Remembering Owen Edgar (1831-1929), the last Mexican-American War veteran
A Veterans Day tribute
Owen Edgar on June 15, 1929, two days before his 98th birthday.
Other than the Revolutionary and the Civil Wars, perhaps none of the wars in American history prior to the World Wars was more consequential than the Mexican-American War. The triumph of Manifest Destiny, ostensibly meant to be a unifying force between pro- and anti-slavery factions of American politics, ultimately tipped the scales in favor of the pro-slavery side, sending the nation on an irreversible trajectory towards the Slaveholders' Rebellion. And yet, the veterans of the war, many of whom returned as broken men in both a mental and physical sense, were largely swept aside, aside from the officers. It was not until after the Civil War that Mexican-American War veterans began to form political organizations to advocate for themselves and demand pensions and rest homes - but the political battle lasted years, only settled when Congress finally passed a law granting pensions - but only to those who had not rebelled against the United States government.
On this Veterans Day, I sought to pay tribute to the last of the Mexican-American War veterans.
Owen Thomas Edgar was born on June 17, 1831 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the youngest of the twelve children of James A. Edgar (September 3, 1784 - June 29, 1870) and Maria Francisca "Francis" Edgar (née Hamm) (October 22, 1787 - June 16, 1888). His father was a native of Pennsylvania, while his mother was a German immigrant.
At the age of 14, he enlisted in the United States Navy on February 10, 1846, becoming an apprentice second class. He served on four ships - the Potomac, the Allegheny, the Pennsylvania, and the Experience. Following the war, he was discharged on August 8, 1849 as an apprentice first class, and returned home to Philadelphia, where he gained employment as a printer.
On May 2, 1854 he married Frances Ann Batchelder, and together the couple had four children - two boys and two girls.
On the eve of the Civil War, the Edgar family moved to Washington, D.C., where Edgar spent the next 21 years employed at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Afterwards, he spent 31 years employed at Columbia National Bank. During this part of his life, he bid farewell to his wife - Frances passed away on July 2, 1903 at the age of 68. Edgar retired in 1919 and moved into the John Dickson Home, where he would spend the rest of his life.
At the rest home, he became a favorite of the nurses. Known for his cheerful disposition, he enjoyed giving out candy (and eating it too) and was referred to by one nurse as a "great joker."
He was one day shy of his 57th birthday when his mother passed away in Philadelphia at the age of 100. By a strange coincidence, he was also one day shy of his 98th birthday when he became the last surviving veteran of the Mexican-American War, following the death of 101-year-old William Fitzhugh Thornton Buckner in Paris, Missouri.
He received the news the next day, on his 98th birthday, from a nurse, to which his response was "Well, I'm still here, but I guess there is not much left of me."
Devoutly religious, he taught Sunday school at Waugh Methodist Church for many years, and at the end of his life read daily devotionals from his Bible for every day of the year.
He maintained good health until near the very end of his life. On August 27, 1929, he fell out of his chair and fractured his leg, an injury that would ultimately prove fatal. He died a little over a week later, on September 3, 1929. He left behind a daughter, Mary Bush (1868-1950), and many grandchildren.