Who Gave Us Memorial Day?
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
WHO gave us Memorial Day?
Before attempting to answer that question, one
might appropriately enough ask another ? "Which Me
morial Day do you mean?"
For the truth is that there are no less than five different
days of the year which are observed as Memorial Day in dif
ferent parts of the country.
uu ID VUtUCUClOhC IUC
morial Day in the states of
Alabama, Florida, Georgia
and Mississippi.
Kentucky, North Carolina
and South Carolina set aside
May 10 as their Confederate
Memorial Day.
May 30 is National Memo
rial Day, observed in all
states and territories, except
Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
Louisiana, Mississippi, and
South Carolina. Georgia cel
ebrates this day as World
War Memorial Day and Vir
ginia celebrates it as Confed
erate Memorial Day. (Inci
dentally, North Carolina,
which formerly celebrated
only May 10 as Confederate
Memorial Day, began in 1935
to observe May 30 as Nation
al Memorial Day.)
June 3 is Confederate Me
morial Day in Louisiana and
Tennessee, (the latter also
observes National Memorial
Day on May 30) and since
June 3 is Jefferson Davis*
birthday it is celebrated as
such in Alabama, Arkansas,
Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
Mississippi, South Carolina,
Texas and Virginia.
June 9 is celebrated as Me
morial Day in Petersburg,
Va., the only city in the Unit
ed States which has its own
such day of commemoration.
As for answering the question
asked in the title of this article,
it is virtually impossible to as
sign credit for the idea to one
person and say positively that
any man or any woman was the
"father" or the "mother" of Me
morial Day. It is, however, pos
sible for a person to trace the
growth of the idea and mention
the names of some who played a
part in its development. As early
as May I, 1865 a memorial serv
ice for the war dead had been
held in Charleston, S. C. It was
the idea of James C. Redpath,
MISS NORA DAVIDSON
One of the original members ol
the Petersburg Ladies' Memo
rial Association.
war correspondent and later
founder of the famous lyceum
bureau which bore his name, who
was then superintendent of the
freedmen's schools in Charleston.
But this isolated instance prob
ably would not have been enough
alone to have established the cus
tom had it not been followed up
by a chain of circumstances of
a similar nature.
Some time in the spring of 1865
the women of Columbus, Miss.,
began decorating the graves of
soldiers who had died in the serv
ice of the Confederacy and the
following January Miss Lizzie
Rutherford suggested to other
members of the Ladies Aid so
ciety that April 26 be set aside
each year as a special day for
decorating these graves. That
date (which is still celebrated as
Confederate MemorialDay in four
Southern states) was the anni
versary of the surrender of Gen.
Joseph E. Johnston's army, the
last formal act of the War Be
tween the States.
Accordingly their first Memo
rial Day service was held in St.
Luke's Methodist church in Co
lumbus on April 26, 1866 with
Col. James M. Ramsey as the
orator of the day. On that day,
also, the graves of both Union
and Confederate soldiers buried
near Columbus were decorated
with flowers.
Previous to that time the wom
en of Columbus had written to
their friends in other Southern
states telling them of their idea
tor a memorial day and a similar
service was held in Montgomery,
Ala., on the same date. Up in
Fredericksburg, Va., May 10, the
anniversary of the death of Gen.
"Stonewall" Jackson, was chosen
as the date for such a service and
that date survives as Confederate
Memorial Day in these Southern
states.
First in the North.
Meanwhile a similar idea was
taking form up in the North and
at least one memorial service
was held there in 1866. On May
22 Gen. John J. Murray of Water
loo, N. Y., and some of his com
rades in the Union army decorat
ed graves in their home ceme
tery. But more important to the
growth of the idea than this one
instance was a series of events
which had been taking place out
in Illinois.
One of the regiments in Gen.
W. T. Sherman's expedition to
Meridian, Miss., in February
1864, was the Fourteenth Illinois
infantry. One of the officers of
the regiment was Maj. Benjamin
Franklin Stephenson, who had
been a doctor before entering the
service in 1862, and his tent-mate
and bosom companion was Rev.
