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Dedication Ceremony of Footstones in the Lakewood Cemetery
9/27/2026 2:00:00 PM
The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), Colonel Colvill Camp 56 will be dedicating a record of over 170 new footstone markers for Civil War soldiers who have been in unmarked graves for decades. The ceremony will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 27 at the Lakewood Cemetery, 3600 Hennepin Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN in the GAR section by the cannon. Minnesota Historical Society Director and CEO Kent Whitworth will be the keynote speaker.
The Lakewood Cemetery has the largest number of Civil War Veterans buried in Minnesota, with about 2,500. With the footstones recently ordered from and received through the VA, SUVCW will have dedicated approximately 450 of the estimated 900 needed.
The ceremony is open to descendants, Veterans, those with a special interest in Civil War and the public. More information is at the Lakewood Cemetery's website.
Camp #56 will be in Civil War uniforms presiding over the ceremony using an 1870s Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) program. One descendant said: “My family is still talking about what we experienced. It was as if we were at my Great-Grandfather’s ceremony that he never had.” In addition to members of SUVCW Camp 56, Ladies of the GAR, Living History Society, President Lincoln and a Weeping Widow will be there.
After the ceremony, there will be a guided tour of the soldiers from the 1st and 2nd MN Infantry interred at this cemetery.
One of the goals is to order a marker for the estimated 2,000 Civil War Veterans in unmarked graves in MN. Camp #56 considers the research to order these footstones, and doing these ceremonies an honor and a fitting tribute for these soldiers whose service helped preserve the liberties Americans enjoy as a nation today.
The SUVCW is a congressionally chartered, national Veteran’s organization made up of the descendants of Union soldiers who fought in the Civil War. The SUVCW has more than 6,000 members across the country and is the successor to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), the Veterans’ organization formed after the Civil War by soldiers who served in the Union Army.