CIVIL WAR SOLDIER FORGOTTEN NO MORE

Research leads Lorainites to identify brother of war hero

Lost in time, and the battlefield are the names of thousands of soldiers who served in the Civil War.

For many, their names have been forgotten and their bodies have been left unidentified in graves across the country.

Local author and Civil War buff Kelly Sagert vowed to solve a mystery that she accidentally uncovered in the summer of 2018 and to speak the name of a forgotten soldier.

Nearly two years ago, Sagert was doing research on Civil War hero Wells Waite Miller, who played a key role on July 3, 1863, as captain of the 8th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in Gettysburg, Pa.

During her research, Sagert found scraps of information about Miller’s older brother,

Lodowick Miller.

“I was doing research about something else, actually someone else,” Sagert said.

“But I became intrigued with Lodowick and his life.”

While doing research Sagert had a difficult time finding anything on Lodowick Miller. That is, until she realized she was misspelling his name.

Bill Molina, a family friend and fellow Civil War buff and genealogist, found out that during the Civil War era, the letters “L” and “S” were written similarly and were oftentimes confused for one another, which is part of the reason it was difficult to find information on Wells Waite Miller’s brother.

“The letters looked similar and I looked at it for a while and realized his name started with an “L”,” Molina said.

With the proper name, Sagert and Molina were able to do more digging.

“With my experience with genealogy, I was able to help Kelly as best I could,” Molina said.

Born in 1830 in New York, Lodowick was listed as a farmer in the 1850 census. He married Sarah

Fleming in 1861.

Sagert was able to find information about him piece by piece.

“It was a trail,” Sagert said. “One thing led to another and that little bit of information led me to something else which led me to something else and it went on and on with scraps of information about him.”

Lodowick Miller enlisted in the 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company A, in January 1862 for a threeyear term of service. Only a couple of months later, he died. He was “at hospital” at Camp Shiloh, dying on March 30, 1862, just a week before the Battle of Shiloh commenced.

Although information is still scarce about Lodowick, Sagert intends to find out as much as she can about him and his life.

“I’m going to keep researching and add information to the book I’m writing,” Sagert said. “There’s a story to tell here and I’m excited to continue digging and learning more about him and his life.”

On March 9, Sagert gave a presentation about Wells Waite Miller at Lorain County Community College for the Quincy Gillmore

Civil War Roundtable. During the meeting, Sagert shared information about Lodowick.

Four days after the presentation, on March 13, Sagert heard from Bill Stark, the Graves Registration Officer, James A. Garfield Camp 142, of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

“By combining what he knew about Lodowick with what I knew about Lodowick and Wells, Bill [Stark] was able to move forward with identifying Lodowick,” Sagert said.

According to Sagert, Lodowick’s name has now been entered into official Civil War records, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Graves Registration Database, allowing him to receive recognition, honor and dignity.

“This means so much to me,” Molina said. “To find somebody who had been buried and forgotten, it just means so much.”

Because Lodowick died on March 30, 1862, Sagert posted a blog dedicated to him.

“I wanted to speak his name and acknowledge him,” Sagert said. “It’s the most amazing feeling ever.”

TRACY ISENBERG Kelly Sagert of Lorain helped identify a Civil War soldier through two years of research.

KELLY SAGERT The 1850 Census shows Lodowick Miller’s name on the third line.