In May 1884, Black Civil War veterans in Butler County, Ohio, received a charter for the Old John Brown Post# 450. It is believed to be the second African American Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) post recognized in the state. The William Anderson Post # 244 in Washington Court House, Fayette County, was the first in May 1882.
Over the years, the local press in Butler County recognized African American residents for their military service, their roles in the community after the war, and with announcements of their deaths.
- Peter Bruner, 12 USCHA, born in Kentucky, died in April 1938. Bruner published his autobiography, A Slave’s Adventures Toward Freedom: Not Fiction, but the True Story of a Struggle.
- Andrew Jackson, 16 USCI, born in Mississippi, died in December 1933.
- Benjamin Ayers, 117 USCI, born in Kentucky, died in July 1932.
Over three dozen Black veterans are listed on the Butler County 1890 Special Schedule of Surviving Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, and Widows census. And over fifty African Americans who served in the Civil War are buried in at least four different cemeteries in the county.
For the names of other Black men who had connections to Butler County go to Ohio’s Black Civil War Soldiers, Sailors, and Veterans: Butler County .
Do you know of other men who should be included? I am always updating the county pages, so please contact me.
To Learn more about African Americans veterans and the GAR, see The Won Cause: Black and White Comradeship in the Grand Army of the Republic by Barbara A. Gannon.