Mortician Monitors Civil War Prison

For Ernest Griffin, the Civil War is more than just a lesson in the history books.

Griffin, 78, is the unofficial historian of Camp Douglas, the prisoner-of-war camp built on Chicago’s South Side on land now occupied by faded mansions, high-rises and Griffin’s Funeral Home.

“I have an overall interest in the Civil War,” Griffin, whose grandfather fought for the Union, said. “It was such an important role our city of Chicago played in the history of the Civil War.”

The POW camp was named for Stephen A. Douglas, the political rival of Abraham Lincoln. The camp was built on land that once was part of Douglas’ estate.

The site is not well known, even among neighborhood residents.

“It is strange because my mother enrolled me in the Stephen A. Douglas School in 1916,” Griffin said. “During my total eight years there we, as students, were never informed of the history of the school. We were never told why our school was named.”

Approximately 26,000 Confederate soldiers were incarcerated in the camp and some 20% failed to survive imprisonment. They died of exposure, smallpox, typhus and diarrhea. Some say starvation also was a factor.

“Initially the camp was a training center but as the war progressed, there was a need for the place to house the Confederate prisoners that were captured,” Griffin said.

“Six-thousand Confederate prisoners died on this spot. It’s ironic that I would come here 100 years later and establish a funeral parlor here.”