Pocono News Section

Civil War Soldier Honored 146 Years Later

Civil War Soldier Honored 146 Years Later - Monday, May 31, 2010 at 04:06AM EST

Reported by: Mike Trim
Monday May 31 2010

PLYMOUTH, LUZERNE COUNTY -- A homecoming 146 years in the making happens in Plymouth. James Pop Miller was a local Civil War soldier. He died on a battlefield and Monday, his family made sure he was properly laid to rest.

Within a small plot of the Shawnee Cemetery in Plymouth, civil war soldiers are laid to rest. On this Memorial Day, Miller joins their ranks. His family made sure he would. Sheree Puccio of Plymouth said, "We kept our promise and that's probably the most important thing. We promised our grandmother when we were just 12 and 13 years old that we would find Pop Miller."

Puccio and other Miller descendants have brought Pop's story home. Miller was killed in action on a Mechanicsville, Virginia battlefield almost 146 years to the day. His remains likely stayed on the battlefield, but his family is marking his memory with a new tombstone.

Before enlisting in the war Pop grew up in Danville where his Mulberry Street home still stands today. Most of his remaining family line lives in Plymouth.

Pop died in the Battle of Bethesda Church, a fierce fight that took the life of 750 Union soldiers and more than 1,200 Confederate soldiers. For years great great great grandaughter Mary Beth Kondrad heard the story of Pop's Civil War service. Mary Beth Kondrad said, "This is priceless to me. coming here all my life with my mother and my grandmother and how they honored the dead with a decoration day."