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Civil War - G.A.R. Memorial and Decoration services 1885
VETERANS
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.
[G. A. R.]
[NOTE: There is material in the old newspapers relative to members of the Grand Army of the Republic, including women who dressed like soldiers. Little by little I have begun to put some of these articles in various files pertaining to the G. A. R. This file begins with the first big celebration in Cowley County of “Memorial Services” for our honored dead. The speeches given on this occasion strike me as being very special and containing statistical information relative to the “War of the Rebellion” as it was known during that time span and later referred to as the “Civil War.” I have also added data furnished to me by Jerry Wallace from a later paper covering cemeteries in the Winfield area. MAW February 10, 2001]
MEMORIAL AND DECORATION SERVICES.
The Program Entire as Adopted by Winfield Post No. 85, G. A. R.
Winfield Courier, Thursday, May 14, 1885.
Post commander and comrades of Winfield Post No. 85, G. A. R.: Your committee appointed to report to the Post a program for memorial and decoration services submit the following as their report.
1st. The committee recommend the following as the order of services for Memorial Day, Sunday, May 24th, 1885.
That there be memorial services held in the 1st Baptist church of the city of Winfield on Sunday morning, May 24, at 11 a.m., and that this Post, with visiting comrades and all old soldiers, with their families, be requested to attend said services and that Dr. Kirkwood, of the Presbyterian church, be requested to deliver the address or sermon at said time and place, and that memorial services be held in the Methodist Episcopal church in the evening of said day, the address to be delivered by Rev. J. H. Reider, and that the Post march in column from their hall to each service.
The following committees are suggested to carry the above recommendations into effect.
Committee of 3 on procuring churches.
Committee of 3 on procuring speakers.
Committee of 3 on decorating churches.
Committee of 3 on seating and ushering.
Decoration services May 30th, 1885.
The Post to meet at their hall at 9½ o’clock a.m., and immediately thereafter to send committee of three to Vernon township to assist the citizens in decoration of soldiers’ graves at Vernon Center cemetery. A committee of five to decorate the graves in the Catholic cemetery; also a committee of five to decorate the soldiers’ graves in the cemetery south of the city. These committees to perform their duty and immediately thereafter to report themselves to the Post commander.
At one o’clock p.m., an address in the Opera House by Rev. H. Kelly, with appropriate music.
At 2 p.m., the parade will form on Main street facing west, the right resting on 10th avenue.
1st, twelve little girls dressed in white and twelve little boys with blue jackets and caps with flowers in the van.
2nd, Winfield Courier band.
3rd, Visiting Posts, Winfield Post, old soldiers not members of Post, ambulances with disabled soldiers and Woman’s Relief Corps and wagons with flowers, in the order named.
2nd division, Winfield Union Cornet band, Company C, State Guards, 1st Light Artillery, Kansas National Guards, Winfield Fire Department.
3rd division, Adelphia Lodge, Winfield Chapter, Winfield Commanders, Winfield Council, Winfield Lodge, K. of H., Winfield Council, No. 5, N. U., Winfield Lodge, No. 18, A. O. U. W., Winfield Lodge, No. 16, S. K., Winfield Lodge No. 101, I. O. O. F., Chevalier Dodge, No. 70, K. of P., Winfield Lodge No. 20, I. O. G. T., and W. C. T. U.
4th division, Winfield Juvenile Cornet Band, Mayor and city authorities and citizens.
Line of March to Cemetery.
Line of march, north on Main street to Eighth avenue; east on Eighth avenue to Harter street; north on Harter street to Fifth avenue; east on Fifth avenue to Michigan Avenue, in Highland Park, and thence north to cemetery. The services in the cemetery to be held on the mound in the center of the cemetery. The officers conducting the manual services of the G. A. R. and Miss Campbell, who will recite the original poem to be on said mound; the comrades and soldiers to be formed in double rank around the drive-way next to said mound. After the poem and manual services by the G. A. R., the twelve little girls and boys and a detail of twelve veterans with baskets of flowers will follow by the column and proceed to first decorate the soldiers graves in the southwest portion of the cemetery, then in the northwest portion, then in the northeast, and then in the southeast.
The committee recommend that the Post Commander command the column and appoint such assistant commanders and aid de camps as he may desire.
We recommend that the committee on securing tombstones from the national government be appointed a committee and be ordered to secure small, white headboards, and have the name of the dead soldiers in our cemeteries, with company and regiment printed thereon, and placed at each grave not so marked, first obtaining the consent of the family of the deceased soldier, and to also mark each grave with a flag of the United States.
The committee would further recommend that the Post Commander appoint an executive committee of five, who shall have the power to appoint all sub-committees to carry this of the programme that may be adopted into effect.
The committee suggest the following committees for Decoration Day:
Committee of three on Invitation.
Committee of three on Music.
Committee of three on Procuring Children.
Committee of ten on Flowers.
The committee would further recommend that the Woman’s Relief Corps be most cordially invited to cooperate with us, and that they be requested to act with us on our committees.
Your committee further recommends that the Mayor of the city be asked to request, by proclamation, our businessmen to close their places of business from 1 to 3:30 P. M., on Saturday, May 30th, and participate in decoration services.
Respectfully submitted in F. C. & L.
T. H. SOWARD, J. J. CARSON, H. H. SIVERD, A. H. LIMERICK.
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Committee on Invitation: J. S. Hunt, chairman, J. B. Nipp, J. C. Long.
On churches: E. S. Wilson, chairman, T. H. Elder, D. S. Sherrard.
On speakers: S. C. Smith, chairman, F. S. Pickens, W. E. Tansey, J. M. Fahnestock.
On decorations: A. B. Arment, chairman, B. J. States, W. H. Cayton.
On music: Geo. H. Crippin, chairman, F. E. Blair, J. E. Snow.
Seating and ushering: H. H. Siverd, chairman, John Flint, J. N. Fleharty.
Committee on girls and boys: F. H. Bull, chairman, J. A. McGuire, E. A. Baird.
On marking graves: Samuel Parkhurst, chairman, Wm. Sanders, B. B. Wells.
On Flowers: D. L. Kretsinger, chairman, W. W. Painter, J. W. Millspaugh, F. M. Lacy, J. C. Roberts, Adam Stuber, M. S. Scott, J. W. Fenway, H. H. Harbaugh, Farnsworth, D. L. McRoberts.
Decoration of Catholic Cemetery: T. J. Harris, S. Parkhurst, Ed. Haight, Jno. Gill.
Decoration of Vernon Center Cemetery: H. H. Siverd, W. W. Painter, J. W. Millspaugh, Thos. Thompson, J. M. Householder.
By order of T. H. SOWARD, J. J. CARSON, H. H. SIVERD, A. H. LIMERICK. T. A. BLANCHARD, Executive Com.
The Chairman of each subordinate committee is requested to report to the Chairman of the Executive Committee, at the Court House, for instructions, not later than Thursday next, and any comrade on the committees who cannot serve will please report to the Executive Committee at once. T. T. SOWARD, Chairman. H. H. SIVERD, Secretary.
Winfield Courier, Thursday, May 21, 1885.
Notice is hereby given that during decoration services on May 30th, 1885, no teams will be allowed on the grounds of the Winfield Cemetery Association except the ambulance wagon, and the public are respectfully requested to keep off the mound in the center of the grounds and the lots of private individuals.
H. S. Silvers, Pres. of Board. Attest: W. G. Graham, Secretary.
Winfield Courier, Thursday, May 21, 1885.
The executive committee, “Grand Army of the Republic,” have appointed the undersigned committee to decorate the graves of soldiers buried at Vernon cemetery, May 30, 1885: H. H. Siverd, W. W. Painter, J. W. Millspaugh; J. M. Householder, and Thomas Thompson. Comrade W. W. Painter will receive flowers and make all necessary arrangements, and friends are requested to furnish him the names, rank, and regiment of deceased soldiers. The public are invited to meet the committee at the above named cemetery not later than 9 o’clock a.m., May 30. H. H. Siverd, Chairman.
