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A resource for reliable information about significant people, places, events, and things in Minnesota history.
Albert Woolson in his army uniform. The photo was probably taken at Fort Snelling following his army enlistment and was later enlarged and painted, ca. 1864. Woolson family archives, Duluth, Minnesota. Used with the permission of the Woolson family.
Albert Henry Woolson had outlived over two million Civil War Union Army comrades when he died in Duluth on August 2, 1956, at the age of 106. At his death, he was recognized as the last surviving Union Army veteran. Civil War historians, however, now recognize him as the last survivor of both the Union and Confederate armies.
Albert Woolson was born in Jefferson County, New York, on February 11, 1850. His parents were Caroline Baldwin Woolson and Willard Paul Woolson—a chair maker, painter, and musician. An 1850 census lists his age as six months old, and an 1855 census lists his age as five; thus his often-reported birth year (1847) and age of death (109) are incorrect. His age on official records varied throughout the years.
In 1861, Willard Woolson migrated to southern Minnesota without his family. On November 9 of that year, he enlisted in Company I, Fourth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment; later, he was a member of a regimental brass band. A common fallacy is that his leg was wounded at the battle of Shiloh and he recuperated in a Windom hospital. His company was not at Shiloh, nor did Windom exist then. His leg was damaged in the Gladiator steamboat accident on the Tennessee River on May 13, 1862.
Willard received a disability discharge on July 19, 1862. His family moved to Minnesota to join him, and by June of 1865 was living in Blue Earth County. Shortly after, he died in Elysian following a leg amputation.
When Albert enlisted in the Union Army as a private at Okaman on October 10, 1864, he was fourteen years old. He may have lied about his age or received parental permission to enlist, since the minimum enlistment age was eighteen. He served in Company C, First Minnesota Heavy Artillery Regiment. Since he was young, he became a drummer boy and bugler. As a private, he earned sixteen dollars per month.
On October 30, 1864, the members of Company C began their journey to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where their first assignment was to build winter quarters. They served garrison duty there until the fall of 1865 and did not see combat. Woolson was discharged on September 27, 1865, and returned to Minnesota.
In 1868, Albert played the cornet and guitar in a traveling group of minstrels—white performers who blackened their faces to imitate African Americans in a mocking and degrading way. His group included a band, a Highland Scottish dancer, and an acrobat. In that same year he married Sarah Sloper, who died in 1901. In 1904, he married Anna Haugen, who died in 1949. The June 1905 Minnesota census listed his age as fifty-six (he was in fact fifty-three); Anna was twenty-three. Eight children from the two marriages survived to adulthood.
Woolson held several different jobs as he and his family moved around southern Minnesota. When in Windom, he served on the state board of boiler inspectors and was the city water works and electric power plant superintendent. He taught mechanical engineering and music at the Breck School in nearby Wilder. In 1905, he and his family moved to Duluth, where he worked as an electrician, mechanic, and stationary engineer.
In March 1911, Woolson filed suit against Governor A. O. Eberhart when he was not appointed boiler inspector for the three-county area. In addition to his thirty-five years of boiler experience, he claimed that state law gave him preference as a war veteran. The judge ruled the law was unconstitutional in its preference for veterans because it limited the appointment power of the governor.
Woolson was an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and proudly wore its blue uniform. He was involved in veteran activities statewide, and was in many parades. As Civil War veterans aged and died, he became a nationally known figure and received much recognition. He was the model for the GAR memorial monument “Last Survivor,” located in the Gettysburg National Military Park, and received 8,000 cards and letters on his 104th birthday (celebrated as his 107th).
When he died in 1956, Woolson was buried with full military honors. Over 1,500 people attended the funeral in the Duluth Armory, including Senators Hubert Humphrey and Edward Thye and Governor Orville Freeman. Ulysses S. Grant III, a grandson of the Civil War US Army general, was honorary pallbearer. Burial was in Park Hill Cemetery in Duluth.
1930 United States Federal Census, Duluth, St. Louis, Minnesota. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line].
“Albert Woolson Loses Suit.” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, April 19, 1911.
Annual Catalogue of Breck School, Wilder, Minnesota, 1903. Windom, MN: Windom Reporter, 1903.
Ashenmacher, Bob. “Vets Want to Give “Last Survivor” Place in Park.” Duluth News Tribune and Herald, April 21, 1985.
