More About Our Graves Registration Program

The Sons Of Union Veterans Of The Civil War Graves Registration Program operates at all three levels of our Order. The work usually begins at the Camp level where Brothers survey each cemetery in it's area of service, looking for obvious graves of Civil War era servicemen. While they are in the cemetery they also note the graves of every male born between 1810 and 1850. The latter group forms a pool of "possible" Civil War veterans, owing to their birth years and gender. With the survey data in hand the Camp researches a variety of information sources from local genealogical societies to various censuses to any available GAR records to a multitude of online sources in order to establish a data set for each established and possible veteran found at the cemetery.

When the name and descriptive information for a Civil War veteran is fully developed and established the record for the veteran is forwarded to the Department Graves Registration Officer who keeps a database of all known Boys In Blue buried in the state. Though this information is not published to the general public the Camp Graves Registration Officer is glad to do an individual look-up upon request. Click on the link to e-mail any requests to the LeValley- Heusted Camp Graves Registration Officer. The LeValley- Heusted Camp's area of service is Tuscola and Huron Counties, in Michigan's "Thumb" area. If you are requesting information about a veteran believed buried in another area of Michigan contact the Department Graves Registration Officer for the name of the Graves Registration Officer servicing that area. Though not in the specific thrust of the program the LeValley- Heusted Camp, as a matter of policy, records and forwards information about veterans of all conflicts prior to World War I to the Department database

The Department of Michigan joins many Departments in forwarding Graves Registration data to the National level who does publish limited information online by no cost subscription. Click on this link to the National GRO Database.

Approximately 90,000 men left Michigan to preserve the Union. Because Michigan was a pioneering state both before and after the Civil War it is certain that a good deal more than this number came to the state and were buried in Michigan soil when they died. To date, almost 60,000 Michigan graves have been identified and recorded. If you have information regarding a Civil War gravesite please help us out by contacting your nearest Camp Graves Registration Officer. This long term work in progress is at the very core of why we exist.

In addition to gathering and recording veteran data the LeValley-Heusted Camp notes the condition of the gravesite and surrounding area. If there is no gravestone or the stone is damaged or illegible the Camp will work with the cemetery and any surviving family to assist in procuring a Veteran's Stone from the United States Government. Often, when no descendant family can be located, the Camp will secure and arrange for installation of a new stone or plaque to mark the spot where one of the Boys In Blue lies at rest. Many times a veteran's stone is simply in need of resetting to proper height and attitude. With the cemetery's consent our Brothers will do this work as volunteer schedules allow. When needed,the Camp may intercede to prompt the owner or administrator of a cemetery to provide suitable flag holder/ markers to mark the veteran's gravesite in accordance with Michigan P.A. 63 of 1915.

Go to the Department Of Michigan Graves Registration page for more information about the Sons Of Union Veterans Of The Civil War Graves Registration Program.