Sgt. Ovid P. Webster – Brown’s Grove Cemetery, Burdett, Pawnee County, Kansas

Cpl. Ovid P. Webster enlisted in Co. H 45th Infantry on September 18, 1861. He was wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864. Cpl. Webster did recover and returned to duty. On July 1, 1865, he was promoted to Sergeant and was honorably discharged sixteen days later. For his war wounds, Sgt. Webster received a $14.00 monthly pension.

Ovid Polk Webster was born in Pennsylvania in 1845. His first wife was Marion E. Shutter. They were blessed with three children; however, only one survived to adulthood. Marion passed away after giving birth to their son, who also died.

Mary Fromong became his second wife in 1878. When she was seventeen, she came to Larned with her parents. In addition to his daughter from his first marriage, Ovid and Mary had six children.

The family lived in Larned until 1895, when they relocated to Fitzgerald, Georgia. It is unknown why the family moved; however, it could have been a different climate that would help Ovid. He died in 1914. His son, Henry, escorted the body back to Burdett. Four years later, Mary died. She was buried in Brown’s Grove Cemetery alongside her husband.

The rest of the story: In the remarks section of the Kansas, U.S., Enrollment of Civil War Veterans, it is written, “taken prisoner three times but escaped without being confined in any prison.”

Ovid and his brother, Henry, were in the same regiment. Pvt. Henry Webster was wounded on the same day as his brother. However, Pvt. Webster died of his wounds. He was sixteen years old. There is no stone marking his grave, but there is a memorial at Fredericksburg National Cemetery, Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Note: The Battle of The Wilderness took place in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, on May 5-6, 1864.