ATTENTION COMRADES AND SOLDIERS.
Winfield Courier, Thursday, May 21, 1885.
To all old soldiers and friends of soldiers in Pleasant Valley township: You are respectfully invited to be present at the South Cemetery on May 30, at 9:30 sharp, to take part in the decoration service to be held at that place. All that can are requested to furnish flowers and wreaths for the occasion. Any flowers from Pleasant Valley prior to decoration will be thankfully received at Harris & Clark’s office.
By order of committee, T. J. Harris, Chairman.
Winfield Courier, Thursday, May 21, 1885.
The committee on decorating churches for memorial services, Sunday, May 24, request all who have cedar or arborvitae trees or hedges, and who can contribute cuttings, to deliver them at Arment’s furniture store, or at the Methodist or Baptist church, Saturday, by 2 o’clock. A. B. Arment, Chairman.
Winfield Courier, Thursday, May 21, 1885.
The Woman’s Relief Corps held an interesting meeting at their hall Wednesday afternoon, and made appropriate preparations for assistance in the ceremonies of Decoration and Memorial ceremonies. These days promise this year to be among the most notable Winfield has ever had.
MEMORIAL DAY!
Its Grandly Appropriate Celebration in Winfield—A Truly Memorable Day.
LOYALTY, ABILITY, TASTE!
Grand Sermons, Sublime Music, Lovely Decorations And Immense Attendance.
THE G. A. R. AND W. R. C. SCORE A BIG SUCCESS.
Winfield Courier, Thursday, May 28, 1885.
Winfield celebrated Memorial Day in a truly memorable manner. It was a perfect May day, cool, calm and bright, and all nature was at her loveliest. And the exercises, inaugurated and conducted by the Grand Army and Woman’s Relief Corps, in honor of the country’s dead heroes, were as perfect and enchanting as the day itself.
Long before the hour of morning services, standing room was unattainable in the Baptist church. The G. A. R. and Woman’s Relief Corps met at their hall and marched to the church, over a hundred strong, where seats had been reserved for them. The floral decorations were lovely. Over the pulpit, embowered in evergreens, were the portraits of Lincoln, Garfield, and Lyon, embellished with stars and the words, “Im Memory of our Dead Heroes.” On either side hung the stars and stripes, while at the left of the pulpit stood a marble monument, festooned with crape and wreathed with flowers. The front of the pulpit was a perfect sea of beautiful flowers and plants; all the decorations exhibiting the taste and energy of the ladies of the Woman’s Relief Corps. The music, vocal and instrumental, was sublime. The national airs by the cornet orchestra, Messrs. Crippen, Roberts, Bates and Shaw, with Miss Lola Silliman, organ accompanist, thrilled the audience and elicited the highest praises. “There is one vacant chair” and “Lincoln’s Funeral March” were especially fine. The music to the latter was rearranged for the orchestra by Mr. Crippen and as rendered by them stands absolutely unexcelled. The strains were as low, sweet, and perfect as though wafted from fairy land. The selections of the choir, Mrs. J. S. Mann, Miss Lena Walrath, and Messrs. Buckman and Silliman, with Miss Silliman at the organ, also exhibited unique musical taste and ability. “Rest, Soldier, Rest,” by Sargeant, and “Cover them over with Beautiful Flowers,” one of Will Carleton’s most beautiful poetic productions, were rendered entrancingly. Rev. B. Kelly and Rev. J. H. Reider assisted in the pulpit exercises.
The Memorial address was delivered by Dr. W. R. Kirkwood. For depth of thought, pathos, polish, and practical application, it shines as a diamond. With much pleasure THE COURIER presents it in full.
REV. KIRKWOOD’S ADDRESS.
And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordon, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the Children of Israel, saying, “When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, what mean these stones?
“Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordon as dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordon before you, until ye passed over, as the Lord your God from before us, until we were gone over: that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty; that ye might fear the Lord your God forever.” Joshua iv:20-24.
In the sermon I am called to preach today it is necessary to revert to matters which, of necessity, are painful to many—may I not say to all? Yet more painful to some than to others.
I trust you will remember I am to deal with historical facts, and the lessons they teach; that the facts stand out in bold relief and cannot be changed; that the lessons follow necessarily, and are of the gravest importance for all, now and hereafter. I trust you will be candid enough to believe that I do the work before me in no spirit of bitterness, but only in the spirit of reverence for the truth, regard for the best interests of posterity, and kindliness to all.
It is always becoming to erect memorials of past deliverance. They serve to keep the memory green in the hearts of posterity, and awaken gratitude to the God of providence and grace. With the deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, and their safe conduct to their own land, you are all tolerably familiar. That the memory of this deliverance was devoutly cherished, you know. That they set up memorials thereof, you know.
It seems to me, under the present circumstances that this instance of their building a memorial pillar furnishes a good foundation for the lessons I wish to teach today. We, as a people, have passed through a great and bitter trial and it is fitting that our deliverance should be properly remembered. Of this, what memorials are set among us?
1. The cemeteries owned by the general government, where sleep the long lines of soldiers who died in behalf of the great republic.
2. The cemeteries in which are graves marked by the stones bearing the insignia of war, and the dates of service rendered by the men who sleep beneath the sod.
3. The day, annually observed as Decoration day, wherein the people gather in companies to wreath the graves of the dead heroes with flowers and evergreens.
4. The Grand Army of the Republic, composed of the men who survived the tremendous strife, but whose members are fast diminishing, and of whom the last will soon be gone.
5. The legislation growing out of that long struggle and its results.
6. The written histories which tell the story of the strife as it was seen and felt in the hour of the nation’s agony.
Of these, there comes before us today, more especially, the cemeteries, the Grand Army, and Decoration day.
Of what are these memorials significant to us who yet do our work in the world, and to the posterity, which is rising to take our places?
Do they mean no more than to remind us of the strife of brute force, and victory won by those who could stand the struggle longest without breaking down? Is that all? Then, they are nothing worth maintaining. If that be all, they simply point to the apotheosis of physical courage and prowess.
But that is not all. That is only the last, and very least, thing they are designed to commemorate. First of all, they point back to the evils of unsound principles, of false teaching. It is perhaps unavoidable that, in the present condition of humanity, false principles should be held by many, and that these should be taught by those who hold false principles and teach them and are aware always of the falsity of their principles. Beyond a doubt, many hold and teach false principles under a profound conviction of their truth. But while such conviction may, in some degree, excuse, it can never justify the person who makes the mistake. We are under obligation to know and do right, and, failing therein, we are under obligation to suffer for doing wrong.
Of the false principles to which I refer, there are three which specially deserve to be named.
1. That the slavery of the black race existed by Divine warrant, and was therefore right: a part of the constitution of nature.
2. That the government of the United States was only a federal compact, existing by the will of the sovereign states. From this, two conclusions necessarily followed, viz: (a) The individual citizen owed supreme allegiance to his state, and only a subordinate, or secondary, allegiance to the government of the United States. (b) That, when they chose, any of the states had the right to withdraw from the federal compact; peaceably, if they could; by force, if necessary.
3. That the right of the few was to rule; of the many, to be ruled. In other words, the principle of blue blood—of oligarchy, of empire.
These were the three great principles which lay at the foundation of the rebellion of 1861-1865. I am not now to argue them. The argument has been made. The case has been decided. I call them false, not only on the ground of sound logic, but because a higher logic than that of schools, senate chambers, and equity courts—the logic of events in the march of Providence, has proven these false. Yet the memorials before us today require us to look back, to remember the time when they were held by a large proportion of the American people to be true.
They were taught in our schools. The boys in many of our colleges, with their Greek Testaments in their hands, were taught that the prophets of Jehovah inculcated the doctrine of slavery as the proper condition of a large portion of the human race. “Of course,” it was admitted, “there were abuses of slaves, but the principle of slavery was essentially right.” This doctrine was reiterated in theological seminaries. It was advocated in church courts. It was taught in the newspaper press. It was upheld in periodicals aspiring to the dignity of Reviews. It was taught on the platform by political leaders. It was upheld in congress. It was embodied in legislation—that of the nation, and also of many of the states. It was sustained by the courts.
