USA > Georgia > Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume II > Part 13
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THE LAST ORDER OF THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT
"Major R. J. Moses, C. S., will pay $10,000, the amount of bullion appropriated to Q. M. Dep. by Sec. of War, to Major R. R. Wood. By order of Q. M. Gen.
"W. F. ALEXANDER, "Maj. and Asst. to Q. M. Gen."
The receipt is as follows :
"Washington, May 5th, '65.
"Received from Major R. J. Moses three boxes, estimated to con- tain $10,000 in bullion. This has not been weighed or counted, and is to be opened before two commissioned officers and a certificate of contents made, which certificate is to be forwarded to Major R. J. Moses, and by the amount certified to the undersigned is to be bound. "R. R. WOOD, Maj. and Q. M."
CHAPTER XIV
Memorial Day: Its True History
T O the State of Georgia belongs the credit of having inaugurated what has since become the universal custom of decorating annually the graves of, the heroic dead. The initial ceremonies which ushered Memorial Day into life were held in Linnwood Cemetery, at Columbus, on April 26, 1866; and the patriotic South- ern woman in whose loyal heart the idea first took definite form was Miss Lizzie Rutherford, afterwards Mrs. Ros- well Ellis, the wife of a gallant ex-Confederate officer. The date in question was selected for two reasons-it marked the anniversary of General Johnston's surren- der, an event which terminated the Civil War; and it registered the maturity of the vernal season, when flowers in this latitude are most abundant. Colonel James N. Ramsey, an old soldier and an eloquent member of the local bar, was the first Memorial Day orator. The exer- cises began with an impressive program in St. Luke's Methodist Church, following which the multitude re- paired to Linnwood Cemetery, where the graves of the silent heroes in gray were lovingly decorated with blooms.
Next to Miss Lizzie Rutherford, the honors of pioneer- hood belong to Mrs. Charles J. Williams. As secretary of the Columbus Memorial Association it fell to the lot of this sweet-spirited and gifted lady to frame the first Ietter which appeared in the newspapers of the State on this subject, urging the formation of similar organiza- tions. It was not alone the beautiful thought itself, but
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the delicate and subtle power of the writer's eloquent ap- peal to sacred memories which fired the popular imagina- tion ; and Mrs. Williams has ever since shared with her fair rival in the homage which the multiplying years have brought.
For a long period of time there waged in the public prints a controversy between enthusiastic partisans re- specting the true parentage of the Memorial Day idea; but the issue has at length happily been settled by an authoritative pamphlet. On April 26, 1898, the return of the day was made an occasion for dedicating the "Liz- zie Rutherford Chapter" of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, at Columbus; and the orator, Hon. Henry R. Goetchius, was introduced to the audience by Mr. Robert Howard. . At the same time, an official paper from the Ladies' Memorial Association of Columbus-the mother organization-setting forth the true history of Memorial Day, with affidavits thereto attached, was read by Mr. Frank U. Garrard. Three survivors of the period -Mrs. Jane E. Ware Martin, Mrs. William G. Wool- folk, and Mrs. Clara M. Dexter-testified to the facts therein recited. This document, which was afterwards published, with a full account of the exercises of dedi- cation, constitutes the chief source from which the fol- lowing information has been derived. At the cemetery a special salute was fired over the grave of Mrs. Ellis. The last resting place of the author of Memorial Day was draped on this occasion with the battle-flag of the Confederacy and covered with flowers.
During the last days of the Civil War there existed at Columbus, in common with many other towns and cities throughout the South, an Aid Society, the purpose of which was to serve the Confederacy by such means as lay within the power of the gentler sex. Garments were made and sent to the boys at the front. The wounded in the hospitals were nursed and the dead were
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given the rites of Christian burial. Some of the hardest fighting incident to the last days of the war took place on the slopes around Columbus. As a consequence, the offices of the local Aid Society were frequently called into requisition. Mrs. Absalom H. Chappell was the first president. But she was soon succeeded by Mrs. Robert Carter, who remained at the helm of affairs until the Aid Society was merged into the Ladies' Memorial Associa- tion. When the war closed the work of the Aid Society seemed to be at an end. Beyond the simple task of caring for the graves in the various cemeteries there was little left for the women of the South to do-no other way apparently in which they could still serve a Lost Cause; but the idea of setting apart some particular day of the year, to be formally observed as Memorial Day, still lay hidden in the realm of beautiful things.
