincoln and Clinton County’s connection to the Civil War.
The exhibits highlighted many of the events going on in Clinton County before, during and after the Civil War, including the various military units connected to Wilmington and Clinton County.
Among the exhibits was information about the Morris McMillian Post No. 58 of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The GAR was a powerful and influential veterans’ organization established following the Civil War by Union military veterans.
The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) is the legal heir to the GAR and its members are descendants of Union Civil War veterans. Several members of Henry Casey Camp 92 helped with the Lincoln commemoration, including camp commander Kelly Hopkins; senior vice commander Charles Rose; chaplain Steven Powell; past camp commander Ray Fannin; Chris Grim and treasurer Robert E. Grim.
Some members of the Henry Casey Camp are also members of the Sons of Veterans Reserve (SVR), which is the uniformed element of the SUVCW. They established a Civil War camp site on the grounds around the museum which provided visitors an opportunity to learn what life was like for Civil War soldiers.
