USA > Michigan > Annual report of the Adjutant General of the State of Michigan for the year, Vol. III > Part 35
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Our State fairly owes an acknowledgment to your efficient Adjutant General for a large share of merit in the preparation of her creditable deposit. Very fitly may the following initial list of the articles thus deposited be appended, for the inspec- tion of the citizens of a State noted for her lively interest in all the hallowed places and associations of the nation's noble dead:
List of articles deposited by the State of Michigan, in the corner stone of the Monument in the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Get- tysburg, July 4th, 1865.
Silver Medallion, with State coat-of-arms on one side, and on the other the number of soldiers furnished by Michigan for the war, (91,193,) with this inscription: "In honor of the (91,193) Michigan Soldiers who aided in perpetuating American Liberty, 1861-1865.".
The names, on parchment, of the Michigan officers and sol- diers killed at Gettysburg, prepared by Hon. Thomas W. Ferry, Commissioner for the State in the Board of Managers of the Gettysburg National Cemetery.
List, on parchment, of Michigan Regiments, Companies and Batteries, sent to the field during the war.
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APPENDIX.
Adjutant General's Report, as far as published, 1861, 1862, 1863, full bound in leather, 2 vols.
Two Commissions, such as have been issued by the State for Commissioned Officers.
Michigan resolutions on the state of the Union, Feb. 2, 1861.
Proclamation of Gov. Blair, April 16, 1861.
First call for troops.
Governor Blair's message at extra session, May, 1861. An act to provide a military force, approved May 10, 1861. Governor Blair's message at extra session, Jannary 2, 1862. Governor Blair's message at regular session, January 7, 1863. Governor Blair's message at extra session, January 19, 1864. Governor Blair's message at regular session, January 4, 1865. Governor Crapo's message at regular session, January 4, 1865. Michigan resolutions on the state of the Union, March 18, 1865.
Proclamation of Governor Crapo, June 14, 1865, welcoming the returning troops-above documents bound in 1 vol.
" Legislative Manual of Michigan," Contents as follows: Calendar, 1865-6-7. Constitution of the United States. Con- stitution of the State of Michigan. Counties, cities and town- ships in Michigan, with census of 1845-50-54-60-64.
Representative Districts of Michigan, and the names of mem- bers of State Senate and House of Representatives for 1865.
Soldiers' vote, 1864.
State officers and deputies, and State military officers, 1865.
Judicial circuits, with names and residences of Judges.
Federal officers of Michigan, 1865.
Governors of Michigan Territory, from 1805 to include 1835.
Governors and Lieut. Governors of the State of Michigan, from 1835 to include 1865.
Speakers of the House of Representatives of the Legislature of Michigan, from 1835 to include 1865.
United States Senators from Michigan, from 1836 to include 1865.
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APPENDIX.
Representatives in Congress from Michigan, from 1836 to include 1865.
The above are all contained in a small copper box, marked " State of Michigan, 1865," which is 9 x 5 x 4.
The finishing stroke to consummate the trust is a monument, which, as before stated, is under contract, to be completed and erected in two years from July 1, 1866. The contractor is the distinguished artist, James G. Batterson, of Hartford, Connecti- cut, who has given ample bonds for fulfillment. In general architecture, the monument will not materially differ from the photographic design already transmitted. The column will be of white American granite. The statues of Italian marble, to * be modeled by our own celebrated sculptor, Rogers. The crowning figure will be so modified as to represent the Genius of American Liberty, holding in her left hand a sheathed sword, and on the right, the wreath of victory about to be cast upon the victorious slain.
Instead of bronze, as first intended, the statues upon the pedestal will be of marble, representing respectively War, Peace, History and Industry. The pedestal will also be decorated laterally, with emblematic groups.
The front plinth will bear, in bronze, the United States coat- of-arms; and around the shaft will be cut 18 stars, suggestive of the represented States; and below these, and in front, "July 1, 2, 3, 1863 "-the memorial days on which their gallant sons battled for and won the decisive victory.
In general dimensions, the monument will be 23 feet square at base, and extreme height, 60 feet, costing $47,500, of which $10,000 is already paid, and the balance payable in semi-annual installments.
