Decoration Day: Honoring the Fallen

by Kimberly Keagan  Long before backyard barbecues and three-day weekends, Memorial Day—then known as Decoration Day—was a quieter, more solemn occasion. In the 1890s, families across the United States gathered not at beaches or department store sales, but in cemeteries, carrying armfuls of lilacs, roses, and peonies to place on the graves of fallen soldiers. It was a day for honoring sacrifice. For remembering. For mourning.

Originally established after the Civil War, Decoration Day was set aside to honor those who had died in service to their country. By the 1890s, the observance had become a cherished part of the American rhythm of spring, especially for those who still carried vivid memories of the nation’s most painful conflict. In small towns and growing cities alike, parades made their way to local cemeteries. Veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic marched in uniform, some carrying faded flags, others walking with canes or leaning on the arms of old comrades. Children often scattered flower petals along the route.

Church bells rang. Bugles sounded. Ministers offered prayers. Women’s auxiliaries laid wreaths with gloved hands. Everywhere, flowers brightened the graves—tucked into the weathered crevices of marble headstones and woven through the iron fences surrounding soldiers’ plots.

For many families, Decoration Day was also a time to visit the graves of loved ones beyond those lost in war. In an era when most cemeteries depended on families rather than professional staff for their upkeep, loved ones washed headstones, pulled weeds, trimmed the grass by hand, and left flowers, handwritten notes, or other small tokens of remembrance. As we enter this season of remembrance, may we take a moment to do the same—to pause and honor those who came before us, who fought, who loved their country, and who made the ultimate sacrifice. (Photo credits: Library of Congress, RelicRecord.com, The Nebraska State Historical Society)

Giving Thanks and Remembrance

A Footnote from History by Stephanie Grace Whitson

If your family is like mine, this year when you gather around the Thanksgiving feast and/or football marathon, someone will be missing. Since 1996, I've said good-bye to many beloved family members, and that means noted absences at family gatherings. It also links remembrance with the notion of giving thanks for the bright blessings I enjoy because of the past. 



Every culture has its way of remembering the dead and paying tribute to their memory. We show our thanks to brave soldiers who gave their lives by attending Memorial Day services, by bowing our heads at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, by wearing a red poppy. (Do you know about the poppy?)  

The year 1868 marked the official beginning of Memorial Day when, on May 5, General Order No. 11 designated "the 30th day of May, 1868 ... for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion ... " 

In the deep south, some states celebrated Confederate Memorial Day on April 26, the anniversary of General Joseph Johnston's final surrender to Union General Sherman. North and South Carolina chose May 10, Stonewall Jackson's birthday. Virginia chose June 3,the birthday of Jefferson Davis. Last year on June 1 (when I was doing research for Daughter of the Regiment, my spring 2015 Civil War novel), I visited the Confederate Cemetery in Higginsville, MO just after a Memorial Day observance. Roses had just been placed on the large monument and flags placed at every veteran's grave.

In the late 19th century, people remembered their loved ones by wearing memorial jewelry--a photograph framed in a tiny gold brooch or locket or an artistic arrangement of a loved one's hair. Note the tiny hearts that accent the brooch on the right. I've never actually worn it, but I cherish it. Hair wreaths weren't always about the dead, by the way. The one pictured on the left is displayed at the Patee House in St. Joseph, Missouri, and it's about friendship--"the hair 125 friends" to be exact. And the names are listed. I have an 1872 "how to" book about this art, and the skill required to get a good result astonishes me.

May Thanksgiving find us all giving thanks for those who have gone before--those who left us the bright blessings of love, freedom, and faith. 

Happy giving thanks to you and yours from me and mine!

Do you have a family tradition that centers on remembering those who've gone before? Which ancestor are you most thankful for? 

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National best-selling, award-winning novelist Stephanie Grace Whitson is the author of over two dozen novels and two works of non-fiction. She received her MA in history in 2012 and is a frequent guest speaker/lecturer on a variety of historical and inspirational topics for civic organizations, libraries, quilt guilds, and church groups. Her husband and blended family, her church, historical research, antique quilts, and Kitty--her motorcycle--all rank high on her list of "favorite things." Learn more at http://www.stephaniewhitson.com

Memorial Day - How It Came To Be

As I was pondering what my topic for this blog would be it hit me that this particular post would be going up on Memorial Day.  So I decided that a fitting observance would be to discuss a little about the origins and history of this special day.

In 1866, as the country was trying to heal from the long and bloody Civil War, a drugstore owner in Waterloo, NY by the name of Henry Welles, watched the surviving soldiers come home, some with horrendous injuries and missing limbs, most with nightmarish stories to tell.  Mr. Welles decided he had to do something to recognize the sacrifices that had been made.  He discussed his idea with General John Murray, a war hero and intensely patriotic man.  General Murray supported the idea and helped rally the local veterans’ support.  

Welles’ and Murray’s suggestion that the businesses in town close up shop for one day to remember and honor those who had given their lives in the war and were buried in the town cemetery was met with community-wide approval.  On May 5th of that year the shops did indeed close.  The entire village was draped in evergreens and mourning black, flags were flown at half mast and the townspeople marched to the three town cemeteries to the sound of martial music.  Solemn ceremonies were held and the graves were decorated with wreaths, flowers and crosses.

The ceremony became an annual event.

