USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 23
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Without authority, and in the face of the law, rules and regulations, a so-called memorial com- mittee was appointed by the Department Com- mander to procure an endorsement from the Na- tional Convention, W. R. C., of the illegal action of the ladies who were at Indianapolis last Feb- ruary, and who, by the advice of these comrades, assumed, in violation of their obligation to their order, to hold a convention. Their action was il- legal, revolutionary and factious in the extreme, and tended to destroy the W. R. C. in this De- partment. By permitting this action the Depart- ment Commander violated his obligation to our order. Again, the Department Commander went
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to St. Louis, and to the ladies composing the National Convention represented that the G. A. R. of this Department endorsed the faction at Indian- apolis. He could not have been ignorant of the fact that this statement was not borne out by facts, and that the contrary was true. The G. A. R. of the State never endorsed that faction.
It has been the constant effort of the faction at Indianapolis, under the leadership of the Depart- ment Commander, Comrades Carnahan, Foster, Vanasdol, Coburn and McMasters, the memorial (?) committee, to destroy the legally organized loyal auxiliary Department of the W. R. C., pre- sided over by Mrs. L. J. Gorsuch, and substitute the illegal, revolutionary and re-actionary faction at Indianapolis, presided over by Mrs. Flora Wulschner.
In furtherance of these illegal and rebellious actions these comrades have published untruthful and exaggerated statements of the condition of affairs in this Department in the public press of the State. These comrades have, in their unholy desire to rule the Department, advised the ladies of the W. R. C. to violate their obligation to their order, and thus induced them to organize an oppo- sition to the legal authority of that organization in this State.
We don't believe that the G. A. R. or W. R. C. should be run for the political advancement or personal glory of any man or set of men. That is not the purpose of the organization. We believe that their affairs should be conducted in Frater- nity, Charity and Loyalty. As there does not appear to be any hopes of so conducting the De- partment Encampment and the Department Con- vention so long as they are held at Indianapolis, and kept under the baneful influences of Captain Carnahan and others, we recommend the follow- ing:
1. That the Encampment be held at the fol- lowing cities in the order herein named: Evans- ville, Terre Haute, Richmond, Fort Wayne, New Albany, South Bend, Lafayette, Vincennes, Logans- port and Indianapolis, and so on continuously.
2. That the reports of the Council of Adminis- tration, Quartermaster and Adjutant-General be printed, and each delegate be furnished with a copy as soon as the Encampment meets each year.
3. That the practice of comrades making com- binations and trades to help themselves or friends into office is especially reprehensible and ought to be condemned by the comrades, and those who practice it disfranchised.
4. That any and all interference with the W. R. C. not authorized by their rules and regulations shall be deemed a violation of the rules and regu- lations of the G. A. R.
It is with a hope that we may have a more prosperous future; that a better feeling of Frater- nity, Charity and Loyalty may exist in our order, and that more intimate and cordial relations may exist between the soldiers of the G. A. R. and the noble, great, big-hearted ladies composing the W. R. C., that we issue this address.
Yours in F., C. and L., FRANK SWIGART, JASPER A. PAUGH, HENRY C. CUSHMAN, Committee of Logansport Post 14, Dep't of Ind., G. A. R.
In so far as there is anything in this cir- cular for which Auten Post can be held ac- countable, and which shall be found contrary to the rules and regulations, or contrary to the principles and discipline of the G. A. R., we do hereby, in the name of the post, dis- avow the same; and we do, in the name of Auten Post and of all her comrades, disavow any intention whatever of violating the spirit of our obligation as a post, or as officers or comrades thereof, or any intention of doing anything which should have subjected us to the censure or criticism of the lawful author- ities of our order.
When we have said this, comrades, we have said all. We are men; we are free- born citizens of this republic; we are Ameri- can Union soldiers, who have freely staked our lives in red battle, in hunger and wet and cold, in hospital and in prison, all in the glad service of free institutions and the liberty of man, and we have not come home to surrender our manhood. We believe that the institution or the organization which can- not stand free discussion and open criticism is unfit to enjoy the light of that liberty to which our armies have struggled through clouds and darkness; and we should be ashamed of the soldiers of the great repub- lic if they had come back to their friends and . neighbors and banded themselves to- gether into an association which should fetter that free speech for which they had proudly fought and won on fields of glory.
