Civil War veteran recognized with headstone at Eastern State Hospital
U.S. Army Captain John G. Kribs died at Eastern State Hospital on April 23, 1901. But it wasn’t until 18 months ago that anyone knew he was there.
However, the dogged determination and research of Chandra Prater not only helped locate his remains, but also revealed the life of a man who fought in two of the most important battles in the history of the nation. Prater, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), laid a wreath after a headstone was placed at his grave on Sept. 27.
“I have to say that it may have turned into a little bit of an obsession,” said Prater, who drove to Spokane from her home in Olympia in order to place the wreath. “But it’s always felt like a worthwhile effort.”
DAR is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who often are directly descended from a person involved in past U.S. service during the American Revolution. While conducting her own online research about two years ago, Prater happened to stumble across Capt. Kribs.
“It showed he was buried at Eastern State Hospital,” she said.
Born in Ontario, Canada on April 5, 1841, Prater’s research uncovered that Kribs’ family moved to Elgin, Illinois in his early childhood. By the start of the Civil War in 1861, Capt. Kribs and his brother Aaron enlisted in the Union Army. Before the war ended, Capt. Kribs fought in the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg.
Along the way, Kribs oversaw the recruitment of African American men to the Union ranks as part of what was then known as the U.S. Colored Troops.
Following the war’s end in 1865, Kribs returned to Elgin and became an attorney. Then, after what appeared to be the successful start of a career, Kribs suffered a pair of traumatic events. The building where he practiced law caught fire and burned, and not long after, his wife died three days after giving birth to a daughter.
As is customary with genealogical research, the captain’s whereabouts are somewhat spotty, according to Prater. What is conclusive though is that by the late 1800s he was committed to Western State Hospital before being transferred to Eastern State Hospital not long after it opened.
Now, more than 121 years later, Prater feels honored to recognize Capt. Kribs for his service.
“I hope it brings him a little peace,” she said.
(By Kevin Blocker)