Briefly stated, the circumstances leading to the origin of Memorial Day are these: Some time during the month of January, 1866, Mrs. Jane Martin was visiting Colum- bus. One afternoon, Miss Lizzie Rutherford, making her a visit, asked Mrs. Martin to accompany her to the ceme- tery, there to join some other ladies in looking after the graves of the soldiers who had died in the Columbus hospitals. The invitation was accepted. On returning home, the two ladies discussed the work in which they had been engaged. Miss Rutherford remarked that she had just been reading "The Initials," a popular novel by the Baroness Tautphocus, and that from this book she had derived an idea in regard to decorating the graves of the dead which the Aid Society, with no special work to engage them for the present, other than caring for the sacred shrines, might profitably put into effect; and she stated that for her own part she would like very much to see the Aid Society reorganized, with this definite object in view. Happening to meet Mrs. John A. Jones some few moments later, the matter was discussed with her; and still later it was mentioned to Mrs. Robert Carter, president of the Aid Society, with the result that
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Both ladies were most favorably impressed with the suggestion. As it devolved upon Miss Rutherford, as secretary of the Aid Society, to call a meeting for the purpose of disposing of certain personal property which belonged to the organization, it was thought best to pre- sent the matter in a formal way at this time. Accord- ingly, not long thereafter, a meeting was called for a given date, to be held at Mrs. John Tyler's, on what is now the corner of Fourteenth Street and Fourth Avenue; and the ladies responding to the call were: Mrs. Robert . Carter, Mrs. R. A. Ware, Mrs. William G. Woolfolk, Mrs. Clara M. Dexter, Mrs. J. M. McAllister and Mrs. Charles J. Williams. On account of a message which summoned her somewhat unexpectedly to the bedside of a sick relative, in Montgomery, Ala., Miss Rutherford was not present at the meeting; but her resolution was duly offered by one of her friends and adopted without a single vote in opposition. Thereupon the Ladies' Me- morial Association, of Columbus, was formally organ- ized, with the following set of officers: Mrs. Robert Car- ter, president ; Mrs. R. A. Ware, first vice-president ; Mrs. J. M. McAllister, second vice-president; Mrs. M. A. Patton, treasurer; and Mrs. Charles J. Williams, secre- tary. There was no date set for the formal observance of Memorial Day; but after Miss Lizzie Rutherford re- turned to Columbus, when she, with other members, were working at the cemetery and discussing the best day for the observance, she suggested April the 26th, the anniversary of General Johnston's surrender, and it met with subsequent adoption. Mrs. Williams, as secretary of the Ladies' Memorial Association, was then requested to draft a letter, addressed to the various patriotic socie- ties throughout the South, urging them to unite in mak- ing the observance of Memorial Day a universal custom. This she did in a manner which was soon destined to make her name a household word throughout the land; and with what effect she gave herself to the task is at- tested by the fact that today there is scarcely to be
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found a hamlet, in the remotest corner of the South, where the day is not fittingly observed. Nor is it too much to claim that the action of the Grand Army of the Republic, in setting apart a day on which to honor the memory of departed comrades, is an offspring of the modest seedlet which, on April 26, 1866, was planted upon the banks of the Chattahoochee River, to furnish a harvest of incense for a continent; and thus even the victorious North has deigned to emulate the example of the vanquished South.
In addition to the names hereinbefore mentioned, the membership of this pioneer organization included the following ladies of Columbus : Mrs. George W. Woodruff, Mrs. Henry L. Benning, Mrs. John A. Jones, Mrs. H. R. Goetchius, Mrs. L. T. Downing, Mrs. John A. Urquhart, Miss Anna Benning, Mrs. John Tyler, Miss Mary Tyler, Miss Emma Tyler, Miss Anna Tyler, Mrs. L. E. Carnes, Mrs. M. E. Hodges, Mrs. Anne Shepherd, Miss Mary Elizabeth Rutherford, Mrs. Seaborn Jones, Miss Mary Hodges, Mrs. David Hudson, Mrs. M. A. Patten, Mrs. R. B. Murdoch, Mrs. Laura Beecher Comer, Mrs. John D. Carter, Miss Harriet Torrence, Miss Matilda Tor- rence, Mrs. Brad Chapman, Miss Anna Forsyth, Mrs. F. O. Ticknor, and others.
