At the time of the opening of the Civil war in 1861 Saunders County was very sparsely settled. Even in 1866, five years later, there was only a voting population of ninety-five. It is possible that some men went from the territory included in Saunders County to other places and there entered regiments being formed. However, the names of these men are not available at the present time. Notwithstanding the fact that they are on the records, they are credited in most cases to the town in which they enlisted for service. After the conflict had closed and the weary soldiers had scattered once more over the face of the country, many of the veterans came to settle in Saunders County, many of them becoming prosperous here and leading dignified and worthy lives. Many of these men have died here and are buried in the various cemeteries of the county. In the North Cemetery may be found the following soldiers of the Rebellion: R. F. Webster, Theodore Steen, James Murray, Charles P. Kenyon, James Sharkey, Daniel Howell, Joseph Manners, Alfred P. Haynes. In the East Cemetery at Wahoo are the following: Isaac Soule, Charles S. Copp, James R. Thompson, Samuel Geary, William M. Dailey, John W. Stopher, Stephen O. Crawford, J. Henry Miller, William J. Gibbs, Philander P. Church, Dayton Andrus, James Morrison, George Lemaster, Lorenzo Barnell, Aaron Crouch, Joseph S. Collins, Mason L. Ellsworth, Clinton D. Hughes, Nelson P. Baker, James W. Pruyn, Charles Thayer, Peter Marsh, Horace Farnsworth, Peter Lake, Samuel S. Parks, Charles Starr, John H. Blue, Douglas B. Phelps, Howell G. Adell, Lee Payne, a young United States soldier. In the East Cemetery are also buried two Confederate soldiers, John H.

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Riddle and F. F. Hummell. The numerous cemeteries of the county, both in the towns and in the rural districts, contain the honored bodies of other soldiers, but it is impossible to obtain a complete list of these dead.

   When President McKinley issued his call for volunteers in the spring of 1898 Saunders County contributed a large quota of men to the colors. The official roster of Nebraska soldiers contains the following men credited to this county:

   First Nebraska Volunteer Infantry -- Company A: John B. McCauley, Ashland; Thomas J. Winter, Ashland; James C. Stevens, Weston. Company E: Henry Bliss, Harley R. Cunningham, Lawrence B. Connor, Ira A. Giffin, Royal M. Lawton, R. C. Maher, William P. Maher, Samuel A. Marshall, John J. Mitchell, Jesse C. Moffett, Carl Nord, Albert E. Pecinovsky, Joseph W. Pecinovsky, Samuel G. Scott, Elmer W. Scott, all of Valparaiso; Emil Force, Walter E. Hill, George F. Rockafellor, Nels A. Tuveson, of Weston; Frank L. Peterson, of Wahoo. Company F: Charles J. Cadwell, Ashland; Milton McCoy, Mead. Company K: Amiel L. Killian, corporal; Ralph Dech, Henry Fingado, Jr., Frederick Gibbs, John Iverson, Theodore Larson, Frank Morrow, Phil S. Nelson, Harry Olson, of Wahoo; James W. Phelan, of Mead; Rufus L. Steen and Aug Swanson, of Wahoo; unassigned; Earl Doharsh, Roy F. Nethaway, Frank Walla, of Wahoo; Gustaf A. Larson, of Malmo; Herbert Rasmussen, of Colon.

   Second Regiment Nebraska Volunteers -- Company G: William J. Hood, of Wahoo.

   Third Regiment Nebraska Volunteers-Company C: John H. Longfellow, sergeant, Wahoo; James K. Short, Ceresco. Company F: William Hudec, Wahoo; Peter Peterson, Cedar Bluffs. Company H: Claude C. Chapman, sergeant, Ashland; Otto B. Tegleberg, musician, Mead; Harry D. Arbuthnot, Alva W. Brown, William O. Butt, James A. Cadwell, all of Ashland; David Espy, Valparaiso; Fred F. Hirsch, Yutan; Sydney E. Johnson, Wahoo; George E. Marshall, Valparaiso; Albert Matson, Mead; Frank G. Standen, Yutan. Company K: R. A.

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Baratt, Ashland. Company M: Jacob Wiesman and Rudolph Wyss, of Yutan.

   Others who served and not upon the official roster were; Theron Steen, Bert Knowlton, Perry Templeton, Frank Simodynes, Frank Jansa and Frank Schroeder, of Wahoo, and Ross Steel, of Yutan; Will H. Beers, Asa Cadwell, and Charles Fowler, of Ashland, were also volunteers.

   Several of the Saunders County boys met death while in the field. Ira A. Giffin died at the Division Hospital at Manila, P. I., on October 20, 1898. William Hudec, of Wahoo, died of malarial fever at Pablo Beach, Fla., on September 29, 1898; he was eighteen years of age. Royal M. Lawton, of Valparaiso, was killed on March 31,1899. R. C. Maher died September 19, 1898, while in the service. Sydney Johnson died of typhoid fever at Pablo Beach, Fla., at the age of twenty-one years. Theodore Larson died in the Philippines on October 3, 1898, of malarial fever; he was twenty-two years of age. Walter B. Primley died at Omaha, November 27, 1898, of typhoid, contracted while in camp at Chickamauga. In the East Cemetery at Wahoo are buried J. W. Dunlap, Bert Dunlap, Norman Barnell, Milo Morrison, William Hudec, Sydney Johnson, Gustav E. Edlund and Walter B. Primley, and in North Cemetery, George Manners, all Spanish-American war veterans.

   In the month of August, 1899, a company of Wahoo boys returned from the Philippines, namely: Lieut. Henry Fingado, Philip Nelson, Rufus Steen, Theron Steen, Ralph Dech, Frank Morrow, Earl Doharsh, John Iverson, Roy Nethaway, James Phelan, Fred Gibbs and Gus Swanson. A reception was given the company on September 7, 1899, preceded by a parade. The Weston brass band, the firemen, county officers, board of education, mayor, city council, speakers of the day, little girls on bicycles, Bohemian Turners, Wahoo brass band, C. S. P. S. Society, G. A. R., and the soldiers of the First, Second and Third Regiments marched in the procession. The men went to the courthouse grove where they were addressed by Congressman Stark and W. S. Summers, United States district attorney. A

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basket dinner was enjoyed and baseball game played. In the evening a band concert was held, and exercises were held. E. E. Good was the toastmaster. Twenty voices, led by Professor Miller, gave "The Viking," "Stars and Stripes" and "Gloria." E. E. Lyle spoke on the subject, "Welcome Home," Lieut. Henry Fingado on "Nebraska Volunteers," Dr. P. L. Hall on "The Soldier Boy's Future," Rev. J. W. Swan on "Our Soldier Dead," Chaplain Jans Mailley on "Philippines and Filipinos," and Rev. J. M. Campbell on "Our Flag." The banquet was held in a large tent on the school campus and was attended by 600 people.