Charles Kimpel finally received the military honors he was due as a Civil War veteran on Friday.
The ceremonies, which included the unveiling of his headstone and a flag presentation, took place 125 years after the volunteer Union Army private was buried in Allegheny Cemetery.
A dozen and half of Pvt. Kimpel’s descendants, representing four generations of his family, attended the solemn event. They were joined by members of the South Hills Veterans Honor Guard and a detail from the U.S. Army Reserve’s 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, based in Coraopolis.
Family members credited Reed Poderis, the great-great-grandson of Pvt. Kimpel, for uncovering the story of his service and locating his burial place.
When Mr. Poderis, 45, began researching his family history about 10 years ago, he did not even know Pvt. Kimpel’s name. “I had not known who he was or anything about his Civil War service,” he said Friday. Mr. Poderis lives in Las Vegas.
His research found that Pvt. Kimpel, an immigrant from Germany living in Pittsburgh, signed up in April 1861 for three months’ service in Co. K of the 5th Pennsylvania Infantry. Short enlistments were the norm in the opening days of the Civil War, because both sides expected the conflict to be short. He gave his age as 24 and his last name was spelled as Kimbel on the enlistment form.
After completing his initial term of service, Pvt. Kimpel returned to his trade as a shoemaker, and in 1862 he married the former Annie Knapp. In August 1864, Pvt. Kimpel rejoined the Union Army, ultimately serving in Battery G of the 5th Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery. His unit saw combat near several towns in Virginia in the fall of that year before being reassigned to the forts protecting Washington, D.C. The regiment was mustered out of service on June 30, 1865, in Pittsburgh. On Oct. 21, 1869, Mr. Kimpel became a U.S. citizen.
After Mr. Poderis was able to locate a pension card for Charles Kimpel’s widow, Annie, he discovered that his ancestor’s last name was spelled “Kimble” or “Kimbel” in many Army service records.
Census and city directory records show him living with his wife and three children in Pittsburgh through 1881. His widow’s claim for pension benefits – with his name spelled correctly – said he died on April 16, 1890. His son, Charles Jr., paid $89.50 for his funeral, which included the cost of a coffin, but no headstone was purchased.
Initially there was no record of where he had been buried. “But every year more [genealogical] stuff goes up on the Internet,” Mr. Poderis said. An online search about a year ago indicated that he had been buried in Allegheny Cemetery. Cemetery records pinpointed the spot in Section 565. That’s where a new marker, provided by the Veterans Administration, has been erected.
It was around that headstone that Pvt. Kimpel’s family gathered on Friday morning. There were descendants representing each of Charles and Annie Kimpel’s three children, Amelia, Ida and Charles Jr. “We are all trying to figure out how we are related,” Mr. Poderis’ mother, Joanne Poderis, 79, said. Mrs. Poderis, who lives in Cleveland, and her son are descendants of Amelia Kimpel, who married Joseph Baumann.
Karen Kimpel, 72, came from her longtime home in Albuquerque, N.M., for the ceremony. Ms. Kimpel, who grew up on Mount Washington, said she was delighted to meet new cousins.
“We’re just so proud of him,” Joanne Kimpel House, 86, said of her Civil War ancestor. “He enlisted not once, but twice, and he wasn’t even a citizen yet. Mrs. House lives in Castle Shannon.
Stacy Cadman, 23, came with her grandparents, Darryl and Beverly Kimpel Roussel, to honor her ancestor. A graduate of Bethel Park High School and California University of Pennsylvania, she works for her father’s s electrical engineering products firm. “This is a really important event for the family,” she said. “Not everyone gets to go to such a beautiful ceremony.”
Bill Babcock, of Upper St. Clair, who led the South Hills Veterans Honor Guard, agreed.
Mr. Babcock, 78, estimated that he and his fellow veterans had served at about 3,000 funerals over the years. “This is our first for a Civil War soldier,” he said.
“Today we pause to remember one of the heroes who gave of themselves, their time, their family, and sometimes their lives to keep this nation together,” Mr. Babcock said.
After seven members of the honor guard each fired three rounds in memory of Pvt. Kimpel, two buglers, Ted Pace, a World War II veteran, and Joe Cevarr, who served in the Air Force in the late 1950s, played “Taps.” Major Eric Gass and retired Sgt. Major Russ Christiana, representing the 316th Army Reserve unit, closed the ceremony. The two men solemnly unfolded, refolded and then presented an American flag to Mr. Poderis for his family.
Family members then gathered around the newly unveiled headstone for pictures before heading to a family picnic.
Len Barcousky: lbarcousky@post-gazette.com or 724-772-0184.
First Published: August 29, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