The following is the statement of Mrs. Jane E. Ware Martin, as to the origin of Memorial Day :
Mrs. Martin states that she is the daughter of Mrs. Dr. Robert A. Ware, who was one of the original members of the Soldiers' Aid Society of Columbus, Ga., and later of the Memorial Association. That in 1865- 1866 she was not a resident of Columbus, Ga., but a frequent visitor here to her mother's family, and one of her especial friends in this city was Miss Lizzie Rutherford, afterwards Mrs. Roswell Ellis; that some time in January, 1866, to the best of her recollection, she was on a visit to Columbus; that she had been reared in Columbus, and had spent her girlhood and young ladyhood in Columbus, and was well acquainted with the ladies of the Soldiers' Aid Society, and especially with Miss Lizzie Rutherford, who was among her dearest friends. That during her visit, as
.
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aforesaid, in January, 1866, in Columbus, in the afternoon, Miss Ruther- ford called by her home and requested her to accompany her to the eeme- tery-now Linnwood Cemetery-stating that she was going out for the purpose of joining other ladies to do some work, in looking after the graves of soldiers who had died in the hospital in Columbus, and had been buried under the direction of the Aid Society; that she went with Miss Rutherford, and the afternoon was spent in company with other ladies looking after the graves, as aforesaid. On returning from the cemetery, Miss Rutherford and herself, while alone, passing what is now Fourth Avenue, between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets, in Columbus, Ga., were in conversation about the work which the ladies were doing at the cemetery that afternoon. Miss Rutherford remarked to her that she had just been reading a very pretty story, in which the writer had told of a beautiful custom among the Germans of decorating the graves of friends on a special day of the year, and she added that she thought it would be a good idea for the ladies of the Aid Society to organize and continue as a society for the purpose of adopting a custom of this kind and to set apart some particular day for caring for and decorating the graves of all the soldiers buried at the cemetery. Mrs. Martin says that she replied to the suggestion by saying that she thought it an excellent idea. At this point, they had reached the corner of Fourth Avenue (formerly Forsyth Street) and Fourteenth Street (formerly Franklin Street) and met, coming up Fourteenth Street, Mrs. John A. Jones, the widow of Colonel John A. Jones, who fell at Gettysburg, and she-Mrs. Martin-stated to Miss Rutherford that there was Mrs. Jones, and as Mrs. Jones was a member of the Ladies' Aid Society, suggested that she talk with her upon the subject. She did so, in Mrs. Martin's presence. Mrs. Jones' replied that she thought the idea an exeellent one, and Miss Rutherford stated that as she had to call a meeting of the Society, as secretary, for the purpose of disposing of certain personal property belonging thereto, that she thought that would be a proper time to bring the matter up. Mrs. Jones eoncurred with her, and suggested that she talk with Mrs. Robert Carter, who was president of the Aid Society. Mrs. Martin states that she afterwards learned that the German story referred to by Miss Rutherford was "The Initials," and she states further that as a result of this suggestion of Miss Rutherford the ladies of the Aid Society did subsequently meet at the . residence of Mrs. John Tyler, which at that time was on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Fourteenth Street, and located exactly where this accidental conversation took place between Miss Rutherford and Mrs. Jones; that her mother, Mrs. Robert A. Ware, was present at the meeting aforesaid, and that out of it grew the establishment of Memorial Day for the Sonth.
Mrs. Martin states that she moved to Columbus from her home near Greenville, Ga., in the year 1866, and has resided in Columbus since that time, and has been secretary of the Memorial Association of Columbus since the year 1874. That she was repeatedly told by her mother, prior
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to her death in 1894, that Miss Lizzie Rutherford originated the idea of Memorial Day, and that she knows of her own knowledge that this has been accepted as a fact by the ladies of the Memorial Association since the organization of the Association.
(Signed) MRS. JANE E. WARE MARTIN.
Attested by L. H. Chappell, Notary
Publie and Mayor of Columbus, March 23, 1898.
Mrs. William G. Woolfolk testified as follows con- cerning her knowledge of the origin of Memorial Day:
COLUMBUS, GA., March 18, 1898.
I was a member of the Soldiers' Aid Society, which was organized by certain of the ladies of Columbus during the Civil War for the purpose of aiding the soldiers. After the war there was a sentngent among the members of this society to continue the organization as a Memorial As- sociation, to commemorate the brave deeds of the Confederate soldiers. In the spring of 1866, a call was published for the ladies to meet at the home of Mrs. John Tyler, now the corner of Fourth Avenue and Four- teenth Street, formerly Forsyth and Franklin Streets. In response to this call there were present: Mrs. Robert Carter, Mrs. R. A. Ware, Mrs. William (. Woolfolk, Mrs. J. M. McAllister, Mrs. Charles J. Williams, Mrs. Clara M. Dexter and Mrs. M. A. Patten.
