To be fair, Charles Wesley Cooley has had his own grave, and for quite some time now. The US Civil War veteran was buried at the old pioneer Western State Hospital more than a century ago, so he’s a little beyond any of this. However, a volunteer group dedicated to restoring identities to patients buried in numbered graves in the old cemetary is making sure that his name gets remembered by honoring him at his gravesite on Saturday, September 12.

“At the time, society thought it was doing these patients a favor – shielding their identities from the ‘shame’ of mental illness,” said Laurel Lemke, who chairs the Grave Concerns Association behind the cemetery restoration. “Today, we believe we are righting an historic injustice by giving them back their names and histories.”

Western State Hospital Chaplain John Johnston will preside at the 1 pm ceremony, which will include a Fort Lewis color guard and 4th US Infantry Company C Civil War re-enactors.

Cooley’s descendents – family members from California, Oregon, Seattle, Everett and Goldendale – have been invited, including two great-grandchildren in their 70s and Hans Becker of Newport Beach, Calif., who will talk about his research into Cooley and his life story.

Becker contact Lemke this spring trying to locate “Chester” Cooley’s website. Lemke found it – at Marker Number 200. The numeric marker will be replaced Saturday with a bronze marker that includes Cooley’s name and service record: Company G, 49th Infantry Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, part of the “Buckeye Vanguard.”

Cooley, who enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private in Ohio on Aug. 18, 1861, and fought throughout the war was mustered out as a full sergeant in Texas after the war ended. His service saw him take part in some of the most dangerous and well-known battles of the war, including Shiloh, Chickamauga, Franklin, Nashville and the campaign to capture Atlanta. After the war, his family moved from Missouri to Goldendale in Klickitat County in Washington state. He became ill in 1889 and was taken to Western State Hospital twice over the next two years where he died in 1891 and was buried with only a plot number to mark the location of his remains.

Saturday is the fourth family-initiated event that Grave Concerns has arranged since the group began replacing markers in 2004. After being featured in previous stories, Grave Concerns has received an increased number of inquiries from families hoping to find patients’ graves. In October, 55 additional name markers will be placed in the cemetery.

Cooley will have the first military marker in the cemetery, which is across Steilacoom Road from today’s hospital. It was closed to burials in 1953. Cooley’s official bronze marker was provided by the federal government, and the Mountain View Cemetery of Lakewood provided the concrete setting, honor flag and guest book for the family.