Public invited to ceremony honoring Civil War soldier
Albert Bundick served in Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery and settled in Westboro after the war
A formal ceremony to dedicate a marker at the grave of the last Union Civil War veteran to have been buried in Taylor County will be held at the grave of Albert A. Bundick, at the Mount Olive Cemetery, Westboro, Wisconsin on Saturday, June 12, at 10 a.m.
The ceremony will be led by the Commander of the Department of Wisconsin and Minnesota of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, John R. Decker, of Evansville. The format for the proceedings follows the 1917 ritual of the Grand Army of the Republic, and will include uniformed memorial guards.
The marker was purchased by the Taylor County Veterans Service Office, and will be installed by County Veterans Service Officer Shellie Shaw. CVSO Shaw served in the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve, and held the rank of Major.
Military honors will be furnished by Westboro’s Premeau-Schauss Post 7817 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Robert Erste, Commander.
Representatives of the Taylor County Historical Society, including its president, Sara Nuernberger also will participate. Descendants of Albert A. Bundick will be present and members of the public are invited.
The Mount Olive Cemetery is located on the south side of CTH D, 1.1 mile west of Hwy 13 in rural Westboro.
Albert A. Bundick enlisted at the age of 17 in the Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, and was transferred to the 188th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which engaged in heavy fighting during the last two years of the Civil War. He participated in the Grand Review of Troops in Washington, D.C., and mustered out of service at the rank of Musician. He engaged in a variety of occupations in Western states after the war.
He settled on a farm near Westboro in 1888, married, and raised a family. He marched in every Memorial Day parade until the last year of his life, and was an honorary member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and of the American Legion. He died on June 11, 1935, days before his 89th birthday.
The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) is a hereditary and patriotic organization, chartered by the U.S. Congress as the legal successor to the Grand Army of the Republic. It has more than 6,000 members across the United States. Most members are descendants of Union Civil War veterans, but associate membership is available to males of the age of eight and older who support the missions of the SUVCW. Its missions are to preserve the memories of the Union veterans of the Civil War, to maintain the traditions of the Grand Army of the Republic, and to encourage patriotism in all Americans.
