Cemetery Tour page 2

One of the larger plots, about 24 feet square is directly back from George Bennett’s plot about 100 feet.  You’ll see the name, “Gallier” on many of the headstones.  The Gallier’s were one of the early families in the area and owned the Hotel Gallier among other businesses.  There is a Hotel Gallier plaque on First Street as you go west out of Old Town on First Street towards the Port Building.  The Hotel Gallier burned down in the 1936 fire that destroyed most of Bandon.  At  one time it was the largest hotel in Bandon.

Plaque located on First Street

You’ll see a section of the cemetery called the G.A.R. section.  There’s a tall monument which marks the

G.A.R. section.  It was put up by the G.A.R. and the ladies auxiliary, the W.R.C., .

 

The G.A.R. was an organization called the “Grand Army of the Republic” and was a very powerful national organization of Civil War Union Army veterans.  It was formed in 1866 and was influential in matters of veteran’s rights as well as politics.  Five U.S. presidents were members of the G.A.R. 

 

You’ll see several graves that are marked not with the date of death but with the person’s rank, company, and unit number.  That seems to be a military tradition.  It’s interesting that so many of the graves indicate people from the “7th Tennessee Mounted Infantry” or “Company H, 68th New York Infantry”.  These men picked up stakes after the war and moved west to find their fortunes.

 

One of the graves belongs to John Pottorff.  The unusual spelling of the name made it possible to pinpoint his records; he was from Illinois.  The state of Illinois keeps meticulous records of their military.  The tombstone indicates that John P. was in Company H of the 41st Illinois Infantry.  A search of the Illinois database turned up the following information about John Pottorff when he enlisted:

 

John W. Pottorff

Residence: Shelby County

Regiment: 41st Illinois Infantry, Company H

Rank: Private

Age: 28 years old

Height: 6 foot, 1 inch

Hair color: Dark

Eye color: Gray

Complexion: Dark

Marital Status: Married

Occupation: Blacksmith

Nativity: Cork (Clark?) County, Indiana

Mustered Out: Springfield

 

If you look in Paul and Jewell Shelton’s book, “Obituaries and Records” at the museum, you’ll see the obituary of John Pottorff.  The headline is “Old Soldier Found Dead”.  He died in 1911 at the age of 81.  He had been living outside of town in a cabin near the Queen Anne section of Bandon (on Beach Loop Road) and was dead 10 or more days before the body was found.

 

His tombstone is in the G.A.R. section over by the trees.

G.A.R./ W.R.C.

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