Gary Nevius Bio

Gary Nevius joined the Civil War Round Table of Kansas City in 2013. He recently retired after a 44-year career in architecture in the Kansas City area. He is past president of both the Kansas City and Kansas Chapters of the American Institute of Architects. Gary has served on numerous community boards including the YMCA, Overland Park Chamber of Commerce, and United Community Services of Johnson County. He currently serves as a trustee of Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area and is a Color Bearer of the American Battlefield Trust.

Gary was raised in Miami County Kansas, an area rich with Civil War history. He and his family piled into the family sedan and spent summers during the Civil War centennial, visiting battlefields across the eastern United States. As a member of the Trust, Gary provided professional expertise in the effort to acquire and preserve the Thompson House, Robert E. Lee’s Gettysburg headquarters.

Gary has 5 great-great-grandfathers who fought in the war (four for the Union and one for the South). One of his ancestors fought with the 30th New Jersey Volunteers at the battle of Chancellorsville and as a nine-month volunteer mustered out just a week before Gettysburg. Another fought with the 60th Tennessee Mounted Infantry (Confederate) at the battles of Champion Hill, Big Black River Bridge and Vicksburg.

Gary and his father started collecting Civil War firearms, particularly Civil War carbines over 20 years ago. He’s here tonight to share with us a part of that collection.