BRUSH PRAIRIE — A Civil War-era veteran was honored Sunday at Brush Prairie Cemetery with a headstone for the first time.
American flags fluttered in the breeze as about 50 community members, supporters and descendants of Blandaman “Blandy” L. Smith gathered around his commemorative headstone.
Smith lived and died in Brush Prairie, where he was buried in an unmarked grave in February 1915.
The Fort Vancouver Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution has been working with veterans service organization American Veterans to properly honor veterans with headstones and ceremonies. Smith is the eighth veteran to receive a headstone at Brush Prairie Cemetery.
“The people who are in heaven, I don’t know if they care about it, but the people on Earth care about it,” said Ruth Morgan, a DAR member who started working on the project in 2021.
Smith was born in Missouri in 1832 and served in the 30th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union) from April to October 1864. During that time, he helped protect civilians in three towns from a band of about 900 Confederate guerilla soldiers, according to Smith’s military records acquired by the local DAR chapter.
“We are here today to dedicate this headstone to Mr. Smith with the help of AmVets Post 16, Patriot Guard Riders and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War,” Morgan said as the ceremony began.
Smith’s great-great-nephew, great-great-niece and great-great-grandson sat before his government-furnished, Civil War-era commemorative headstone and bowed their heads for a prayer.
Peri Muhich, genealogy and historical researcher and DAR member, searches for forgotten veterans on Ancestry.com — looking for information on descendants, including Census records and obituaries.
She entered Smith’s name and information into Ancestry.com and found his great-great-grandsons and a distant cousin after going back four generations, Muhich wrote in an email.
“My mom was a Smith,” said Nancy Haugen, a great-great-niece. “(Blandaman Smith) and my great-great-grandfather are half brothers. And Blandaman was the fifth child, and our great-great-grandfather was the 18th out of 20.”
Two Sons of Union Veterans members prepared muskets for the rifle detail salute. One called out “cease-fire,” before the three shots, customary when dead and injured soldiers need to be removed from a battlefield. Moments later, taps played from one of the motorcycles in the motorcade that lined up through the cemetery.
As taps played, two AmVets members folded Smith’s burial flag and handed it to Don Kussman, one of Smith’s great-great-grandsons.
“I did not know (about Smith) until Peri contacted me,” Kussman said. “My grandmother years ago had said that we had relatives in the Brush Prairie area, but that was all I knew. So here I am, and it is fascinating.”
As the ceremony came to a close, the motorcade roared to life, and attendees holding American flags strode away.
Morgan suspects more forgotten veterans are buried at Brush Prairie Cemetery than originally thought, she said, so the local DAR is continuing its research.
“Everyone we can honor, we’re very happy to be able to,” Morgan said.