The approximate cost, originally estimated by the
executive committee for the entire work of the cem-
etery, exclusive of monument, was. $67,000
To which may be added the cost of Monument,. 47,500
Making a total of. $114,500
116
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APPENDIX.
The apportionment as made to the States in the ratio of their population, indicated by their representation in Congress, was as follows:
Maine, . $4,205 30
New Hampshire, 2,523 18
Vermont,. 2,523 18
Massachusetts, 8,410 60
Rhode Island, 1,682 12
Connecticut,
3,364 24
New York,.
26,072 86
New Jersey,
4,205 30
Pennsylvania, 20,185 44
Delaware,.
841 06
Maryland,.
4,205 30
West Virginia, 2,523 18
Ohio, . 15,980 14
Indiana,. 9,251 66
Illinois, 11,774 84
Michigan,
5,046 36
Wisconsin, 5,046 36
Minnesota,
1,682 12
$129,523 24
The gross receipts from requisitions upon the States were: In 1864. $28,030 20
" 1865 48,638 56
" 1866 33,965 28
To which may be added: $110,634 04 Avails of grass so d,. $15 75
lumber, old materials, and grass sold, 329 15
66 Everett's dedicatory oration sold, 192 63
interest on temporary loan of $15,000 to the U. S. Treasurer, 401 50
interest on U. S. 7-30 bonds, .... 1,095 00
2,034 03
Total receipts,
$112,668 07
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APPENDIX.
Expenditures in 1864, $23,851 09
" 1865, 38,089 84
" 1866, 15,475 10
for purchase of $30,000 U.
S. 7-30 bonds, with accrued interest of
$1,840 50,. 31,840 50
Total expenditures, $109,256 58 Leaving a balance of cash in the hands of the
Treasurer of the Board, at the close of the fiscal
year, ending November 30, 1866, of. 3,411 54
To which, add principal of U. S. 7-30 bonds held, ..
30,000 00
Total assets, $33,411 54
The amount yet due from States in arrears upon their pro- portionate shares, is $18,898 14; which, if paid, would make an aggregate of cash and bonds, (exclusive of interest) of $52,309 68, leaving a surplus on hand, (after paying the $37,500 balance when due, upon the monument, ) of $14,809 68. The sum apportioned to Michigan, was . .. $5,046 36
The State appropriated in 1864, $3,500 00 1865, 2,500 00
A total of.
$6,000 00
Requisitions made upon the State were paid to the Treasurer of the Board, respectively, as follows:
May 23, 1864, $630 00
November 29, 1864, 631 82
May 30, 1865, 1,260 00
September 23, 1865, 1,260 00
April 24, 1866,
1,264 54
Being the full amount of her apportionment, ... $5,046 36 The act of incorporation contains the following section, to wit: " The Board of Commissioners shall have no power to appro- priate any of the funds of the corporation, as a compensation for their services as Commissioners." This is construed by the
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APPENDIX.
Board to apply to expenses as well; I therefore made a requisi- tion, which was paid, for $79 70, in favor of Marshal Cary, to cover his expenses attending the laying of the corner-stone, which, together with the requisitions already noted, make an aggregate outlay by the State of $5,126 06; leaving, of her appropriations, an unexpended balance of $873 94.
I am the more gratified by the prompt response and favor- able exhibit of my State, when, without invidious comparison, it may be stated that the States of New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, are still in arrears to the amount already exhibited, of $18,898 14. It is, however, confidently represented that the larger share of this arrearage will yet be provided.
I would recommend that there be transplanted from the soil of Michigan to the cemetery, a white pine tree, as a living perennial emblem of the State.
As comprehensively and briefly as the subject would admit, I have endeavored to sketch the history of this worthy trust, as- sumed by States, who felt it their special charge thus to conse- crate the memory of heroic dead, fallen in behalf of ALL the States of the Republic. Were I to close here, violence would be done to the sad and painful associations which forcibly re- mind all that death is not confined to battle-fields, however memorable. In the progress of these recounted labors, HE who stood as the civil and military CHIEF of the nation, battling for its life, and through the weary, disheartening years of struggle, never failing, but with courageous heart and confiding purpose, guiding that nation to victory, has fallen a victim to the same treacherous foe that crimsoned a decisive battle-field with the blood of heroic defenders.
