WYOMING, Mich. — At Marge's Donut Den, there are freshly-made apple fritters at the front of the store and, in a back room, discussions on how to keep the Civil War fresh in the minds of Americans.
Monthly, a group of women meet in this space. They're members of Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War — a national organization for women with one or more direct ancestors who fought for the Union — and their local, Grand Rapids-based chapter is called Eva Gray Tent Two.
"I think it's important to keep history alive," President Norma Overton said. "It's fun to belong to an organization that has the same interest as you."
"You've always got something to talk about," Overton said.
Overton has always been a bit of a historian. Abraham Lincoln was her childhood hero. She's collected buttons, bullets and many more artifacts from the Civil War and has three family members who fought in it.
From great-great-grandfather Gilbert G. Bailey, who served in the Sixth Michigan Cavalry Company H, Overton even has a letter sent during wartime.
"There isn't a war that we didn't fight," she said.
In addition to its monthly meetings, Eva Gray Tent Two helps preserve Civil War monuments and landmarks, locates and marks the grave sites of Union veterans and volunteers at Michigan Veteran Homes at Grand Rapids.
On Memorial Day, they planted flags at Oak Hill Cemetery, the first known Civil War burial site in the city.
"It's one of my many side quests," Becky Nesbitt said about her membership with the tent. "I am really proud of my heritage and I'm really proud they were doing everything they could to get their civil rights to match up to what we feel are God-given rights."
A self-described "genealogy nerd," Nesbitt is planning a dedication service for her great-great-great-great grandfather Ludwig Holzgen, who served in the Union but likely did not see any fighting as he was called to the battlefield only five days before the war ended.
On August 23 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Sebastian's Catholic Church in Byron Township, Holzgen will receive a new headstone in a special ceremony.
"We recognize there is a need," Nesbitt said about serving veterans. "It’s preserving the history and really acknowledging what they fought for and how far we've come and why we must continue to remember it."
Grand Rapids
