The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-03-25

the writer well remembers the meeting
in the rain at the capitol square of num-
Der CT faithful men and women, who
walked to the cemetery carrying their
garlands and crosses of flowers, and
closely followed and watched by several
Federal officers, detailed by the military
authorities who then governed the State.
to see that mo procession was formed
1t was believed at the time, and it has
never been contradicted, that the threat
was made that if the L. NJ. A., chiefly
women and children, did form a process
sion it would be fired on without fur
ther warning. On this day there were
no exercises of any kind, not even
prayer, and it demanded some courage
and some independence from those who
walked under the dripping skies through
the ankle-deep mud of the country,
which is now lakewood avenue, to fulfill
this poor duty to the dead. Beautiful
lakewood did not then exist, the Con-
federate cemetery was a solitary enclos-
ure in the woods, full of newly made
graves, scarcely giving promise of the
neatness and order which now mark that
sacred spot
In the compass allotted to this article
it is impossible to give in detail all the
work accomplished by the l.. NJ A.. dur
ing the first years of its existence;
rapid enumeration of the principal I'M
dertakngs accomplished will, however,
be attempted. The walks were laid out.
grass was sown, flowers and shrubs were
planted, the Confederate Monument was
erected the handsome iron pavilion was
} placed in the center of the grounds; the
wooden head boards placed on each
grave were exchanged for granite ones
the present system of marking them by
numbers and recording both names and
numbers in register; an arrangement
was made with the trustees of lakewood
by which the Confederate Cemetery
shares in the care bestowed upon Oak
wood. many bodies Of North Carolina SOL
diers were removed from distant points;
1877 being taken at one time from Gettys-
burg and reinterred in the soil of their
mother State. The exercises of Memo
rial Day were punctually celebrated with
dignifed observance of prayer, Grafton
and procession, the orators being chosen
from the men of talent and culture of the
State, the chaplains from the clergy and
ministers and assistants from the Con-
federate officers and soldiers of Wake
county.
October 4th, 1869, Mrs. l.. OBJ.
Branch resigned the office of president
which she had exercised with zeal,
trust and ability which had greatly con-
tributed to the success of the associa-
ton, and Mrs Selby was elected in her
place. Mrs. Selby died in 1870 and Mrs.
H. T. Smith was elected. ait her death
Mrs. Robert Lewis became president.
Since that time the presidents have been
Mrs. Robert H. Jones, Mrs. Leo. d. Heartt,
Mrs. Jos. B. Bachelor and Mrs. Garland
Jones, who now fills the office.
AT the annual meeting, 9th June, 1888,
it was moved by Mr.. w. T. Primrose
and adopted by the l.. NJ. A. that in flu
ture the subject of the Grafton on Me-
mortal Day be the war services of one
of the generals or of some distinguished
officer of North Carolina. or else of some
regiment belonging to the State, that the
orator be chosen by the family of the
officer who should be selected as the sub
ject of the address, and that the orations
be placed among the archives of the State
as material for history. The war records
of Gen. L. OBJ. Branch was chosen as the
subject for Memorial Day, 1884, and Maj.
John Hughes, of New Bern, was requested
by Mrs Branch to deliver the address.
} For fifteen years the custom has been OBJ
served of making the addresses on Me-
mortal Day deal with the character and
services of general of North Carolina,
the only exception being that on one oc-
casion the subject was the Junior Re-
serves" and on another the Private
, Soldier" Most of these addresses are
| now in the keeping of the l.. M. A., be-
ing preserved in a box which is kept in
the State Library The president is
making every effort to secure the missing
orations in order to put them in the same
place of safety.
October 7th, 1888 one hundred and
; seven Confederate dead were removed
from the Federal Cemetery at Airing
ton and inferred in the Confederate
Cemetery at Raleigh. They were met at
Weldon by detachment of the Fay
etteville 1. L. l., and were received in
Raleigh by a committee appointed by
the l.. M. A The bodies lay in state
in the capitol for a fitting length of
time. and were carried to the cemetery
and laid at rest with all due honor and
respect. a short religious service being
held with suitable music and an address
delivered by Coy. Jarvis.
Mrs. Jos. B. Bachelor was elected
president of the L. M. A. 5th March,
1885. During her term of office, which
lasted eight years, little new work of i'm
portance was undertaken, the formative
period of the association having passed.
But interest in the work was kept alive
and even increased, and much was done
at the cemetery in the way of identifying
the grounds and planting trees and flow
ers. Mrs. Bachelor resigned her office
nth of April, 1893 and Mrs Garland
Jones was elected to fill her place.
Since Mrs. Jones assumed the duties
of president the work of the association
has been continued with tact and abil-
} ity; all the records of the association,
including a list of the names of all the
dead in the cemetery have been care
fully copied and deposited in the Citi-
} zens' Bank; the graves of the dead
hronht from A rlir, oto,, ha. L.