The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1917-05-25

j of Sherman's expedition to Meridian.
Fla, In 1864, that Chaplain Rutledge
Is said to have made the fruitful sug-
gestion to Major Stephenson that
soldiers SO closely allied In fellow
ship of suffering would when mustered
out desire some form Of association to
preserve the friendship and the memo
ries of their common trials and dan
gers"
The two friends agreed that II spared
they would work out together some
plan of allegiance to meet the need.
This SUGGESTION and agreement proved
to be the germ Of the Grand Army OF
the Republic, the greatest and most
influential body Of veterans In the
world. 1t was not until nearly year
after the grand muster out that Major
Stephenson and Chaplain Rutledge
met In Springfield and laid the founda-
ton plans for the new national order.
The work of Missouri organization
called the Grand Army of Progress
suggested the form of ritual which was
adopted and which was printed In
great secrecy.
FOURTEEN charter members of the
i Grand Army participated In the
first conference, and united Is from
the first historic pioneer G. A. r.
post at Decatur, ILL.,, April 6, 1866.
These men were Col. John NJ. Snyder,
DR.. James Hamilton, Maj. r. M.
Woods and IL others.
The makers of the G. A. R., 1t ap-
pears, adopted, in part, the "title of
officers" and the general organization
of the Loyal Legion of the United
States, the essential difference in
herring In the terms Of eligibility to
Office, the Loyal Legion restricting
membership of the first class to off,
GERS.
The plan Of organization embraced,
first, the formation of precincts, called
posts; second, county unions, called
districts; third, state associations,
known as departments, and the ma
tional organization formed originally
of two delegates from each depart
ment.
The declaration of principles, a clear
statement of the fraternal, patriotic
and charitable purpose Of the new or
ganlzation, was introduced by para
graph in high-sounding and rounded
phraseology after the style Of the
times, as follows:
Get HE soldiers of the Volunteer
] Army of the United States dur
Ing the war of 1S61-1S65 actuated by
the impulse and convictions of pa
triotism and eternal right; combined
In the strong bonds of fellowship and
unity by the tolls, the dangers and
the victories of long and vigorously
waged war, feel themselves called on
to declare In definite form Of words,
and in determined cooperative ac-
ton, those principles and rules which
should guide the earnest patriot, the
enlightened freeman and the Chris
tian citizen in his course of action,
and to agree upon those plans and
laws which should govern them In a
united and systematic working meth
cd with which In some measure shall
be effected the preservation Of the
grand results of the war, the fruits
of their labor and toll, so as to bene-
ut the deserving and worthy"
The Grand Army organization, It
appears, at first made little Roadway
In the various states. In two years but
thirteen states were permanently or
ganized, the order being Illinois, Wis
consin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York,
Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jer-
sey, Maine, California, Nevada, Rhode
Island, New Hampshire and Vermont.
The chief cause of the slow progress
seemed to be that the soldiers had be-
come weary Of organization in the in
effective clubs already referred to,
which had grown into popular disfavor,
and almost total disruption was threat
ened by the Indifference and opposition
of those who at first conceived the G.
A. X. to be some sort of secret So
ciety of partisan proclivities.
MANY wise heads, however, recog-
IVA nized the power for good in the or
ganization, and its future prosperity
was happily assured by the adoption
OF a resolution of the national en-
campment of 1853 that the purpose of
the G. A. r. is ito secure the rights
of these defenders of their country, by
all moral, social and political means In
our control"
Emphasis was appropriately placed
on the primary objects of the organi-
zatlon to maintain and strengthen the
fraternal feelings which bind together
the soldiers and marines of the Civil
war, to perpetuate the memory and
history Of those who have died, and to
lend assistance to the needy and to
their widows and orphans, and all dis
tinctions of party, creed, rank or color
were eliminated.
Message Held Most Dear.
T.