military markings on gravestones - need help...

[Controlled Chaos Arms]

my father-in-law is a good man and is a veteran after having retired with 23 years of service.

he's come to me hoping i can help him with some questions on his ancestry. his great great great grandfolks, father, etc. were all military men in MO. there are a series of abbreviations on the grave stones of these brave men. no symbols, just abbreviations. is there a way i can find something to decipher these things so we can figure out what kinds of service these folks were involved in?

i'm really at a loss as to how to begin, but i have all the rubbings from the stone, so that is a start.

any guidance or help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,


michael

 

[Parallax]

Re: military markings on gravestones - need help...

What does it say on the stone ? ...

 

[The Mechanic]

Re: military markings on gravestones - need help...

http://genealogy.about.com/od/military_records/a/abbreviations.htm

 

[Crewdog135]

Re: military markings on gravestones - need help...

Septic,
This may help. http://genealogy.about.com/od/military_records/a/abbreviations.htm. If you post the markings you may get more info. Another source might be a local university history dept. Good luck.

 

[The Mechanic]

Re: military markings on gravestones - need help...

Also for religion markings.
http://www.cem.va.gov/hm/hmemb.asp

and everything you would ever want to know about it.
http://www.cem.va.gov/hm_hm.asp

older markings
http://www.cem.va.gov/hm/hmcivil.asp

 

[ZLBubba]

Re: military markings on gravestones - need help...

Also look at the dates involved. If it's far enough back, then local genealogists often know what local units served in the Civil War, and who were in those units. Give the genealogists a call, and good luck.

 

[Controlled Chaos Arms]

Re: military markings on gravestones - need help...

thanks for the replies guys!

here is what is says:

SERCT (or SERGT possibly - we can't tell)
CO. C (or G we can't tell)
4 MO. S. M. CAV

the other i think we have figured out. pretty simple:

CO. B.
20 WIS. INF.

so i'm assuming this one is "B" company 20th Wisconsin Infantry... the first one is a bit tougher...

 

[Controlled Chaos Arms]

Re: military markings on gravestones - need help...

we ended up finding some information from both missouri and wisconsin state archives. i was surprised to learn how comprehensive they were. very impressive.

we're still not sure, but we're assuming that the "SERGT" is sergeant. they also spelled his name incorrectly, so after we found that, things were more clear....

so,

sergeant jacob speidle (actually spelled speidel)
company g
4th missouri state militia - cavalry

the other is,

john m. gordon
company b
20th wisconsin infantry

the guidance you guys spit out made my father-in-law a tickled man this morning. thanks guys!

-michael

 

[ZLBubba]

Re: military markings on gravestones - need help...

Good for you, man. It's always fascinating finding out about our ancestors.

 

[cavscout1983]

Re: military markings on gravestones - need help...

It's always nice to find a little of the Cav in the bloodline...

congrats on figuring it out.