WATERMAN – Last year, the Civil War monuments honoring Union soldiers at Johnson Grove Cemetery on Shabbona Grove Road in Waterman were falling into disrepair.

Marge McDonald, the cemetery’s sexton, described the monuments as “needing sprucing up a little.”

The Civil War monument, featuring cannonballs from Rock Island Arsenal and a mounted 8-inch Columbia siege gun (cannon) from Fort Caswell, South Carolina, was erected in 1905 and dedicated in 1907.

Through the years, the cannonballs were either stolen or used as scrap metal during World War II, leaving only the base, and the cannon’s black paint was chipped and its barrel filled with birds’ nests.

On April 29, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, E.F. Dutton Camp 49 of Sycamore, rededicated Johnson Grove Cemetery to preserve the monuments honoring the 28 Union soldiers who fought in the Civil War who are buried there.

SUVCW has worked since last year to clean up the cemetery and add a flagpole with a solar light. The group also cleaned and painted the cemetery’s authentic Civil War cannon and added a new display of cannonballs made by Doty & Sons Concrete Products in Sycamore. SUVCW spent more than $1,100 on the project.

SUVCW, the oldest veteran’s group in the world, is a fraternal organization dedicated to preserving the history and legacy of heroes who fought and worked to save the Union. SUVCW was organized in 1881 and chartered by Congress in 1954 to carry on the traditions and responsibilities of the Grand Army of the Republic.

In 1868, the GAR designated May 30 as Decoration Day, a day to remember fallen Union soldiers and decorate their graves with flowers. The holiday is now known as Memorial Day, commemorating all men and women who have died in military service for the United States. Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May.

“Fixing up monuments and rededicating cemeteries is what we do,” said Tom Oesteriecher, SUVCW’s chaplain and historian. “We make sure the memories of these soldiers stay alive. We have the responsibility of rededicating and restoring the cemeteries within a four-county area.”

SUVCW’s first project was to refurbish the Civil War monument in front of the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore. After completion of the Johnson Grove Cemetery project, the group will work to raise funds to restore the Civil War markers and monuments at Elmwood Cemetery in Sycamore.

Dennis Maher, SUVCW’s camp commander, said he joined the group as a way of honoring the memories of the soldiers who fought in the Civil War and keeping history alive. Multiple members of his family, including his great-great-grandfather, served as Union soldiers during the war.

“By repairing Civil War monuments and memorials, we are preserving the memory of the Union soldiers that fought in the Civil War,” Maher said. “Each of the soldiers had a story, a life, families back home. We want to remember them and honor them by restoring their monuments and rededicating their cemeteries.”

During his speech at the rededication ceremony, SUVCW member Jim Lyon said that the number of Union Civil War veterans buried in Johnson Grove Cemetery, 28, is a large amount for a small, rural cemetery. A total of 2,391 veterans from DeKalb County were enlisted in 14 units during the Civil War.

J.E. Hardy, one of the 28 Union soldiers buried in Johnson Grove Cemetery, served as an honorary prison guard for the assassins of President Abraham Lincoln. When Martin V. Allen, another Civil War soldier buried in the cemetery, was sick in Chattanooga, Tennessee, his wife Jane traveled to take care of him. Martin regained his health, but Jane, credited as being a Civil War nurse, became sick and died there. Both Martin and Jane Allen are buried in Johnson Grove Cemetery.

“It’s important that we honor Union Civil War Soldiers’ memories by restoring their monuments and memorials,” Lyon said. “It’s important to remember the boys in blue that kept our country together.”