I hope you remembered the departed service personnel in your family and your town today and put your American flag out and attended a ceremony in remembrance of the deceased military. The holiday is considered to have been formally launched in 1868 by the Grand Army of the Republic to honor the fallen Union dead but in the South, Confederate families were no doubt also placing garlands and decorations on their loved ones' graves. It took another 50+ years and a World War to become the national event we know of today.
Here in AZ the five Allied Orders - lineage groups spun off from (and with the sanction of) the Grand Army of the Republic - were for the first time all participants in official Memorial Day Celebrations. TWO, actually. At Pioneer Memorial Park & Military Cemetery near the state capitol in Phoenix I presented a wreath for the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic. One of my Arizona Mayflower Society assistants presented one for the Woman's Relief Corps (wearing her grandmother's badge from 100 years ago), and a third member of our state society represented the Auxiliary to Picacho Peak Camp #1, Department of the Southwest, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Margaret Warner Wood Detached Tent #1 (find them on Facebook) Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War and the Department of the Southwest and its Picacho Peak Camp #1, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, were also represented but I don't know if the presenters had any Mayflower ancestors. More representatives of the five Allied Orders presented memorial wreaths at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in north Phoenix this morning as well. If any of these groups sound intriguing, please click on the links above. Only the Daughters (DUVCW) requires a straight-line descent from a Union soldier of the Civil War, The Woman's Relief Corps (WRC) requires only an interest in being a good citizen and in Union Army history. The others will allow you to join as a descendant of someone whose brother served in the Union Army or Navy. Pilgrims Howland, Tilley, Allerton, Chilton, Warren, Cooke, Alden, Mullins, Rogers, Doty, Brewster, Soule, and Browne were all represented today by their grateful descendants. Happy Memorial Day!
Here in AZ the five Allied Orders - lineage groups spun off from (and with the sanction of) the Grand Army of the Republic - were for the first time all participants in official Memorial Day Celebrations. TWO, actually. At Pioneer Memorial Park & Military Cemetery near the state capitol in Phoenix I presented a wreath for the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic. One of my Arizona Mayflower Society assistants presented one for the Woman's Relief Corps (wearing her grandmother's badge from 100 years ago), and a third member of our state society represented the Auxiliary to Picacho Peak Camp #1, Department of the Southwest, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Margaret Warner Wood Detached Tent #1 (find them on Facebook) Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War and the Department of the Southwest and its Picacho Peak Camp #1, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, were also represented but I don't know if the presenters had any Mayflower ancestors. More representatives of the five Allied Orders presented memorial wreaths at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in north Phoenix this morning as well. If any of these groups sound intriguing, please click on the links above. Only the Daughters (DUVCW) requires a straight-line descent from a Union soldier of the Civil War, The Woman's Relief Corps (WRC) requires only an interest in being a good citizen and in Union Army history. The others will allow you to join as a descendant of someone whose brother served in the Union Army or Navy. Pilgrims Howland, Tilley, Allerton, Chilton, Warren, Cooke, Alden, Mullins, Rogers, Doty, Brewster, Soule, and Browne were all represented today by their grateful descendants. Happy Memorial Day!
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