Pvt. Edward Lewis gets a stone for his grave

The grave of a family member of Nance Legins-Costley now has a stone marking his burial place, thanks to the local chapter of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

During the Civil War, Pvt. Edward W. Lewis (c.1834-1907) of Pekin and Peoria served in the 29th U.S. Colored Infantry alongside his brother-in-law Pvt. William H. Costley and other African-Americans of Illinois. At his death on 1 April 1907, Pvt. Lewis was buried in one of the old public lots in Springdale Cemetery, Peoria. His wife Amanda E. (Costley) Lewis had been buried in another of Springdale’s public lots a few years prior.

Until this spring, both the grave of Amanda and the grave of Edward were unmarked. But Pvt. Lewis’ grave is unmarked no longer.

Here is a brief biographical sketch of Pvt. Lewis’ life that I wrote for the Freedom & Remembrance Memorial’s Facebook page, where this good news was first announced:

“For nearly 116 years, the grave of Civil War veteran Pvt. Edward Lewis (1834-1907) of the 29th U.S. Colored Infantry lacked a stone to mark his final resting place in Springdale Cemetery, Peoria. But this spring, thanks to the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, a Civil War veteran’s marker was placed on his grave. Pvt. Lewis was born into slavery in Petersburg, Virginia, the son of Ambrose and Phillis Lewis, but obtained his freedom later, perhaps when he was brought to Illinois. About the mid-1800s, his family came to Illinois. Though his parents and siblings settled in the East St. Louis area, Edward made his home in Central Illinois. In March 1858 in Pekin, he married Amanda E. Costley (1834-1900), eldest child of Nance Legins-Costley (1813-1892), known to history as the first African-American to be freed from slavery with the help of Abraham Lincoln when he won her court case before the Illinois Supreme Court in 1841. By 1863, Edward and Amanda were living in Peoria, where they raised a family of five sons – Edward Jr., William, Ambrose, Jesse, and John – and an adopted daughter (Edward’s niece) Margaret. Edward worked for many years as a Peoria tobacconist, later working as a musician and music teacher, also employing his cooking skills in Peoria eating houses. Answering his nation’s call, he enlisted in the Union Army on 28 Sept. 1864 at Springfield, serving until the war’s end, being mustered out at Springfield on 23 May 1865. While in the service, he had the rank of private, and the Union Army employed him as a cook. His wife Amanda died in Peoria on 5 Feb. 1900 and was buried in Springdale Cemetery. (Though her grave is not yet marked, efforts have begun to raise funds to provide a stone for her.) Pvt. Lewis’ Peoria Star obituary says he died 1 April 1907 at home: “Edward Lewis age 76 years, died of dropsy at 114 Hancock in Peoria. He is a Civil War veteran and a member of the Masons. 3 sons survive. Services April 3 with burial in Springdale.” The legacy of Pvt. Edward Lewis includes a grandson, William Cecil Lewis, who studied science at Bradley University and served in the U.S. Army during World War I; and two families of living descendants of Pvt. Lewis’ third son Ambrose.”

It should be noted that the gravestone of Pvt. Edward W. Lewis gives his middle initial as “D.,” because the Peoria County Undertaker’s Reports and the records of Springdale Cemetery both give his name as “Edward D. Lewis.” However, in most Peoria city directories and in the U.S. Census, his name is shown as “Edward W. Lewis.” Also, his oldest son was “Edward W. Lewis Jr.” Civil War marker inscriptions derive the spellings of names from death records, veteran’s pension files, and service records — hence the discrepancy.