How Memorial Day Began
General John A. Logan of Southern Illinois, one time resident of Franklin
County, was making a speech near a soldiers grave under an apple tree when some
bloosoms fell on the grave. This gave him an idea of decoration soldiers' graves.
On May 5, 1868, Logan asked the United States Congress to set apart May
30th for the purpose of strewing flowers or otherwise decorating the graves
of comrades, who died in defense of their country in the late rebellion.
Decoration or Memorial Day, thousands of people spend hundreds of dollars for
flowers to decorate soldiers' graves and those of their loved ones. Perhaps that
thought makes the past more meaningful and the living more appreciative.
This story was told by Mrs. Logan to a relative, John A. Logan, who lived
in Benton. Mrs. Logan worked hard to get Memorial Day passed.
["The Heritage of Franklin Co., ILL."]
The First Memorial Day
Newsclipping found in my **great grandmother's
scrap book…Sheila Cadwalader
(**Maude Idyal Ingram Moore of Franklin County, IL)
By Mabel Thompson Rauch
On a sunny spring day seventy-one years ago remnants of some of the strife-torn
families dwelling in the heart of "Little Egypt" joined in ceremony to heal the
ill feeling between the Blue and the Gray and to "bind up the wounds of the
living." Carbondale a small town nestling amid the rolling hills of the Southern
Illinois Ozarks, cherishes the honor of having held the first Decoration Day
celebration ever observed in our country.
On the afternoon of April 5, 1867, a gathering of the leading citizens of the
town headed by a brass band playing patriotic airs marched from the public
square out East Main street to Woodlawn cemetery. There a formal program
was presented.
The principal speaker of the day was Gen. John A Logan, "Black Hawk Logan," the
famous Civil War commander,who was then a resident of Carbondale. This occasion
was fully a year before his General Order No. 11 which, as Commander- in -Chief of
the Grand Army of the Republic, he issued on May 5, 1868, asking that May 30 be
used for the decoration of the graves of soldiers. Gen. Logan later succeeded in
having this date set aside as Memorial Day. But at this first local celebration
there was no thought that it would later become a national institution observed
by all for departed relatives and friends.
The town was peculiarly situated. While Illinois was northern and had declared
for the Union, Little Egypt was torn asunder by its loyalties. This southern
section of the state had been settled in the early days by the overflow from
Kentucky and Tennessee. Though no slaves were held, the majority of the
population's sympathies were with the South to which they were so closely linked
by blood and custom. The war had caused more than the usual suffering and
heartaches in this border-line part of the country. Many families were rent by
opposing convictions - one son going south to fight with the southern troops,
another joining up with the North.
At the beginning of the war a company of southern sympathizers had been raised
in an adjoining town and serious trouble was narrowly avoided when the loyal
townspeople learned of the secret movement. On May 24, 1861, this band through
strategy was able to reach southern territory without bloodshed. At Mayfield,
Ky.,they united with Company G of the One Hundred and Fifteenth Regiment,
Tennessee Volunteers, and fought under Gen. Cheatham. At the close of the
rebellion the survivors, about half the company, returned home and were living
among their former enemies in Little Egypt.
The war was now past and while no more blood was being shed by violence, the
hearts of the living were still bleeding. Many who went had never returned; many
had been sent back for burial in the town cemetery; old friends and neighbors
were unable to forget their bitterness. Logan, himself, had suffered from the
sectional differences within his own family.
And then came this thought,"To meet together, to carry flowers and lay them on
the graves of the lost loved ones, this would help to bind up the wounds of the
living."
The townspeople had first planned the ceremony for April 4, but the weather not
permitting, the celebration was held on the following day, Sunday. Several of
the younger people who took part in the events of that time are still alive, and
it is due to the remarkable memory of my aunt, Mrs. M. M. Thompson of
Carbondale, that the happenings of that first Memorial Day have become alive
and vivid.
