Ashes of Civil War Veteran to be buried in Plattsmouth, Nebraska
On October 26, 1861 at the age of 16, Benton Kinkead enlisted as a private in Company D, 77th Ohio Infantry. During this Ohio native’s service, the 77th fought at Shiloh, Corinth and Little Rock. On April 25, 1864 at the battle of Mark’s Mills AR, Kinkead fractured his ankle and was taken prisoner, exchanged two months later.
Private Kinkead was mustered out of the army at Little Rock, Arkansas in December 1864, and pension records note his disability due to the ankle wound.
In 1871, he married Cynthia Vest and the couple settled in Plattsmouth, Nebraska making their home there for many years. His occupation was listed as painter. After Cynthia died in 1910, Benton moved to Seattle to live with family and he passed there in 1916. His ashes have been rediscovered and now, 105 years after his death, it’s time to bring him home to Nebraska.
The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War in partnership with the American Legion and the VFW will honor Kinkead’s service and perform the burial ceremony at Oak Hill Cemetery in Plattsmouth on October 30, 2021 at 12:00pm. Kinkead’s burial will mark him as the Last Union Civil War Veteran buried in Cass county, Nebraska.
The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Dept. of Nebraska have started the final phase in our Last Soldier Project. The purpose of the project is to locate and appropriately mark the final resting place of the last Union Civil War Soldier buried in each county in the state of Nebraska. We are marking the graves of these veterans with a bronze star marker and QR code medallion. The full list of veterans can be viewed here.