Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 108, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 May 1920 — CAPT HAGINS RECEIVES LONG DELAYED CERTIFICATE [ARTICLE]

CAPT HAGINS RECEIVES LONG DELAYED CERTIFICATE

Captain J. L. Hagins, civil war veteran, was very happy Monday when the mails brought him his long delayed certificate of membership in the Society of the Army of the Potomac. The Society has been in existence since shortly after the war, but it was only about a year ago that Mr. Hagins decided to enroll himself as a member. There are but few survivors of the famous war organization. The following letter was received by Mr. Hagins: “Headquarters Society of the Army of the Cumberland, 24 Crushed Road, Chattanooga, Tenri. My Dear Comrade: Under separate cover I am sending your long delayed certificate of membership of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland. Only in the last mail did I receive the certificate from Secretary Gaghan. He did not explain the delay, but 1 think he must have been out of blanks. I am very proud of mine, which bears the signature of Major General Rosecrans. You see I had that advantage by reason of long membership. The commanders are long since dead, so of the corps, divisions, brigades, and with few exceptions, so of its regiments. Only the men of the battlehne are left to tell the story of its campaigns and battles. With best wishes that the future may be kind to the regular guard, 1 and that we may again rally around our colors and talk of the old days | and the dear comrades who have passed away, I remain, . _ S ORLA&DO Ur SOMERS.” Mr. Somers is the past president of the Society and past national commander of the G. A. R.