The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-04-27
FLOWERS ON THE GRAVES.
silent Tributes TO the Memory of
These who sleep.


Those who sleep.
On account of the rain in the morning
most Of the work of decoration in the
Laurel Grove cemetery was done in the
afternoon.
A committee of the Daughters of the
Confederacy, headed by Mrs. H. NJ.
Branch, took charge Of the soldiers lot.
The monument in the center was decorat-
ed with wreaths and various floral de-
signs were grouped about it, the most no
ticeable being a soldiers knapsack Of wild
flowers resting within large wreath of
roses. This was contributed by the Ia
dies of the family Of Mr. j. V. Kennickell,
keeper of the cemetery. wreath OF
laurel was hung on each one of the more
than 600 headstones in the lot and on about
half of them a bunch of flowers was
placed. All throughout the cemetery the
soldiers graves were marked by the lau-
rel wreaths. Many other graves were
decorated, but the laurel wreaths were
only placed on the soldiers graves.
The majority of soldiers graves
throughout the cemetery were decorated
with flowers, in addition to the wreaths,
some of the decorations being very elab-
crate. Here and there, however, were
graves with only the laurel to attest that
a soldier rested. This was due in some
instances to the fact that there were o
longer any relatives remaining in the city
of the soldier buried there or that the
relatives are Indifferent to the fact. This,
together with the paucity of decorations
at the soldiers lot, caused the sugges-
ton to be made that it would be we'll
hereafter to transfer a portion of the cX-
erciseS to the cemetery, instead of con-
filming the entire celebration to the mon
ument, and that the flowers carried by
the children and others should be placed
upon the graves of the soldiers.
AS usual the graves in the Branch lot
were noted for their artistic and beauti-
full decoration. Had the late Mrs. Branch,
herself so devoted to the memory of the
confederacy and the graves of her two
sons been alive she could not have wished
for more beautiful decoration. The
graves of Lieut.. j. l.. Branch, adjutant
of the Eighth Georgia Regiment, who fell
at the first battle OF Manassas, and of
Sanford w. Branch, a member of che
same command deceased more recently,
were decorated with confederate t1ags, con-
structed from red and white carnation
plnks, the stars being white carnations
set in fields of blue larkspur. There were
also other decorations, consisting OF vases
of roses and candy tuft and beds of pam
Sizes
The graves of the other members Of the
Oglethorpe Light Infantry, Julius A. Fer
rill, William II. Crane, Henry Borchert,
Bryan Morel and Thomas Purse, and of
their commander, Gen. Francis S. Barlow,
were also deliberately decorated. A ccm-
mittee of the Oglethorpe Light Infantry
had been appointed to look after these
graves and supplemented the contribution
of friends. Lavish floral tributes were
placed at the graves of Gen. Henry G.
Wayne, Gen. A. r. Lawton. Col. Charles
A. Lamar, Capt. John w. Anderson and
Capt. Werner. The grave of Willie Crane,
just in the rear of the Branch graves,
was covered with roses, evergreen and
laurel, artistically arranged. A handsome
wreath Of carnations was placed at the top
of the Barlow monument with beds of red
and white roses at the bottom. At the
grave of Thomas Purse there was large
pillow Of white roses bordered with red
with a large ''P' in red roses in the CEN
ter.
At the Habersham lot the decoration
were very noticeable. As usual the tat
tered battle flag of Frazier's battery was
to be seen during the day on the grave of
Lieut.. Fred Habersham, who was killed
at the battle of Charlottesville. The
flag is preserved by his widow and has
been used for this purpose on every Mem
orial day since the custom was inaugural
ed. The grave was also lavishly decor
ated with roses worked In different de-
signs. The graves of William N. and
Joseph Clay Habersham. who were both
killed on the same day. July o. 1854, near
Atlanta we're lavishly decorated with
roses and other flowers as were also the
Elliott graves in the same lot. Other
graves, where the decorations were de-
serving of notice we're those of Lieut.
James NJ. Theus and Eddie and Casey
Posten. There were doubtless many
other graves with beautiful decorations
but as the soldiers graves on private lots
are scattered over tine entire cemetery it
is practically impossible to view them all
in one afternoon.
detachment OF the Chatham Artillery
was on duty at the cemetery from to I
o'clock and rendered valuable assistance
to the ladies I'm decorating the graves.
Capt II. NJ Branch, one of the most en-
thusiastic Of confederate veterans, was
active in his work of decorating the
graves, and made a point of seeing that
every soldiers grave had a wreath. Capt
Branch was a conspicuous figure through
out the exercises of the day, being attired
in a handsome suit of confederate grey
which was ordered especially for the oc-
casion. Capt Branch Informed his friends
that the suit was ordered especially for
such occasions and would be worn on nc
other.
The graves of confederate dead at Isle
of Hope were beautifully decorated by
Miss Siday Mrs. Robinson and the chill