More than a century after his death, the Civil War veteran was honored with a government headstone at a ceremony Friday at the Kenton Cemetery.

The road to his gravestone began about a year ago, when Phil Kolehmainen of Houghton wrote to U.S. Sen. Gary Peters’s office about the unmarked grave. Peters’ office then forwarded the inquiry to the Houghton County Veteran Service Office, said Joseph Battisfore, the office’s director.

The office found a Duncan Township cemetery map indicating the grave belonged to an H. White, who died on Feb. 4, 1917. No other records existed; the register where White’s death would’ve been recorded was destroyed in a fire. No Houghton County records regarding White’s life or death could be found.

An oral history survived in the township regarding a Black man who had served during the Civil War and worked as a barber in Kenton during the early 1900s. American Legion veterans marked the grave with a flag each year; after the post in Kenton closed, the task fell to Post 494 in Trout Creek.

Members of the Ontonagon County Veterans Association give a three-gun volley to salute Hiram White, a Civil War veteran buried in Kenton whose grave finally has a marker after more than a century. Local veterans had placed an American flag on the grave every year. (Garrett Neese/The Daily Mining Gazette)

“Something that really stands out to me is that the residents of Kenton and Duncan Township for 105 years, even though they had no way to obtain an actual veteran marker, have marked this grave with a flag, honoring Hiram White, and his sacrifice and service to his country,” Battisfore said during Friday’s ceremony. “And for him, something that he would hope would be a better future.”

A search on ancestry.com turned up more potential leads. There were enlistment and discharged records for a Hiram White, who served in the 25th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment, Company G.

Organized in Philadelphia in January 1864, the 25th Regiment was stationed briefly in North Carolina before sailing to New Orleans, where it defended the city until being reassigned that July to Florida, where it spent the remainder of the war. White enlisted in February 1864 and was promoted to sergeant two months later. He was discharged with the rest of the company on Dec. 6, 1865.

More searching turned up census records for White before and after the war, but nothing linking him to Michigan.

Another search on ancestry.com led to the final piece. Shayne Davidson, an artist and amateur genealogist, had written a book about a recently uncovered photo album with pictures of the 17 members of Company G. The album belonged to commanding officer Capt. William A. Prickitt, and was passed down through the generations to the youngest member of the next generation.

Howie Walters of American Legion Post 92 in Rockland salutes as “Taps” is played in honor of Hiram White, a Civil War veteran buried in Kenton. A new headstone was placed Friday on White’s formerly unmarked grave. (Garrett Neese/The Daily Mining Gazette)

Davidson, a family friend, included biographical information she had found about each member, including White.

Davidson’s book has an enlarged portrait of White, seen wearing a kepi cocked to the left.

The 2-inch-tall, leatherbound photo album now sits in the Smithsonian Museum.

“I could find everything showing who Hiram White was, but I couldn’t find that he was in Kenton, and that’s what we needed to do,” Battisfore said. “So it was awesome. It was a great feeling to finally get the last piece. I breathed easy when the marker finally made it.”

White was 19 when he enlisted with his brother Isaiah, Davidson found. Their father, John White, was a free man who worked as a post-maker in Marietta, Pennsylvania. He married Sarah, a biracial woman; in addition to the two brothers, they had 13 other children.

In the first census after the war, White was living with his parents in Pennsylvania, working as a barber.

In 1883, he married Maria Taylor, a widow from Elgin, Illinois, Davidson wrote. They had a child, Harry, who was born in 1888. They were still in Elgin in 1900. At some point after that, the marriage ended and he returned to Pennsylvania.

More stops followed, as traced by his Civil War pension application: Mansfield, Ohio; Duluth, Minnesota; and finally Kenton. He worked as a barber until his death in 1917, when he was 71.

The Ontonagon County Veterans Association was on hand Friday to perform a ceremony in his honor, including a three-volley salute.

No living relatives of White were found. A flag was presented to the Kenton Historical Society for display.

“Honoring the service of our veterans is important, because when we honor others, we bring honor on ourselves,” Battisfore said. “And it was just important to fix this situation. It was unfortunate we didn’t have a marker, although it was marked with a flag for so long. It was nice to see Hiram get the just desserts for him and have his marker.”