Abraham Lincon is inseparably connected with the solemni- ties consecrating the National Cemetery at Gettysburg.
Honored by his distinguished presence, his participating words may well become a part of this record, for they can never be too often pondered.
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APPENDIX.
Address of President Lincoln at the consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Nov. 19, 1863.
" Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and ded- icated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived or dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-fied of that war. We are met to ded- icate a portion of it as the final resting-place of those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
"But in a larger sense we cannot consecrate, we cannot hollow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated to the unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before' us-that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain- that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom, and that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Impressed with the measureless national loss, the Board at its next meeting following the assasination of the illustrious President, unanimously adopted the following testimonial of Michigan, and immediately thereafter adjourned in further token of respect:
" Whereas, In the mysterious Providence of God, Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States, in the full tide of trust and power, has fallen by the hand of an assassin;
" And wherea., The National Cemetery committed to our trust, was by the presence and participation of President Lincoln,
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APPENDIX.
consecrated to the enduring memory of the heroes who here fell in the defense of the Union, it seems befitting that this occasion of our first meeting following that tragic event, should give some expression of the irreparable loss sustained by the nation; therefore,
" Resolved, That as a part of the people he loved so well, we deeply mourn the assassination of the able, faithful, pure and patriotic President, whose martyrdom crowns with glory the many sacrifices offered upon the shrine of a restored nationality, and we utterly condemn the fiendish malignity and complicity of rebel leaders, which culminating in Presidential assassination forever consigns the great Southern rebellion and its abettors to lasting infamy.
" Resolved, That to Abraham Lincoln's native good sense, shrewd sagacity, exalted humanity, unswerving integrity, his rare combination of fixedness with pliancy, simplicity of man- ner and purity of purpose, based upon an unshaken faith in the ultimate triumph of truth and right, upheld by loyal arms, are we indebted for the suppression of the rebellion and the deliv- erance of the nation.
" Resolved, That in the emancipation of an oppressed race, he has given efficacy to the principle enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming all races and conditions entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; and history, as it declares Washington the founder, will enroll Lincoln the savior of the Republic.
" Resolved, That we especially sympathize with the stricken household, made desolate by inconsolable woe.
" Resolved, That in respect to the memory of a chief magistrate, canonized in the heart of universal liberty, we do now adjourn."
Our own body has not escaped the shaft of death. Michigan paid the following tribute to the memory of the Commissioner from Delaware, whose sudden demise cast the mantle of gloom over his associates:
" Whereas, In the discharge of the sacred duty of providing
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for the memory of the gallant dead, we have been reminded that death is in turn busy with the living, by the loss of one of our own members since the last meeting of the Board; therefore,
" Resolved, That by the death of Hon. JOHN R. LATIMER, Com- missioner from the State of Delaware, we recognize anew the uncertainty of life, and the loss of one who was ever present, active and devoted in the labors of our solemn trust. The oldest member of our body, he was nevertheless vigilant, affable, diligent and constant, in his efforts to promote the best interests of the great monumental work, with which we stand charged by a grateful nation, bent upon worthily honoring its brave de- fenders. We part with our co-laborer with unfeigned regret, and shall always cherish his good will and good work.
" Resolved, That we tender our heartfelt sympathy to the family of the deceased, so painfully afflicted, and that a copy of this, our testimonial, be transmitted to them, in mitigation of their bereavement."
With this single exception, the Board of Commissioners has remained unbroken. The members have brought to their labors, patriotic zeal and untiring energy. It will, however, matter little who were immediately instrumental in devising and devel- oping the sacred memorial which is to hand down to future generations the lustrous record of patriots who prized country above life.
They will be forgotten, while shaft, and speech, and song shall tell of battle and heroism to ages yet unborn. The deci- sive contest-the turning strife of the war, from which victory, leaping from field to field, eventuated in peace, national liberty and re-union-this, this alone will be the enduring, emblazoning chaplet which time shall weave for the gallant heroes who sleep beneath the shadow of the Nation's Mausoleum at Gettysburg. THOMAS W. FERRY, Commissioner.
WASHINGTON, D. C., December 20th, 1866.
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