Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1908-12-24
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
OF George II. Legate Post, Grand Army
of the Republic, Duly Observed.

the Woman's Relief Corps, assembled
at the Post hall for the purpose of OBJ
serving the twenty-fifth anniversary of
/ the Posts existence. The services were
simple yet abounded with ringing pa
triotism.
| Comrade w. H. Bennett, who Off
ciated in the organization of the Post,
and eomrade j. c. Martin, late Com
mander thereof, were both present
from Madison and aided in rounding
out the services by making appropriate
remarks.
lnterspersed were pleasant words by
the present Post Commander. Capt
S. f. Shepard, music by the male
quartette. vocal solo by Master Walter
Horn, duets by Gordon Shepard and
Osborne Fox, accompanied by Wearne
Harwick on the violin, instrumental
selections by Prof. Anderson and read.
ing by Mrs ]. f. Hendra. A short
history was given of Company l., Wis.
Inf flag presented the company, by J.
B. Prideaux, the present custodian.
The principal speaker of the evening
was I. M. Priestley of this city, son of
the late Capt. Thomas Priestley, who
was the first Commander of the local
Post. Upon taking the platform, Mr..
Priestley said that since entering the
hall he had been told by one of the
members of the Post that, as said mem
Der was passing little grave at
Gettysburg, he came across the resting
place of three Mineral Point boys, who
had given up their lives upon that
bloody field. The speaker regarded this
simple statement as more eloquent and
more truly significant of the sentiment
of the gathering than anything he could
say.
He then briefly stated the war rec
ord of the city of Mineral Point, show
ing that over 500 men went to the
front from this city and vicinity. Geo.
H. Legate Post was organized Dec. 20,
1888 with % charter members. There
have been 1877 musters and as deaths,
the present membership being So. OF
tie % charter members, 8 are now
dead II active in the Post and re-
moved from the vicinity.
Mr. Priestley spoke of the regard
and affection he had always held for
members of the G.. A. R., and said that
despite the fact that their organization
was secret, they had been as unable to
keep secret their good works in time
of peace as they had their great deeds
in the dark days when the very life of
the nation was at stake.
He then spoke of the lack of concep-
ticn of the young people of today of
what the struggle Of 1861 to 1866 meant
to members of the G.. A. r. and to So
ciety generally, and said it shocked the
imagination to think of what might
have been the results if the valor, self
sacrifice and exalted patriotism of the
secession had triumphed, for if the
principle of secession had been estab-
lished by the war, the natural sequence
would have been the division of our
country into innumerable petty SOW
ereignties, until we should have riyalled
the comic opera governments Of some
of the Central and South American
states where revolutions, dictators, in
IDENTITIES, foreign battleships and flee
ing presidents follow one another across
the stage of action in bewildering ra-
pidity, and an European Protectorate
would have been the probable result of
the chaos that would have followed.
The changes that have come to Geo.
H. Legate Post in the past twenty-five
years were then discussed and the use
of the word Boys" as applied to G. A.
R. men was justified in the opinion Of
the speaker because statistics and au-
thentic history show that the war of the
rebellion was fought and won by beard
leRs boys and that it was as mere boys
that they had won laurels as rich and
fame as lasting as ever came to vic
torious soldiers.
Concerning the personnel Of the G. A.
r. he said:
Your rolls are made up for the most
part OF the volunteer soldiery Of
America, and ! speak to you 10 sim
pie truth when I say that history has
ye. to present more inspiring figure
han the American volunteer. From
Bunker Hill TO Santiago the pages OF
American history write large his
eternal fame With Jackson among
the cotton bales at New Orleans, with
Taylor at Monterey, with Sherman
when be marched down from Atlanta
TO the sea, in that death grapple At
Gettysburg, and on one hundred other
4 ~ .fses III