THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
I can see us in my mind’s eye,
little
children and adults as well, carrying live flowers in bouquets to the
cemetery
on “Decoration Day” to bedeck the graves of departed ancestors on a
Sunday near
Memorial Day at the end of May, or maybe a Sunday in early June.
In the country, we were more apt
to call
this day of remembrance “Decoration Day,” for we placed with deep love
and
remembrance those spring flowers—or if we didn’t have “live, blooming”
flowers—we took bouquets of those made with crepe paper and fashioned
to look
like roses, tulips, or dainty daisies.
Here’s how Memorial Day, the last day
of May, began back on April 26, 1865.
Our country had just gone through a
dark, dark period called the War Between the States, the Civil War,
or—as some
in the South call it, even today--the War of Northern Aggression.
A group of women in Columbus,
Mississippi announced their plans to march together in a group to
Friendship
Cemetery in that town and lay flowers on the graves of soldiers buried
there—soldiers from both South and North who had fallen at the Battle
of
Shiloh. The town’s elders were not in
favor of the women’s march and laying flowers, for they felt it would
only be a
reminder of the bitter conflict and again renew the animosities the
elders
hoped could be buried with the men who had fallen, as all were trying
to
recover and redirect energies in the aftermath of the struggle.
But the women were adamant. They
marched, despite the town elders’
objections, taking with them arms full of beautiful spring blossoms to
place
lovingly and with gratitude at the graves of the fallen soldiers.
Word of what the women in Columbus,
Mississippi did on April 26, 1865 spread rapidly. An
article about their act in the New York
“Tribune” inspired Francis Miles Finch, to write a poem which he
entitled “The
Blue and the Gray.” In the poem he lauded the laying of flowers, alike,
“for
friend and foe.” This notice and
sentiment went far in helping the rift to be healed.
Memorial Day as it is observed today on the
last Monday in May grew from that original remembrance of the ladies of
Columbus, Mississippi as they placed flowers in commemoration of those
who had
met their deaths in the Civil War.
Three years later, in 1868, an
organization called the Grand Army of the Republic, Northern veterans,
declared
May 30 as the day for “strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating
the graves
of comrades who died.” New York was the
first state to recognize the day, state-wide, and observe it in 1873. More and more states joined in the
celebration. Finally Memorial Day was
made a national holiday, with patriotic programs a part of the
observance and
memorials lifted in praise of the war dead of every war that has
touched
America.
When we in the country observe
“Decoration Day” in our churches, we are remembering not only our “war
dead,”
but also those ancestors who braved the unknown, whatever their goals,
to take
a stand for a better way of life for all.
When we take time to decorate the
graves of our beloved dead near Memorial Day—or our “Decoration Day”—we
are
bestowing flowers—symbols of life renewed.
We honor the lives of those who went before us to pave the way
and make
life better for us. At the same time, we
are symbolizing that we take up the torch of those who have gone before
us and
bear it to the future, acknowledging our own responsibility to those
who will
follow us.
“Decoration Day”—Memorial Day—is a
solemn time of reflection, remembrance and resolution.
Aren’t we glad this special day is a part of
our mountain country heritage?
[Ethelene Dyer
Jones is a retired educator,
freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at
e-mail edj0513@windstream.net;
phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA
31061-2411.]
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