The Washington times., 1913-06-08
SAYS MEMORIAL DAY
WAS BEGUN IN SOUTH
Custom Is Forty-seven Years
Old, Declares Mrs. Maxwell,
of Washington.

Celebration of Memorial Day is a
custom of forty-seven years standing,
and was first inaugurated by the women
of the South, who gathered to honor
their dead in st. Luke's Church, Column
bus, Ga, April eS, 1866. according to
street northwest.
Mrs. Maxwell takes issue with those
who assert that the observance of Mem
orial Day was begun by General Logan
or others. She says that il is typically
q Southern custom, and in proof of her
position she gives the history of many
memorial services held nearly half a
century ago, before May 30 was recog-
nized as a day to commemorate the
Union dead.
bration she says, because ii was the sad
anniversary of the surrender of General
yohnstone and the abandonment of the
tause of the Confederacy. Col. James
Fl. Ramsey, said Mrs. Maxwell, was the
first Memorial Day orator in Columbus,
and the Inspiration of the day was in
the hearts of Southern womanhood who
gathered to honor their dead and show
their reverence for their heroes"
. Mrs. Maxwell, in telling of the incep-
ton of the custom, said:
Mrs. La Sale Corbell Pickett, Wild
pw of General Pickett, has stated in
an interview that Shortly after he
close of the war she was sitting on the
Feranda of their home near Richmond,
the general being near her, when their
jog brought in human bone and laid
1t on the sack she was embroidering
for their baby. Fearing that the grue-
some object would shock her if she
recognized it. General Pickett gathered
the bone up in the garment and calling
the dog, left the house.
Shallow Grave.
The dog led him TO a shallow
yrave dug in the ground that had oeen
occupied alternately by Federals ard
Confederates, and which probably con-
tanned men of both armies. Recent
tains had exposed the bones and they
we're dug up and reinterred at once
nnder the direction of General Pick
EFT.
when the spring blossoms opened,
the general and l. with our children,
gathered them to put on the grass
keeping in our hearts as we decorated
the mounds that held the Federal SOL
Hers tender thoughts of sorrowing
mothers, wives and sisters far away
who could never know where their
bved ones were buried. This was the
Jrst Memorial Day
And Rev. John T. Huddle, pastor
pf ST. Paurs Lutheran Church, Elev-
NTH and H street northwest, has sta:-
I'd that IL originated in the casual re-
mark of German soldier. In Ger
many il was the custom of the people
DO set one day in the year apart for
he purpose of scattering flowers upon
PIE graves of the dead he said.
Are Impressed.
"The simple beauty of the sentiment
deeply impressed his comrades, and
through them was likely brought TO the
attention of Adit. Gen. n. P. Chapman.
who. with National Commander John
A Logan, of the G. A. R.. selected MAY
30 as the day upon which TO honor the
Union dead. But the records
which I have in my possession show
that previous to those celebrations. on
April 26, 1866, memorial services were
held in St. Luke's Church, Columbus.
Ga, and the graves of the Confederate
dead were decorated with flowers. Col.
James n. Ramsey. who commanded the
First Georgia Regiment in Virginia, and
who succeeded General Garnet In com
mand of that department of the Vir-
gtnia army when Garnet was killed at
address. The Columbus CGa.) Inquirer
Sun. of April q, 1871, has the following:
- On April 26 1866, the army of Gen.
J. E. Johnston surrendered. on that
and the hopes of Southern Confeder-
acy were abandoned. The ladies of Co
lumbus, acting on as sweet an impulse
as ever rhymed melodies in the souls
of noble women, suggested that the day
would be a most suitable one for the
memorial occasion-for honoring the
dead of the Lost Cause and showing the
deep reverence Southrons entertain for
,ts heroes. The suggestion found a re-
sponse in every true heart from the
Potomac to the Rio Grande, and yes
terday thousands all over the land were
decorating the graves of those who fell
while wearing the gray and defending
their homes and loved ones.
Memory today searching the renin-
iscences of those four weary years re-
calls the heavy march, the tattered
clothing, the bivouac mid cold and
sleet. or, again, sweet sleep meath the
blue sky and brilliant stars, the tire
less sentinel. the merry laugh that
made a jest of toll and battle, the pic
turesuue scenes around the campfire.
the Confederates charging with a veil.
the carnage, the wounded. and the