“Boiler Inspector’s Report.” St. Paul Globe, February 21, 1900.
E515.5 4th .B76
Brown, Alonzo L. History of the 4th Regiment of Minnesota Infantry Volunteers during the Great Rebellion, 1861-1865. St. Paul: Pioneer Press Company, 1892.
Death Certificate No. 030521
Death Certificate Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Title: Albert Woolson death certificate
Description: Death information for Albert Henry Woolson, Duluth, MN. Died at age 109 on August 6, 1956 in St. Luke’s Hospital, Duluth, MN of chronic congestive failure and arteriosclerotic heart disease.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zlju7fL3hwFrap_LoY6LUrVygGhKy160/view?usp=sharing
“Depot Salutes Last Union Vet—History: The Duluth Heritage Center is Now Home to the Bronze Statue of the North’s Last Civil War Veteran.” Duluth News Tribune, June 10, 2004.
“‘Drummer Boy’ will get Military Funeral.” Minneapolis Star, August 2, 1956.
“Drums to Roll for Woolson’s Last March.” Minneapolis Star, August 3, 1956.
Eldot, Walter. “Woolson Alive in Hearts, Minds of Daughters.” Duluth News Tribune and Herald, February 20, 1986.
Eleventh Census of the United States, Special Schedule, Surviving Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, and Widows, etc. Blue Earth County, Minnesota, June, 1890. Ancestry.com. 1890 Veterans Schedules [database online].
Fransen, Linda. Director of the Cottonwood County Historical Society, Windom, Minnesota. Personal email communications with the author, June 12 and July 5, 2019.
“GAR Sounds Taps Today.” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, June 4, 1947.
“GAR Vet, 105, Recalls Seeing Lincoln.” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, February 12, 1952.
Gibson, John R. “War Costs Go On and On—1812 Just Paid For.” Minneapolis Star (condensed from the Wall Street Journal), June 28, 1955.
Grim, George. “I’ll Be Last GAR Vet, Says Woolson, 106.” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, February 11, 1953.
Larsen, Verne. “The Last Man, Union Statue Ready.” Daily Utah Chronicle, February 17, 1955.
“Last Civil War Vet Called Duluth Home.” Star Tribune, August 7, 2016.
“Last of G. A. R. Posed for Memorial.” New York Times, August 12, 1956.
Mason, David M. “Last Man, Albert Woolson, 106, is Lone Survivor of Those Who Wore the Union Blue.” Minneapolis Sunday Tribune, May 24, 1953.
112.E.2.8F-1
Minnesota. Office of the Adjutant General. Civil and Indian Wars: Pension Registers. Minnesota Historical Society. Indexes, Volumes G–L, P–Q.
http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/gr00914.xml
Description: Index to Albert Woolson’s pension claim.
Minnesota Historical Society, Minnesota People Records Search.
Minnesota State Censuses--1885, Waseca County, IDs 5647170, 5647171; 1875, Nicollet County, ID 5647172; and 1905, Faribault County, ID 5647173.
http://www.mnhs.org/search/people
Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, 1861-1865. Prepared and Published under the Supervision of the Board of Commissioners Appointed by the Act of the Legislature of Minnesota of April 16, 1889, Volumes 1 and 2. St. Paul: Pioneer Press Company, 1890. See “Narrative of the First Regiment of Heavy Artillery” (612–639) and “Narrative of the Fourth Regiment” (198–242) which includes details of the Gladiator steamboat accident on the Tennessee River.
https://books.google.com/books?id=UClQRRqJ5lgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Minnesota+in+the+Civil+and+Indian+Wars,+1861-1865
“Met with the Governor, New Board of Boiler Inspectors Sat at the Capitol.” St. Paul Globe, May 11, 1899.
"Minnesota State Census, 1865." FamilySearch. Blue Earth > South Bend > image 6 of 6; State Library and Records Service, St. Paul.
Description: June 1, 1865, census record for W.P. Wolson [sic], Caroline Wolson [sic], Albert Wolson [sic], and Franklin Wolson [sic], South Bend in Blue Earth Country, Minnesota.
