DUVCW

I've been thinking about the DUVCW (Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War) quite a bit lately. Actually, I've been thinking about it for several years, off and on, here and there. Then I see a blog entry by Caroline Pointer addressing essentially the same task for her; except with the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Read her post here - it's great: http://yourfamilystory-cmpointer.blogspot.com/. This was the push I needed to set this as a real goal. It's reachable, and it needs to be done.

So, my great great grandfather, Oscar F. Brown, was a member of two units, but most notably, the Mississippi Marine Brigade, which served on board the ram fleet vessels that patrolled the Mississippi River.

Captain Oscar F. Brown
Photo property of Jen Baldwin.

Truth be told, I could be a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), too. William C. Davis, my maternal 3rd great grandfather, served in either the 61st Alabama Infantry or the 4th Alabama Infantry, Co. I. Obviously, more research is required here.

As of today, I essentially have everything I need to gain entry in the DUVCW, already in my files on Oscar and his descendants. I suppose I'm looking at that organization more, simply because it would be the easiest to do right now. There is a sense of pride there, too, I suppose. He was on the winning side, after all. More than that, the Mississippi Marine Brigade (MMB) is relatively unknown and therefore somewhat more interesting from a historical perspective.

I'm also hoping that this process may lead to more clues on my biggest, most frustrating brick wall in my personal research: Oscar's Dad. After over a decade of research, I'm still not sure who that guy was, and its as frustrating as it is challenging. So, maybe this will open some new route on that trail of research.

We'll see how this goes. I'm hoping that with my membership, my sisters, female cousins and my nieces and daughter will some day join me.