ALBION’S WASHINGTON GARDNER FEATURED ON 1914 BADGE

I encourage our readers to attend the various Memorial Day parades and services being held throughout our communities on Monday, May 27. Memorial Day of course has its roots in the aftermath of the Civil War. One of Albion’s most prominent Civil War veterans was the Hon. Washington Gardner (1845-1928). Gardner was a local Methodist minister here, who subsequently went into public service. He served as Michigan’s Secretary of State from 1894 to 1899, and as our U.S. Congressman (3rd District of Michigan) from 1899 to 1911.

Gardner also served as the Commander-in-Chief of the national Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) in 1913-14, the Civil War veterans’organization. The GAR’s 1914 annual Encampment was held in Detroit the first week of September that year. Attendees at the Convention wore a representative’s badge consisting of four parts. The bottom part was a 40 mm. diameter, 3 mm. thick brass medal containing the image of Gardner, and the legend "HON. WASHINGTON GARDNER COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF G.A.R." The reverse is blank, except for the name of the minters in small print at the bottom which stated, "Bastian Bros. Co. Rochester, N.Y." You can read the May 27, 2007 reprint of this column here.

In addition to the representative’s badge, there was issued a special GAR Commander staff badge. This was issued for and worn only by the approximately 13 or so members of Washington Gardner’s personal staff. Members of the Commander’s staff gave reports at the Encampment and assisted him in his work. In addition to this badge, the Commander’s staff also wore one silver star on their officer straps.

The thirteen members of Washington Gardner’s staff consisted of: Thomas H. Soward of Oklahoma, A. S. Fowler, of Arkansas, J. K. Weaver of Pennsylvania, Horace M. Carr of Kansas, Oscar A. Janes of Michigan, D. R. Stowits of New York, P. H. Coney of Kansas, Levi S. Warren of Albion, Michigan, Levi Longfellow of Minnesota, Frank R. Chase, Georgia A. Newman of Iowa, J. Henry Holcomb of Pennsylvania, and Orville J. Nave of California.

The staff medal badge (same size and metal content) contains a yellow ribbon which joins the looped medal and features a 53 mm. wide flourish clasp pin on top that states "DETROIT." The total length is approximately 85 mm. The obverse is the same as the representative’s badge in both portrait and legend, except it does not have the prefix "HON." (for "Honorable" before Gardner’s name. The spacing for that prefix, however, is there. It is surmised that the prefix "Hon." wasn’t appropriate here, and it was therefore removed for the striking of this staff medal.

The reverse contains the added text, "COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF’S STAFF COMRADES 48th NATIONAL ENCAMPMENT G.A.R. 1914." In small print at the bottom appears "BASTIAN BROS. CO. ROCHESTER N.Y." From our Historical Notebook this week we present a photograph of the Washington Gardner staff medal badge. In 1928, our local high school was named after Gardner, just several weeks before his death. How many of our readers went to Washington Gardner High School in Albion?

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
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