In the same manner the doctrine of state rights—state sovereignty—was taught though it never figured so broadly in the church courts. It was held in the North and South, in the East and West, and was earnestly advocated by a very large proportion of the people. It was the fundamental doctrine of sectionalism. In the South, especially, a citizen was, first of all, proud of his state; next, of the South; and last, and least, of the fact that he was a citizen of the great republic.
The right of the few to vote—the fundamental principle of empire—never came so clearly to the surface during the days of debate. It lay not dormant, but carefully hidden from the public eye, except in so far as it was manifested by the assumptions and conduct of those who held it. It was held as firmly, and nursed, in a quiet way, and its vitality and power were no less than those of the other principles named.
On these doctrines there was a division among the people from the first.
There was an ever-increasing number who believed the principle of slavery to be wrong. Their convictions gained in power with every passing year. And, as they saw the hold of the false principles upon the minds of many, they were filled with profound anxiety for the future of the republic.
So, too, in regard to the doctrine of state sovereignty, there was a large, and ever growing number, who denied the correctness of the principle—who believed that the general government—the United States—was supreme; that the United States was not a confederacy of nations, but a nation—ONE nation, and that therefore supreme allegiance was due from every citizen to the national government; and that there was no shadow of ground for the doctrine of the right of secession whether proposed by Massachusetts or South Carolina.
For the principle of empire, there was always an overwhelming majority against it, and it was never openly debated; and yet, for a long period, those who held it ruled the affairs of the republic. Up to 1860, “No president of any party had ever been elected who was opposed to their supremacy.”
As early as 1787, the question of slavery began to emerge as a grave factor in political affairs. As the years passed debate waxed loud and warm. A temporary check was imposed by the adoption of the Missouri Compromise in 1820—a measure proposed by Senator J. B. Thomas, of Illinois, and supported by Mr. Clay. Before 1882, the doctrine of state sovereignty began to make itself heard and feared by thoughtful men. Without tracing the history, it is enough to say that, through after years, these questions grew more and more absorbing until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise on the 30th of May, 1854, when they became the burning questions, and the people of the nation rapidly arranged themselves on the one side or on the other.
At length there came a time when it was evident that debate could settle nothing: that it could not end the strife or allay the rising tide of feeling. Majorities could not do it. Both debate and majorities embittered rather than calmed the public fever.
Meanwhile, the leaders of those who held by the principles of slavery, state sovereignty, and empire, acting in accordance therewith, determined to destroy the existing United States government. To do this, they made appeal to the highest court—the court of Almighty God. The courtroom was the battlefield. The pleadings were made with the sword. It may well be doubted, if they had known the men they were to meet in that pleading, whether they would have undertaken it. Yet who can tell? Most of them were brave men, who had long been accustomed to rule, and who had never been taught to fear consequences. What might have been, we know not. What was, we know. The appeal was made. The trial was long, fearful, terrible. It was the struggle of Titans. But it ended. The court of last resort gave its decision. By that decision, slavery was wrong—is wrong; the doctrine of state sovereignty is wrong; the principle of empire is wrong. The court ruled that freedom for all men is right; that supreme allegiance is due to the nation and its government; that a “government of the people, for the people, by the people” is right. And that doctrine was sealed in blood at Appomattox, on the 9th of April, 1865.
There are men who talk of violations of the constitution by the legislation of congress touching these great principles, since the controversy was decided. But such men should remember that the Supreme Court of the Universe has passed upon these questions, and has written on the principles of slavery, state sovereignty in the Southern sense, and empire, “Mene, mene, Yekel Upharsin.” They have been weighed in the scales of stainless, perfect justice, found wanting, and cast out. There is no place for them in the constitution. There is no place for them in legislation. There is no place for them in the rulings of earthly courts. They are legally dead by the judicial decision from which there is no appeal. And the man who seeks to revive them by teaching in the schools, the churches, the platform, the press, or in legislative halls, is guilty of a crime against his fellow-men so heinous that the human mind is not mighty enough to measure its enormity.
Gentlemen, on appeal of these principles by their advocates to Almighty God by wager of battle—an appeal recognized in all ages as the highest and the last—the appellants lost their cause!
The constitution of the United States has been amended on these points—and so amended that its intent can never be mistaken—by the Lord God of Hosts. And woe, woe to the men who shall seek to tamper with, or nullify the amendments.
Of these principles, their evil influence, the appeal to God, the decision rendered, and the amendment to the constitution thereby, these graves, this fragment of the Grand Army, this Decoration day, in which the graves of the men who died in the strife are strewn with flowers, are memorials.
They are memorials also of the terrible cost of the trial.
Under the circumstances, I may well be excused for omitting more than a mere mention of the pecuniary cost. Vast as it was, it is the most insignificant item in the cost of the trial. And, vast as we know it to be, I doubt if many have any conception—any definite conception—of its real vastness. We have government reports of direct expenses; but we have no authentic knowledge of the cost to the South in money and in the destruction of property. Nor can we more than estimate the cost of taking nearly four millions of men in the flower of their age, and, for four years, making them destroyers instead of producers. All these belong to the pecuniary cost of the trial.
But leaving this, we have to face an item of cost that is appalling. I mean the cost in men.
On the side of the government there were enlisted 2,850,132 men. On the confederate side, the best estimates show an aggregate of 1,100,000 men—a total of 3,950,132 men called to the battlefield.
Of these there died, during the war, on the side of the government, 304,366. The number discharged from service for disability, caused by wounds or chronic disease, was 285,545—an aggregate of killed and disabled men amounting to more than half a million. It is fair to estimate the confederate loss on the same scale, which gives that loss at more than a quarter of a million men. That is to say, the cost of this trial, which grew out of the teachings of false principles, was, in killed and wounded men alone, more than three-quarters of a million—nearly one in four of all enlisted men—a number equal to the population of this great State in 1870, twice told; nearly equal to its population in 1880. Imagine, if you can, the engine of death let loose in our State until four-fifths of our population are dead or maimed, and you may get some idea of what these frightful numbers mean.
But measure the cost in this particular, you must not stop with the fact of death. You must take into account the sufferings borne by these men. Stricken in battle, they lay where they fell, while brigades and divisions charged back and forth over their mangled forms, and the roar of cannon, the peal of musketry, the shriek of shot and shell, drowned the groans and cries of the wounded and dying. There they lay in agonies unutterable, racked with pain, burning with the fever of their wounds, parching with thirst, and no hand to help them till the battle was done. They were bearing the agonies of death, and they were fathers whose children were far from them; they were husbands whose wives were mourning in sorrowful homes; they were sons and brothers going through the gates of death in awful pain, with no mother or sister near to wipe the death damps from their brows—to moisten their burning tongues with a drop of water, to breathe a prayer for their parting souls, or press a farewell kiss upon their lips—they were dying, and oh, who would care, in the stormy days, for those they left behind?
And when the battle was done, there was the gathering of the wounded, the fresh agony of removal, the keener agony under the saws and scalpels of the surgeons, and the long suffering in the hospitals. More yet: there were the prisoners—let me leave the veil over the scenes and sufferings of that prison life. Nor can I tell the utter woe of widowed wives, of orphaned children, of childless parents made by this fearful struggle. When you take all this in, you have the framework for the picture of the sufferings which this trial of these principles, by battle, cost. Can you fill it out? Can you bring it full before your minds? Neither the pen of Dante nor of Shakespeare could write it in full. The pencil of a Raphael could not paint it. No words of mortal man could utter all its horror. Shrouded in appalling gloom, it must remain forever untold, untellable, in its awful weight of woe.
