WALTER BILLINGS           April 18, 1818 - October 19, 1899   81 years 

      Company F, 8th Michigan Cavalry      POW      Served 2 1/2 years 

SARAH WILSON               1822 - April 6, 1881                        59 years 

          Buried Hutchins Cemetery, Ganges Twp, Allegan MI

Walter Billings married Sarah Wilson on February 5, 1838 in Allegan, Michigan.  In 1862, he enlisted in the 8th Michigan Cavalry at the age of 44. About 18 months later, Walter was captured at “Stoneman’s Raid to Macon” where the Rebels came into the sleeping camp of the Union Army. For a year, he was held in prison, ending up at Andersonville. He returned home in June 1865, being discharged for disability.  On his Certificate of Disability, the commanding officer and surgeon note that Walter was unfit to serve because of "age and the effects of hardships, cruel treatment and privations suffered during his confinement in Rebel prisons." He had served his country for 2 1/2 years. 

After Sarah's death in 1881, Walter traveled three separate times to visit his children who lived in Kansas and Nebraska. He rode out west with his horse, “Old Bill” and his dog, “Watchie”, camping out along the way.