Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Repair Stones in EP Cemetery

East Providence — Several members of Maj. Sullivan Ballou, Camp #3, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, gathered Saturday, Aug. 8, to repair gravestones at the Lakeside-Carpenter Cemetery in Rumford.

The members, who specialize in gravestone repair, have been placing flags on the graves of veterans in the cemetery around Memorial Day every year, and noticed several of the stones had toppled over due to natural causes, such as frost heaves and other ground movements.

Camp #3 began repairing gravestones throughout the state several years ago and was recently honored by the Rhode Island House of Representatives on the occasion of their 1,000th gravestone repaired.

The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War is a congressionally chartered fraternal organization that carries out activities to preserve the history and legacy of the United States Armed Forces veterans who fought during the Civil War. It is the legal successor to the Grand Army of the Republic, the large and influential grouping of Union Army veterans that existed in the decades following the Civil War.