Teenager gets headstone for Civil War veteran
By Donna M. Perry
Staff Writer

WEST FREEMAN TOWNSHIP – Amanda Goodwin’s grandparents instilled in her a love of history. When the 18-year-old noticed a Civil War soldier’s gravestone was in such disrepair, she set out to do something about it.

“I’ve lived up here all my life,” Goodwin said. “I’m really into genealogy and old things.”

She visited the Brackley Cemetery a lot. A lot of family are buried there, including one of her grandfathers from generations back.

“I kind of adopted the cemetery,” she said.

Goodwin, who graduated from Mount Abram High School Friday, said she traditionally walked there and brought flowers to put on graves. She raked the grounds and kept it neat.

She came across the gravestone of Orlando Dyar, which was in such bad shape, she said, it must have fallen over because half of it was missing.

Brothers Looman and Orlando Dyar used to live in the area near where she did.

“Looman’s gravestone was way worse, you couldn’t read the words,” she said. “It’s the worst gravestone up in the graveyard.”

It was covered in moss and the bottom nearly completely disintegrated.

Freeman township’s records burned a long time ago, so it’s been difficult for people doing genealogy, she said.

Some of the gravestones are hard to read even with using the rubbing method.

“I want to preserve what information is there now,” she said. She did research and discovered that Looman had served in the Civil War and died fighting in the battle of Cedar Mountain, Va., Aug. 9, 1862 at the age of 25. He has been buried in the cemetery for 140 years. His and Orlando’s graves were beside their parents, Capt. John and Louisa Dyar, and sister Selemna.

One day, she started talking to her mother, Sandy Goodwin. Her mother and grandmother have always been intrigued with Civil War veterans.

“My great-great-grandfather Orren Brackley was in the Civil War,” Amanda Goodwin said. He’s buried in the cemetery.

But Looman’s gravestone hadn’t been recognizable as a Civil War veteran.

“I told my mom, some day when I get rich I’m going to buy (the Dyar brothers) a headstone,” Goodwin said.

Her mother told her that the government would buy a headstone for Looman because he was in the Civil War. She sought out Charlie Snell, adjutant of the American Legion Johnson/Cox Post 78 to help her. Goodwin and Legion members submitted an application to the Department of Veterans Affairs accompanied by photos and other documentation, the teenager had gathered, needed to certify that Pvt. Looman H. Dyar was buried there. A few months later, the stone arrived and Goodwin, Legion members and residents in the town honored the veteran and his new stone on Memorial Day along with other veterans in the Strong area.

“I was happy he had a headstone,” Goodwin said. “They’re all like my family up there. Now if Orlando had been in the military, I could have gotten him one but I’ll have to get rich. His is still better than Looman’s was.”

dperry@sunjournal.com

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