Ring found and returned - after 150 years

[subdjoe]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/10/union-soldier-lost-civil-war-ring-returned-to-kin-in-pennsylvania/

READING, Pa. –  A ring lost by a Union soldier from Pennsylvania during the Civil War has completed a long journey home.

The ring was worn by Levi Schlegel, a Reading-area native who is believed to have lost it nearly 150 years ago at an encampment near Fredericksburg, Va.

Relic hunter John Blue found the ring at a construction site in 2005. Though it was engraved with Schlegel's name and unit -- "Co. G., 198th P.V.," or Pennsylvania Volunteers -- Blue wasn't sure how to find Schlegel's descendants, and kept the ring in a box for several years.

A genealogist ultimately helped Blue track down Schlegel's family. On Tuesday, Blue presented the ring to a distant cousin during a ceremony at Levi Schlegel's grave in Reading.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/10/union-soldier-lost-civil-war-ring-returned-to-kin-in-pennsylvania/#ixzz2Q74GB8i8

[JonnyReb]

 Cool story, enjoyed it and appreciate you posting it.  J

[yellowtail3]

good thing he made it through. and there's a local (Raleigh) tinge..

[subdjoe]

My pleasure.  It's little things like this that, for me, make history come alive.  I have to wonder what the relic hunter, Mr. Blue, felt when he read the inscription for the first time.  Here he was, holding something that hadn't seen the light of day for 150 years, and he had the name of the owner and the unit he was with - thing he could trace through military and census records.

[JonnyReb]

My pleasure.  It's little things like this that, for me, make history come alive.  I have to wonder what the relic hunter, Mr. Blue, felt when he read the inscription for the first time.  Here he was, holding something that hadn't seen the light of day for 150 years, and he had the name of the owner and the unit he was with - thing he could trace through military and census records.

   I completely agree that the unknown mysteries of history is part of what draws us to it. We take the knowns and piece the rest together, must come natural to some of us to want to complete the story.

 Wouldn't all these long deceased people we study and who's belongings we hold be amazed to know they or their stories are being circulated around the world on an amazing communications device. They would be astounded.  J