Even though it’s mostly worn away, you can tell that below G.W. Wing’s name, there was information about what unit her served in during the Civil War. Even if that information wasn’t on there, I have only ever seen the flag that is carved above his name on the graves of soldiers. The interlocked rings probably symbolize membership in a fraternal organization. He also died during the war, on October 1, 1863, but the tombstone doesn’t tell us how. Statistically, it’s likely he died of disease, but without more information, I’ll probably never know.
Stumbled upon your blog via a link on the cleveland area history blog. It’s really great. Curiosity got the best of me, too, as to how this guy died & what the rings were about. Here are the results (as accurate or inaccurate as a quick search can be):
Wing was in the Oddfellows (three linked rings). Ancestry.com found him through their links to the findagrave.com listing for the plot you photographed. The site indicates that George. W. Wing was part of the Ohio Voluntary Infantry, 124th Regiment, Company A. He was 24 when he died & originally buried in Chattanooga, TN (where Co. A returned to after the Chickamaugua, GA battle). Civilwarindex.com has a listing for the 124th, and it says that Wing died Oct, 1, 1863, of wounds received in action at Chickamaugua. I think it also indicates his rank was sergeant.
Now we know!