The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-08-16
A SCYTHE HIS MEMORIAL.
Remains Where Youth Hung II When
He Went to War.

When the territory about Waterloo,
in this state, was sparsely settled,
says the New York Tribune, the prin-
cipal industry was the tewing of tim
Der from the foBests along the Seneca
canal. At a point known as Log
Landing, midway between Geneva and
Waterloo, the woodchoppers were
wont to gather and tell their stories of
early Indian fights, and here young
Hyman johnson, a farmer boy, first
learned Of the impending disaster to
the Union if the southern states were
allowed to withdraw from their early
utilization. It seemed war was immi-
nent and speculation was rife as to
the time when the actual hostilities
would begin.
One day in 1851 Johnson, who was
then 20 years old, was moving lot on
the farm. A neighbOr drove up bear
ing the tidings that the call to arms
had been sounded. Without hesitation
the youth walked to the house and
placed his scythe in the crotch of a
young Balm of Gilead tree. His moth
er asked him what the matter was,
and he said:
Mother, Lincoln needs men. 1 am
going to war"
what, Hyman? You, my son, going
to enlist?"
Eyes. but do not fear any harm will
come to me. The war viii be over in
a month. The southerners cannot face
the troops from the north for more
than that time. When I return 1 Will
NOW the resi- of the lot. Leave my
scythe in the tree until return
His regiment marched to the front
to the stirring martial music and was
often in the fighting line. The moth
er, true to the words of her boy, left
the scythe as it had been placed. john
son came home a year later on a fur
Tough and he laughed at the almost
forgotten incident of the implement
and its position.
He inspired hope in the hearts of
those who thought of nothing else than
his safe return, by saying: Il will yet
be back to NOW that lot"
Soon after returning ne was captured
in a skirmish and became a prisoner
in a southern pen, from which escape
was impossible. Disease laid hold
upon him and he died surrounded by
enemies. J1e was buried in an I'M
known grave with hundreds of his
comrades.
Meanwhile the tree grew apace and
the blade became partially imbedded
in the trunk of the tree. The handle
rotted away, but the steel remained
nXeO IN the HOOu-
A general proclamation was issued
from the White House declaring one
day should be set apart as a time for
memory of those who had fallen while
defending their country. 1t was the
first Memorial Gay. Word of the proc
lamation was carried to Mrs. Johnson,
but she had no grave to decorate. She
fain would strew a few flowers upon
the spot wherein her boy lay, but it's
location must ever remain a mystery.
Kneeling in the garden, she offered a
snort prayer. Then she plucked few
lilies from the plot she tended daily
and. making a wreath, she bore it to
the tree which gave such a grim re-
ninder of her sacrifice to her country.
With a caress she reached up and
hung the wreath upon the scythe
point.
Memorial day has long become an
established anniversary. Many years
have passed since Mrs. Johnson was
laid to rest in the village cemetery
The old home. as it stood in the day
Of the civil war. is exactly as it was
then, but is occupied by another fam
ily. Thomas Buck and those gathered
about his fireplace tell of the hanging
of the scythe to scores of eager listen
ers each year.