I found this bit of Owen Co. info on the great website provided by Bob Alloway after
typing in Spencer to search:
Minor Notices
Author:
Author Unknown
Date:
March 1914
Source:
Indiana Magazine of History, Volume 10, Issue 1, pp 110-120
Article Type:
Editorial Material
JOHN V. BUSKIRK
JOHN V. BUSKIRK was born near Gosport, Indiana, June 16, 1828, and died at that place
December 26, 1913, aged 85 years. He was the youngest son of John Buskirk. In 1848 he
married Lavada Starks who died in 1855.
The Buskirk family has a historic war record. The grandfather of John was in the
Revolutionary war; his father was in the war of 1812 and suffered a wound in the battle of
Tippecanoe . John was a member of Company B, Fourth Indiana Infantry in the Mexican war
and Company F, Twenty-seventh Indiana Infantry during the Rebellion. During the Mexican
war he fought in all the important battles from Pueblo to and including the capture of the
City of Mexico. During the Rebellion he participated in the battle of Gettysburg and a
great many more of those serious encounters. He has always been a very patriotic citizen.
This spirit of patriotism was manifested the past summer when he went to the National
Reunion of the Union and Confederate soldiers who fought at the battle of Gettysburg fifty
years ago. In the "40s" he was one of the active "flat-boaters" on
White river and made numerous trips from here to New Orleans on flat-boats loaded with
meat and grain.
The funeral services were conducted at the home of his daughter, Mrs. M. E. Dunnigan, at
Gosport , Sunday December 28, by Wm. S. Mead, Commander Gettysburg Post No. 95, G. A. R.,
of Spencer , Capt. D. E. Beem, past Department Commander, Capt. C. A. Hutchinson,
Adjutant, Maj. W. W. Daugherty, U. S. A., retired, Maj. D. I. McCormick of the
Spanish-American War and a platoon of Company D, First Regiment I. N. G., with Trumpeter
M. E. Mc-Naught, under command of Captain J. C. Clark and Lieutenant James Allen.
The obituary was then read by Dr. J. Wooden, one of the three survivors of the Mexican
War, of Owen county . The other surviving Mexican veterans are Thomas A. McNaught, of
Spencer , Dr. J. Wooden, of Gosport, and Captain Wellman, of Quincy .
The casket was draped with the old original flag of the Fourth Indiana Infantry, which was
commanded by Colonel Willis A. Gorman during the war with Mexico. This is an honor seldom
conferred at a soldier's funeral, and was made possible only through the courtesy of
Major McCormick, custodian of flags in the State library, who with Major Daugherty brought
the flag from the State House for the occasion. The remains were taken in charge by the
Guard of Honor under command of Captain Clark and Lieutenant Allen and escorted to their
final resting place in the Buskirk cemetery, where they were interred with the honors of
war, the last tribute of respect that can be paid by comrades in arms to a deceased
soldier.
N.J.Skinner White
vwhite0901(a)aol.com