Firestone Family's Priceless Civil War Medals Stolen

FIRESTONE, Colo. (CBS4) - A family needs help recovering missing medals after they were stolen from their Firestone home. The medals were awarded to a Civil War veteran who helped make Colorado history.

For some of us, the Civil War memorabilia may mean very little, but for Caitlin Rumery's family, they represent a connection to a piece of family history that may be hard to replace.

The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, known as the "MOLLUS," was awarded to Cpt. Roger W. Woodbury. For more than 100 years, the captain's MOLLUS and his Grand Army of the Republic medal were pinned to black felt on his painting. Now it's gone.

"Sadness that the medals aren't there anymore, that I can't pass this in its entirety to my children," Rumery said.

Rumery is the captain's great, great granddaughter. Woodbury was a volunteer from New Hampshire, met Abraham Lincoln, and was wounded in Civil War battles before making a name for himself in Colorado.

"He helped to develop Rocky Mountain News and the Riverside Cemetery, he also helped with the Denver Public Library and there's a library branch named after him," Rumery said.

Woodbury was also appointed brigadier general for the Colorado National Guard. But his medals, a wonderful piece of Rumery's family history, were stolen from her mother's house in Firestone last month.

"I can't believe this sat in my family for how many decades and that it was under my stewardship that something happened to it," Rumery said.

How someone broke into her house remains a mystery, and while a computer was also taken, it's the missing medals that has Rumery so upset.

"It's something that's always been with us, over the piano, over the fireplace, in our house, part of our lives, and to have part of your life taken away is so frustrating," she said.

Pawn shops should be on alert for the medals. Anyone with information is asked to call police.