Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-06-02
MEMORIAL DAY IDEA
OF REBELS WIDOW
Love for Child Suggested Gen.
eral Decoration of Sol
diers' Graves.

~
know what led up to a general Memo
ilai day. An eastern man we'll up In
patriotic circles confessed last night
that only recently had he learned. OF
course everyone knows that the civil
war was the primary cause. and many
Know that the day was suggested by
Gen. John A. Logan. but, according to
a writer In the Confederate Veteran.
the idea did not originate with General
Logan.
The writer claims that the custom
originated in the south. and that 1T
was the memory Of a little child that
prought the idea of a general Memorial
a to a sad mothers heart" The ar
tlcle is of interest because of the near
ness of Memorial day and the prepara-
lions being made by veterans and their
friends to decorate the graves of those
VINO have passed away.
1T seems that the wife of Mai. Charles
w. Williams, who died in 1862, and her
little girl visited his grave every day,
sometimes wreathing it with lowers.
While the mother sat thinking of the
loved and lost the child would dec
crate other graves nearby and call them
her soldiers graves.
Carries on chiid's Work.
The little girl died and the mother
known for the child's sake. This
brought the thought of the thousands
of soldiers ave throughout the
south. far away from home and kim
dred. and suggested the nlan Of setting
apart one day in the year that love
might pay tribute to valor throughout
the southern states"
In March. 1866, Mrs. Williams pub
llshed an appeal to the people Of the
south to join in setting apart a certain
day, n proposed April &c. The appeal
received ready pom and Mrs. Will
liams lived to see her plan adopted all
over the south and. in 1868. throughout
and on each Memorial day the Column
bus. Ga, military march around her
grave n each man deposits a floral
offering.
"The beauty and pathos of this Gus
tim so impressed Mrs. John A. Logan
while on y visit to the SOUTH says the
writer. that through her Influence IT
was adopted by the north"
Different Days Observed.
The writer goes on the say that while
the south has credit for originating this
beautiful custom, no special day has
ever been adopted generally by the
different states of the south, different
dates being observed as seem most APP
propriate for these states. In Georgia
where the custom originated, tn. legis-
lature In 1856 set apart the 18th day OF
April as a legal holiday, and that day
has since been observed in that state
as Memorial day. The same date is
observed in Alabama. Mississippi, Flo
rida and Texas, and, except in Texas
has been made a state holiday in these
states.
In North Carolina May 10 was es.
tablished in 1866 as Memorial day III
honor of S~tonewall Jackson, and it wal
made a legal holiday in 1881. Soutf
Carolina also observes thath day b,
Il AFRO M ~ Mt ~, $1,000
May 10, June 3 and other dates. op.
tional with the chapters U. d. c., ar.
observed in Arkansas. Virginian oh.
serves different days in May. as doe.
West Virginia. as most appropriate fol
the different communities. June 3, tn.
birthday of President Davis. has beer
adopted by the other states-Kentucky
Oklahoma, Louisiana and Tennessee. Ii
the last two 1t. is a legal holiday. Mis-.
sou has no Memorial day for tn,
south"
Memorial Day in Alaska.
1t is a long jump from the south tt
the far north, both in mileage and ii
the manner of celebrating Memoria
day. A Rochester man in Nome, Alas.
ka, has written to a friend here telling
of n of the strangest ceremonies h,
ever witnessed, n yet 1T is an out
growth of the ceremonies held in tn,
north and south every year. II is sait
Lnere are no CIVIL war veterans Durle(
in Alaska. The bodies are shippe.
back to the states.
Last Memorial day there were 81,
veterans in Nome and six horses
These horses were ridden by the mar
sinai and his aides. who led the march
ers. The line of March led to thu
Eagles hail. where the Memorial da.
services were held over an imitation
grave. The veterans then decked thii
grave with wreaths and artificial
flowers which had been made by Els