Daniel Webster Rundell

-

Daniel Webster Rundell
1838-1887
Section: GAR Plot

    One thing we know for sure about Daniel Rundell is that he was a musician. He played with his brigade band during the Civil War. This was an important job as they were tasked with raising the morale of the men and to use music to pass messages on the battle field. 
    After the war Daniel came home to his family and became a carpenter. He joined the Scott Post where he played in the GAR band. 
    In January 1887 members of the Grand Army of the Republic gathered at the Tonawanda Scott Post headquarters. They gathered for a special meeting to discuss the funeral of Thomas Marling who was to be buried the next morning. Daniel was set to play fife and drum at the service for his late comrade.
    However, at some point during the meeting, Rundell began to cough violently and spit blood. The room that had been filled with ordinary conversation turned into chaos. Bright red blood poured from his mouth as he struggled to breathe. His comrades rushed toward him as he choked and gasped. A physician who belonged to the post hurried to help, but there was nothing anyone could do. Within minutes, Daniel Rundell was dead on the floor of the meeting hall.
    When Daniel Rundell was laid to rest, his fellow veterans honored him with full Grand Army rites.


Sources: Historical Society of The Tonawandas, Newspapers.com, Ancestry.com, Familysearch.com
Fultonhistory.com


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Barron Brothers

-
Image
William Barron 1895-1918 Section: D12 Edward Barron 1899-1954 Section: D12      William and Edward Barron of Tonawanda were among the local men who joined the United States Marine Corps shortly after the United States entered World War I in 1917. They became part of the rapid military buildup that sent thousands of American troops overseas to France as part of the American Expeditionary Forces. The brothers were attached to the famous 5th Marine Regiment of the 2nd Division, one of the most heavily engaged American units of the war. They were among the early Marines sent into combat against German forces in France and spent months serving together in trenches, reserve positions, and active combat zones      In June 1918 the Marines were thrown into the fighting near Château-Thierry during the German spring offensives. The battles around Belleau Wood and Château-Thierry became some of the most important engagements involving American forces during the war. B...
Read more

GAR Monument

-
Image
GAR Monument Dedicated: Memorial Day 1910      The GAR monument that stands before you was the product of many groups coming together in 1910. The Winfield B. Scott GAR Post of Tonawanda, The Winfield B. Scott GAR Post Women's Relief Corps, and the Ladies Auxiliary raised money, organized, and planned the erection and dedication of this twenty plus foot monument. The statue of a Union soldier at the top alone cost $450. The base would have cost about the same. It was made by the White Bronze Monument Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The groups raised just over two thousand dollar, which would be around seventy-thousand dollar's today.       The monument was designed to memorialize the names of over two-hundred members of the Winfield B. Scott GAR Post living and dead at the time. It also recognized the other groups who helped make the monument possible.       Miss Onelee Edmonds was supposed to dedicate the monument after a grand...
Read more

Chester Fitzgerald

-
Image
                                                              Chester Fitzgerald 1896-1918 Section G115      The death of a child can change the course of a parent's life forever. This is the case when it comes to Chester Fitzgerald and his mother. Chester entered the military during WWI at the age of 22. He was assigned to  Co I of the 125 Infantry. He was sent to France to fight in the first World War. Chester was killed at the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The war ended a month after his death, but Chester's story didn't.       Soldiers returning home from war told Chester's parents that he had not died. They claimed to have seen him in a hospital in France.  His parents contacted the Red Cross to find out if Chester was in fact alive. It wasn't long before word ...
Read more