LaVale man, last surviving son of Civil War veteran, dies at 91
December 18, 2012
Cumberland Times-News
LAVALE — Albert L. Comer Sr., 91, who was Maryland’s last surviving son of a Confederate veteran, died Sunday at his home.
At age 78, Comer was inducted in the Maryland Chapter of the Sons of the Confederate in a ceremony held at Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Headquarters Museum in Gettysburg, Pa. At that time, there were just four other living sons of Southern Civil War soldiers nationwide.
The Kelly-Springfield Tire Co. retiree was the son of James J. Comer, who enlisted in the Confederate Army at age 14. James was the youngest infantryman in Gen. Stonewall Jackson’s 33rd Brigade.
At the end of the Civil War, James returned to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and married. After the death of his wife, he married again. His second wife was 34 years younger and they had seven children. Albert, the youngest, was born in 1921, when his father was 74 years old.
James’ military service was documented by his granddaughter Nancy Lantz of Ridgeley, W.Va., who was Albert’s niece.
© 2012 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.
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