In 1862 a family in Gray received a coffin containing
what they thought were the remains of their fallen son, a Union soldier who fell in the battle of Cedar Mountain. Wishing
to view their boy one last time, they opened the casket.
Inside lay the body of a man they did not recognize, dressed
in a grey Confederate uniform.
The ladies of Gray saw fit to provide this Stranger
with a proper burial and headstone. This unknown soldier, at rest so very far from his home, is still remembered in a
respectful manner today. The family later recovered their own son's remains, and he was buried nearby.