We ' therefore take back nothing of our action on that circular which calls attention to reforms that we believe should take place in the affairs of the G. A. R. in this depart- ment. And this we say whether it shall finally appear that those reforms are neces- sary or not. It was our right to express our views, honestly as we held them, in regard to those matters. The lowliest American citi- zen has the right to do that; and the soldiers of the republic have forfeited none of the rights of freemen by fighting for liberty, nor have the veterans by banding together to preserve the memory of those hours of trial and danger.
The reforms suggested in the circular are such as we believe proper to be made; whether our belief be correct or not, we had the right as men, as citizens and as comrades, to express it. For the form of expression we should not be held altogether accountable. We took the circular as it was sent us, giving
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slight attention to the manner of expression, but much to the matter. We do believe that the comrades of the Grand Army should not have interfered in the management of the Woman's Relief Corps, and we do believe that other matters referred to in the circular should receive the attention of this encamp- ment. Shall we be punished for thus believ- ing, or for thus freely expressing our belief ?
And, comrades, granting even that we should first have taken this circular and re- vised its language, so that it should not be quite so plain-spoken, that references to in- dividual comrades should have been omitted or modified,-even so, in the sweet names of fraternity and charity, shall we suffer death for such an offense? Because honest soldiers, plain, blunt men, seeing what, in the sim. plicity of their hearts, they considered evil practices, should have used a soldier's free- dom, and should not have spoken with all the grace of Chesterfield, or all the obsequious- ness of Orientals addressing the Shah of Persia,-shall the mandate therefore go forth that they shall be exiled forever?
We do not question the power of the de- partment commander to issue this order, but we do question the right and justice. The framers of our rules and regulations lodged that high power in the hands of the depart- ment commander, believing that the comrade so honored would be a man above all personal considerations, and one who would administer his high office in the spirit, not only of "dis- cipline and fraternity," but also of charity towards all his comrades and loyalty to the principles of the Grand Army of the Republic.
The commander might have simply cen- sured the post for what he found censurable; he might even have suspended her charter and referred any wrong doing of which he could complain to the department encamp- ment: or he might, if he so chose, and this for an offense personal to himself, without asking for an explanation, aye, even for the very purpose, if possible, of excluding those who might explain from the floor of the en- campment, annul her charter and cut off the faithful old post forever. He might do this, such grave power is entrusted to his hands.
"Oh!
"Tis excellent to have a giant's strength, But tyrannous to use it as a giant!"
It does seem to us, looking at the matter in all calmness of mind and charity of heart,
that the action of the council of administra- tion, endorsed by the department commander in General Orders No. 11, was unprecedented in our history, unnecessarily severe, and espe- cially harsh in view of the fact that no pre- vious intimation was given that the post had fallen under the displeasure of department headquarters. We think that the proverbial love of fair play, so characteristic of Ameri- cans and their. institutions, should have pre- vented trial, judgment and sentence, until the post by its representatives could have been heard and allowed to explain and plead in its behalf.
Our noble order was originally based upon fraternity, without regard to former rank, and it was certainly never the design that we should establish an arbitrary rank of our own. Section 4, Article I., Chapter V., of the rules and regulations could not have been intended to place in the hands of one of our officers and his council, however exalted their rank, any star chamber authority. Offenses cog- nizable by the Grand Army of the Republic are specified in Article 1 of said chapter; and it is distinctly stated in Section 3 of that article that "all accusations shall be made in the form of charges and specifica- tions," thus securing to the accused both no- tice of the charge against him and the right to plead in defense. It will hardly be claimed that the right thus secured to an individual comrade of a post is denied to all the com- rades taken together, or to the post itself.
