Only a few seats remain for the Civil War Tour, on Tuesday, 1 May 2018. The tour is led by Bruce Butgereit, who will also give several lectures at the conference (Sessions T214 and S417).
Participants will depart at 1:00 p.m. and travel by coach to view the most significant Civil War monuments and related sites in the City of Grand Rapids.

The tour begins at the site of the first training cantonment and ends at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, which was founded in 1886. The cemetery at the veteran’s home is the final resting place of 2,412 veterans of the Civil War, the largest such group in the State of Michigan, and has an unusual Civil War statue. Attendees will also visit the Soldiers’ Cemetery within Oakhill, known for a number of headstones marked as “Unknown.” Bruce Butgereit will discuss a genealogy-based project to identify some of the “unknown” soldiers.

Other stops include a unique bronze statue recognizing the Spanish-American War—with a Civil War connection—and a bronze bust of President Lincoln. The highlight of the tour will be a downtown visit to one of the most historical Civil War monuments in the United States—featuring two “firsts.” All attendees will also receive a booklet filled with additional photos and other historical information related to the tour sites and the Grand Rapids area. The Civil War Tour is expected to last about three hours.

If you are interested, register online at conference.ngsgenealogy.org. All coach tours will depart from the Lyon Street cul de sac located between DeVos Place and the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. Please arrive fifteen minutes before departure. A tour with less than thirty-four registered participants will be canceled thirty days in advance of the conference, participants will be notified by e-mail, and the tour cost will be refunded.

Bruce Butgereit, Civil War Tour Leader