“Decoration Day” in 1896

“Decoration Day” in 1896

As we get ready to celebrate Memorial Day here in Cecil County, in 1896 the country was getting ready to celebrate “Decoration Day”.
According to History.com, after the Civil War, “By the late 1860s, Americans in various towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to these countless fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers.
On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed.
The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.
On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Civil War soldiers buried there.”

Here’s how Cecil County celebrated 129 years ago in 1896.

From the June 6, 1896 edition of the Cecil Whig:

“Decoration Day, as usual, was generally observed with fitting exercises throughout Cecil County. The cemeteries everywhere were visited and the graves of soldiers and friends decorated. North East, Cherry Hill, Calvert, and Elkton were the most conspicuous of the county towns in the day’s celebrations.

ELKTON: Businesses and homes were decorated with flags. The day’s exercises were conducted by U.S. Grant Post No. 10, G.A.R. of Cherry Hill, which assembled at 10 AM at the armory of Company E Maryland National Guards at North and High Street.
Escorted by Company E in command of Captain William A. Wright and headed by a band of music, the post marched to the Catholic, Methodist, Elkton, and Presbyterian cemeteries where the soldiers’ graves were decorated with flags and flowers.

CHERRY HILL: In the afternoon at 2 o’clock, the Grant Post G.A.R. visited Cherry Hill, where after decorating the graves in the Methodist cemetery, patriotic services were held in the church. Attendance was large.
Addresses were given by the Rev. A.S. Mowbray, pastor of the Elkton Methodist Episcopal Church, and Victor Torbert of Elkton. The pastor of Cherry Hill Methodist Episcopal Church, the Rev. G.P. Jones, presided and music appropriate to the occasion was rendered by the church choir. A quartet composed of Mrs. Lydia Greenfield, Miss Mary Harvey, Arthur Harvey, and Daniel Arbuckle performed, accompanied by organist Mrs. Arthur Harvey, Jr.

PORT DEPOSIT: Captain Snow’s post, of Port Deposit, held special services at Little Britain Presbyterian Church at 10 AM.
Addresses were given by Rev. H.H. Ewing, pastor of Tome Memorial Church in Port Deposit and Prof. D. Brooks, principal of Delta High School. The graves of comrades in the church cemetery were decorated. Grant Post G.A.R. of Cherry Hill also decorated at Leeds Cemetery, Union Cemetery, Boulden’s Chapel, St. John’s and Sharp’s Cemetery.

CALVERT: Memorial services were held at Calvert in the afternoon by G.A.R. Post of Rising Sun. H.H. Haines presided and made a few opening remarks. The oracion was made by Re. W.G. Koons of Rising Sun.

NORTH EAST: The parade of the Wingate G.A.R. Post of North East was the largest seen for years.
It began at 6 PM. Two bands were part of the parade, as well as the Knights of Pythias, the Sons of Veterans, the American Mechanics, and the Red Men. They were accompanied by hundreds of citizens from the town and county. They went first to St. Mary Anne’s Episcopal Cemetery, where the graves of soldiers were decorated and the usual religious service held. The line then moved to the Methodist cemetery where there was a “large concourse of people and a profusion of flowers”. A prayer was given by Rev. E.K. Miller of Newport, DE and singing by a choir made up of members of both churches. A closing prayer was given by Rev. W.T. Hammond.