Civil War Veteran Memorial Planned for June 8

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 Submitted by Mark Palmer, great great grandson of Benjamin Shane Palmer, Dallas, TX. 

A Civil War veteran, Capt. Benjamin Shane Palmer, will receive the lasting recognition he so richly deserves during a Memorial Service and Gravesite Ceremony at Buskirk Cemetery. Family, friends, and anyone interested in Civil War and Scotland County history are welcome to attend the service, which will begin at 10:30 am, Saturday, June 8 of this year. Honors will be conducted by Tiger Camp #432, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, in uniforms of the Civil War. 

Benjamin Shane Palmer served the Union Army in Company C, 21st Missouri Infantry from 1861-1866. The Ohio native moved to Scotland County in 1837 with his extended family and a group of close friends. Originally bound for Kansas, the large party settled in Scotland County when tragedy struck and many drowned crossing the spring rain-swollen Wyaconda River. Capt. Palmer died near Memphis in December of 1879. No interment records or headstone had been found for Capt. Palmer, despite his military and community service record. 

Enter June Palmer Kice, longtime Scotland County farmer, educator, historian, and genealogist. June is Capt. Palmer’s great granddaughter, from his second marriage to Arinda Neel, from their oldest son, Porter, and his son, her father, Murl Palmer (his first wife, Waty Dunn, died while he was serving in the war.) June has been researching and preserving Capt. Palmer’s storied history for the family and for the Scotland County Museum for many decades. It has continued to be a mystery as to where he had been buried or if there was ever a grave marker. 

June eventually discussed the matter with Paul Tague of Gorin, a cousin through the Dunn family, and also a member of Tiger Camp #432 of the SUVCW. Paul, working through the Veteran’s Administration, and his dedication to the cause of remembrance, arranged to have a proper military grave marker produced for Capt. Palmer. He then organized a team of volunteers to place the marker at Buskirk Cemetery earlier this spring. Paul has been the driving force behind the honors ceremony and it will be a very special event. 

Numerous descendants of Capt. Palmer, in addition to June Kice, will be in attendance and will participate in remembering not only his military service, but also his life as one of the early settlers of Scotland County. June Kice’s three children still live in the Memphis area; Rhonda Kice Davis, Ronald Kice, and James Kice. Her three living siblings are Doris Palmer Guernsey of Burlington, Iowa, Lyle Palmer of Casey, Iowa, and Wayne Palmer of Quincy, IL. 

Palmer Family genealogists are hoping other Palmer descendants and other descendants (Neel, Pearce, Dunn, Campbell) from the fatal Wyaconda River crossing will attend and share their stories. 

Buskirk Cemetery is located at 20540 County Road 508, Memphis, MO 63555. For more information contact Mark Palmer, 713-408-7788 or Paul Tague, 660-216-0083.