Civil War veterans honored in local cemetery
Friday, March 22, 2019
Over the past few years of columns I have talked about my gg- grandfather, William Joseph Coady, who in an effort to prove his service in the Civil War and thereby obtain a stipend for his wife (who was much younger than he) and children, walked from the Alma, Nebraska area to Shelby, Indiana to complete his quest. Unfortunately, he froze to death in a barn where he had taken shelter before being successful and my gg-grandmother had to finish, then as a widow, obtaining the correct paperwork and receive a small amount of support every month. She had two children at home when he died and Social Security did not exist then.