This meeting organized the Ladies' Memorial Association, of Columbus, Ga., and elected as President, Mrs. Robert A. Carter; first Vice-President, Mrs. Robert A. Ware; Second Vice-President, Mrs. J. M. McAllister; Treasurer, Mrs. M. A. Patten, and Secretary, Mrs. Charles J. Williams. All the ladies who had been members of the Ladies' Aid Society and other ladies of Columbus at once became members.
The object of this Association was to set apart some one day in each year for specially caring for the soldiers' graves and decorating them with flow- ers. Many of the soldiers buried at the cemetery, now Linnwood, had died in the hospital in Columbus, which was under the care of the Ladies' Aid Society, and the ladies had already been giving attention to the graves. Members of this Aid Society, of which Miss Lizzie Rutherford was an active member, had been devoting much time thereto, and in the spring of 1866, when this sentiment had become so general of making permanent the idea of a memorial, the above meeting was held, but no day for Memorial Day was then fixed. Some two days after the meeting, several of the ladies, while at work at the cemetery caring for the graves, discussed the subject of a day. I was among the number, and Miss Lizzie Ruther- ford suggested April 26th of each year as a suitable time, and it was so decided. Mrs. Charles J. Williams, as secretary of the first Memorial
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Association, had been requested to address a letter to the ladies of other Southern towns and cities, requesting them to unite with the ladies of Columbus, and after the day had been thus determined upon, Mrs. Williams wrote the letter.
The Association elected Colonel James M. Ramsey as its first orator, and the 26th of April, 1866, was duly celebrated, the exercises taking place in St. Luke's Methodist Church. I cannot say who originated the idea of Memorial Day. At the time the meeting was held at the residence of Mrs. Tyler there was a general sentiment upon the subject among the ladies of the Ladies' Aid Society. It has always been understood by members of the Memorial Association that Miss Lizzie Rutherford suggested the idea. Of this I am not able to speak of my own knowledge.
(Signed) MRS. WILLIAM G. WOOLFOLK.
Attested by F. M. Land, Notary Pub-
lic, Muscogee County, March 23, 1898.
The following is the statement of Mrs. Clara M. Dex- ter as to the origin of Memorial Day :
Mrs. Dexter states that she was one of the original members of the Soldiers' Aid Society, which was organized in Columbus, Ga., in 1861; that soldiers who were cared for by this society and who died while under its care, were buried in Linnwood Cemetery, and one lot is known as the upper lot, commonly called the "Columbus Guards' Lot," and the other, the lower lot, commonly called the "City Light Guards' Lot." She was chairman of the committee having in charge this lower lot. The ladies of the society, after the war elosed, continued to take care of and to look after the graves of these soldiers. Miss Lizzie Rutherford was one of the members of this society, and, in common with other ladies, was active in the work. Mrs. Dexter says that she has read the statement of Mrs. William G. Woolfolk, dated March 18, 1898, giving an account of her remembrance of the origin of ' Memorial Day and that this statement of Mrs. Woolfolk is substantially correct; that she-Mrs. Dexter-was pres- ent at the meeting at the residence of Mrs. John Tyler, and the account of how Memorial Day originated, as given by Mrs. Woolfolk, is correct; that the president of the Ladies' Aid Society, when organized in 1861, was Mrs. A. H. Chappell, who resigned shortly thereafter, and Mrs. Robert Carter was elected in her place. Mrs. Robert Carter continued as president until the Aid Society was merged into the Memorial Association, and re- mained so until her death, in January, 1896. Mrs. Louis F. Garrard was elected her successor, and is now the president of said Association. In addition to the facts as set forth in the statement of Mrs. Woolfolk, Mrs. Dexter says that she is satisfied in her own mind that the idea of Memorial Day was suggested by Miss Lizzie Rutherford and that the letter author-
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ized to be sent out by the Memorial Association through Mrs. Charles J. Williams, corresponding secretary, was composed by Mrs. Williams, and that both ladies were very active in the work of the Memorial Association as long as they were in life, and in recognition of their services the Memorial Association of Columbus, in 1892, placed headstones at their graves similar to those placed by the Association at the graves of the soldiers, and on these headstones the Association ascribed to Miss Ruther- ford the honor of originating the idea of Memorial Day, and to Mrs. Williams the honor of having been a faithful co-worker with the ladies of the Memorial Association of Columbus in perpetuating the custom. Mrs. Dexter states that she and Mrs. Woolfolk are the only survivors of the ladies who met at the residence of Mrs. John Tyler, in the spring of 1866, for the purpose of organizing the Memorial Association and establishing Memorial Day.
