behind AotW

Mrs. W.E. Coleman of Richmond, VA applied to the United States War Department for a Government headstone for Issac Abner Cowan, late of the 4th North Carolina Infantry, in October 1941. He was a Sharpsburg veteran who had died on New Year’s Day 1931 at 90 years, and was perhaps lacking a marker.

It’s likely Mrs Coleman was with the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) who are headquartered in Richmond and were active then, as they are now, in memorializing Confederate soldiers.

The stone was shipped to Cowan’s daughter Ellen Estelle “Essie” Cowan Sprinkle (1876-1973) in Winston-Salem, NC in April 1942.

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The application card is from US War Department records, online from fold3. The recent photograph of his marker is by user SierraBravo on Find-a-grave.