At this time she was Miss Jeanette Ward, a young girl of 15. In the company with
five other girls from some of the prominent families, she was invited to help
prepare the flowers and be a part of the official procession. It is remarkable
that after a lapse of seventy years, four of the lovely young girls who played
leading roles in the ceremonies of that day are still alive. They are Mrs.
Jeanette Ward Thompson, Mary Hindman Brush, Julia Hill Amon , Laura Cole
Pope. Mrs. Julia Brush Bridges and Sophronia Roberts Parsons are the two
members of the group who have passed away.
These girls were invited on this day to the mansion of Col. H. D. Brush , a
leading citizen of the town, and entertained at a dinner held at noontime. One
of the six was his own daughter. My aunt remembers it was a very grand dinner
served in elaborate style by several servants, and a thrilling affair for young
girls reared in the seclusion of early-day homes in a small country town.
Col. Brush maintained extensive gardens and grounds kept in high style by his
English gardener. Rings fifteen inches in diameter had been cut from sheet
copper. The colonel gathered his choicest flowers with which the girls
converted the rings into beautiful wreaths, one to be placed on the grave of
each soldier at Woodlawn.
"I recollect the day as if it were yesterday," said Aunt Jennie, "the attractive
grounds, we girls arranging the fragrant spring flowers, and the warm sunshine
beaming like a benediction over all. The girls were all pretty - oh, not like
the girls of today, of course, but lovely with a sweet wholesome naturalness. We
all wore full-skirted dresses of sheer white, and our slender waists were girded
with wide ribbon sashes of delicate shades. I remember we were all much
impressed with the honor of being entertained at this dinner and the solemnity
of the occasion.
When the procession, under the direction of Capt. E. J. Ingersoll, reached
Woodlawn the exercises were held at the head on the grave of Capt. H. L.
Bowyer. Gen. Logan stood facing the north as he spoke to his assembled
friends and neighbors. There was not a dry eye in the entire crowd; the war
had touched their lives too poignantly; each had lost some close relative or
friends - some fighting for the northern cause, some for the South.
The ceremonies opened with a prayer by Jacob Cole. He was chaplain of the
Illinois Thirty- first, Logan's own famous volunteer regiment. Gen. Logan's
speech was inspired and full of glowing patriotism. It was at this time, in
speaking of the supreme sacrifice made by these soldiers sleeping so peacefully
in this little country graveyard, that Logan coined the phrase,
"Every man's life belongs to his country."
After the speaking and singing the crowd scattered among the graves and a
wreath was laid upon each soldier's resting place. All were decorated, no
matter under which flag the men had fought. The six young girls who had
prepared the garlands were assisted by thirty children between the
ages of 8 and 10.
Mrs. George Bowyer, who still lives in Carbondale, was one of these more
youthful flower bearers. She remembers that they carried baskets of flowers,
marching among the graves and strewing them upon the grassy mounds as they
passed. Her husband is also one of the few among those yet living who heard
Logan speak that memorable day.
The success of the occasion did so much toward softening the bitterness
remaining from the war days that immediately following it plans were discussed
for a permanent Memorial Day to be held each year. The 30th of May was
tentatively agreed upon. It was more suitable because in the late spring a
greater quantity of flowers would be in bloom than upon the earlier date,
especially in case of unseasonable weather.
The following year, on May 5, 1868, Gen. Logan formally issued his famous
General Order No. 11, officially designating May 30 "for the purpose of
strewing flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in
defense of their country during the late rebellion, a nd whose bodies now
lie in every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land."
Today, seventy-one years have passed since that time. There are the graves of
the honored dead from two later wars to be decorated. It has grown into a
nationwide custom of our entire country to remember the resting places of all
upon May 30, not only those who fell in wartime battles, but those others who
fall in the peacetime battle of life.
And as Logan said in that order, " Let… no ravages of time testify… to the
coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and
undivided Republic."
As for the rest of us, that first Memorial Day was held not only to honor the
dead, but to "bind up the wounds of the living."
Submitted by: Sheila Cadwalader
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