A ring lost by a Union soldier from Pennsylvania during the Civil War has completed its long journey home.
The ring was worn by Levi Schlegel, a Reading-area native who is believed to have lost it nearly 150 years ago at an encampment near Fredericksburg, Va.
Relic hunter John Blue found the ring at a construction site in 2005. But he didn't know how to find Schlegel's descendants, and kept it in a box for several years.
A genealogist ultimately helped Blue track down Schlegel's family in Reading. The Reading Eagle says the ring was presented to a distant cousin Tuesday during a ceremony at Levi Schlegel's grave in Reading.
Cousin Ernie Schlegel called it "a hero's journey."
Levin Schlegel fathered 11 children and died at age 91 in 1932.
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