By Cindy Schroeder
Enquirer staff writer

Kathy Romero and Robert Felthaus stand at the grave of Civil War veteran John H. Felthaus in Mother of God Cemetery, Latonia. The Enquirer/PATRICK REDDY

COVINGTON - Ninety years after his death, a local police officer who waged an 18-year battle for his Civil War veteran's pension no longer lies in an unmarked grave.

Descendants of John H. Felthaus will gather in Mother of God Cemetery at 1 p.m. today to unveil a granite tombstone marking the Union soldier's final resting place.

"It's nice to know that a hundred and some odd years after this gentleman fought for his country, people still remember him the same as they remember Sergeant Chuck Kiser (the Amelia native recently killed in Iraq),'' said Jim Kiger, past commander of the Sons of Union Veterans. "I hope people leave this ceremony appreciating all of the individuals who've fought for our country.''

One goal of the Sons of Union Veterans is to get a free military marker from the Department of Veterans Affairs for every Civil War soldier's grave. So far, the Northern Kentucky chapter has placed more than a dozen tombstones on graves previously known only to cemetery sextons.

The path to Felthaus's marker began five years ago, when Civil War buff Kathy Romero of Fort Wright took a class in genealogy.

"The Civil War's always fascinated me, and I wondered if any of my relatives had fought in it,'' she said. "I checked my grandfather, thinking he might have. He hadn't, but my great uncle had.''

Romero requested Felthaus's pension record from Washington. She learned her ancestor's work and military history and physical characteristics - everything from the color of his eyes to his height.

Then Romero checked in the phone book for other descendants. She found Robert and Lawrence Felthaus, 70-something third cousins she'd never met. "The grandsons said the best part about our meeting is that now they know their grandfather,'' she said.

Romero decided her great uncle's final resting place needed a marker, so she ordered a free granite stone from the Department of Veterans Affairs and had it shipped to the cemetery.

At age 20 in 1864, Felthaus joined the Kentucky Volunteers 53rd Regiment. That regiment guarded the Kentucky Central Railroad that ran from what is now The Point Restaurant in Covington to Lexington. Felthaus stopped the Confederates from getting salt shipments to preserve their dwindling supplies.

During his military service, Felthaus contracted malaria that damaged his liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys. After his discharge, he returned to his tobacco retail business in Covington, married and had five children. He also worked on the Covington police force for more than 20 years and later served as a deputy sheriff.

Felthaus first applied for his pension in 1893, only to be turned down, Romero said. He persisted for 18 years, receiving his first check in 1912.

"That was not unusual,'' said Bernie O'Brian,a member of the Sons of Union Veterans. "You didn't have computers back then. Records were sketchy, and everything was done by hand. Often, a lost document stopped a soldier from getting benefits.''

E-mail schroeder@enquirer.com