More than a century after his death, a Civil War veteran buried just south of Marshfield will soon receive another moment of recognition.
Columbus Loom Dennis, who served as a private in the Confederate Army, will be honored during a ceremony Oct. 10 at Pleasant Hill Cemetery.
For Ron McBride, finding Dennis’ story started with something he has enjoyed doing for decades — digging into the past.
McBride has lived in the Springfield area his entire life and became interested in genealogy in 1984. As he researched his own family, he discovered several ancestors who had served the Confederacy during the Civil War.
That eventually led him to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a heritage organization made up of descendants of Confederate veterans.
“I’ve always been interested in family genealogy,” McBride said.
McBride joined the organization about six years ago and is now a commander with the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He is also involved with the Military Order of the Stars and Bars, an organization focused on Confederate officers and their descendants.
A big part of McBride’s work is searching cemetery records and researching people whose military service may have largely been forgotten over the years.
That search eventually brought him to Dennis.
According to McBride’s research, Dennis was born in Livingston County, Missouri, to George and Arminda Dennis. When the Civil War came, Dennis joined the Confederate Army and served as a private in Company A of the 36th Battalion, Missouri Sharpshooters.
McBride said Dennis served in the Trans-Mississippi Department and took part in military actions connected with Gen. Sterling Price’s 1864 campaign.
His service included fighting at the Battle of Little Blue River, the Battle of Independence and the Battle of Westport.
Following the retreat from Missouri, McBride said Dennis continued with his unit through campaigns in Arkansas and Louisiana until the end of the war in 1865.
After his military service ended, Dennis returned to Missouri and eventually made his home in the Marshfield area, where he spent much of the rest of his life farming.
Dennis married Rosanne Canoe in Howard County on Sept. 23, 1866. The couple raised a family and remained together until Dennis’ death.
Dennis died Jan. 17, 1916, in Webster County after suffering from influenza, according to McBride. He was about 72 years old.
He was buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery south of Marshfield. His wife died in 1931.
Years later, McBride and other members of the organization located Dennis’ grave and began working to recognize his military service.
“We went out, and we found his grave area, and we decided he deserved a military headstone with his service on it,” McBride said.
The group also placed a Cross of Honor next to the headstone.
A ceremony honoring Dennis is planned for 3 p.m. Oct. 10 at Pleasant Hill Cemetery.
Dennis is far from the only veteran McBride and other members have researched.
McBride said the group looks for veterans whose graves may not have military headstones. Members research their backgrounds and military records before working through the process of obtaining a marker.
He estimates the group has completed about seven military Cross of Honor ceremonies during the past two years, with several more being researched.
“We have about five more coming up in the near future,” McBride said. “We just have to finalize some stuff with the VA and some background search.”
The work is not limited to Confederate graves.
McBride said members also clean military headstones they find, including those belonging to Union veterans and veterans from other periods of military service.
The group uses a cleaning product called D/2 on the stones. McBride said it is also used at Arlington National Cemetery and allows old markers to be cleaned without damaging the stone.
For McBride, all of that work comes back to the same thing that first caught his interest more than 40 years ago — finding the stories behind names from the past.
Sometimes that means digging through military records. Other times it means walking through an old cemetery and noticing a grave that deserves a closer look.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here