We do therefore enter our solemn protest against the summary provisions of Order No. 11; and we submit to you, comrades of the department encampment, that for whatever wrong we may have done, whether imaginary or real, the annullment of our charter is an excessive, uncharitable and utterly dispropor- tionate punishment, and therefore confidently ask at your hands the restoration of that charter.
That charter, comrades, is one of the most venerable in this department, having been given to us while attached to the Department of Illinois, and before the existence of the present Department of Indiana.
Auten Post, No. 8. was Auten Post, No. 1. District of St. Joseph, and afterwards Auten Post, No. 17, under the old organization. When that organization was abandoned. Auten Post maintained its integrity, and al- though responsible to no existing department, met, elected officers, disbursed charity, cared
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for the needy and destitute in its ranks, and never once failed to observe Memorial Day in all the years that we had no department.
On the 19th day of August, 1879, by vir- tue of a charter issued from the Department of Illinois, Auten Post, No. 64, took its place in that department, and there remained until the re-organization of the Department of Indiana, when it became Post No. 8, Depart- ment of Indiana.
The post has always been loyal to consti- tuted authority, and no insubordination was intended or thought of in its action regard- ing the Logansport circular. It is the intent that governs, and the absence of all evil intent in that action should entitle the post to the charitable judgment and fraternal in- dulgence of this encampment.
Ever since the year 1866, we have kept the fires of the Grand Army burning. For twenty-two years no Memorial Day has passed that we have not strewn the graves of our dead comrades with the flowers of spring- time, and held forth the memory of their heroic example to the admiration and grati- tude of our people. Through good and evil report we have kept on our way, and held fast to the faith. Many a flourishing post around us looks up to ours as founder and helper, and is happy to call herself the child of old Auten Post.
Faithful has the post been, as its reports, and the records of this department will show, to the rules and regulations of the G. A. R. and to department and national orders. Re- ports and dues have been promptly remitted, including those for the fourth quarter of 1887; and the action of the post in voting to comply with Order No. 11 has shown its unquestioning devotion to the G. A. R. and to constituted authority.
Is it fitting, then, comrades, that this old post, of nearly three hundred members, should be struck down for so slight a cause and in so summary a manner? The sternest laws of war are more lenient than this. The deserter in the face of the enemy, the very traitor himself, is granted at least the form of a court-martial. He is confronted with the evidence against him, and is called upon for his defense, if he has any. Even then, the extreme sentence may be mitigated or com- muted; or he may be fully pardoned and asked to prove himself once more in the fire of battle.
Then, too, comrades, it is not the part of
the magnanimous general to pass over the too great freedom of his subordinate, if personal to himself, even if he winces under the crit- icism of this subordinate? Or, in any case, will he, for such an offense, order him shot at sunrise, without warning or the semblance of a trial ?
We are wholly unwilling to believe that our comrades of this department will sanction any such summary proceedings against a sis- ter post. Should you do so, comrades, it may be your turn to-morrow, as it is ours to-day; until the fine fabric of the Grand Army of the Republic crumbles to dust, bat- tered down by the fratricidal arms of its own defenders.
We believe you will rather act upon the holy precepts of fraternity, charity and loy- alty, the memories of comradeship in danger. our common love of country, and the sacred cause to which we have all devoted our lives. We make this plea for the Grand Army of the Republic and for the Department of In- diana, no less than for Auten Post and for her comrades. You are not ready yet. com- rades, without greater cause, to disrupt the noble Department of Indiana, blast her posts and scatter her membership.
Commander and Comrades of the Ninth Annual Encampment of the Department of Indiana, our appeal is in your hands; do with it as honor and duty shall inspire you. We confide in that decision. We believe that you will return to us our charter, books and papers, give seats to our delegates in this encampment, and restore Auten Post, No. 8, Department of Indiana, to your fraternal embrace and to her place of honor in this department, the place which she has so long and so nobly held in the fore front of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Yours in F., C. and L., TIMOTHY E. HOWARD, ELMER CROCKETT, ALBERT M. BURNS, JASPER E. LEWIS, JONATHAN P. CREED.
Committee on Appeal on the part of Auten Post, No. 8, Dept. of Indiana, G. A. R.