(Signed) MRS. CLARA M. DEXTER. 1
Attested by James G. Moon, Notary
Public and ex-officio J. P .. Muscogee
County, Ga., March 25, 1898.
Below will be found an exact copy of the original letter drafted by Mrs. Charles J. Williams, as secretary of the Columbus Memorial Association, and sent by her to the various representative newspapers throughout the South, urging co-operation in an effort to make the yearly observance of Memorial Day a universal custom. It first appeared in the columns of the Columbus Times:
COLUMBUS, GA., March 12th, 1866.
MESSRS. EDITORS: The ladies are now and have been for several days engaged in the sad but pleasant duty of ornamenting and improving that portion of the city cemetery sacred to the memory of our gallant Confeder- ate dead, but we feel it is an unfinished work unless a day be set apart annually for its especial attention. We cannot raise monumental shafts and inseribe thereon their many deeds of heroism, but we can keep alive the memory of the debt we owe them by dedicating, at least one day in each year, to embellishing their humble graves with flowers. Therefore, we beg the assistance of the press and the ladies throughout the South to aid us in the effort to set apart a certain day to be observed, from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, and be handed down through time as a religious custom of the South, to wreathe the graves of our martyred dead with flowers; and we propose the 26th day of April as the day. Let every eity, town and village join in the pleasant duty. Let all alike be remembered, from the heroes of Manassas to those who expired amid the death throes of our
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hallowed cause. We'll crown alike the honored resting places of the im- mortal Jackson in Virginia, Johnson at Shiloh, Cleburne in Tennessee and the host of gallant privates who adorned our ranks. All did their duty, and to all we owe our gratitude. Let the soldiers' graves for that day at least, be the Southern Mecca, to whose shrine her sorrowing women, like pilgrims, may annually bring their grateful hearts and floral offerings. And when we remember the thousands who were buried "with their mar- tial cloaks around them," without Christian ceremony of interment, we would invoke the aid of the most thrilling eloquence throughout the land to inaugurate this custom by delivering, on the appointed day this year, a eulogy on the unburied dead of our glorious Southern army. They died for their country. Whether their country had or had not the right to demand the sacrifice is no longer a question of discussion. We leave that for nations to decide in future. That it was demanded, that they fought nobly, and fell holy sacrifices upon their country 's altar, and are entitled to their country 's gratitude, none will deny.
The proud banner under which they rallied in defense of the holiest and noblest cause for which heroes fought, or trusting women prayed, has been furled forever. The country for which they suffered and died has now no name or place among the nations of the earth. Legislative enact- ment may not be made to do honor to their memories, but the veriest radical that ever traced his genealogy back to the deck of the Mayflower, could not refuse us the simple privilege of paying honor to those who died defending the life, honor and happiness of the Southern women.
It is not strange that the observance of Memorial Day should have originated in this section. The South is proverbially the land of flowers. During the late Civil War, it was also the area of invasion. The burning plow-shares of battle prepared the soil for an imperial harvest of heroic legends. Besides, the history of the world teems with testimony to the fact that the most enduring chaplets have ever been woven for the van- quished. It is only necessary to cite Thermopylae and Troy to prove that literature, whether it takes the form of prose or of verse, is partial to a Lost Cause. Per- haps another reason for the Southern origin of Memorial Day is to be found in the fact that the heroism of the Southern soldier was inspired not alone by his resolute fidelity to principle, but by his paramount allegiance to
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the gentler sex. He was instinctively a Cavalier. It was the work of some fair woman to buckle on his belt; and whether she printed upon his brow a mother's or a sweet- heart's kiss, he jauntily sallied forth to the wars, like an armored knight. He went to the front, bearing her colors -to revive the old romantic days of chivalry and to write with his trusty sword or his brave musket, on many an ensanguined field, the bloody sequel of the tournament. If heroism alone could have prevailed, he would not have lost an unequal fight ; and, around the fireside of an after- time, he would have told in another key the story of Ap- pomattox. But an all-wise God held the scales of battle in His omnipotent hand; and while the North was elated with her laurels, the South was left to her memories. It was in this sorrowful extremity that the Daughter of Dixie began to think of the humble graves on the hill- side. She could rear no costly monument over her cham- pion, but she could make the earth above him fragrant with her unbought forget-me-nots. In the first gray mists of the early morning, these gentle Marys of our Southland-shedding tears and bearing incense-sought the sepulchres in which lay buried the Templar Knights of the Southern Cross. It was love's sweet "In Memo- riam"-an elegy of the most exquisite perfume written in the unlettered language of flowers.
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