Following up from my May 31 update, I had wrote about a very tall statue that overlooked the capital building and downtown St Paul. I had thought the statue was erected for the first settler to the area.The statue is for Josias R. King. Enlisted in Co. A of the First Minnesota Infantry on 4/29/1861. King is often thought to be the First Volunteer to the Union Army, though Aaron Greenwald and 5 other men enlisted in Anoka, Minnesota earlier that day. Josias survived the war and Aaron did not. Thus Aaron was not around to defend his case, and Josias' claim of being the first to volunteer for the Union was left to stand by most people.
Captain Josias R. King died on February 19, 1916, Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Aaron Greenwald is a patriot deserving our appreciation for sacrificing his life. However, he is not the first Minnesota volunteer. Josias King his. Greenwald and six others could not have volunteered before April 16 while King and perhaps a couple dozen others volunteered at a Pioneer Guard meeting in St. Paul on the night of April 15. Pat Hill , Saint Paul
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