The Monday After: A look back at Stark County veterans from our history's wars

"I see not a few of the Revolutionary (War) veterans around me. Would to God that it had ever been in my power to have made them comfortable and happy -- that their sun might go down in peace." -- From Gen. William Henry Harrison's speech at Fort Meigs in Ohio in 1840.

If there is one thing history shows us, it is that our military heroes pass.

Our memories of our veterans can fade with time. And there is a danger that their stories are forgotten in death.

"Every day, memories of World War II are disappearing from living history," notes the website for the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. "The men and women who fought and won this great conflict are now in their 90s or older; according to US Department of Veterans Affairs statistics, 119,550 of the 16.1 million Americans who served in World War II are alive as of 2023."

Many, if not most, of the men and women interviewed for the World War II: Then & Now series in The Canton Repository a few years ago are gone, leaving their stories preserved on the pages of the newspaper's archives.

Veterans of other wars have been completely lost.

Nationally, Lemuel Cook, who died in 1866, is believed to have been the last surviving veteran of the Revolutionary War. Daniel F. Bakeman, who died in 1869, had a case for the recognition despite not being listed on pension rolls until being added in 1867.

Hiram Cook is listed at the website for Genealogy Trails as the final veteran of the War of 1812 in the U.S. and Owen T. Edgar is said to be the last veteran of the Mexican War.

Albert Henry Woolson of Minnesota, who died in 1956 at 106, was the last surviving member of the Union army who saw the battlefield.

Nathan Edward Cook, a sailor in the U.S. Navy during the Spanish-American War, was recognized as the longest surviving U.S. veteran when he died at 106 in 1992 in Arizona.

Frank Buckles, the last surviving veteran of World War I, died in February of 2011 at age 110 in his West Virginia home.

Stark County men who fought in America's previous wars similarily have been recognized. Throughout the years. Canton-area men were identified, at their deaths, as the last of their kind.

President William McKinley, perhaps the most noted Canton resident in United States history, has long been recognized as the last U.S. president to have fought in the Civil War.

We look back here at other area war veterans who have left a lasting legacy:

Remembering Jacob Shearer & the American Revolution

Revolutionary War soldier Jacob Shearer is the only soldier who fought for independence who is buried in Osnaburg Township.

Shearer had been long gone from this life more than a decade ago when Osnaburg Historical Society Trustee Jim Good fixed the position of the flag at his grave in Mapleton Cemetery. The grave marker was worn and stained with patches of soot.

"What a shame," Good said at the time. "You can't hardly read it anymore. Here is a man -- one of our first American heroes -- and in a few years, people would come here and not be able to find him."

Good started a project to provide the new stone at Shearer's grave, a white marble marker that was dedicated in June 2013. Attending were Bill and Trudy Miracle of Mansfield, Bill Miracle being the great-great-great-great-grandson of Shearer.

"The Miracles gathered with nearly 100 people, including many other Shearer descendants they never knew existed," wrote Repository writer Kelli Young on June 10, 2013.

She noted that little is known about Shearer's service in the Revolutionary War. He grew up in Pennsylvania, where he is believed to be a farmer. He joined his state's militia at age 32 and served as a private.

"His grave will now be able to be found," said Good, "I hope, for many generations to come."

Final Civil War soldiers honored

Many area residents who fought in the "war between the states" have been recognized on the pages of the Repository as the last of their kind.

"Louisville's Last Civil War Veteran Stricken in Home," said a headline over a 1934 story about the passing of Stephen Schell, 88, an Alliance native.

"John H. Newcomer, 92, last Civil War veteran of Sandy Township, died Wednesday at Mercy Hospital in Canton of infirmities," a brief article in the newspaper said on April 29, 1937.

"Philip Bash, 89, the last Civil War veteran of Beach City, died in his home there yesterday," remembered a "10 Years Ago" section of the "Through A Century" feature published in the Repository on Nov. 10, 1944.

Canton's most noted Civil War soldier died on May 28, 1945.

"Death claimed Raymond Edleman Monday afternoon at his home here and closed a page of history for Canton veterans organizations," said the front-page article in the Repository about Edleman's passing. "Edleman was Canton's last surviving Civil War veteran."

Bedfast for a year after serving as honorary grand marshal for the Memorial Day parade for five years, Edleman would have been 99 on Nov. 16, 1945.

"Edleman enlisted for service in the Civil War on May 2, 1864, and was inducted in Company I, 162d regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry," the 1945 article said. "He served until Sept. 4, 1864, when he was discharged at Camp Chase."

Remembering Cal Calderone and Pearl Harbor

Adone "Cal" Calderone wasn't the last World War II survivor in Stark County. Still, before the sailor who served on the USS West Virginia passed in October 2020, he was the last known Pearl Harbor survivor living in the Canton area.

When Calderone spoke at a Pearl Harbor anniversary event on Dec. 7, 2018, he recalled the details "like it was yesterday," according to an article by Charita M. Goshay that was published the next day in both the Canton Repository and the Akron Beacon Journal.

"The fire. The confusion. The Japanese Zeros, raining down death from above," Goshay wrote. "The unthinkable sight of American warships listing and sinking into the waters at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941."

It was the "Day of Infamy," as President Franklin D. Roosevelt told his country following the attack.

The USS West Virginia took eight torpedoes and four bombs, with Calderone trapped inside the ship after the attack, Goshay reported. When he made his way out, he saw the extent of the damage to both ships and seamen.

"I'll never forget the street lined up with guys not so much wounded, but burnt from fire," Calderone, then 98, told the 50 or so people who had gathered at American Legion Post 44 to recognize the Pearl Harbor anniversary. "Scared? I'm still scared. That's the way it was at the time."

Reach Gary at gary.brown.rep@gmail.com

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Remembering Stark County veterans from our history's wars