And you are never to forget this cost. It is to be remembered forever and forever, as the cost of the trial and condemnation of the false principles which produced it. You are to tell it to your children, with its causes. It is an everlasting part of the heritage you are to transmit to them. We are sometimes told that all this dreadful past is to be buried; and left in oblivion. Bury it? Leave it in oblivion? Never! Never! If you do, you are unworthy of the trust committed to you by the dead hands that lie folded in silent graves today—committed to you, rather by the immortal spirits that passed from earth in the storm on battle plains—no; rather, committed to your hands by Almighty God who, through this awful trial, passed sentence of condemnation on the wrong—sentence from which there is no appeal—sentence to be remembered forever and forever; and in doing so, committed to your hands the principles of righteousness, to be held and transmitted in perpetuity to your children.
But why remember it? Why perpetuate the memory?
Because it conveys lessons of vital importance to posterity.
1st. The first lesson is the danger of holding and teaching false principles. They always develop into practice. The founders of our Republic, though they believed slavery wrong, yet could not agree to cast it out. They incorporated it in the constitution of 1787. Out of its necessities grew the doctrine of states rights as taught by Mr. Calhoun. Out of the form of society to which it gave birth, grew the idea of empire. The dragon’s teeth were again sown on the fair fields of America, as of old on those of Greece, and the men of our generation reaped the harvest of armed men and slaughter and blood on a hundred battlefields. Let it never be forgotten that evil principles beget evil conduct, and the result is proportionate suffering and sorrow; and let the memory of this great calamity stand, pointing posterity to the lesson.
2nd. Another lesson, equally important, to which it points, and for which it should be remembered, is the peril of blind adherence to party, and blind following of partisan leaders. In the south where the war began, there were not more than three hundred thousand (300,000) slave-holders, out of an entire white population of 8,000,000. Of these, only a small number were prominent as leaders. Yet, by long custom, they held the power, and, as I have already said, “up to 1860, no president had been elected from any party who was opposed to their supremacy.”
But suppose the people had been readers in the true sense of the word. Suppose that instead of reading what would tend to make them only more bitter partisans, and therefore the easier dupes of partisan leaders, they had read both sides of the questions at issue, seeking to find the truth—the right. Suppose this—would the course of affairs have been the same? Could it have been the same? I do not hesitate to say that if such reading had been done by the people, north and south, the war would have been an impossibility. But instead of this, most of the people read only their own partisan papers, saw only one side, thought that side right, and never realized that there was another side, or that there was any peril until the storm broke. The southern leaders stigmatized everything contrary to their view, as incendiary, and it was shut out from southern people. The people of the north were hedged in by party lines, many of them so strongly that they could not see the other side, either of the principles involved in the war, or of the war itself. The result was “evil, only evil, and that continually.” The bondage to party was unworthy of men. It was more specially unworthy of those who, as descendants of the sires of 1876, called themselves freemen.
There must be parties and party leaders, but those parties are subordinate to the country and to the people, and the party leaders don’t own the people. Brethren, beware of renewed peril through this same partisan blindness. There is always danger of this. We are, under law, freemen. Let us keep our intellects, our judgment, free; and, maintaining our manhood, let us not permit any party to own us, and blind us, and use us for tools to accomplish the ends of partisan leaders. Our generation has suffered enough, both north and south, for our fathers and our own sins in this particular. Let us learn wisdom from the suffering, and teach that wisdom to our children. And let these young men who are yet but little past their majority, and these boys who are coming to it, as well, learn the lesson also.
The memory of the struggle which we recall today ought to grave in our hearts, as “with an iron pen and lead in the rock, forever,” this lesson, viz: That God observes evil, makes it return to plague those who work it, or lets it return upon their children to plague them, and overthrows it in just judgment, with bitter sufferings to those who are involved in it. The history of the world exhibits this lesson on every page. But today I need not call in other history for proof. The history we remember now, is the proof. The northern states owned no slaves; but they were part and parcel of a government that embodied slavery in its constitution. The northern people had no exalted ideas of state supremacy, but many of them advocated the doctrine as a party necessity, and many of their leaders, fully believed in it. Their teachings and their votes gave increased power to both evils. And the war gnawing out of these evils, smote the north with tremendous blows, while it literally overwhelmed the south. It was the judgment of God against evil principles and the wickedness arising therefrom. We are to remember that Jehovah is king of kings and Lord of lords; and that he punishes the wickedness of the wicked through their own devices. Yes, brethren, remember it all, and remember its lessons, and teach those lessons to posterity. Do so, not in arrogant pride and bitterness against the men of the south who inaugurated the war, but as men who have “passed under the rod,” who have been chastened with stripes by the Almighty for their complicity with the south in those wrongs prior to the war; and do it in charity for the people of the south, who suffered so much sorer chastisement than we of the north. Remember the agony, the lessons, solemnly, earnestly, reverently, faithfully; and teach them to coming generations in the like spirit, that good may arise from them through all time to come.
And now, at the appointed time, go to the cemeteries where the sleeping heroes lie. Let the shrilling fife and muffled drum sound the dirge; and, while it sounds, strew their graves with flowers whose fragrance is emblematic of the fragrance of their self-sacrifice upon the altar of their country. Wreathe the graves with evergreen, in token of the undying honor in which the nation, while it remains worthy of a place among the nations, must ever hold the memory of the sleepers. Plant the starry flag they loved so well, for whose preservation they died, whose folds their dead lips would yet kiss if they could—plant it on their graves, and let it wave in joy over their fame, streaming in the breeze, glittering in the sunshine; or, mourning over their loss, drooping its folds around the staff, let it weep, trickling with the tears of heaven—the summer rain. Give them all a soldier’s honors, ere you turn away. They deserve all. Peace be to their slumbering dust. But, let their memory live while men shall live on earth. Let them be had the everlasting honor.
IN THE EVENING.
As in the morning, all other services in the city gave way to participate in the Memorial exercises at the Methodist church. The church was filled from floor to gallery—so full that a long line extended to the sidewalk. The Grand Army and Woman’s Relief Corps again marched from their hall and occupied reserved seats. The floral decorations exhibited much labor and taste. At the rear of the pulpit was an arch bearing the inscription, “Fraternity, Loyalty, and Truth,” skirted by the stars and stripes. At either side and in the center were the portraits of Lincoln, Garfield, and Grant. The front of the pulpit was artistically festooned with garlands. Winfield’s pride in her musical culture is ticked on all occasions. The music on this occasion was of the highest order, from a quartette composed of Messrs. O. Branham, Chas. Slack, Louis Brown, and W. W. Jones. They had practiced together but very little, but their voices blended beautifully and their selections were very appropriate. Miss Mabel Kelly presided ably at the organ. The Crippen orchestra was again present to the delight of the audience, and by special request repeated “Lincoln’s Funeral March,” which repetition was even more highly appreciated than its first rendition. Rev. B. Kelly, Dr. Kirkwood, and Elder Myers assisted in the pulpit devotionals. Rev. J. H. Reider delivered the sermon, one bristling with scholarly, pithy points, and in the Reverend’s most eloquent and forcible manner. It is worthy a place in the mind and scrap book of every loyal citizen.
THE CLOSE.
At the close of the sermon, Dr. Kirkwood made a touching prayer for General Grant, that, should it be the will of heaven, his health be restored and he permitted to live many years yet in the country for whose happiness, safety, and prosperity he has done so much. But, should he be taken away, may his be a bright entrance to the pearly gates, and may the Lord be with the wife and children, pointing and encouraging them to a like eternity.
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GRAND ARMY.
Winfield Courier, Thursday, May 28, 1885.
The Grand Army will extend an invitation to the U. S. cavalry, should the three companies remain in camp here to participate in the exercises of Decoration Day. The officers have signified their willingness to accept. This will be a splendid feature of the procession and add interest to the whole ceremonies. Decoration Day promises to be one of the most notable in the history of Winfield.
DECORATION DAY!!
Winfield Celebrates it in a Grandly Appropriate Manner—A Perfect Day!
