Tens of thousands of people will be in Charleston this weekend when the crew of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink an enemy warship, is laid to rest.  Most of the crowd will be there to witness the last Confederate funeral for its historic value.  But for some, it’s a relative’s funeral delayed 140 years.

Relatives of Hunley crewmember James A. Wicks talked with News Channel 7’s Tom Crabtree about excitement and pride in their ancestor who was part of an event that changed the course of military history.

"We never expected (Wicks) to be found,” says Mary Elizabeth McMahon of Atlanta, Wicks’ great great granddaughter.  “It had already been 100 years and no sign of (the Hunley). So we certainly never expected this."

"We don't have any photographs of James Wicks. We do have a photograph of his daughter, Mary Eliza, one of his daughters."  McMahon was named after her great grandmother, the oldest of Wicks’ four daughters.

Long before the Hunley was raised from the Atlantic Ocean in 2000, Wicks’ modern-day relatives collected information about their famous ancestor.  In the mid-1970’s, Hope Barker began researching the family tree of her husband, Al Barker, Wicks’ great great grandson.

"I just sent for the death certificate of James Wicks' daughter and got her name and birth,” says Hope Barker.  “And it said her father was James A. Wicks, and the mother. And then I went to the census records… this is like putting a historical jigsaw puzzle together."

The family legend of James Wicks turned into a story for the world to know when the Hunley was found in 1995, then romanticized in a Ted Turner-produced movie in 1999, and recovered off Sullivans Island the next year.

"Our feelings changed then from kind of excitement to be related to this celebrity, to a great pride, to know what he had actually done during the Civil War," says McMahon.

"I went to the (Friends of the Hunley) website and got a Hunley t-shirt,” says Al Barker.  “It said 'Hunley 1864.' And I would wear it around. It's amazing how many people would come up to me and actually knew more about it than I did."

"(Wicks was) brave, daring. I don't know if I could do that.  I don't know if I could confine myself (in the Hunley). I'm claustrophobic.  I don't know if I could confine myself in a can for that period of time, knowing that I might not make it back."

McMahon echoes the family’s admiration of their ancestor’s bravery and devotion.  "I don't know that I would've done that, especially with 4 children. You know, he had 4 little daughters. That's a lot to give for your cause."

Nearly thirty of Wicks’ relatives will be at Saturday’s funeral, some coming from as far away as California.

"The flag from James Wicks' casket will be given to me, and I will present that to one of the officials to be used in the museum, which eventually will open (in North Charleston)," says McMahon.  “When actually we see the casket and see him laid to rest, I can imagine there will be tears, even though of course it was so long ago.  He was still our relative."

“I think that then, the excitement and pride will be very emotional at that point, I think, knowing that this is our flesh and blood."