Poignant Resolution in Mystery Of Civil War Soldier’s Gravestone

Legion Post 143

In a previous article Schulenburg American Legion Post 143 outlined their plans to move a Civil War Veterans headstone to its correct location. To recap, Milton Frazer entered the hostilities of the Civil War on the 30th of July 1861. He enlisted as a Captain with Company I in the 3rd Kentucky Infantry Regiment. Although Kentuckians fought for both the Union and Confederacy, Kentucky never seceded from the Union and the 3rd Kentucky Infantry Regiment fell under the Union Army. Being a physician, Captain Milton Frazer was assigned as the company doctor. While serving with his regiment he became ill, and returned home to Mount Vernon, Kentucky to try and recuperate. While at home he succumbed to his illness on the 13th of May 1862.

Fast forward 156 years to 2018 when American Legion Post 143 in Schulenburg, Texas was placing flags on Veterans graves at local cemeteries in preparation for Memorial Day. The post places over a thousand flags at numerous cemeteries in the area, the small Navidad Baptist Cemetery being one of them. As flags are placed, it’s common to read the veteran’s headstone and ponder their service or fate. This being south Texas, it’s highly unusual to place a flag on a Civil War Union soldier grave – especially one who died during the war. So, while placing a flag on Captain Frazer’s grave it aroused suspicion. Especially since the other ten or so headstones around him were Confederate Texas and Alabama Calvary soldiers. The odd headstone was mentioned to the cemetery administrators, who were just as baffled as to why the Union soldier was there.

The Navidad Baptist Cemetery researched the grouping of Confederate and lone Union headstones, which were all similar in appearance. At first, they were believed to have come from the Veterans Administration, since they all had the appearance of official headstones in military cemeteries. But the VA stated they had no record of them. Navidad Baptist Cemetery records had no mention of them either. And the administrators that were around when the headstones were placed, had all passed away.

Researching Captain Frazer revealed yet another twist, that he was actually buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Mount Vernon, Kentucky – his hometown. He rests in the older part of the cemetery near a section where unknown Union soldiers are interred.

Navidad Baptist Cemetery concluded that the mistaken headstone was apparently erected when their cemetery was reclaimed from years of neglect in the mid 1980’s. After clearing all the overgrown vegetation, cemetery administrators replaced missing or unreadable headstones and tried to figure out where unmarked graves were located. At this point all the veteran headstones were purchased and installed.

Further research by Navidad Baptist Cemetery and American Legion Post 143 revealed that Captain Frazer’s association with the Navidad Baptist Cemetery is a Frazer family burial plot - where his father and some siblings are buried. They all moved from Kentucky to Texas before the Civil War, but Milton remained in Kentucky.

Wanting to correct this mistake the Navidad Baptist Cemetery contacted surviving Frazer family members who now live in Arizona and were unaware of the misplaced headstone. The family indicated that it would be nice to have it with him in Kentucky. So, American Legion Post 143 and Navidad Baptist Church offered to research the possibility of having Captain Frazer’s headstone moved there. Being a veteran, American Legion Post 143 offered to take the lead on arranging the movement of the headstone, along with military honors for its removal and re-setting.

With donations from the community, Schulenburg American Legion Post 143 worked with Elmwood Cemetery and McNew Monument’s – both in Mount Vernon Kentucky, to have the headstone successfully moved and set.

And since this was a veteran’s headstone, American Legion Post 143 wanted to ensure Captain Milton Frazer was given military honors in Texas when his headstone was removed on the 30th of November 2022 and in Kentucky on the 15th of December when it was reset.

These are values of the American Legion – Honoring those veterans who came before us and ensuring they are never forgotten.