photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

Civil War re-enactors stand at attention during a dedication ceremony for a grave stone honoring Union veteran Doc McWilliams Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, at Oak Hill Cemetery, 1605 Oak Hill Ave.

For the descendants of Union veteran Doc McWilliams, the booming sound of cannon fire that filled Oak Hill Cemetery on Saturday afternoon was more than just a Civil War reenactment — it was the sound of ceremony and celebration.

As the Journal-World reported, McWilliams — who was a member of the first Black regiment to see combat during the Civil War, the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry — had rested in an unmarked grave on his family’s plot at the cemetery until only recently. On Saturday, organizers with Lawrence’s chapter of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and numerous community members gathered to commemorate the installation of a headstone marking his resting place for the first time in more than 110 years. The headstone itself was installed in May.

Among the attendees were members of McWilliams’ family, such as Tamara Harden Herrick, his great-great-granddaughter, who came to Lawrence from Maine for the dedication. She said McWilliams was surely looking down on the event with pride.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Tamara Harden Herrick, the great-great-granddaughter of Civil War veteran Doc McWilliams, speaks at the dedication of a new headstone for McWilliams on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, at Oak Hill Cemetery.

“Our family has learned so much more about our grandfather than we (knew) in our family history,” Harden Herrick said Saturday. “This dedication makes us very proud.”

Saturday’s event was packed with those historic elements of ceremony, including multiple cannon and rifle volley salutes, a memorial procession from Civil War reenactors in full Union army uniform and music played by a traditional pipe and drum group. Historian Jeanne Klein, part of the group that worked to procure and install the grave marker, also shared some facts about McWilliams’ life and accomplishments after he served in the war, including becoming a civil rights leader in local and state politics. University of Kansas professor and Oscar-winning filmmaker Kevin Willmott read excerpts from some of McWilliams’ public speeches.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Members of Daughters of the Union Veterans lay flowers at the dedication of a new headstone for Civil War veteran Doc McWilliams during a ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, at Oak Hill Cemetery.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Kevin Willmott, University of Kansas professor of film, left, read excerpts from some of Civil War veteran Doc McWilliams’ public speeches at the dedication of McWilliams’ new headstone on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, at Oak Hill Cemetery. To the right of Willmott is historian Jeanne Klein.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Civil War re-enactors pass through Oak Hill Cemetery, 1605 Oak Hill Ave., during a ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, to dedicate a new headstone for Doc McWilliams, who served in the first Black regiment to see combat in the Union army during the Civil War.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Members of the Kansas Territorial Pipes & Drums perform at the dedication of a new headstone for Civil War veteran Doc McWilliams on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, at Oak Hill Cemetery.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Bugler Terry Isell, a member of the Kansas Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Churchill Camp No. 4, performs at the dedication of a new headstone for Civil War veteran Doc McWilliams during a ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, at Oak Hill Cemetery.

photo by: Mike Yoder

A cannon is fired at the dedication of a new headstone for Civil War veteran Doc McWilliams on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, at Oak Hill Cemetery.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Nancy Durbin, a member of Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, lays flowers at the new headstone for Civil War veteran Doc McWilliams during a ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, at Oak Hill Cemetery.

photo by: Mike Yoder

The Rev. Stephen Barbee did a reading of “The Colored Soldiers” at the dedication of a new headstone for Civil War veteran Doc McWilliams on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, at Oak Hill Cemetery.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Tom Schmidt, department commander of the Kansas Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Churchill Camp No. 4, leads the dedication ceremony for a new headstone for Civil War veteran Doc McWilliams on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, at Oak Hill Cemetery.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Re-enactors give a firing salute at the dedication of a new headstone for Civil War veteran Doc McWilliams on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, at Oak Hill Cemetery.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Stanley Harden, great-grandson of Civil War veteran Doc McWilliams, lays flowers at the base of McWilliams’ new headstone on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, at Oak Hill Cemetery.