HUMBOLDT — Private John W. Poe’s Civil War service was altogether brief, yet no less tragic than those who died in battle.
Poe departed his home in Washington Township, Missouri, on Aug. 28, 1862, leaving behind wife Margaret, four children and an unborn child on the way.
Within a few weeks, Poe, who was serving with the 35th Missouri Volunteers Infantry Company 6, contracted measles.
A month later he was dead, having never met his youngest son, John W. Poe Jr., who was barely a month old at the time of his father’s passing.
Poe’s tragic story served as the backdrop Saturday as Dennis Piatt, a Humboldt native now living in Wichita, led a statue dedication ceremony at Humboldt’s Mount Hope Cemetery.
Piatt also is Poe’s great-great-great-grandson.
“While I’m proud of all who served — some wounded in battle, some amputees, some died in prisoner-of-war camps — Private Poe’s story hit me deeply,” said Piatt, himself an Army veteran.
His great-great-great-grandfather’s story also piqued Hiatt’s passion in celebrating his family’s — and his country’s— military heritage.
For the past three-plus years, Piatt and wife Houi have made it a mission to fully restore the Grand Army of the Republic’s Cemetery site inside Mount Hope Cemetery.
He’s cleaned and reset the headstones of Civil War soldiers.
“But we wanted to do something a little bit more,” Hiatt said.
That led to Saturday’s dedication of a Civil War statue, standing at guard, amid the Civil War headstones.
Also on hand for the ceremony were members of Chanute’s American Legion Post and Sons of the Union Veterans chapters for a 21-gun salute, the playing of “Taps,” and an honor guard.
The statue is modeled after a similar statue located in Chanute, Piatt said.
The hard part was to find a machine powerful enough to lift and place the statue, Hiatt joked.
“The joy of giving this has been a blessing for Houi and me,” he said. “As long as we can, we’ll maintain it. From the bottom of my heart, we dedicate this to the GAR Cemetery, Mount Hope Cemetery and the City of Humboldt.”