Adopted as the action of Auten Post, No. 8, Department of Indiana, G. A. R., by unani- mous vote of the post, at a regular meeting held at headquarters. South Bend, Indiana. Friday evening February 3. 1888.
CYRUS C. TRUMP, Post Commander. JASPER E. LEWIS, Adjutant.
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As stated in the foregoing history of Auten Post, the appeal to the department commander and department encampment was successful; and the post was immediately admitted to membership in the department.
A few years after the close of the Civil war, a military spirit began to be shown in the generation then growing up. In this county that spirit manifested itself in the formation of the South Bend Light Guards, a well-drilled company of young soldiers who in a few years developed into Company F of the Indiana National Guard, officered by such enthusiastic young men as George M. Stude- baker, George W. Feaser, George W. Freyer- muth and others. Company F was regarded throughout the state as one of the best com- panies in the I. N. G. When the war with Spain came on and Indiana was called upon to furnish its quota, Company F at once became the nucleus of one of the regiments to start for the front. This regiment was the 157th Indiana infantry, which acted so worthy a part in our short controversy with the proud nation whose dominion at one time, as we have seen, extended from the valley of the St. Joseph to the straits of Magellan. George M. Studebaker was appointed colonel. In time, George W. Feaser was advanced to the lieutenant-colonelcy, and George W. Freyermuth was promoted from captain to major. This later military story is so fresh in the minds of the people that it hardly seems necessary to extend it further. The young men of the Light Guards, Company F and the 157th regiment, showed themselves worthy sons of the veterans of 1861. A camp of Spanish war veterans is one of our military organizations.
Sec. 4 .- THE SOLDIERS' MONUMENT .- On June 25, 1903, was dedicated in South Bend the most beautiful soldiers' monument in In- diana, save only the state monument at In- dianapolis. This beautiful shaft, of granite and bronze, was erected by the county of St. Joseph, and is the crowning mark of honor for all time to the heroic soldiers and
sailors of every war since the Revolution, whose bodies are at rest in the soil of our county. The exercises of the dedication constituted one of the very finest civic and military displays ever witnessed in northern Indiana. The monument itself has given the utmost satisfaction to our citizens, both as a work of art and as a fit and costly memorial to the defenders of the republic. The loca- tion of the monument in our small public square, and surrounded and obscured by pub- lic buildings, has been criticised. The beau- tiful shaft is hidden away as if it were some- thing to be concealed; whereas it is worthy of a place for itself, where it might be viewed and admired by all the world. Mr. Leighton Pine, a member of the monument commis- sion, earnestly contended that the shaft should be erected in one of the public parks; and people now generally acknowledge that Mr. Pine was right in this, as he was in relation to the stand pipe, and indeed in relation to almost everything concerning which he expressed a decided opinion. He was one of the brightest and most judicious minded of all the men that ever took part in the public affairs of St. Joseph county. But the soldiers' monument, notwithstanding its location, is a thing of beauty, and will be a joy forever, teaching to all the coming generations its silent lesson of love of coun- try and gratitude to her defenders.
Soldiers and citizens came for a hundred miles on the beautiful June day, to join in the dedication of the monument, and to listen to the fine addresses of Mayor Edward J. Fogarty, Department Commander George W. Grubbs, Captain Edwin Nicar, Colonel Wil- liam Hoynes and former Congressman Ben- jamin F. Shively. The historical features con- nected with the erection and dedication of the monument will perhaps be best shown in an editorial in the South Bend Tribune of that day; in the presentation address by the Hon. Isaac Newton Miller, president of the board of county commissioners and in the accept- ance on the part of the Soldiers' Monument
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Association. These were, in order, as follows: The Editorial.
The dedication of the soldiers' monument in the court house grounds in this city to-day marks the last of three important public events in St. Joseph county connected with the great civil war. The first was on an April evening forty-two years ago when, on the news of Sumter's fall, the citizens of South Bend, filled with patriotic indignation, met in mass concourse, denounced disunionism and then and there by the scores volunteered to go at the president's call and battle for their country's cause.