W. J. Rutledge, chaplain of the
regiment. During that campaign
Rutledge suggested to Stephenson
that the soldiers so closely allied
in the fellowship of hardship and
suffering would, after they had
been mustered out of the service,
naturally desire to form some
kind of an association to preserve
the friendships and memories of
their war days. The idea ap^
pealed to Stephenson and the two
men agreed, if they were spared,
to work it out.
After the war they kept alive
the subject by correspondence
and in the winter of 1865 Stephen
son, who had returned to his med
ical practice in Springfield, 111.,
showed to his friends there notes
on a proposed ritual for such an
organization. In March, 1866, Rut
ledge came to Springfield and the
two men spent considerable time
working on the ritual. So far,
no name had been selected for
the organization but it is quite
likely that the title of an order,
started the previous year in Mis
souri and named the "Advance
Guard of America, or, The Grand
Army of Progress," suggested
the title which was finally adopt
ed ? the Grand Army of the Re
public.
When at last the ritual was
ready for printing, Gov. Richard
J. Oglesby of Illinois suggested
that, in order to insure secrecy, it
be set in type and printed in the
office of the Decatur (111.) Trib
une, whose owners, I. W. Coltrin
and Joseph Prior, as well as all
their compositors and pressmen,
had served in the Union army.
The G. A. R. Is Born.
While this work was under way
Dr. J. W. Routh of Decatur, a
friend of Stephenson's, went to
Springfield accompanied by Capt.
M. F. Kanan, to make inquiries
about the proposed organization.
After calling upon Stephenson,
they resolved to organize a
"post" in their city at once. With
in a short time they had enough
signatures to an application for
a charter and they hurried again
to Springfield to present the ap
plication in person and arrange
for the first muster. Accordingly
on April 6, 1866 Stephenson, as
sisted by Phelps, organized De
catur Post No. 1 of the Grand
Army of the Republic. Thus it
was that the G. A. R., which was
destined to become the founder
of a national Memorial Day came
into existence.
rjy a cunuus turn ui-iate uus
organization which had been
principally Stephenson's "brain
child" was to bring him one of
the greatest disappointments of
his life. For when his comrades
gathered at Springfield to form a
department, another man was se
lected as its commander and a
still further sorrow came to him
when the national encampment
was formed at Indianapolis. In
stead of being made national
commander, as he had expected
he would be, he was passed over
and given the subordinate office
of adjutant-general. Disheartened
by this experience and broken by
work and his disappointment,
Stephenson removed his family
from Springfield to Rock Creek,
111., where he died in 1871. Sev
eral years later his body was
removed to the Soldiers' Plot in
Rose Hill cemetery on the banks
of the Sangamon river, at which
time tardy tribute was paid to
his memory as the "Father of the
G. A. R."
Two Versions.
As for the succession of events
which led to the establishment
by the G. A. R. of the day which
we now celebrate as National
Memorial Day, there is some dis
pute as to exact details. In 1888
Gen. John A Logan was the
Clara Barton, founder of the Bed Cross, and Mrs. John A. Logan,
who had a part in the fonndinc of Memorial day.
commander - in - chief of the
Grand Army and N. P. Chipman
was adjutant-general. According
to one story, Chipman was told
by a former private in the Union
army, a German, that in his na
tive land it was the custom of the
people to gather in the spring
time and scatter flowers on the
graves of the dead. He suggested
I to Chipman that the Grand Army
inaugurate such an observance in
memory of this nation's soldier
dead, whereupon Chipman, much
impressed with the idea, immedi
ately made a rough draft of gen
eral orders covering the subject
and laid it before the command
er-in-chief. Logan, warmly ap
proving the idea, added several
paragraphs of his own and signed
what has since become historic
as "General Orders No. 11," es
tablishing May 30 as National
Memorial Day.
