Camp Commander Matthew O’Neil prepares the members of Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War to march out of the chapel at Hendon Cemetery in London on Nov. 22, 2025, to the grave of U.S. Civil War veteran Pvt. Stephen T. Adams. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
LONDON — Another veteran of the American Civil War who died in obscurity in England is finally receiving recognition of his service thanks to the longtime efforts of a British amateur historian.
A headstone dedication ceremony was held Saturday at Hendon Cemetery for Pvt. Stephen T. Adams, a native of London who joined the Union army’s Mississippi Marine Brigade and was buried in an unmarked grave after his death in 1929.
Representatives of an England-based chapter of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War presided over the ceremony, and the headstone was provided by the U.S. Veterans Administration. No relatives of Adams were in attendance.
A recounting of Adams’ life and military service in the U.S. was provided by Michael Hammerson, the junior vice commander of the Union veterans organization’s Ensign John Davis Camp No. 10.
Michael Hammerson, junior vice commander of the England-based chapter of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, prepares to put a rose onto the grave of Pvt. Stephen T. Adams on Nov. 22, 2025, in London. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
For years, Hammerson has been gathering information about Civil War soldiers buried in England, Scotland and Wales.
Adams was born in London in 1845 and came to America when he was 7. After working as a farmer, he signed up in 1864 for a three-year enlistment in the military, according to a biography prepared for the ceremony.
But only a few months into his service, he became severely ill after drinking water from the Mississippi River. He developed dysentery so debilitating that he was declared unfit for duty.
After the war, he settled in Compromise, Ill., where he met his future wife, Henrietta, and became a teacher. He and his wife had a son named Kay.
But in 1904, Adams left his family out of concern that he might cause them harm, according to the biography. It’s clear from his pension file that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Hammerson said in an email ahead of the ceremony.
Camp Commander Matthew O’Neill delivers a dedication Nov. 22, 2025, at the grave of Civil War veteran Pvt. Stephen T. Adams at Hendon Cemetery in London. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
He lived for a time in a home for disabled volunteer soldiers but eventually was discharged at his own request. He spent time in Oregon, California and Hawaii before ending up back in London, where he died of a heart attack on Jan. 29, 1929.
For 96 years, his final resting place was unmarked, “an omission which we are here today to put right,” Camp Commander Matthew O’Neill said Saturday.
A choral ensemble accompanied by trumpet and organ sang hymns including “The Vacant Chair” and “Amazing Grace,” and Hammerson delivered a speech.
Later, a rose, a laurel and a small American flag were placed at Adams’ grave.
A chaplain blesses the grave of Pvt. Stephen T. Adams on Nov. 22, 2025, at Hendon Cemetery in London. A headstone was dedicated at the previously unmarked grave of Adams, who fought in the U.S. Civil War. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
Adams is one of over 1,200 Union veterans the Ensign John Davis Camp has identified as being buried in the U.K, Hammerson said. The group is the only camp of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War outside the United States, according to its website.
Among its remembrance activities are ceremonies like the one Saturday to install a new headstone at Union veterans’ graves where a marker is either lacking or badly worn.
Adams’ grave is the second at Hendon Cemetery to have a rededication ceremony sponsored by the group, Hammerson said.