It was a sad occasion when again they met under the leafy maples on the same spot a few months later to pay humble, mournful tribute to the memory of one who had been brought back from the field of strife the first of his comrades to fall at the enemy's hands. Over the silent form of John Auten, wrapped in the starry flag, the highest honor to a sol- dier and the tenderest tribute of friend were paid. Eloquent were the eulogies said and beside the maimed body fresh vows were taken to stand by the flag and avenge his death.
Many, many more of her brave, stalwart sons did St. Joseph county send to become a sacrifice upon the altar of their country, and the gathered thousands on the historic grounds to-day are there to pay the loftiest tribute, to express the deepest gratitude, to extend the most affectionate fealty, to show the all-abiding love of the living to the dead in the consecration of a monument of granite and enduring bronze to loyalty and heroism.
This impressive memorial that St. Joseph county has erected at much expense to com- memorate the valor of her soldiers on the field of glory has been a long time going through the developing process, but it is now complete and will stand as long as time lasts. It certainly is a splendid specimen of the sculptor's art, and will be classed among the city's most conspicuous public ornaments. It is of symmetrical proportions and all of its embellishments and inscriptions are in good taste and appropriate. No one can well look upon the heroic figure surmounting the shaft, the color bearer holding aloft Old Glory, without a thrill of patriotic inspira- tion, while to the old soldier it stirs the blood and brings up memories of the long ago when the demon of war stalked through this be- loved land.
Those who took the responsibility of rais- ing funds for the monument and all who were in any way connected with the selection of its design and entrusted with its construc- tion are certainly to be congratulated upon the success of their efforts. No criticism whatever is to be offered of the shaft. It is one of the finest memorials of the kind to be found in the country, and Indiana has none other to compare with it except perhaps the state soldiers' monument at Indianapolis, which is really no better, only that it is on a more elaborate scale. St. Joseph county may well be proud of the memorial she has erected in the public grounds to show her gratitude to the heroes who went forth to battle for the right in her name. It is a tribute to all who gave up their lives for the flag in every branch of the military and naval service, in all the wars of the republic. from the first struggle for liberty down to the latest for the maintenance of American supremacy, the short war with Spain, for in old St. Joseph's soil sleep the soldiers of 1776, of 1812, of 1846, of 1861, and of 1898.
Mr. Miller's Presentation.
We come to-day to dedicate and conse- crate this monument in honor of and to the memory of those who fought and those who fell in the war of the great rebellion. The citizens of St. Joseph county have erected this soldiers' and sailors' monument as a token of the high regard and love they have for the men who saved this, the great- est republic on earth, and who carried Old Glory on so many battlefields to victory.
Almost four years ago there was a peti- tion presented to the county commissioners of this county, asking them to appropriate the sum of $25,000 with which to build a sol- diers' monument. The members of the board at that time were Peter Reaves, president : Samuel Bowman and John Fulmer. This county board submitted the petition to the county advisory board and the appropriation was granted without a dissenting vote. From this time on, with the aid of the G. A. R. committee, for which they will please accept our thanks, we labored at every session of the board, up to the present time, to have a monument erected that would be an ornament to the city of South Bend and in keeping with the honor and dignity of St. Joseph county. How well we have succeeded our people must be the judges.
The board of county commissioners feel
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that they have done their whole duty and have used the funds intrusted to their care and keeping as economically as possible and have received in return from McDonnell & Sons, the contractors, the full value of the money paid.
At the earnest solicitation of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Woman's Re- lief Corps, there will be a space left around the base of the monument three feet in width, for planting and cultivation of flowering plants, which we hope will be realized as soon as the grounds are in shape, thus keep- ing the base of the monument a living, per- petual bud and bloom. This we entrust to the Woman's Relief Corps, which we have good reason to believe will be done to per- fection. And now, Grand Army of the Re- public, as president of the board of. county commissioners of St. Joseph county, I present to you this beautiful monument as a tribute to the love and respect we have for you. May you receive it in the same generous spirit that it is freely given.
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