Another account brings into the
picture a woman ? or rather,
several women. And for the prop
er background for this version it
is necessary to go back to 1864
and bring into the story the rea
son for Petersburg, Va., being the
only city in the United States
that had a Memorial Day all of
its own.
On June 9, 1864 General Kautz
with a division of 20,000 Union
cavalry approached Petersburg
as a preliminary to Grant's at
tempt to break In the "back door"
of the Confederate capital by cap
turing this important railroad cen
ter. At that time Petersburg was
unguarded but Gen. R. E. Colston
and Col. F. H. Archer, wounded
Confederate officers home to con
valesce, were notified of the ap
BENJAMIN F. STEPHENSON
Founder of the O. A. K.
proach of the Union horsemen.
Summoning the home guard of
old men and boy?, who were ex
empt from military service, they
marched out to meet the invad
ers. They engaged a detachment
of 1,300 so fiercely that Kautz,
believing he was facing a much
larger body of men, delayed his
advance.
The home guard held their own
until they were outflanked, but
by this time Lee had hurried
reinforcements to Petersburg and
the city was saved.
Honoring the Home Gurd.
In May, 1886, the Petersburg
Ladies Memorial association,
with Mrs. W. T. Joynes as pres
ident and Mrs. Stephen Fenn as
secretary, was organized, prob
ably in response to word from
the women of Columbus, Miss.,
in regard to their observance of
a memorial day. But instead of
joining with them in observing
April 26 as that day, the women
of Petersburg chose June 9, the
anniversary of the heroic defense
of their city by its home guard,
and since that year they have
strewn the graves of the con
federate dead in ancient Bland
lord cemetery in commemoration
of that event. The connection at
this observance with the estab
lishment of a National MemonaJ
Day by the G. A. R. came about
m In1 March, 1868, Col. Charles L.
Wilson editor of the Chicago
Journal, invited a party oonsuit;
ing of his niece, Miss Anna Wu
son, his fiancee, Miss Farrar,
General Logan and Mrs. LoK?" '?
visit the battlefields around Rich
mond. Logan, then a c?"gr?s^
man from Illinois, was detained
in Washington by some urgent
legislation pending in
but he insisted upon Mrs.
accompanying the party. Among
the battlefields which they visited
were those in and around Peters
burg and in the cemetery there
they saw the withered wreaths
and tiny Confederate flags P^ced
on the graves of the dead on June
9 of the previous year.
Mrs Logan, for many years
Known as "The Grand Old Lady
of Washington," has left this ac
count of what followed:
"In the bleak March wind and
light-falling snow, the desolation
seemed most oppressive. Return
ing to the old Willard hotel, where
we then lived, sitting in our par
lor after dinner, we recounted to
General Logan the incidents ol
the trip and how deeply touched
we were by the devastation and
ravishes of war. In the church
yard around an old histor
church at Petersburg, every loot
of the ground seemed occupied
by the graves ol the Co"*^era
dead. Upon them lay wreaths,
once beautilul flowers, now
crumbling, which had b e en
placed there by loving hands. Lit
tle laded Confederate flags
marked each grave, mute evi
dence ol the devotion of the south
em people to their loved and
^General Logan was much im
pressed by our description, say
ing, The Greeks and Romans m
the day ol their glory were wont
to honor their hero dead by chap
lets ol laurel and flowere, as well
as in bronze and stone and that
as commander-in-chief of the
Grand Army ol the Republic and
member of congress 'rom mino*
he would issue an order estab^
lishing Memorial Day. then
called Decoration Day.
clared at the same tune that he
believed that he could secure the
adoption of a joint rej0^1'^
making it a national holiday and
a national ceremony. He then
took up a pencil and paper and
wrote the matchless order
No. 11." , .
