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A CHANCE MEETING, AND A CIVIL WAR VETERAN GETS
HIS
HEADSTONE -- "I'm telling myself I need to find
who put that
flower there, and it turns out she's standing
right behind me."
Story here...
http://www.twincities.
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Story below:
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A chance meeting, and a Civil War vet gets his
headstone
Marker will be placed today for Benjamin Rose,
whose family lent its name to Roseville
BY MATT PEIKEN
Pioneer Press
Pat Hill already had crossed the line into fixation, visiting the
Soldier's Rest area of St. Paul's Oakland Cemetery almost daily, when he
paused at the marker of Gideon Rose. A fresh flower graced the base.
"I thought, 'Hmm, someone knows him,' which struck me as odd. I mean,
these guys have been dead for 150 years," Hill said. "I'm telling myself
I need to find who put that flower there, and it turns out she's
standing right behind me."
That someone was Cindy Rose Torfin, who was indulging a fixation of her
own. Hill was an amateur Civil War historian, Torfin an amateur
genealogist and distant descendent of Civil War veterans. Both were
looking for answers.
Their chance encounter, on Memorial Day 2001, sharpened their focus and
determination. They filled in blanks for one another, solving little
mysteries while finding others. This afternoon, they're bringing closure
to one shared struggle.
In a 1 p.m. ceremony, a stone marking the death of one of Torfin's
great-great-uncles, Benjamin Rose, will be placed behind that of his
brother Gideon. The two fought in the same Civil War regiment and are
among the eight children of Isaac Rose, one of the area's first European
settlers. The town of Roseville is named for him.
"It's thrilling. It's the most wonderful thing," said Torfin, a lifelong
Minnesotan who lives in Monticello. "I told Pat he can't possibly
imagine how important it is to me that he undertook this."
Hill, who is in his 50s, grew up a block south of the cemetery, is
divorced with three grown children and through the years has held
low-level jobs in big business. His attention turned to the Civil War
after watching the Ken Burns documentary film series, and he soon
channeled that curiosity into the section of Oakland Cemetery dedicated
to America's war veterans.
Of the 331 markers in Soldier's Rest, 133 are connected to the Civil
War. Many are broken or unreadable, their marble surfaces worn smooth
over time. Bill Clinton was in office when Hill made it his mission to
replace them, calling on the Veterans Administration for help.
Hill never served in the military, but as he spoke of his project, from
the cemetery's main office, he wore a bomber-style leather jacket with a
U.S. Army lapel pin and a black cap commemorating the USS Abraham
Lincoln.
"This cemetery is the repository of 19th-century history," he said. "You
gotta visit Marshall Sherman's grave. It's like Mecca for Civil War
buffs."
Moments later, Hill stood against warm, brisk winds, pointing out the
bronze-lined engravings marking Sherman as a recipient of the
Congressional Medal of Honor. Sherman was Minnesota's first. Nearby are
the original marble markers for Gideon Rose and that of a younger
brother, Henry. Both were members of the regular Army, and neither died
in battle, though Gideon was seriously injured, Hill said.
Torfin's great-grandfather, Andrew, was a police officer who never
joined the military. Through Torfin, Hill learned of another brother,
Benjamin, sending Hill on a winding spree of research leading to the
Stones River battlefield and cemetery in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Benjamin and Gideon Rose fought together, in June 1862, in Company H,
1st Battalion of the 18th U.S. Infantry. Benjamin Rose was just 19 when
he died of typhoid fever the following February.
The National Park Service confirmed that Benjamin Rose's body never has
been recovered, Hill said, and likely is among the 2,500 unknown
soldiers buried in Murfreesboro. That confirmation was necessary to
clear the way for V.A. funding of Benjamin Rose's headstone and approval
for its placement at Oakland Cemetery. The cemetery is donating the
labor and land.
Hill plans to lead public tours of Soldier's Rest, including an Aug. 18
session marking the 145th anniversary of the Dakota Conflict, a battle
once known as the Sioux Massacre. Many stones beyond the Rose family
await his attention. Torfin hopes Hill's work leads to other discoveries
- for her and other families.
"Just that those soldiers who fought for our country - I don't care
which war - so many are bachelors and so many didn't marry and have
children, and I don't want them forgotten and left by the wayside," she
said, her voice quavering with emotion. "I don't know why that's
important to me. I really don't know. But every time I think of these
men, it breaks my heart."
Matt Peiken can be reached at
mpeiken@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5440.
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Larry Scott --
