MOUNT GREENWOOD — Mount Greenwood Cemetery is the final resting place for roughly 350 Civil War and Spanish-American War veterans. Almost of all their graves have headstones now.
That wasn't the case about a decade ago when Paula Everett began researching veterans buried in unmarked graves in the 79-acre cemetery and arranging for headstones to be added.
So far she's helped arrange for more than 100 new markers, including 10 that arrived in November, in a program funded by the federal government.
"I think I've got almost all of them now," Everett said.
Mount Greenwood Cemetery, 2900 W. 111th St., opened in 1879. Everett has been president of the family-owned cemetery since 1992.
The cemetery, which pre-dates the creation of the neighborhood of the same name, was popular for burials then because of its proximity to railroad and streetcar lines, sandy soil ideal for digging and cheap land.
"We were really out in the boondocks out here," Everett said.
Charles Coventry served as a lieutenant colonel in the Civil War. His headstone was installed recently at Mount Greenwood Cemetery. [DNAinfo/Howard A. Ludwig]
The old cemetery had equally dated records, including a drawer of yellowed index cards marked with the letters "GAR," short for Grand Army of the Republic. The fraternal organization was once the largest Civil War veterans association and is responsible for making Memorial Day a national holiday.
Everett began to page through about 150 cards one day and then looked to see where the veterans were buried. Some already had headstones bought privately. For those that did not, she reached out to David Bailey and Steven Westlake of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
About 10 new markers arrived in early November at Mount Greenwood Cemetery for veterans of the Civil War and Spanish-American War. The cemetery staff is installing the headstones as the weather allows. [DNAinfo/Howard A. Ludwig]
Their group was founded in 1881 and officially succeeded the Grand Army of the Republic in 1956. It's made up mostly of members who can trace their lineage back to a Union soldier, Bailey said via email.
"We initially became involved with Mount Greenwood when Paula approached Steve, asking if we could provide assistance in documenting the service of several Civil War veterans buried in the cemetery," Bailey said.
His group complied and also agreed to help identify veterans of the Spanish-American War, which took place from April to August of 1898. The partnership resulted in the addition of 125 headstones at the cemetery, Everett said.
"If you are a vet, you get a free marker to this day," Everett said.
Everett's staff is installing the 10 markers that arrived in November as conditions allow over the winter. She applied for another headstone last week and promised to continue to do so as more information trickles in.
"If anybody needs a headstone, I am trying to get them one," said Everett, a Morgan Park resident.
Paula Everett became president of Mount Greenwood Cemetery in 1992. She used the records of the 138-year-old cemetery to identify late veterans of the Civil War and Spanish-American War. As a result, almost all of these veterans now have headstones. [DNAinfo/Howard A. Ludwig]
Bailey said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pays for the headstones if his group and the cemetery provide the necessary documentation. Military pension files are often key to helping identify the vets, he said.
Everett said only one person buried at her cemetery died in the Civil War. The others likely returned from the battlefield and lived in Chicago.
About 150 index cards were used help identify veterans of the Civil War and Spanish-American War buried at Mount Greenwood Cemetery. Cemetery president Paula Everett combed through the records and worked with the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War to confirm the service records of the vets. [DNAinfo/Howard A. Ludwig]
For her efforts, Everett received the Homefront Hero Award in 2007 from then-Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn. The National Society of the Sons of American Revolution also gave her the Bronze Citizenship Award that same year, and Bailey's group installed a replica cannon April 27, 2013 at the cemetery to replace a similar relic from the group that had been damaged.
Everett said she's happy to point those interested in visiting the graves to the appropriate plots throughout the cemetery.
As for adding more such headstones, she said she thinks pretty much all of the soldiers have been identified at this point.
"It's sort of like, they are hard to find now," she said.