As a result of this order fonnai
exercises were held at Arling
ton Va. (later the site of the
present Arlington National Ceme
te?> on May 30, 1868, the prin
cipal ceremony being the dc",ra*
tion with flags and flowers of la
monument to the "
Dead," a memorial that had been
erected to the memory erf Z.m
unidentified dead 'ound on th?
fields of Bull Run and the route
to the Rappahannock.
Who gave us Memorial Day?
No one person can be honored
as the giver. Many contributed
something to it ? James C. Red
path; Miss Lizzie Rutherford and
the women of Columbus, Miss.;
Benjamin Franklin Stephenson;
the women of Petersburg, Va.;
Gen. John A. Logan and Mrs.
Logan. Thus both the North
and the South had a part in bring
ing it about but today it knows
no North, no South, no East, no
West. It is the day, whether April
?. May 10, June 3 or June 9,
when Americans pay reverent
tribute to the memory of their
soldier dead.
For Dress and Utility
" WHY MoIlie R- are
? V y 0 u going out
again? My own mother
has become a gadabout
and all because she
made herself such a pretty new
dress. Really, Ma, those soft
graceful lines make you look lots
slimmer. I think the long rippling
collar has a good deal to do with
it. Or maybe it's because the skirt
fits where it should and has plenty
of room at the bottom."
"Tes, My Darling Daughter."
"Daughter, dear, how you do
run on! Imitate Sis; put your
apron on and have the dusting
done when 1 get back from the
Civic Improvement League meet
ing. And speaking of aprons, that
is the cleverest one Sis ever had.
I love the way it crosses in the
back."
"So do I, Mom, and see how it
covers up my dress all over. Good
by, Mom, have a good time."
Sisterly Chit Chat.
"Sis, run upstairs for my apron,
won't you? I wouldn't have a spot
on this, my beloved model, for
all the world. It's my idea of
smooth: all these buttons; no belt;
these here new puffea sleeves;
and this flare that's a flare."
"Just you wait, Miss, till I grow
up! Your clothes won't have a
look in because I've already be
gun to Sew-My-Own. All right. I'm
going."
And so on well into the after
noon 1
The Patterns.
Pattern 1268 is for sizes 36 to 52.
Size 38 requires 5'i yards of 39
inch material plus 1% yards of 1V4
inch bias binding for trimming.
Pattern 1292 is designed for sizes
12 to 20 (30 to 42 bust). Size 14
requires 4% yards of 39 inch ma
terial.
Pattern 125S is designed in sizes
6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 years. Size
8 requires 1% yards of 35 inch
material for the blouse and 1%
yards for the apron.
New Pattern Book.
Send for the Barbara Bell
Spring and Summer Pattern Book.
Make yourself attractive, practi
cal and becoming clothes, select
ing designs from the Barbara Bell
well-planned, easy-to-make pat
terns. Interesting and exclusive
fashions for little children and the
difficult junior age; slenderizing,
well-cut patterns for the mature
figure; afternoon dresses for the
most particular young women and
matrons and other patterns for
special occasions are all to be
found in the Barbara Bell Pattern
Book. Send 15 cents today for your
copy.
Send your order to The Sewing
Circle Pattern Dept., 247 W.
Forty-third street. New York,
N. Y. Price of patterns, 15 cents
(in coins) each.
e Bell Syndicate.? WNU Service.
My ^Tavoxite
yo ? ?*
Ac Ann Harding
Ac+r???
Chicken Salad.
1 quart cold chicken
1 pint finely cut celery
3 hard-boiled eggs
2 cupfuls mayonnaise
Small bottle of olives
Salt to taste
Paprika
Joint the dressed chicken and
boil until tender. Allow it to cool,
then cut into small pieces until the
required amount is obtained. Use
only the whitest celery, and none
with coarse strings. Cut two of
the eggs, not too fine. Mix chick
en, celery, eggs and seasoning.
Allow the mixture to stand with
a little French dressing for an
hour or more in a cool place.
To serve, the mayonnaise may be
mixed with the chicken or served
as a top dressing, according to
taste.
