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— ■... . _____^_am ooHBriTUTioisrSOUTHERN CROSS OF HONOR PRESENTED TO CONFEDERATE VETERANS BY LADIESM.K.5-P IAH£COfr BAOADfiS ALABAMAt Judge Alex Erwin of Athens and the daughter of the distinguished Howell Cobh Bom of an Illustrious lamilv of men and women distinguished in the cause of the confederacy- Mr« Erwin is the type of the southern woman who is as ardent in her 3o\c of the cause today as she was In her childhood when she heard the story told b) the soldiers of her family She read the histories of other nations when their heroes of war were knighted and presented with insig I ilia that marked their deeds of \alnr and she saw no reason why the knightly soldiers of the confederacy had not a badge symbolic of the great battles the\ fought There was no sovereign they might look to for honors. Their corarnander-in-cMef had long since passed awu bo from whom could the tribute of a cross of honor come more appropriately than from the Daughters of the Confederacy9 She expressed this thought at the btatc convention of the United Daughters of the Confederacy held here during the confederate reunion two ears ago and her suggestion met with greatest enthusiasm from the daughters assembled A committee was appointed to bring the matter before the general meeting of the United Daughters of the Confederacy which followed in the fall at Hot Springs, Ark Mrs Erwin was unable to act on the committee, but was represented by her kinswoman. Miss Mildred Rutherford By her the matter was brought before the general convention and its cause strongly espoused by the Georgia women present, among whom were Mrs Helen Plane, then viee president from Georgia, Mrs Hallie Alexander Rounsaville, state president, and Mrs S E Gabbett The movement met with general enthusiasm and Mrs Kate Cabell Currie, then general president, appointed a committee to look into the matter and to organize state committees so that at the next general meeting it might be decided upon Mrs 8 E Gabbett was made chairman of this committee, and with Mrs Plane, Miss Rutherford and Mtsa Rounsavlile, it was worked up and presented in the form of a general movement at the last general meeting in Richmond Here it was formally decided that theUnited Daughters of the Confederacy would present the cross of honor to all veterans eligible and Georgia was again honored in Mrs Gabbett being appointed custodian of the cross According to the method pursued in conferring the crosses yesterday the local chapter Daughters of the Confederacy apply to the different camps ot veterans for the names of those soldiers entitled to ie cross of honor and from the heads of the camps receive the names and then honor the same by calling them on Memorial Daj or at such appropriate times as the two organizations, the Daughters of the Confederac and the veterans can arrange to assemble As the Daughters of the Confederacy in Atlanta held their exercises much earlier than others throughout the southern states conferring their crosses ■ves-terdav Mrs, Helen Plane had the honor of being the first Daughter of the Con federacy to confer the eioss of honor on the part of the organization of which she Is a leader, and Major General 8 G French, the first veteran to receive tne cross.The scene presented in the assembly room of the state capitol before the ex erclses began was one impressive In itself and will be remembeied not onlj by those white haired men and women who realized the cause they commemorated but by the younger generation reared to revere It ,On the platform wert seated the offi ' cers of the Atlanta chapter, Daughters of j the Confederacy including Mrs Joseph Ralne vice president Mrs SdJlie Melon*, i second vice president, Miss Annie I bin 4 dolph Howard, secretary Mrs Fannie * Keith Fort, treasurer Mi^s Dida Field historian Mrs rJ Jefiers oil fhom^a ‘ treasurer of the United Daughters of the * Confederacy *The veterans arose In a bod} and greet- t ed Mrs Helen Plane as she encored the hall, escorted by her non and grandson i William Plane, and Wuhaxn Pjanc, Ji, and Major General 8 G i ranch As this stately wbtt^-halred came ntr eyes filled with tears of appreciation, bowed from one side to another, ctcknowi edging the ovation accorded her the pic- t ture presented wtis one of impressive t beauty She stood on the platturm