Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-26
How Decoration Day
Was First Observed

VI No. H." designating May 30 as Me-
mortal day. day for strewng flowers
on the graves of the fallen heroes. was
promulgated on the 18th of May. 1858. he
then being commander-in-chief of the
Grand Army of the Republic.
Order No. IL was most enthusiastically
received throughout the coutry. and on the
9th of July. following Gen. Logan wrote
Mrs. Henry S. Kimball OF Philadelphia.
who had suggested the proper observance
of suclf day:
1t is extremely gratifying to me hear
day after day from my friends Of the
kindly reception of my order for Memorial
day. AS you observed IN your very kind
letter to me- the custom is a beautiful one.
and I am confident that it will not only
never pass away from the recollection OF
the American people, but will more deeply
engraft itself in their hearts, and each re-
turning anniversary of sacred decoration
will increase in impressive devotion to our
patriotic dead"
Records and documents in the War De
partment and in tie library OF Mrs. Gen.
John \. Logan show that to Mrs Henry 5
Kimball is due the credit and honor of
suggesting to Gen. Logan the idea of hav-
ing a day set apart for paying a tribute
to dead comrades Mrs. Kimbal had visit
ed the south during 1861. and she had wit
messed the placing of flowers on the graves
of the Union and Confederate dead. Georgia
South Carolina and other southern states
having adopted the 18th day of April as
Memorial day. When Mrs. Kimball re-
turned to her home in Philadelphia she
wrote Gen. Logan what she had seen in the
south. and said AS commanderir-chief of
the Grand Army of the Republic, my dear
general, it has been suggested to me that
you might have our heroic souiers, whose
lonely graves are many and unmarked, re-
membered in the same beautiful way
Gen. Logan realize that the lady's ideas
were good. and after conference with
Cen Chapman. then a member of his staff.
he wrote Mrs. Kimball thanking her for
| the suggestion and saying that within
| short time he would issue an order desig-
| mating May 30 of each year Memorial day.
-.
During the presidential campaign Of that
year QS6S Gen. Logan received the warm
est praise for inaugurating memorial day,
the first one having been more generally OBJ
served than was expected. Throughout the
campaign when the matter was referred to
Gen. Logan never hesitated to say that the.
creQ1t was que MIS- hlTnDdil, ana tnat ne
could only take that part which fell to him
In his official capacity for putting 1t into
operation.
The fact that most of the southern states
had adopted memorial day two years be-
fore the north is almost directly traceab!e
to a speech delivered by Col Andrew II.
Dawson in the Academy of Music. Brook
Ign, N. Y. on the evening of October 6,
1866. Col. Dawson had been an officer in
the confederate army, and prior to that
one of the best-known members of the bar
of Savannah, Ga When the war osed
he went to New York to try to build up
a practice which would bring back his lost
fortune. for the war had left him almost
penniless. In New York he won fame and
wealth. and was recognized an excep-
tionaly brilliant orator In his address at
the Brooklyn Academy of Music he spoke
Of the condition of the country. saying tina;
as soldier who bore the wounds and scars
of battle, he had turned his back upon the
animosities of an embittered past and
looked with confidence and hope to the flu
ture for the re-establishment of the Union
X \
Let the north. and the south meet a.
friends" said Col. Dawson, '1et them share
common griefs, sacred sorrows. Let the
daughters Of the north and the daughters
of the south meet with their floral offerings
annually some great memorial day, on
the fields where our heroes sleep their last
sleep, and let their flowers mingle tleir
fragrance as their tears fall together upon
the lowly pillow of their loved and lost
Let them kneel together there, and let their
prayers for the welfare OF our common
country rise as 1t were on the wings of the
same breath. and soar to heaven. Angels
will be waiting at the portals Of the skies to
bear them to the. footstool Of the Great
White Throne; and the God Of our country
will hear and answer them; fraternal feell
ings will revisit the riven land; nam wilP
recognize again in man his brother; Sec
tiOnal prejudices will pass away; sectional
ism will receive the rebuke it deserves:
and peace and prosperity. harmony and
happiness will crown a national glory and
grandeur without parallel in the annals Of
ages
Col Dawsons address was received ia
vorably throughout the country. and the
following year the south almost univer-
sally observed April 28 as memorial or
decoration day, the graves of those who
wore the blue and those who wore the gray
being covered with flowers.