UPDATE: A spokesperson from the Albion Central School District confirmed to 7 News that the Department of Veterans Affairs approved the application and the headstone will be delivered in a few weeks.
ORIGINAL: Civil War Union soldier Daniel Walterhouse may have died 100 years ago, but his memory is alive and well, all thanks to two middle school girls in Albion, Kendall Peruzzini and Mary McCormick.
The Orleans County Alms House Cemetery in Albion is the final resting place for roughly 200 people who died more than a century years ago.
Among the many buried in unmarked graves is Civil War veteran Daniel Walterhouse.
After Kendall and Mary got word from their former teacher, Tim Archer, that Walterhouse was buried a few miles away from the Carl I. Bergerson Middle School, without any recognition for his service, the girls got to work, and found everything they could from military records to a group picture he’s in.
“I can infer he was a good person, I mean he helped with the Civil War, and he was obviously on the Union side, so he put a lot of work into abolishing slavery,” Mary said.
All that work wasn’t for themselves, it’s to honor a man they felt never got the recognition he deserved.
“I really wanted to give him a headstone, because of all he’s been through. He had been stabbed in the leg,” Kendall said. “We really wanted to honor him and give him a proper burial and a headstone.”
“I feel he really really deserves it, especially as somebody who helped our country,” Mary said.
The two 13-year-old girls felt so passionate, they took that headstone request to the Orleans County Legislature and received their full support. Now, all that’s left for them to do is to apply for a headstone with the US Department of Veteran Affairs, which when approved, will make one for Walterhouse, free of charge.
“This is all wonderful, and something that when they’re my age, they will look back and find themselves in a news clip like this and be able to tell their children and grandchildren about it,” Archer said.
If approved, the group will host a ceremony unveiling Walterhouse’s new headstone in the Spring.