HONORS TO THE DEAD!
The Patriotic People of Cowley Turn Out En Masse—Music, Speeches, Etc.
A BIG DAY IN WINFIELD’S HISTORY.
Winfield Courier, Thursday, June 4, 1885.
Saturday was a grand day for Winfield. A brighter, calmer, or more lovely day was never seen; it was perfect. At an early hour the streets began to show unusual animation and by noon all was crowd and jam. People from everywhere were present to exhibit patriotism in honoring the fallen heroes. By one o’clock the Opera House was jammed full for the address of Rev. B. Kelly. The Grand Army and Woman’s Relief Corps marched in platoons and occupied reserved seats. The Cornet Orchestra and Messrs. Crippen, Roberts, Bates, and Shaw were again present to the delight of the audience. Among several beautiful selections, they again rendered “Lincoln’s Funeral March.” If there is a more sublime piece of music than this, as rendered by these gentlemen, it has never been heard. It arouses enthusiastic praises every time rendered. The vocal music by the quartette composed of Mrs. Fred Blackman, Miss Lizzie McDonald, and Messrs. Charles Slack and Louis Brown, accompanied by Miss Maude Kelly on the organ, was grand and appropriate. Their appearance on the rostrum is always an assurance of music unexcelled. The audience arose in prayer by Post Chaplain, A. B. Arment, when Rev. Kelly delivered his address. It was a magnificent production, and delivered with Mr. Kelly’s great enthusiasm, stirred the soul of every hearer, and brought forth loud and frequent applause. It is with much pleasure THE COURIER presents it in full.
REV. KELLY’S ADDRESS.
When Mr. Lincoln stood upon the battlefield of Gettysburg and participated in the dedication of the national cemetery, he said: “The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” He was in the presence of the graves of the fallen from eighteen different states. As the surviving members of the G. A. R. and citizens of the nation have met this day—not in the presence of the graves of the fallen from eighteen states—but of all the states of this great and mighty nation, the truth of Mr. Lincoln’s prophecy is confirmed.
The nation has not forgotten what was suffered, sacrificed, and accomplished more than twenty years ago. Forget the men who made the Declaration of Independence a reality? And that it was not written for Americans, but for men? Can we forget my brother in the presence of your empty sleeve; your sightless eye; your stiff and lamed limb? Can we forget in the presence of the tattered flags, so torn with shot and shell? Forget the great price paid for the nation’s life? Forget in the presence of the widows and orphans, whose loved ones cheer their homes and gladden their hearts no more? Forget the men who are not here, and who sleep at Richmond, Pittsburg Landing, Mission Ridge, Gettysburg, Andersonville, and a hundred battlefields? Forget the lonely hours where widows and mothers wait in sorrow and silence for a mere government pittance to buy their bread? Forget the cause which cost us such sacrifice?
Comrades, these things are too deeply chiseled in our memories. “If I forget thee O, Jerusalem!” We meet today, not only to crown the immortals—our fallen comrades—but to keep alive the principles of liberty and of human progress, for which they contended, and to evolve patriotism.
It is right that on this afternoon May day, we should lay aside the business and pleasures of life, and men and women and youth, and even children, should wander thoughtfully among the green mounds which mark the last resting place of our departed heroes and cover their graves with flowers. Some have objected to the continuance of this day. It is alleged that its continuance is irritating and alienating; keeps up the strife. This is not its object nor its effect. We proclaim, as the sentiment of this occasion, the immortal utterance of our martyred Lincoln: “With malice towards none, with charity for all.” And yet we do not mean to be sycophants. We shall not apologize for our past record. We are willing that all should look upon us when we gather around the graves of our comrades, and read in our manner, that we were honest and meant it, when we said, twenty-five years ago, “The Union must and shall be preserved, now and forever, one and inseparable.”
Let us decorate the graves of our fallen comrades. It does not mean war. It means peace. I firmly believe that if Decoration Day becomes universal and as generally kept in the nation as the Fourth of July, we shall never have another war. Let every devout heart pray to Almighty God to hasten the time when nations shall learn war no more.
Some say it is a waste of time and money that might otherwise go to the relief of the families of deceased soldiers. That looks right, but is it sincere? Does such a declaration come from the men who haul the largest loads of coal, or send the richest hams, or the purest flour to the home of the soldier’s widow? No. Men who make such objections intend to do no such thing. Their conduct strikingly reminds one of an incident in the life of the Savior. When Mary anointed His feet with precious ointment, Judas suggested that it was a waste and ought to have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor. I make no application. The men who inaugurated this custom of decoration are the men who founded the home for soldiers’ orphans, and the men who sustain this observance are the men who do the most for the soldiers and their families. Your presence here today, without regard to political, social, or personal distinctions, is the best assurance to me that no worthy soldier, their widow or orphans, will be forgotten. I rejoice in this occasion because its spirit overlooks the boundaries of artificial distinctions amongst men and recognizes the tie that binds us together as comrades. Various distinctions existed amongst the departed, but they were bound together, and we are bound to each of them by a common bond. Some of them were white and some were black. Some of them were natives of America and some of other lands. Some of them were Roman Catholics and some were Protestants, and many not connected with any church on earth. But as American citizens we cannot but feel today that every patriot soldier who gave his life for the republic was her worthy son, and our worthy brother.
All distinctions are this day modified or lost. The orphan daughter will decorate the grave of the colored soldier who fought and fell in the battle by the side of her father of a more delicate hue, and the protestant maiden will affectionately plant the wreathed cross at the head of the sleeping Catholic. By the undying love for freedom of all named, no less than by their anatomy, it may be known that “God hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth.”
Our first lesson for the observance of today is, “The brotherhood of man and the unity of a race.” Our second lesson is an increase of love for our country and appreciation of its worth.
By the recurrence of this day reflections are awakened in our minds of a very tender character. Throughout the preparation, the gathering of flowers, the twining of garlands, the procession, the music, the beautiful exercises of decoration, our minds are reverting to the past and contrasting it with the present. Parents are here who have given their all to this cause. Widows are here whose minds recall the happy hours when they were the honored brides of those whose graves we today adorn, and over which they will bend with aching hearts and tears of affection. Orphans are here who will remember their once dear father’s, and look mournfully on the graves covered with flowers. As they return to their homes their agonizing hearts will ask: “What have we for our sacrifice?” We point them to our national flag, rescued from dishonor, raised from the dust, and now floating proudly over a nation of freedmen, and say to them that by the blessing of God this is the work accomplished by your fathers and sons and husbands. We point them to a nation preserved, united, purified, and made stronger than it ever was before, and we say to them this is the temple of liberty, which by the blessing of God the hands of your sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers have built. The sacrifice was great; the loss beyond computation. But the richness of the heritage by them bequeathed to the millions who shall yet rise up and call them blessed justifies such a priceless expenditure. Yours is the honor of having given such soldiers to their country—of having saved the struggling republic.
Fellow-citizens, let me remind you of the obligation you owe to the surviving comrades of the fallen and of the families of those who gave their lives for you and yours. Over twenty years have passed since the last rebellious gun was fired. Through all these years thousands of soldiers have been enduring sickness and disease entailed upon them in the army days, and year by year life after life has yielded to them. Around us we see the sleeveless coat, the missing leg, the sightless eye. Oh, citizens! Young American brothers! Do you realize the fact that for you and yours these patriots suffered, endured, and died? If you do, you will see to it that the rights of the widows and orphans of these fallen men are protected and preserved. If you do, you will give your votes to soldiers in preference to others. If you do, you will see to it that no editor or speaker writes or speaks sneeringly of the pittance paid to disabled soldiers, their widows and orphans.
Ingratitude is always base. I trust it will not become our dishonor and sin. It seems to me that out of a right estimate of the value of a preserved, purified, and prosperous nation, and a just appreciation of the suffering and struggle through which it was secured, a never ceasing gratitude must arise. For the patriot dead this gratitude can be but a sentiment. For the loved ones behind, it can take practical form. For the patriot living, it demonstrated itself by active works for their comfort, benefit, and happiness.
