KEMPTON - Doris Lowe of Cabery always was somewhat interested in her own family's genealogy.

She knew her great-grandfather was Oscar Slagle, whose grave is in Broughton Township Cemetery, just north of Kempton. When her mother died in 1985, Lowe got a new perspective on her great-grandfather thanks to information from a trunk.

"I don't recall my grandmother or mother saying anything about it until I got the contents of the trunk," she said. "There were two letters inside and the Congressional Medal of Honor he had (received) in the Civil War."

Slagle joined the military in 1862 when he was 18, entering as a private and leaving as a corporal in Company D, 104th Illinois Infantry. He was one of 10 men who volunteered to capture a stockade under heavy fire, saving a bridge in Elk River Tenn.

He'll be recognized Saturday during a ceremony at 1:30 p.m. at the cemetery. A plaque will recognize his receipt of the nation's highest military honor.

The Medal of Honor and letters are locked away in a safety deposit, but Lowe will take them out occasionally.

"When the Civil War people came to (the Saunemin Summer Celebration), and since I can talk to anybody, I went walking down and they were sitting out in front with their garbs on," she said about the re-enactors of the 104th Illinois Infantry. "As soon as I mentioned my great-grandfather, they knew all about him."

Lowe visited the Livingston County War Museum to share the story.

"She came up here and made us aware of this, and we have a book here of all of the Medal of Honor winners," museum President Jack Murphy said. "We double-checked it, and he did earn the award.

"We thought that he should have a special honor, because there aren't many people who have the Medal of Honor," Murphy said.

The free brass marker detailing the award was made possible through the efforts of the war museum and the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs for Livingston County.

The ceremony will feature the American Legion of Cullom, the 104th Illinois Infantry Civil War re-enactors and retired Army Col. John Hamilton of Pontiac. The ceremony is open to the public.

Broughton Township Cemetery is located along Livingston County Road 2400 North, two miles east of 3300 East Road.