History article written for the GFHS website,Civil War Veteran John H. Curtis owned the Granite Falls Creamery and served as president of Granite Falls State Bank. His Dad, John Curtis, served in the Civil War before bringing his family west from Wisconsin to Washington. His grandson, Don Prigg of Everett, recently brought a number of early Curtis family pictures to the Granite Falls Museum. Among them was a large poster, sold in the 1890s by the Easel Monument Company to thousands of Civil War veterans. Each poster was personalized with the service record of each veteran, and often included a personal dedication to the veteran's family. The price was only a few dollars, but the poster raised millions, ostensibly to build the actual monument in the state selling posters to the highest percentage of its veterans. Unfortunately, the sponsors apparently pocketed the proceeds and the monument was never built! Many of the posters have survived, however, memorializing the service of thousands. Unfortunately, the poster Don brought in had suffered from the ravages of time and . moisture, having been rolled up in an Everett basement. Not only had the lithograph badly discolored, but portions of the original image were actually gone. Thankfully, the personalized text survived almost unscathed. John Curtis is buried next to his wife Alzoa and son Lute, in the Snohomish GAR Cemetery, and Don was hoping we might be able to honor him in some way. Restoration of the poster seemed like a real challenge. Some online research uncovered other posters, and with the cooperation of the Huntington Library in California and the Pratt Library in Maryland, enough information was found to "repair" John's poster to a state close to the original lithograph. A newly produced full-sized print was donated to the GAR cemetery on Veterans Day, where it will soon be on display with other Civil War ephemera. Check out the "before" (this page) and "after" (next page). Full size is about 22" x 30". , Accession/Object ID: No accession number, Object Name: , Title: "Back in the Day" article, Author: Fred Cruger, Description: History article written for the GFHS website, Date: , OCR Text: Civil War Veteran John H. Curtis owned the Granite Falls Creamery and served as president of Granite Falls State Bank. His Dad, John Curtis, served in the Civil War before bringing his family west from Wisconsin to Washington. His grandson, Don Prigg of Everett, recently brought a number of early Curtis family pictures to the Granite Falls Museum. Among them was a large poster, sold in the 1890s by the Easel Monument Company to thousands of Civil War veterans. Each poster was personalized with the service record of each veteran, and often included a personal dedication to the veteran's family. The price was only a few dollars, but the poster raised millions, ostensibly to build the actual monument in the state selling posters to the highest percentage of its veterans. Unfortunately, the sponsors apparently pocketed the proceeds and the monument was never built! Many of the posters have survived, however, memorializing the service of thousands. Unfortunately, the poster Don brought in had suffered from the ravages of time and . moisture, having been rolled up in an Everett basement. Not only had the lithograph badly discolored, but portions of the original image were actually gone. Thankfully, the personalized text survived almost unscathed. John Curtis is buried next to his wife Alzoa and son Lute, in the Snohomish GAR Cemetery, and Don was hoping we might be able to honor him in some way. Restoration of the poster seemed like a real challenge. Some online research uncovered other posters, and with the cooperation of the Huntington Library in California and the Pratt Library in Maryland, enough information was found to "repair" John's poster to a state close to the original lithograph. A newly produced full-sized print was donated to the GAR cemetery on Veterans Day, where it will soon be on display with other Civil War ephemera. Check out the "before" (this page) and "after" (next page). Full size is about 22" x 30". , Granite Falls Historical Society,Documents (articles, clippings, letters, papers),Local History Articles,Back in the Day (local),Civil War Veteran.pdf,Civil War Veteran.pdf Page 1, Civil War Veteran.pdf Page 1