{"id":105003,"date":"2018-07-23T08:04:51","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T13:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=105003"},"modified":"2018-07-23T08:14:44","modified_gmt":"2018-07-23T13:14:44","slug":"headstone-of-war-of-1812-vet-dedicated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2018\/07\/23\/headstone-of-war-of-1812-vet-dedicated\/","title":{"rendered":"Headstone of War of 1812 vet dedicated"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

After lying unnoticed in an unmarked grave in Woodland Cemetery for 133 years, War of 1812 veteran James L. Coe finally received the attention he deserved — and then some — on Saturday. The Van Wert County Veterans Service Commission brought local veterans organizations, War of 1812 re-enactors, and even a couple of cannons, together to make some noise about the recent placement of a headstone on Coe\u2019s gravesite.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Van Wert County Veterans Service Commission President Bill Marshall speaks at the dedication of a headstone for War of 1812 veteran James L. Coe.<\/strong> photos by Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A great-grandson of Coe\u2019s four times removed, Cincinnati resident Jim Wilson, was also on hand with his wife, Lorraine, to witness the ceremony. Wilson said his daughter found out about the ceremony — surprisingly from a man named Coe who is no relation to James — and let her father know.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughter is an assistant curator at the Denver Museum and she called me Monday night and she said \u2018they\u2019re honoring Grandpa Coe up in Van Wert, Ohio, and placing a stone on his unmarked grave; you gotta be up there because you\u2019re the only ancestor,\u201d said Wilson, whose is descended from one of Coe\u2019s three daughters (he also had two sons).<\/p>\n

Wilson also brought a display with him showing Coe at approximately age 100 wearing an old naval uniform from his days as a U.S Navy sailor fighting the Barbary pirates prior to the War of 1812.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really glad to be here and I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s going on,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cIt\u2019s just something that somebody could have lived so long and done so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

County Veterans Service Officer Barry Johns opened the ceremony under cloudy skies, welcoming those who attended, including a number of people in period costume who accompanied the War of 1812 soldier re-enactors.<\/p>\n

\"\"
War of 1812 re-enactors from the 1st and 2nd U.S. Artillery fire off a salute to veteran James L. Coe at Woodland Cemetery (click here<\/a> for more photos of the ceremony and the Franklin\u00a0Park dedication<\/em>).<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOne of the things we do is we make sure our veterans are honored in the proper ways,\u201d Johns said, citing a statement made in 1865 by President Abraham Lincoln during his second inaugural address: \u201cto care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and for his orphans,\u201d which has been the motto of the VA since 1959.<\/p>\n

Chaplain Dick Elder also honored Coe in his prayer, noting: \u201cLet us revere him as a good man who fought a good fight for a just cause.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bill Marshall, who is president of the local Veterans Service Commission, and was the person who first learned<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, we honor a man, a veteran, who for over 133 years lay in this unmarked grave known only to his Maker,\u201d Marshall said. \u201cToday, we will honor his life with the ceremony presented by his fellow veterans and a gravestone marker that will forever note him by name (and) recognition of his service to our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jim Wilson, a descendant of James Coe, holds a photo of Coe at the age of 100 in a U.S. Navy uniform of the time.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Marshall then went into a recital of Coe\u2019s background and service record, noting that he was born, fittingly, on July 4, 1776, in Pennsylvania, and later served in the U.S. Navy during America\u2019s fight against the Barbary pirates prior to the War of 1812 and then enlisted in the army in 1812 as an artilleryman. He fought in a number of battles in and around Canada during the war, and was apparently captured by the British during the Battle of Queenston Heights on October 13, 1812, but was exchanged after a brief time as a prisoner of war. He mustered out of the army in 1815.<\/p>\n

Coe moved to Van Wert in 1850 and was given a veteran\u2019s land grant of 160 acres in Union Township. He later sold that farm and purchased one in Hoaglin Township, where he died on November 19, 1885, at the age of 109 (see archived story for more information on Coe\u2019s life).<\/em><\/p>\n

Following Marshall\u2019s speech, a local honor guard comprised of members of American Legion Post 178 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5803 rendered a 21-gun salute to Coe, as did re-enactors from the 2nd Regiment, Kentucky Volunteers; Captain John Linigle\u2019s Company of Ohio Militia; and White\u2019s River Guard, Indiana Volunteers; followed by an artillery salute by re-enactors from the 1st and 2nd U.S. Artillery.<\/p>\n

A color guard made up of members of Ohio City and Convoy American Legion posts also participated, while Paul Hoverman and his son, Tim, played \u201cTaps\u201d at the conclusion of the ceremony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor After lying unnoticed in an unmarked grave in Woodland Cemetery for 133 years, War of 1812 veteran James L. Coe finally received the attention he deserved — and then some — on Saturday. The Van Wert County Veterans Service Commission brought local veterans organizations, War of 1812 re-enactors, and even a couple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 07:50:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105003\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}