On May 30^th, 1868 General John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of an organization of veteran soldiers and sailors called the Grand Army of the Republic, established Decoration Day with this declaration in his General Order 11:

The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

May 30^th was chosen as the date in part because it was not the anniversary of any given battle and so could stand on its own.  That first year, General James Garfield, who would later become the 20^th president of the United States, gave a speech at Arlington National Cemetery.  Afterwards, an estimated 5,000 people pitched in to adorn the graves of the more than 20,000 Civil War soldiers, both Union and Confederate, who were buried there.

In 1882 the name was changed to Memorial Day and by the end of the nineteenth century, towns and communities across the nation were observing the day in some way.  After World War I, the observances expanded to recognize and honor those Americans who had died in any war in service to their country.

Of course those early observances in Waterloo, NY were not the sole or even the first such ceremonies.  Local observances of this type had been undertaken in many towns across the country since the end of the Civil War.  In fact, even though President Lyndon Johnson in May of 1966 declared Waterloo NY to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, over two dozen cities, both in the North and the South, still claim to hold that honor.  Among them are Macon GA, Richmond VA, Carbondale IL and Columbus MS.  It is said Waterloo NY received the official nod from President Johnson because it was the one town that had made Memorial Day an annual event, one the entire community supported by shutting down businesses for the day and showing up in large numbers to honor the fallen.

In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Monday in May.  On the national front, Memorial Day is observed at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia with special reverence.  In the early hours of the Friday before Memorial Day, soldiers of the Third US Infantry walk along the rows of over 200,000 grave markers, pause before each and place the shaft of a small flag into the ground before it.  These soldiers are members of the Old Guard, a special regiment, and it is considered an honor to be selected for this duty.  As one soldier said “They have done their job and now it is time to do mine.”

On Memorial Day itself, it is customary for the president or vice-president to give a speech honoring the contributions of these fallen heroes and to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  Members of the armed forces shoot a rifle salute in the air.  About 5,000 people attend the ceremony each year (the same number who attended that first ceremony with General Garfield presiding).

I hope that today, whatever your plans, you will take some time to remember and honor those who have given their lives to protect the freedom and quality of life that we Americans enjoy.

Memorial Day Remembrance - Revolutionary War Widows

Susan F. Craft

Memorial Day is set aside to remember the men and women who died while serving in the US Armed Forces. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. It has since extended to honor all Americans who have died while in military service.

But what about the widows?

There is a saying taken from a poem by John Milton, “they also serve who only stand and wait.” Milton wrote this sonnet about his blindness, reflecting that even with his disability he had a place in the world. But the line became synonymous with women and families on the home front.

Colonial widow's gown, Colonial
Williamsburg Foundation

During the Revolutionary War in the South Carolina backcountry (as was the case for women in all the colonies), women whose husbands had gone away to fight, were left behind to tend farms and businesses. Many were driven from their homes when the British armies raided, usually taking all their possessions, livestock, and crops. Sometimes their homes were burned, leaving them and their children hiding in the woods with nothing but the clothes on their backs. The horror was multiplied when a woman received news that her husband had died in the war.

For more than a century before the beginning of the Revolutionary War, British colonies in North America provided pensions for disabled soldiers and sailors. During and after the Revolutionary War, to its credit, the federal government established a system of pensions—disability or invalid pensions awarded to servicemen for physical disabilities incurred in the line of duty; service pensions to veterans who served for specified periods of time; and widows’ pensions to women whose husbands had been killed in the war or were veterans for specified periods of time.

In the first category, pensions were awarded to men disabled prior to 8/26/1776. In 1782, there were 1,500 invalid pensioners on the rolls. In 1780, half-pay for life went to officers and widows of those officers, and in 1788 Congress granted seven years half-pay to officers who served to the end of the war.

In 1794, unless a private act of Congress was introduced on her behalf, a widow of a veteran was limited to receiving only that part of a pension that remained unpaid at the time of her husband's death. By an act of Congress approved July 4, 1836, some widows of Revolutionary War veterans were again permitted, as a class under public law, to apply for pensions. The act provided that the widow of any veteran who had performed service as specified in the pension act of June 7, 1832, was eligible to receive the pension that might have been allowed the veteran under the terms of that act, if the widow had married the veteran before the expiration of his last period of service. An act of July 7, 1838, granted 5-year pensions to widows whose marriages had taken place before January 1. 1794. On July 29, 1848, Congress provided life pensions for widows of veterans who were married before January 2, 1800.  In 1853 and again in 1855, all restrictions pertaining to the date of marriage were removed .On March 9, 1878, widows of Revolutionary War soldiers who had served for as few as 14 days, or were in any engagement, were declared eligible for life pensions.

By 1867, most pensioners on the rolls had died. Daniel F. Bakeman was the last soldier on the roll. He died in 1869 at the age of 109. There were 887 widows on the rolls by 1869.

To apply for a widow’s pension, generally an applicant appeared before a court of record in the state of her residence and was required to provide information concerning the date and place of her marriage. The application statement or "declaration," as it was usually called, with such supporting papers as property schedules, marriage records, and affidavits of witnesses, was certified by the court and forwarded to the official, usually the Secretary of War or the Commissioner of Pensions, responsible for administering the specific act under which the claim was being made.

 

The last Revolutionary War widow’s pension was paid in 1906—131 years after the Battles of Lexington and Concord began the American Revolutionary War, when Esther Sumner Damon, the widow of Noah Damon, died at the age of 106.  She had married Mr. Damon in 1835 when he was 75 and she was 21.