Stacy Holbrook
Contributing Writer
(Photo Provided)
Introducing: The Grand Army of the Republic James Brainerd Post 111 Memorial Hall and Museum. Come help them celebrate their 11th Anniversary, see artifacts from the era (artifacts are donated and on loan to the museum). and walk in the footsteps of Civil War Veterans. September 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., 224 S. Main St., Eaton Rapids.
Step back in time to the end of the Civil War. It’s 1866 and Veterans were coming home with missing limbs and emotional issues after four years of war. At this time in American History there was virtually no help for Veterans, no assistance programs for these men.
In Decatur, IL, in 1866 the Grand Army was formed by Benjamin Stephenson. They organized fundraisers to assist families the had suffered losses during the war, formed orphanages and helped support these Veterans that could no longer perform the work they did before the war.
Over the years the Grand Army grew to an enormous organization with over 400 Posts in Michigan alone. To join the Grand Army, you had to be an honorably discharged Union Veteran, of which about 20% of Veterans actually became members. They held regular meetings locally in meeting halls like the one in Eaton Rapids, store fronts and even Veteran’s living rooms if the post was small enough. There were annual encampments statewide and nationwide. The 1911 encampment in Detroit filled every hotel room in the city and the Veterans stayed in people’s homes The G.A.R. was also the first Veteran’s organization that was integrated and allowed black and American Indian Veterans to join.
G.A.R. Posts from Eaton County and one from Calhoun County would hold a yearly weeklong meeting in Eaton Rapids, on the island each August. They became known as the Eaton County Battalion. To memorialize this the Museum holds a Civil War Discovery Camp each August and has done so since 2015. Kids from 8-14 years old are shown the soldier’s drill, food, medicine and get a tour of the museum and “paid” for their service with real fake 1800’s money. To help educate further they have a mobile display that has been seen at Greenfield Village, the Curwood Festival in Owosso, the Jackson Civil War Muster and more!
In 1959 the last Civil War Veteran passed away, ending the Grand Army. The Women’s Relief Corp and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War are two of the five Allied Orders created by the G.A.R. and to this day continue with the legacy of these Veterans.
