Historian tracks Civil War veteran

Wanted! Information leading to the history of Erastus P. Buchanan. Born November 9, 1839. Died June 23, 1916. Known gravesite: Camp Polk Cemetery.

Harold J. Slavik, Jr., of Springfield, Oregon, has made it a near lifelong project to track down the whereabouts of Civil War veterans in Oregon. His latest search is for biographical information on Erastus Buchanan, a veteran of the Confederate Army.

According to a compilation by Sisters’ resident Diana Pepperling, Erastus and Arthur Buchanan (1882-1884) are buried under the same headstone. No additional information has been located.

Slavik became interested in the Civil War during the Civil War Centennial in the 1960s when his local Minneapolis, Minnesota, newspaper ran a series of articles on the war. Slavik found out that his great-great-grandfather Jonovnsky served in Company K of the 54th New York from October, 1861 to October, 1863.

Slavik is interested in what he terms “living history — the true history.” He has read extensively and can recite details on what many would consider insignificant battles and events. He recited little-known but interesting facts: Over 98 percent of the Confederate soldiers did not own slaves or land with slaves; more than 200 women disguised themselves as men to join the fighting; and more than 2,000 blacks have been documented as having fought for the Confederacy.

His interest led him to join a re-enactment group — Company F of the 2nd Virginia Infantry Regiment of the Stonewall Brigade. Ironically, he now has evidence that his re-enactment group may have been the same unit that had imprisoned his great-great-grandfather during the Civil War.

According to Slavik, a national program began four years ago to identify all gravesites of Union veterans. The Oregon program, established a year ago, has taken on the task of identifying both Union and Confederateburials.

Slavik said that in the 1930s Spencer Leonard, State Commander of Sons of Union Veterans, began a database of all Civil War veterans starting with the 1890 Census. His database consisted of 3-by-5 cards, one per veteran (no computers then). When Leonard died in the 1960s, his database went to the Genealogical Forum of Oregon.

The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War is surveying the state county by county, visiting all cemeteries, including small family plots.

According to best estimates, Slavik said that more than 3.5 million volunteers fought in the war, more than 10 percent of the population of the country at that time. He added that there are more than 350,000 documented burial sites of Civil War veterans nationwide, with more than 15,000 buried in Oregon.

Locally, a Union veteran is known to be buried in the Terrebonne military cemetery. Three Union veterans and one Confederate veteran are buried in Redmond.

Slavik is a geologist by trade and travels extensively for his work. During his travels he visits local cemeteries and continues research into his favorite subject — Civil War veterans.

If any reader has information on Private Erasmus P. Buchanan, who served in Company E of the 18th Regiment of Texas, and is buried at Camp Polk Cemetery,please contact Harold Slavik at (541) 338-7502 or [email protected]