The mission of the Civil War Round Table of Kansas City is to promote historical, educational, literary, and preservation activities related to the Civil War.
573rd Regular Meeting
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Milburn Golf and Country Club 7501 West 69th Street, Overland Park, KS 66204 Social hour begins at 5:00 p.m. and dinner is at 6:00 p.m.
This meeting will include a plated dinner at a cost of $35.00 per person. Reservations are required in order to attend the dinner meeting.
Reservation Deadline: Tuesday, April 8. To make a reservation, please contact Marlene Natoli (contact info in newsletter).
April 2025
Civil War Round Table member Mr. Todd Stettner will be giving a program titled: “Judah P. Benjamin, Jewish Son of the Confederacy.”
Judah P. Benjamin served as a U.S. Senator from Louisiana before the Civil War. During the Civil War, he served as Attorney General, Secretary of War, and Secretary of State for the
Confederacy.
American Jewish historian Bertram Korn, called Judah P. Benjamin, “the greatest Jewish political figure in our history.” Some detractors called him, “The Dark Prince of the Confederacy.”
Dinner Menu
Milburn Golf and Country Club will serve the following meal at our dinner meeting: Sherry Chicken with boursin mashed potatoes and vegetable medley. Dessert will be Vanilla Panna Cotta with macerated berries. All dinners are served with house salad with Milburn house dressing, sliced bread, iced tea, water, and coffee.
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March 2025
Mr. David Connon gave a program titled: “Josiah Bushnell Grinnell and the Iowa Underground Railroad.” “Preacher,” “congressman,” “negro-stealer”: Josiah Bushnell Grinnell was called all of those things during his life. He was called a negro-stealer because he participated in the Iowa Underground Railroad.
J.B. Grinnell and other Grinnell residents helped at least 37 fugitive slaves who passed through their town before the Civil War. But some residents opposed this work.
Click here for a summary of Mr. Connon's program.
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Round Table Now Accepting Digital Payments
The Civil War Round Table of Kansas City now accepts digital payments via the Square digital payment processing service. This process is simple to use and secure. Square charges the Round Table a fee for this service. If you decide to use this service, we add this fee to the total charge. For more information, please refer to our Round Table Digital Payments page.
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Raymond Eugene Borden, a long-time member of our Round Table passed away on March 3, 2025. Ray was born in Osawatomie, KS on September 18th, 1932, to Irvan Ray “John” Borden and Ruth N. Borden nee Johnson.
Ray graduated from Osawatomie High School in 1950 where he met the love of his life, Nan Porter Borden. He attended the University of Kansas, graduating in 1954 with a Bachelor of Business, later earning his CPA. He and Nan were married April 4th, 1953. After graduation, he joined the Army and was stationed in Colorado Springs, CO, and later Kaiserslautern, Germany.
After returning home, Ray began his career in accounting with Peat Marwick Mitchel & Co (now KPMG). He was later the controller for a local family-owned chain of lumber companies, and ended his career as Treasurer with Midwest Sales Co. Ray was actively involved with the Financial Executive Institute for many years, serving as the Kansas City area president from 1974 to 1975.
In retirement, Ray pursued his interest in genealogy. Ray and Nan took many trips exploring their roots and were able to identify over 900 names for their family tree. Ray also volunteered for numerous groups including the NCAA women’s Final Four hosted in Kansas City, was a weekly volunteer at the WWI museum, and was a food pantry volunteer for Community Christian Church. He participated in citizen’s academy for Johnson County and
was a member of the Civil War Round Table for several years.
Ray was a lover of trains and was a sustaining member of the Missouri Pacific Historical Society. He was also a tried-and-true Jayhawk. His daughters followed in his footsteps and through his generosity and perseverance, he and Nan put them all through school to become Jayhawks as well. He was a first-generation college graduate and now there are three generations of KU grads in the family so far.
Ray’s wife Nan died on March 9, 2021. They were married for almost 68 years. A service to celebrate Ray's life was held on March 14th at the Johnson County Funeral Chapel, located at 11200 Metcalf, Overland Park KS. Ray was a member of our Round Table until 2024. Please keep Ray’s family in your prayers.
Member News
We would like to welcome the following new members:
- Terri Conner is an accountant and lives in Overland Park KS. She has Union ancesters from southwest Missouri and Confederate ancestors from the Appomattox area of Virginia.
- Liz Edmundson is a Registered Nurse (RN) and lives in Kansas City MO. She is also a member of the Civil War Round Table of Western Missouri.
- Tom Jones is retired and lives in St. Joseph MO. He has Union and Confederate ancesters and is primarily interested in the Trans-Mississippi region, the Missouri politcal split between radicals and conservatives, and emancipation.
It was good to see Arnold Schofield and his wife Clara at the July dinner meeting.
It was also good to see Phil and Mary Griffin at the July dinner meeting.
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