Serve on fresh lettuce leaves.
Garnish with slices of the third
egg and stuffed olives. Sprinkle
with paprika.
Copyrlaht ? WNU Service.
Voyage of Life
Today, in the voyage of thy life
down the dark tide of time, stand
boldly to thy tiller, guide thee by
the pole star, and be safe. ? Martin
F. Tupper.
Ask Me Another
# A General Quia
? Bell Syndicate. ? WKU Inm
1. When was the "conscienoe
fund" in the United States treas
ury started?
2. How far away from the earth
is the nearest sfar?
3. From where was the mscrip
tion on the Liberty bell in Phila
delphia reading: "Proclaim liber
ty throughout all the land unto all
the inhabitants thereof' taken?
4. From where did the word
"geyser" come?
5. What is the size of Yellow
stone National park?
6. How many different types at
holly are there?
Answers
1. In 1811, by a contribution
from some anonymous person
whose conscience hurt him. The
fund has grown untQ today it to
tals over $650,000.
2. About 25.500,000,000,000 mil?.
3. From the Bible ? I i ?ilk?
25:10.
4. Geyser is an Icelandic word
? the original pronunciation being
"geeser," later changed to "gagr
ser" and finally Americanized to
"gyser."
5. It covers 3,438 square miles
of territory, of which 257 are in
Montana, 25 in Idaho and the re
mainder in Wyoming.
6. There are 175 different type
or species of holly found through
out the world.
HERE'S A IUUI
MARVELOUS
MM AIM IM
SELF-POUSMIMC
FLOOR WAX-*
FULL QUART FOR
85< 10 RUBBINfi
MO BUFFI* 6 V
THIS AMAZIM ?EW
O-CEDAR.
THESE DELICIOUS SOUPS ARlT
SOUTHERN COOKING AT ITS BEST I
Sajri GEORGE RECTOR. FAMOUS COOKING AUTHORITY
ud MASTER CHEF at PHILLIPS SOUTHERN KITCHENS
GEORGE RECTOS
. . . "the" George Rector
of famous old Rector's,
In New York, whose name
for jears bu stood for
tbs finest la cooking
craftsmanship. Today . . .
as Phillips Master Chef
his art rlsec to new
peaks of popularity.
\ _ /
OH THE AIR
"DINING WITH
GEORGE RECTOR"
lack Wed., Thnrs. ul
FrL. 1:M P. M.. K.S.T.
COLOfBIA
NETWORK
JLou will tcbo George
Sector's words of praise when
too taste your l?t spooafal of
Phillipa Delicious Soap ... An
eighteen of OUT vitamin-rich,
noariahing soaps are Bade with
tliat real down-in-Dixie Carer 1
Seasoned just right, the famous
Soathern way.
They're skilfully prepared
front treasured old Dixie recipes
? so aa to brine oat ALL the
richness of their choice ingre
dients. Plump sun- ripened vege
tables?picked garden-fresh for
oor gleaming kettles! Precioas
spices carefully weighed! And
such handsome eats of meat!
Oar soaps are Bade exactly
as you'd like them to be. In
great, immacalate, sonny kitch
ens ? presided over by snowy
dad chefs who take a personal
pride in their work. We call it
"lovin' cookin"* down here in
Maryland. Your family will call
it "DELICIOUS"!
Phillips Delicioas Soaps are
condensed to DOUBLE RICH
NESS ? giving yoa doable the
qumatity when yon add milk or
water.
Ask year grocer? today ? far
Phillips Delicioas Soups. And
remember, every meal is a BET
TER meal whea yoa start it with
Phillips Delicioas Soap!
< J g? i
PhillipJ
CEUCI0US
(Si*
QUAUTY
COUNTS
For am thaa a third
of * natirr oind roods
bearln* the label of
Phillip* Delicious hare
consistently stood for tba
highest la guilty ud
tbo utmost la purity.
(18KINDSJ
PHILLIPS SOUPS