Dear friends, the observation of this occasion is both commendable and appropriate. It is appropriate that we should observe it in the spring-time. This season is the fittest type of the Resurrection to which we so fondly look as the time when this precious dust by the almighty power of God shall be restored us, clothed with immortal life and beauty. It is fitting that we should strew flowers on the graves of our loved ones. They will fade and wither, but while they remain—by their beauty, delicacy, and sweetness they are the fittest gifts of love.
My comrades, how vividly all these war experiences come back to you today. On the dial of memory the hands are turned backward. You think of the days of pleasant companionship. You call back the admirable personal traits out of which grew brotherly regard and genuine love. The bond which common danger and suffering forged is again welded. The days which are gone, and the comrades who departed with them are here again recalled by these memorial services. Through your own service in the cause of freedom and the nation, and your untarnished record as faithful soldiers have you gained the right to wear the badge of the Grand Army of the Republic, for without such record you never could be mustered into its ranks. You well know the claims of your dead comrades to have their memories cherished, for you shared their trials, sufferings, and their glory.
They have gone, but their memories, patriotism, and achievements continue and will last as long as the republic lives. If these are forgotten, the nation ought to die. Let us hope that in the long years to come the proudest boast of the future American citizen will be that he can trace his lineage to one who fought, endured, and died that the nation might live with all its countless blessings for humanity. In thousands of cemeteries on this day are flowers strewn over the last resting places of the patriot dead, and we are guarding their memories by the proudest titles men ever bore.
Soldiers of the Republic! Comrades of the G. A. R., let us feel in ourselves the future life by deeds of kindness to each other. We are like a forest in which nearly two-thirds of the trees have been cut down. The winters have snowed their years upon us and we begin to fall. Comrades, let us say when we go down to the grave, I have finished my work! Not I have finished my life. The tomb is not a blind alley. It is a thoroughfare. It closes on the twilight to open on the dawn.
Heroes are waiting us from Bunker Hill, Yorktown, Antietam, Gettysburg, Richmond, Ft. Donaldson, Pittsburg Landing, Mission Ridge, Dallas, Atlanta—in short, from every battlefield of the Republic. When the great final roll-call shall occur, may we all so have lived that we shall be able to say, in the language of a great soldier: “I have fought a good fight—I have finished my course,” and be able to answer present.
The muffled drum’s sad roll has beat
The soldier’s last tattoo;
No more on life’s parade shall meet
These brave men and these true,
On Fame’s eternal camping ground
Their silent tears are spread,
And glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.
Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead,
Dear as the blood ye gave;
No impious footsteps here shall tread
The herbage of your grave;
Nor shall your glory be forgot,
While Fame her record keeps,
Or honor points the hallowed spot
Where valor proudly sleeps.
WOMEN OF THE RELIEF CORPS.
Mothers, wives, sisters, and lovers of the heroes of the Grand Army of the Republic—living and dead! What words or thought can I use that will properly present your devotion, sacrifice, loyalty and patriotism? We do not forget the time when your womanly hearts and patriotism nerved you to buckle on the sword, imprint the kiss of affection, and send us forth in defense of your country and for the protection of your homes and the interests of your children. We do not forget the tokens of love sent us to the camp and hospital—the letters, containing words of cheer and hope, and that seemed wet with the tears of affection. We know that every form of benevolence that woman’s heart and head could devise was developed and used for our comfort during the dark and stormy days of war. We are too manly and brave to forget or undervalue your work and sacrifice, or to think that the Rebellion could be put down without you, and know that when the proper history is written, it will appear that woman’s devotion, sacrifice, and work did as much to save the nation and the valor and courage of the men. And, now, in the tender, delicate, and arduous work you have willingly and enthusiastically undertaken to do, caring for and helping the needy, you have the blessing of God, the approval of all good men and angels, and the gratitude of the men who compose the G. A. R. May you all at last hear the Great Commander say, “She hath done what she could.”
THE PROCESSION.
At two o’clock the procession was formed and the march to the cemetery taken up. The order of march was as follows.
1st. The Courier Band, led by its handsomely caparisoned Drum-Major, J. E. Snow.
2nd. Winfield Post, G. A. R., with visiting Comrades and Co. C., State Guards.
3rd. The Winfield Juvenile Band.
4th. Twelve little girls dressed in white and twelve little boys, followed by flower wagons.
5th. Woman’s Relief Corps.
6th. Citizens.
7th. The Winfield Union Cornet Band.
8th. Winfield Fire Department.
The parade was in charge of Post Commander S. Cure and aid-de-camps, H. H. Siverd, J. J. Carson, A. H. Limerick, W. B. Caton, C. Trump, John Evans, and Dr. States.
The handsome uniforms of the Bands and Fire Department gave the parade fine display.
The line of march was north on Main street to Eighth avenue; east on Eighth avenue to Harter street; north on Harter street to Fifth avenue; east on Fifth avenue to Michigan avenue, in Highland Park, and thence north to cemetery.
The services in the cemetery were held on the center campus. The Beautiful Manual and ritualistic services of the Grand Army was here rendered, and Miss Florence Campbell delivered an original poem. Miss Campbell’s rendition exhibited culture and elicited high praise. It is a splendid production and speaks for itself. Here it is.
MISS CAMPBELL’S POEM.
And now, when roses are blooming,
When the world is all in tune,
When the air is heavy with fragrance,
And the garden’s all abloom;
When the fair young hand of summer,
O’er forest, field and plain,
Has heaped a thousand garlands,
Till nature’s wide domain
Is strewn with tinted blossoms.
We come to this place so blest,
And learn the magical meaning,
The beautiful lesson of rest.
In this quiet camp of the dead we stand,
Where no sentry paces his beat.
Nature’s deep silence the countersign
The “All’s Well,” the winds repeat.
As silent as thought the hours creep by,
Bringing their shade and shine
To many a grassy curtained tent,
Where our noble dead recline,
As billows the field before me,
So billows many a plain.
In unkept fields, by lone mountain side,
Are sleeping our noble slain.
The silence of a score of years,
Are whispering o’er the tomb
Of those who fell in battle
Amid the smoke and gloom;
Thinking of all those troublous days,
Thinking of naught beside,
I’ve drifted back through the sea of years,
On memory’s dreaming tide.
There are notes of martial music,
In a low, sad, minor strain,
Floating forever and ever,
Though unsettled, through my brain.
And I have caught the echo
Of freedom’s wordless song.
Swelling from thousand unseen throats,
To a chorus glad and strong.
Live a wild bird loosed from its cage.
It flies through the balmy air,
Each ear is a twig where it perches,
Each heart the warm nest where
It broods new chords and new fancies.
They, too, will soon take wing.
And to future generations
The noble song will sing.
We all are mediums to glean
These ghosts of sound from the air,
To interpret these loyal whispers,
That are floating everywhere.
“I’m tired of this soldier business;”
Oft times we hear it said,
By those who we urge to keep this day,
And honor our royal dead.
It seems to me there was time,
When ever a man but grew
So “tired of this soldier business,”
Yet, stood by his colors true.
Mid the clouds on Lookout Mountain,
When Sherman marched to the sea;
When Grant went on to Richmond,
When a Nation’s destiny
Hung wavering in the balance;
When hope well nigh expired,
On weary march, and in prison pen,
There were many heartily “tired.”
But grandly they proved to a bonded race,
A race oppressed, down trod,
That one man was a majority,
If he only stood with God.
To that one man give homage today,
His “soul is marching on.”
He was the vanguard of Liberty,
Brave, noble, old John Brown.
I think of those weary marches,
Of the stifling battle smoke.
Of the women waiting and watching,
Of the hearts that well nigh broke.
Again I return to the present hour,
From the misty realm of time,
And see before me those living ones
Who fought in that terrible war,
And living ones, though maimed and scared,
I deem you a plumed Navarre.
