A ceremony at Wautoma’s Union Cemetery on July 6th,
2007 brought the past and present together to honor one of
Wautoma’s 1st sheriffs. The ceremony was not to honor
his civic duties but his patriotic contributions to Waushara
County. Members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
rededicated the grave of Alvah Nash who was the Captain of Co. D,
Wisconsin Infantry.
Alvah Nash was Wautoma’s 4th sheriff. He held office
from 1857-1859 and after the Civil War from 1869-1870. Early
sheriffs could only stay in office for two years until the law was
changed in the 1930's.
Alvah was a charter member of the Wautoma Masonic Lodge which
was chartered in 1862. He was also the commander of the Grand Army
of the Republic (GAR) Post #45. It was Wautoma’s first GAR
post.
He was an influential member of the community, when he died on
September 17th, court was recessed for his funeral,
village businesses were closed down and over 100 carriages followed
his hearse to the Wautoma Cemetery.
Members of the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War
recently rededicated his gravestone with the dedication of a new
stone placed next to the original.
N44° 04. ABC
W089° 16.DEF
A = Number of grave markers plus 4
BC = INF DIV Alvah Nash command plus 18
DEF = The first three digits of the year in which Alvah Nash
died
The "SQ" in the cache name above signifies Spirit Quest, a project
started in Indiana (
GCHRFJ
) to distinguish caches that
are set in cemeteries. The idea has since spread throughout the
Midwest and elsewhere.
Wisconsin cache owners are joining in as of 2007, with the
designation WSQ prefixing their cache names. As elsewhere, this is
a voluntary effort to help designate and highlight these special
areas.
Please be respectful of the area, and observe their rules and
posted hours which are typically sunrise to
sunset