lie c tween two tattervd confederate flags, the I only decorations of the assembij room 'J and as the veterans gazed upon her wim s enthualastle admiration they tend the ato n ry one to the other of now her tolt;UDi t [• young husband and two gallant brothers b had died for Uie confederate cause 11Now and then during the music there c would be that sound of a crt-ich on tile * floor announcing the approach of a v. o*n ° veteran whose maimed condition told too plainly bis service as a soldier or th^re 1 would be a rustling of skirts as a patriotic woman would draw closer to the one next _ to her in order to make room for *in oki soldier friend whose right coat tjec\e ji hung empty at his side ^A chair was placed directi} before uie j speakers desk for a Uind veinran ltd to his seat by a barefootb^j ci and there were the feeoie and paisied soj-diers who, as the entered h laltering vsteps leaned upon the arms of their com- ^rades upon whom time had dealt more lc gently These, only incidents of the oe casion as they were served to add to its ^sacred impressiveness features toat in in- cBled tears with the smiles that possessed o ie faces of the gallant veterans when a approaching the platform their were called they received their cross of t honor from the fair and trembling hand of Mrs Plane When she rose to speak her voice was choked by the emotion she felt at the a ovation again accorded her. the veterans o: arising in a body when she arose to ad 01 dress them 0m a J- ge h- French,RECEIVE* THE FIRSTCROSS *OF HOHQRFROIAAVRS- HELEH- PDAHMKS-W5-yEAT£Slt;smcsrtTH£BU6LE SonG.These noble woTion ha\e 'trsanlzetl roa cue from obiUlon the fading traditions of the niQBt heroic struggle In the annate of time The«*e are the women, these Daughters of the I Confedemcj, who have banded themt-i h e4* to gether Id teach the rising generation that ouwere not rebels nor traitors, but heroes battling for a righteous cause These arc the daughters of the 'women whose prayers followed jou amid the enowa of Virginia ami beneath the torrid sun of Mississippi, when you starved at Vicksburg and when sou bled at Gettysburg, Chic human#a, Shiloh and the Wlldemeps Thes«* women ore the product of the grandest civil I station Ifeat the world has ever known, the daughters of the brave fathers and Christian mothers who made Georgia In deed oa In name the Empire State of the South. ' They love you, they love their state, they love their devotion to the cause which they and ou believe was just, they are proud of the record you made, and to transmit our names to posterity and preserve the history of the ilme3 in which you were actors they have banded themselves togelhr, and to show the world the esteem in which they hold you and their abiding faith In the righteousness of the cause In which you suffered, they today decorate you with a badge of honor Unlike the star and the garter it Is conferred by these patriotic women, not alone on those who attained high rank, but upon all alike, the private soldier and the lieutenant general It was a great honor to win the star and wreath of a lieu-ant general or the Insignia of an admiral, but the greatest honor of all Is to have been a confederate soldier and to have fought faithfully for the lost cause.“Wear It worthily. It Is more honorable than the star and garter It Is more to be prized than the cros* of tho Legion of Honor or the Victoria cross for valor, worn so proudly by the subjects of the queen. It Is bestowed upon you by your country women who honor you for what you have done and who recognize tho fact that though our flag went down In defeat, overborne by limitless resources and count*MAJ LlYULGtOH MIMS-•wmtZr ofIn Honor of .Our Confederate Dead•fr lt;i» 4* 4 4» *fr •4* 4*4,4,4*4*4*4*S**J*.S.The social event of this evening will bg the first of the two travel talks to be delivered by Mrs. Emma Moffett Tyng in the Kimball house ballroom, under the auplces of the following well-known Atlanta women; Mrs. Joseph Thompson, P'-'-n J Lowry, Mrs. Allen D. Can-i f^nry Tompkins, Mrs. Hugh ' - ' ’r ”^ene C. Spalding', Mrs, ‘T- ~v ;jrs, Edward C. Peters, „—. Mrs. Barry M, Ate
Newspaper Details
Atlanta Constitution
Atlanta, Georgia, US
Fri, Apr 27, 1900
Page 10
Full Page
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FL, USA 02 Jun 2021
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