Something so tender and sacred,
This day of days should be,
Like words from some grand old poet
Set to sweetest melody.
Bring hither your floral tribute,
Of nature’s choices and best,
’Till “God’s acre” shall glint and glisten,
A beautiful haven of rest.
Bring hither the choicest treasures
Of the finest month of the year.
In each fragrant blossom there dwelleth,
The dew of an angel’s tear.
Come each and all with your garlands,
And cover these graves at our feet,
Let them lie in their tinted glory,
As if dying men were something sweet.
Bring lilies, white as the wings of peace,
And deck each hallowed spot,
Bring twining vines, and evergreens,
A silent “forget-me-not.”
Bring roses, because we loved them so,
Strew daintiest blossoms between,
Bring pansies, they are for thought you know,
And we “keep their memory green.”
Three comrades present a year ago,
To the roll do not respond.
They are learning the mystic secrets
Of the beautiful beyond.
The turf is not green above the last,
Whom death claimed for his own.
Thank God on this sunny hill side,
No grave is labeled “unknown.”
Though the blaze of rebellion has faded,
From out the southern sky.
“A charge to keep” we yet have,
These graves to glorify.
In our hearts, and with our hands,
Let us keep this sacred day.
Let the heroes “bivouac” forever,
Be decked with bloom each May.
They fought with a bravery born of truth,
That bore with it conviction,
Each life, a sermon strong and true,
Today brings the benediction.
Comrades, who stand before me today,
The death to which they bowed,
Yet bravely met in those troublous years,
When the nation cried aloud.
Let each camp fire brightly burning,
Break through the mist of years,
With your garlands each May returning,
And water them with your tears.
Now bow the head for a moment,
And pray to God that he,
The hero of Appomattox,
And the famous apple tree,
May he be spared a little longer,
Ere he answers the muster on high.
His famous deeds of valor,
We’ll remember until we die.
’Twas he who recommended,
This day to be set apart,
And a memorial service offered,
From a nation’s grateful heart.
Lincoln, Grant, and Garfield,
Grand trinity of men,
We deck each brow with laurels
And the nation cries “amen.”
And now I look to the future,
How shall we this day keep,
When the last of this noble army,
On the hill shall fall asleep?
Shall we have “no time for such things,”
As the years go speeding on?
Why they had time for so many things,
Way back in sixty-one.
Oh, a liberty’s sun to the living ones,
A watch fire for the dead.
Undying truths shall feed the flame,
As years wing their flight o’er head.
With no thought for the boys in gray,
Save pity and regret,
We forgive the work of years ago,
But cannot now forget.
And as each spring comes floating down
From the isle where years lie asleep,
As o’er each mournfully silent grave,
The stars their vigils keep.
Adorn with flowers each soldier’s grave,
Whether blue or gray.
But tell honestly, tell truthfully,
The cause of keeping this day.
Shall we drown the memory of loyal ones,
Who sleep in their peaceful graves,
With heaven’s tri-colors above them,
’Neath the soil they died to save?
They were right, eternally right,
The others were in the wrong.
Shall we play with facts, fantastic tricks,
And tell in story and song,
That you are sorry you ever tried
To face the shot and shell?
To give to the balmy summer air
The flag we love so well?
We pen each day a historic page.
Shall we send it blindly on,
That the work completed so long ago
Was illy, cowardly done?
Even the commonest soldier,
Who went at his country’s call,
At rest on the field or living still,
Should receive the honor of all.
Shall we bow to a cowardly policy,
And let it lightly go?
From the dumb lips of a million slain
Comes back the answer “No!”
In the name of all heroes living,
In the name of all those dead,
I pray you teach to your children
The truths for which they bled.
As the old comrades are “mustered out,”
And “fall in” one by one,
With that silent army waiting to hear,
“’Thou faithful servant, well done,”
When the drum beats fall on no veteran’s ear,
We’ll remember your cause was ours,
And on this our nation’s Sabbath day,
We’ll cover you over with flowers.
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GRAVES DECORATED.
The service of grave decoration then began. The garlands were deposited by a bevy of Misses and boys, in charge of Mr. A. E. Baird and Dr. F. H. Bull, and composed as follows: Maude Conrad, Alma Rogers, Maggie Hendricks, Hortense Kelly, Maude Cooper, Lottie Caton, Lottie McGuire, Mattie Paris, Lulu McGuire, Winnie Limerick, Katie Beck; Master Charley Stewart, Robert Scott, Clifford Stubblefield, Clyde Albro, Johnnie Scott, Robbie McMullen, Waldo Baird, Charley Greer, Harry Hunt, George Carson.
THE DEAD HEROES.
The following soldiers graves were decorated.
UNION CEMETERY.
A. A. Buck, Capt. Co. F, 13th Ill. Inft.; James McGuire, Co. H, 10th Ill. Inft.; Samuel W. Greer, Capt. Co. I, 15th Kansas Vol. Cav.; A. T. Shenneman, Co. D, 1st Ill. Cav.; Miles A. Bailey, Co. D, 24 Kansas Inft.; S. G. Gray, Co. H, 2nd Iowa Inft.; James H. Finch, Co. D, 13th Kan. Vol.; Jacob Riehl, in Colorado Art. Co.; Thos. Welch, Co. I, 13 Kan. Vol.; James Carmine, Co. F, 19th Ind. Inft.; B. N. Rutherford, Capt. 98th Ohio Inft.; C. L. Flint, Co. I, 40th Ill. Inft. Vol.; D. P. Herndon, Co. H, 7th Ky. Cav. Vol.; I. N. Corkins, regiment unknown; N. E. Mansfield, 92nd N. Y. Inft. Vol.; J. N. Vandorn, 130th Ill. Inft. Vol.; Henry H. Parks, Co. K, 83rd Ind. Vol.; Enoch Bembarger, 4th Iowa Cav. Vol.; Nate Fisher, regiment unknown.
SOUTH CEMETERY.
Mr. Taylor, regiment unknown; Chas. I. Dunkin, Co. B, 1st Bat., 16th U. S. Inft.; Wm. H. Sarson, 1st Vermont battery; Harvey Swindler, Co. G, 4th Mo. Cav.
CATHOLIC CEMETERY.
John M. Connor, Co. E, 9th Kentucky Cavalry.
DECORATION OF OTHER CEMETERIES.
The Vernon Cemetery was decorated by Capt. H. H. Siverd, Dr. D. J. States, W. W. Painter, J. W. Millspaugh, T. A. Blanchard, and other old soldiers, with 150 Vernon citizens.
The decoration of the Catholic cemetery was conducted by Messrs. Walter Denning, H. W. Stubblefield, and D. C. Beach, assisted by citizens.
The committee of decoration of the South Cemetery were T. J. Harris, S. Parkhurst, Ed. Haight, and Jno. Gill; with citizens.
OLD SOLDIERS.
WINFIELD AND NEARBY CEMETERIES.
[Note: Jerry Wallace sent me a xerox that was evidently taken from microfilm for a 1910 news item in the Courier. Thank you, Jerry. Some of the names were partially obscured. I also suspect that some of the names listed are incorrectly spelled. For instance, A. T. Shenneman was spelled as “Shinneman.” This has been typical of all the newspapers in the early days. Sometimes I could not tell whether initials were correct. For instance “C” and “O” appeared almost the same to me. MAW 11/4/2000]
ROLL OF HONOR.
List of Soldiers of the United States In Nearby Cemeteries.
Winfield Daily Courier, Thursday, May 26, 1910.
UNION AND GRAHAM CEMETERIES.
Bailey, Niles O. [Wrong! Bailey, Miles A., Co. D, 24 Kansas Infantry is correct.]
Baricklow, Frederick.
Becker, Soloman P.
Bembarger, Enoch, 4th Iowa Cavalry Volunteers.
Beringer, John L.
Binkey, John.
Booth, W. S.
Boyer, Wallis M.
Boynton, James S.
Brumbarger, Enos S. [Wrong! See Bembarger.]
