Civil War Headstones Dedicated

Philip Parker and Will Tisch from Sgt. Pittenger Camp 21, CMDR, SUVCW (Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War). Photos ByDarrell Beck

By Ruth Lepper

More than 100 people turned out Feb. 25 at Nuevo Memory Gardens for the dedication of headstones recently placed on the graves of two Civil War veterans.

The headstones were unveiled by members of the re-enactment groups, Sons of the Confederate Veterans/10th Georgia Infantry, Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War and Sons of the American Revolution.

The honored veterans were Jerome Love, an Indian Scout for the North, and Abraham Hatfield, who fought for the South. Both men relocated to Ramona following the Civil War. Love died in 1910 and Hatfield in 1922.

"I know we have done the right thing by taking care of the memories of these soldiers," said Chuck Norred, California Division Commander of Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Love was a cousin of Augustus Barnett, one of the town leaders in the late 1800s and the man responsible for building Ramona Town Hall. Hatfield was married to Sarah M. Casner, who also is buried in the local cemetery.

A sentry stands guard from the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The headstones were provided by the government, due to the efforts of Johnny Dobson, of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 3783. Dobson was able to obtain military headstones for Love and Hatfield that are provided for veterans at no charge by the U.S. Government.

Dobson said it took about two months to research the necessary information for the application, then another two months waiting to hear back from someone in Washington D.C. Once the application was approved, it was another two-month wait before the headstones arrived in Ramona.

"We have about seven or eight (military headstones) in the Ramona cemetery that we have gotten in the last year since I've really gotten into doing this project," Dobson said.

Information obtained about Love and Hatfield was the result of research conducted by John Vargas, cemetery superintendent, and Jacqueline Beck, former secretary at the cemetery. Love had enlisted in California and Hatfield enlisted in Texas.

Participating in the dedication ceremony, along with the re-enactment groups from San Diego and the VFW, were a local Boy Scout troop, American Legion Post No. 700 and the Junior ROTC from Ramona High School, among others.