Homer Winslow Levings was born August 22, 1843, in Madrid, New York, and died May 24, 1909, in River Falls, Wisconsin. (There is a discrepancy in the middle name between one of the obituaries and the Veterans Graves Registration form.)
He served in Company A of the 12th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment during the Civil War, along with his brother, Edwin D. Levings. He enlisted October 30, 1861, and mustered out on July 16, 1865.
His and his brother’s letters home to their parents are preserved in the Edwin D. Leavings Papers (River Falls Mss BO) in the University Archives and Area Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
Following are obituaries that appeared in The River Falls Journal.
Homer Winslow Levings died at his home in this city Saturday, May 22. Deceased was born at Madrid, N.Y., August 22, 1843, and came to this city with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. D. H. Levings, in 1856. In 1861 with his brother, Edwin Levings, he enlisted in Co. A, Twelfth Wisconsin Volunteers, and served through the Civil war. Following the war he lived some years in the Black Hills district of South Dakota and there married Miss Katherine Miller. His widow survives him. The funeral took place Monday, Rev. F. W. Harris officiating. I. N. Nichols Post took charge of the services at the grave.
A noticeable trait of his character, as many know, was his rare patience and self-command under trials and reverses of fortune. Quiet and unassuming, manly in every way and possessing the respect and confidence of people generally, truly their sympathies for him in his misfortunes in the closing years of his life were rightly placed and will be ever gratefully remembered by both relatives and friends. XXX
From the May 27, 1909, issue of The River Falls Journal.
HOMER WILLIAM LEVINGS
Homer William Levings, Grand Army veteran and for the past sixteen years a resident of this city, died at his home here Saturday, May 22, 1909, at the age of 65 years and 10 months.
Mr. Levings was born in Madrid, N.Y., August 22, 1843. In May 1856, he came to River Falls with his parents. In October, 1861, he enlisted in Co. A, 12th Wisconsin Infantry, and served until July, 1865, when the regiment was mustered out at Louisville, Ky. At the close of the war Mr. Levings went to Chicago where he resided for about two years, after which he removed to Black Hills, S. D., where he married Mrs. Katie Miller. After five years in Black Hills Mr. and Mrs. Levings spent two years in California and two years in Minneapolis from where the moved to North Dakota and lived for five years on a claim near Ellendale, coming to River Falls in 1863. Mr. Levings has been afflicted with a desease of his eyes for several years, and for the past three or four years has been nearly blind.
Homer Levings was a good soldier, a man of high moral integrity and remarkable patience, deserving the kindliest remembrance of his large circle of friends.
The funeral services were held at his late residence on Maple street Monday afternoon, Rev. Fred W. Harris officiating. I. N. Nichols Post, G.A.R., performed their usual service at the grave.
The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) have a national database of burials of Union Civil War soldiers. “The SUVCW National Graves Registration Project was established in 1996. Since then, hundreds of dedicated people from within and without our Order have graciously devoted thousands of hours of their time and energy visiting cemeteries, recording, verifying, researching and entering the final resting places of Civil War veterans.” Homer is listed in this database. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in River Falls.
The Civil War and Northwest Wisconsin 