Bert H. N. Collection on Albert Woolson, 1881–1964, 1942–1956
Penrose Library, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington
https://sherlock.whitman.edu/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=CP71274399700001451&context=L&vid=WHITC_NEW&lang=en_US&search_scope=whitc_special_collections&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=default_tab&query=any,contains,Woolson
National Park Service. The Civil War, Battle Unit Details, Union Minnesota Volunteers, 1st Regiment, Minnesota Heavy Artillery.
https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UMN0001RAH
National Park Service. The Civil War, Battle Unit Details, Union Minnesota Volunteers, 4th Regiment, Volunteer Infantry.
https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UMN0004RI
“New York State Census, 1855." FamilySearch. Willard Woolson, E.D. 1, Antwerp, Jefferson, New York, United States; citing p. 22, line #1, family #163, county clerk offices, New York; FHL microfilm 895,241.
Description: Information for Willard Woolson; his wife, Caroline; daughter, Adalade [sic]; son Albert, age five; and son Frank.
Osman, Stephen. Personal email communication with the author, June 12 and June 24, 2019. Subject: Albert and Willard Woolson’s Civil War service.
F605.1.W895 Z99 1956
Pamphlet Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
“Now They Belong to the Ages.” Banner, Volume 60, No. 5: August, 1956.
Passon, Steven Aaron. “Last of the Union Blue—A Biography of Albert Henry Woolson: A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota, 1967.” PhD Dissertation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
R. L. Polk and Company’s Duluth Directory, K-Z, 1910: 2
R. L. Polk and Company’s Duluth Directory, 1920: 2.
“Seeks Position by Court Action, Albert Woolson Would Force Governor to Appoint Him Boiler Inspector.” Duluth Herald, March 10, 1911.
“Ready for GAR Encampment—Woolson Packs—for the Last Time.” Minneapolis Star, August 26, 1949.
112.E.3.3B-1 (box 7)
Registers G-L and Q-R. Book Q, 1905, page 208. In Minnesota. Office of the Adjutant General. Civil and Indian Wars: Pension Registers, Minnesota Historical Society.
http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/gr00914.xml
Description: Albert Woolson application for increase in pension. Includes description of claim, medical information provided by A. J. Hammond, M. D. and reason the claim was rejected.
Serrano, Richard A. Old Men, Stolen Glory, and the Mystery that Outlived the Civil War. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books, 2013.
Smith, Robert L. “Albert Woolson, Last Union Veteran, Gets Final Tribute, Franny Watches as Nation Buries ‘Grandpa Al.’” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, August 7, 1956.
114.E.4.6F (box 19)
State of Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Graves Registration Reports. State Archives, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul. ID 30640, Albert Henry Woolson, February 11, 1957.
“They Voted for Lincoln…And They’ll Vote Wilkie.” Duluth News Tribune, November 3, 1940.
Trenery, Walter N. “Votes for Minnesota’s Civil War Soldiers.” Minnesota History (March, 1959): 167–172.
United States 84th Congress, Session 1, January 5–August 2, 1955.
H. R. 5907, Private Law 94, Chapter 186, An Act for the Relief of Albert Woolson, signed June 21, 1955.
Description: Approved payment of medical bills for Albert Woolson, the last surviving member of the Union Army, which are incurred after the bill’s signature.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-69/pdf/STATUTE-69-PgA33.pdf
"United States Census, 1850." FamilySearch. Willard P Woolson, Champion, Jefferson, New York, United States; citing family 15, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). Willard P Woolson, Champion, Jefferson, New York, United States; citing family 15, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
Description: Willard P. and Caroline Woolson live with their 10-year-old daughter, Adalaid [sic], and their six-month-old son, Henry A.
US Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861–1934 for Albert Woolson.
National Archives and Records Administration. U.S. Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000. Original data: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. Washington, D.C.: T288, 546 rolls.
Description: The index to Albert Woolson’s pension application dated July 6, 1891. Class: Invalid, Application No. 103T943, Certificate No. 1011551.
“War Veteran Loses Out, Fails to Compel Governor Eberhart to Appoint Him Boiler Inspector, Judge Dibell Holds that the State Law is Unconditional.” Duluth Herald, April 19, 1911.
“Wilson Lauds Sculptor ‘It’s a Good Likeness.’” Duluth News Tribune, August 10, 1954.
P939
Woolson, Albert. Biographical Data, 1949. Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
“Season of 1868, Act of Signors Ethopian [sic] Minstrels Berlesque [sic] Troop Band and Orchestra.” Albert Woolson, January 26, 1949.
