Obituary of Perry W BRIMBERRY, Crawford County, Illinois Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives Copyright 2000 K K Vackert PERRY W. BRIMBERRY CIVIL WAR VETERAN ANSWERS LAST CALL Large Throngs of Friends Gather For Funeral of Loyal Soldier-Citizen Funeral services for Perry W. Brimberry, veteran of the Civil War, loyal life long citizen of this community and one of the "last two" surviving members of the Palestine G.A.R. post--were held from the Brimberry residence, 101 South Lincoln Street, Sunday afternoon, Sept. 20. The services which were in charge of Rev. M.E. Prather, assisted by Rev. L.S. Harrington and Rev. C.T. Phillips were attended by a unusually large gathering of friends from Palestine and the surrounding territory. Participation of a guard from the Ernest Coulter Post, American Legion gave the funeral a touch of the military while Palestine Odd Fellows contributed impressive fraternal assistance. Mr. Brimberry was a member of the Forty-Seventh Illinois Regiment, Company C, in the Civil War and from its organization was a prominent member of the Palestine Grand Army of the Republic. At different intervals he served as commander of the post, seeing its membership dwindle in response to the final summons until only he and C. T. Phillips were left. Eugene C. Newland, one of the "last three", passed to his reward May 16, 1931 in the Danville Soldier's Home. Under a G.A.R. ruling the Palestine post derived authority to maintain its identity so long as a single survivor were left. When the last survivor has passed on its charter records, flag, and other properties go to the state organization. Mr. Brimberry served as post commander for an unbroken tenure during the last four years of his life, finally being elected to that office by vote of the only other member, C. T. Phillips, an in turn appointing Mr. Phillips his adjutant. Thus the technical organization was maintained for sometime until Mr. Brimberry's passing and under the same ruling it will continue to exist with a single member until the last survivor crosses to the beyond. Twenty five years ago the Palestine Post had a membership of about 35. Names of veterans who belonged to the post in that space of time, however, totaled about 50. Perry W. Brimberry will be long remembered for his invaluable community services, particularly his contributions to the preservation of local history. Frequently those in search of historical data relating to the community's earlier days sought his assistance. He knew the location of the U.S. land office in the grade school yard and the approximate locations of both Fort Foot and Fort LaMotte. Through his personal recollections of events and people of his time and his recollection and of what others older than himself had told him concerning events and people before his time he was able to assist materially on occasion in the construction of historical papers. He was much interested in the Lincoln Highway project and gave valuable help to committees working on proofs to Palestine's right to be on the Lincoln Way. Mr. Brimberry's mortal remains were laid to rest in the Palestine cemetery where the minister in charge was assisted by the American Legion guard and the Odd Fellows, Presentation of an American flag to the widow by the Legion was one of the touching features of the rites. PERRY W. BRIMBERRY Perry W. Brimberry was born near Palestine, Illinois, January 18, 1847, and departed this life September 17, 1931, aged 84 years, 7 months and 29 days. He was married on July 4, 1878, to Eliza J. Funk, the youngest daughter of William and Matilda Funk. He leaves to mourn his passing, Carrie L. Minnick of St. Louis, Mo., a daughter of a previous marriage; and Eliza J. Brimberry, his faithful and loving wife and their eight children: Mrs. Frank Hudson, Grover Brimberry, Joseph Brimberry and John Brimberry of Palestine, Ill.; Ross Brimberry of Terre Haute, Ind.; Mrs. H. O. Gill and Mrs. Ray Wilson of Robinson, Ill. and Mrs. M. L. Steele of Bloomington, Ind. Also 27 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb Archivist with proof of this consent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: K K Vackert