"SYMBOLS FROM THE PAST: G.A.R. BADGES AS EPITAPHS"

A Moment in Time

Kansas Historical Society

May 2001

A monthly series from the Kansas Historical Society

"Here's another one!" With those words, a youthful researcher proudly announced the finding of another Union Civil War veteran during a documentation effort at Topeka Cemetery. Her clue was the G.A.R. badge carved on the upper face of the gravestone. As effectively as a neon sign, the distinctively shaped badge instantly tells the knowlegeable observer that the deceased was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, or G.A.R., a nationwide organization of Union soldiers and sailors.

The badge is a symbol, serving as an epitaph. Epitaphs are usually words, not symbols, offering advice to the living or providing commentary on life. Often, an epitaph sums up the life of the deceased, telling what was most important about that life-and that is the purpose of the G.A.R. badge. Symbolically, it states that "this is what I did in life-this was my crowning moment, as a soldier in the Union army." Most Civil War veterans viewed the war as being their greatest experience, and they cherished their memories of comradeship and accomplishment. For many, those feelings found posthumous expression through the placement of a G.A.R. badge on a gravestone.

On the front face of the gravestone were markings identifying the grave as that of Marcus Frost, who served as a Lieutenant in the 10^th Missouri Infantry. It was a reminder that Missouri, remembered today as a refuge for Confederate guerrillas, also provided thousands of soldiers for the Union army. In fact, far more Missourians "went Union" than Confederate.

After the war, Union soldiers from Missouri and other eastern states came to Kansas by the thousands, establishing farms on land gained through the Homestead Act or setting up businesses to take advantage of the opportunities offered by a growing population. In fact, there were so many veterans that Kansas became known as "the Great Soldier State," and so many of them joined the G.A.R. that for a time Kansas had more G.A.R. members per capita than any other state. G.A.R. posts were established in virtually every town; often, the local G.A.R. hall served as the local community center. Around the turn of the century, the G.A.R was the equivalent of the modern-day American Legion and V.F.W all rolled into one.

In 1894, the Kansas G.A.R. published a roster which listed all G.A.R members for that year. (It was printed, incidentally, by Frost Printing, one of Marcus Frost's business interests.) Now on file at the Kansas Historical Society's Center for Historical Research (CHR), this publication lists Marcus Frost as a member of Topeka's "Lincoln Post" Number 1. This was Topeka's largest G.A.R. post, containing many of the city's most prominent citizens. Lincoln Post's quarterly reports, on file at the CHR, indicate that Frost joined immediately after arriving in Topeka in1883.

Other resources at the CHR with references to Frost include a G.A.R. memorial book and "Who's Who in Topeka, 1905." These indicate that Frost served three full years in the Union army, enlisting shortly after the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter. Trained as a newspaperman in his youth, Frost continued in that line of work in Ohio after the war, and in Topeka after 1884. He outlived two wives and was survived by one, along with two children.

Judging from the G.A.R. badge on his gravestone, his military service was important to him, and his G.A.R. membership equally so. Like Frost, the G.A.R. eventually came to an end, with the last G.A.R. member dying in 1956. The G.A.R. will always be with us, however--in the form of countless gravemarkers bearing tell-tale symbols of Union service, and a public landscape adorned with soldier statues and other monuments to Union soldiers and sailors. Memorial Day is a less tangible but equally enduring legacy of the G.A.R. As Memorial Day approaches, it is especially appropriate to remember these veterans--and to take notice of their symbols.

The G.A.R. had a close connection with the Kansas Historical Society, with the two organizations sharing the same building for many years. The Society now houses all of the G.A.R.'s records and associated memorabilia, along with the flags of Kansas Civil War regiments, several of which have been restored and are on exhibit in the Kansas Museum of History. To learn more about the G.A.R., individual G.A.R. members, or Kansas's role in the Civil War, visit the Kansas History Center at 6425 SW Sixth Avenue, Topeka KS 66615-1099; 785-272-8681, TTY 785-272-8683; www.kshs.org

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