Buck, A. A. [Capt., Co. F, 13th Illinois Infantry.]
Bull, Frank H.
Burge, Chauncey.
Canine, C. I.
Carmine, James. Co. F, 19th Independent Infantry.
Carr, Samuel H.
Catlin, Horace C.
Cessna, Jonathan.
Chafey, M. N.
Cogdal, Wm. H.
Cogswell, Lewis S.
Cole, Joseph.
Colt, James H.
Condit, Simon S.
Cook, Daniel.
Copeland, Wm. C.
Corbin, Americus V.
Corkins, J. W. [Initials Wrong! Corkins, I. N., regiment unknown.]
Crary, E. L.
Cutting, L. G.
Denning, I. N.
Douglass, J. W.
Douglass, John
Droz, E. H.
Day, Charles.
Eastin, Charles.
Ely, J. W.
Endaly, J. H.
Evans, Jerry C.
Everett, J. C.
Emery, David M.
Esler, William J.
Everett, Carlos.
Finch, James H. [Co. D, 13th Kansas Volunteers.]
Fisher, Nathaniel. [Fisher, Nate, regiment unknown.]
Fisher, Wm. V.
Firebaugh, Samuel.
Flint, C. L. [Co. I, 40th Illinois Infantry Volunteers.]
Floyd, Thomas J.
Gardner, Henry.
Gary, Simon G.
Gates, Stephen.
Gay, A. T.
Goodrich, John B.
Graham, John F.
Gray, George. [Gray, S. G., Co. H, 2nd Iowa Infantry.]
Greer, Samuel W. [Capt., Co. I, 15th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry.]
Guy, Harison.
Hahn, T. C.
Height, N. A.
Hale, Henry C.
Hamm, F. M.
Hickok, Elisha P.
Hilyard, Simon J.
Herndon, D. P. [Co. H, 7th Kentucky Cavalry Volunteers.]
Hopkins, James.
Hanna, Bryson D.
Hart, Wm. H.
Harrod, Benjamin F.
Hensley, James.
Jones, Joel M.
Kent, Philo.
Klingle, George A.
Kraig, John C.
LaMott, James P.
Lewis, H. D.
Lee, William R.
Louis, Charles Walter.
Loomis, H. C.
Lundy, W. J.
McCarty, William W.
McCreary, James D.
McCloy, Joseph.
McGregor, J. G.
McGuire, James E. [Co. H, 10th Illinois Infantry.]
McKee, John.
McKibben, Hugh.
Mansfield, N. E., 92nd New York Infantry Volunteers.]
Mansfield, W. Q.
Martin, G. W.
Martin, James F.
Martin, W. L.
Mattox, Charles A.
Merriam, Sims A.
Miles, John.
Miller, Adam B.
Miller, Robert A.
Moore, William.
Mounts, J. H.
Murphy, B. E.
Musgrove, Jacob.
Millspaugh, J. W.
Morris, Thomas W.
Miller, George W.
Olive, George.
Page, John G.
Paris, C. W.
Parks, H. H. [Parks, Henry H., Co. K, 83rd Indian Volunteers.]
Pugh, John.
Powell, John.
Putnam, John S.
Race, Ezra D.
Reynolds, Ernest M.
Reynolds, John M.
Rhodes, George W.
Riehl, Jacob. [In Colorado Artillery Company.]
Roberts, John C.
Robertson, Darius.
Robinson, M. L.
Ross, John.
Robinson, Gabriel.
Ross, T. B.
Rowe, Morris P.
Rutherford, B. W. [Initial wrong! Rutherford, B. N., Capt., 98th Ohio Infantry.]
Saunders, Charles W.
Shearer, W. H.
Sheel, Daniel.
Shering, Caleb.
Shenneman, A. T. [Note: They had “Shinneman.”] [Co. D., 1st Illinois Cavalry.]
Siverd, Hugh H.
Small, A. M.
Smith, J. H.
Stalloop, Benjamin K.
Stalter, David.
Salmons, James D.
Smith, John R.
Smith, Samuel O.
Sumpter, John R.
Smith, S. C.
Shearer, Wells H.
Thomas, Allen J.
Thompson, William.
Troup, M. G.
Troxell, J. B.
Twigg, Gilbert.
Van Dorfen, J. [Wrong! Vandorn, J. N., 130th Illinois Infantry Volunteers.]
Van Hart, Jesse M.
Wade, A. [?].
Weaver, Henry C.
Welch, Thomas. [Co. I, 13 Kansas Volunteers.]
Williamson, W. H.
Weimer, John.
Wilson, A. R.
Wilson, Robert S.
Wise, Lafayette.
Wilson, Nathan J.
Wood, C. M.
Wicker, Lewis F.
HIGHLAND CEMETERY.
Crabbs, William.
Dunkin, C. J. [Dunkin, Chas. I., Co. B, 1st Bat., 16th U. S. Infantry.]
Daniels, C. L.
Robertson, Nathaniel B.
Sarson, W. H. [Sarson, Wm. H., 1st Vermont battery.]
Swindler, Harvey. [Co. G, 4th Missouri Cavalry.]
Wells, B. B.
Wright, Nimrod T.
CATHOLIC CEMETERY.
Maher, Daniel.
Noel, John.
O’Connor, John M.
MT. VERNON CEMETERY.
Arright, Antonio.
Allen, Edward A.
Allen, Marshall W.
Binkey, Jacob.
Camlilonn [?], John. [LAST NAME DISTORTED ON XEROX COPY.]
Fruits, D. M.
Greer, Henry J.
Henderson, Edwin H.
Iry, William.
Long, Jacob.
McAllister, Martin V.
Mock, William.
Overly, William.
Oldham, Zadok.
Paynter, Jacob R.
Painter, Charles P.
Pennington, Samuel W.
Pratt, William.
Taylor, J. R.
Tryon, W. S.
MT. ZION CEMETERY.
Davis, John R.
Halfley, Ablom.
Hon, Isaac D.
Marshall, William.
Rhodes, Milford B.
TISDALE CEMETERY.
Boone, Solomon.
Hall, John H.
Longshore, R. R.
Shorter, Charles H. [? Could be M.]
AKRON CEMETERY.
Foster, John L.
Huston, David A.
McKibben, Joseph C.
Moore, Franklin J.
Patton, A. A.
Schofield, Marshall S.
Simon, David B.
Sipe, Adam.
White, William.
White, Charles.
ROSE VALLEY CEMETERY.
Bogner, Jacob.
Ruggles, J. E.
Salee, Oliver.
NINNESCAH CEMETERY.
Bosworth, J. D.
Buss, Henry H.
Dillman, Henry.
Grant, L. G.
Hammon, Jefferson.
Hill, George G.
McCollister, John.
Odell, A. B.
Pitman, G. M.
Rusher, George E.
Stout, Leonard.
HACKNEY CEMETERY.
Bradshaw, C. A.
Chaffee, T. L.
Copeland, Uriah.
Good, William.
Snyder, John.
Shaw, Wilson.
PRAIRIE RIDGE CEMETERY.
Bradbury, James.
CENTENNIAL CEMETERY.
Haney, John.
UDALL CEMETERY.
Cook, J. B.
Conklin, John A.
Greenland, Alfred.
Moffet, E. R.
Walker, .
STAR VALLEY CEMETERY.
Lett, W. C.
Wilson, Philander.
Walker, George.
TANNEHILL CEMETERY.
Bradbury, Charles J.
Fuller, Alexander.
Grimes, Joseph T.
Geiser, Charles.
Jenkins, D. W.
Moore, W. H.
Nelson, Isaac.
Trout, James E.
Buried in 1909.
Soldiers buried in Union and Graham cemeteries since Memorial Day, 1909.
Hayes, Levi.
Haskell, Wm. C.
Hardzog, Henry.
Honnold, Benj. W.
Limerick, Alex. H.
McClelland, Geo. T.
Mather, Ebenger.
Miller, Thomas H.
