On the Old Vanderburgh County Courthouse lawn sits a bench commemorating Union Civil War veterans erected by the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War (DUVCW).

The Vanderburgh County Commissioners first approved the bench on October 21, 1937. It was dedicated on December 11, 1937, and the ceremony included the singing of “America” and an invocation by Rev. O.T. Martin of Bayard Park M.E. Church.

Mrs. Robert Anderson, DUVCW Indiana department junior vice president, offered a tribute. J. Taylor Jacobs, past DUVCW tent president, presented the memorial. Mrs. Mary Hermann and Mrs. Mary Richey unveiled it. The County Commissioners formally accepted the memorial Mayor Dress offered remarks. Mrs. E.E. Hoskinson sang the “Star Spangled Banner” and Rev. Martin performed a benediction.

Color bearers were Mrs. Joseph Kennedy, Mrs. Lee Smith, Mrs. Guy Vaughn, and Mrs. George Pfender. Mrs. Robert Welty was the patriotic instructor. Committee members in charge were Mrs. Felix Farrow, Mrs. Anderson, and Mrs. Smith.

In 1946 members of the Service Star Legion petitioned the County Commissioners to have the bench removed so that the legion could could put up a plaque to the memory of dead World War II veterans. That proposal was denied following protests by representatives of the Helen B. Cole Tent No. 28, DUVCW.