“Woolson, Last Union Vet, Dies.” Minneapolis Star, August 2, 1956.
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![Albert Woolson in his Grand Army of the Republic uniform. The plaque reads, “Albert Woolson, Born February 11, 1847 [sic], Presented by the Children of the Duluth Public Schools in 1952 on the Occasion of his 105th [sic] Birthday.” Photograph by Basgen-Presley, Duluth.](https://www.mnopedia.org/sites/default/files/styles/article_column_two/public/Woolson005006.jpg?itok=Uf6lIFaj) |
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Woolson dies in 1956. Three men who are still living claim that they are Confederate Army veterans: John Salling, Walter Williams, and William Lundy. Through extensive research of records such as census schedules and pension files, historian William Marvel determines that the three men are imposters and Woolson had been the last surviving soldier of the Civil War.
The United States census in Champion, New York, lists Willard Woolson, age thirty-nine and a chair maker, and his wife, Caroline, age thirty. Their son, Henry A., is six months old.
The New York State Census in Antwerp lists Albert Woolson’s age as five years old. His father is a landowner and his occupation is a painter. There are three children in the family: Adelaide, Albert, and Frank. Their frame house is valued at $200.
Woolson enlists in the First Regiment of Minnesota Heavy Artillery in Okaman. His rank is private, and he serves as drummer boy and bugler in Company C, which later merges with Company D.
The US Army discharges Woolson at Nashville, Tennessee, after serving one year. Discharge papers describe him at five feet, five inches tall; seventeen years old; light complexion; blue eyes; and brown hair. His occupation is farmer.
The Minnesota Pension Bureau rejects Albert’s request to increase his six-dollar monthly military pension, stating that it is the highest allowed for his “degree of inability.” As reported by his doctor, Albert suffers from rheumatism and right knee pain.
The three remaining Minnesota Civil War veterans attend the last Minnesota Grand Army of the Republic encampment in St. Paul. The attendees are Albert Woolson, commander (ninety-seven; Anson Baker, Sr. (ninety-seven); and Nathan Colburn (101).
Woolson attends the last national Grand Old Army (GAR) encampment in Indianapolis. Only five elderly soldiers who served in the Union Army in the Civil War attend.
James A. Hard, the last surviving Union Army soldier to be in combat, dies in Rochester, New York, at age 111. Woolson becomes the last surviving Union Army veteran and GAR member.
Woolson poses for a bust by Kalervo Kallio, a famous Finnish sculptor. The bronze bust is later displayed in the Kyösti and Kalervo Kallio Museum in Finland.
A ceremony is held at Hotel Duluth to unveil the bronze bust of Woolson created by Avard Fairbanks, a well-known sculptor. The Duluth City Hall will be the home of the bust. Woolson says “it’s a good likeness.”
The Wall Street Journal reports that Woolson receives a $135.45 pension check ninety years after Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox, Virginia, ending the Civil War.
President Dwight Eisenhower signs into law “An Act for the Relief of Albert Woolson,” sponsored by Minnesota Senator Edward Thye, to pay Woolson’s future medical bills. Albert’s existing medical bills total over $800.
Woolson’s military funeral (with full honors) includes a band; an honor guard of 109 soldiers, each representing a year of his life; a firing squad; and a fighter plane flyover. Burial is in Park Hill Cemetery in Duluth. Eight children survive him.
The Sons of the Union Veterans Auxiliary place a statue, “The Last Survivor,” of Albert Woolson in the Gettysburg National Military Park. They raise $17,000 for the sculpture, which Dr. Avard Fairbanks, a well-known sculptor, created.
“The Last Survivor” sculpture, a duplicate of the one at Gettysburg, is moved from its location in Canal Park to outside of the Depot on Michigan Street in Duluth. The Depot is home to the St. Louis County Historical Society.
Made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008. Administered by the Minnesota Historical Society.
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![Albert Woolson in his Grand Army of the Republic uniform. The plaque reads, “Albert Woolson, Born February 11, 1847 [sic], Presented by the Children of the Duluth Public Schools in 1952 on the Occasion of his 105th [sic] Birthday.” Photograph by Basgen-Presley, Duluth.](https://www.mnopedia.org/sites/default/files/styles/xlarge/public/Woolson005006.jpg?itok=3oizl1k5)
