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tele-Feb-ut-of-re toecker con-hone, ce to Mace, pre-jestMies-Gar-iingsANDREW COMMUNITY HAS FOLLOWEDUNIQUE MANNER OF HONORING CIVIL WAR VETERANS ON MEMORIAL DAYSchool Children Familiar With Part Township Played In Struggle* al-itant l D.iffinDr.ling, ncer . O.nentKy„CiviltheyTo Andrew school children, the war is not merely a topic that study in the history books. It is a vital story, full of human interest and closely associated with their own lives.For many, many years, the Andrew community has followed a unique manner of observing Memorial day, and successive generations cf school children have joined in that observance. Perry township, so tradition goesand it is founded on records in the office of the adjutant-general in Des Moines—had the largest per capita enrollment of all Iowa townships in the Civil war forces.Whole famines of able-bodied menwent to the war. There were five McCombs, Alex, Andrew, Hugh, James.and Samuel; there were four Thomps-scns, Isaac, W. F., William, and W. J.; there were three Abels and three Applegates, and three Conways, and threeGibsons, and three McMeans boys; and there were 19 families who sent two sons to the war.Women and old men tilled the fields, and reaped the harvests. There were no able-bodied young men left in the community to perform these duties.Some of the men never returned. Others came back in impaired health. Still others came back and resumed their peace-dav activities, and some eventually moved to other commonwealths. None of them, it is believed, are now living.In the late seventies, the observance of Memorial day began to take attention of the local people. Graves of the dead soldiers were decorated, and the school children joined in the services.In the early eighties, R. M. Smith Post, Grand Army of the Republic, was organized, and the veterans inaugurated the custom that is still followed eachMay 30.So it is that Andrew school children know that their community was one of the outstanding townships in the War of the Rebellion, and that Andrew, home of the first governor of Iowa, earned an enviable record of patriotismin those dark days. Thus they join incommemorating the heroism of their forebears.On each Memorial day, then, the town gathers to do homage to those men. A program, similar to those held in other places all over the country, ispresented, and then follows the service that is believed to be the only one of its kind held throughout the nation.The school children march to the cemetery, in which he many of the veterans. They receive, at the entrance to this city of the dead, bouquets that have been provided by the women and kept fresh for use in large tubs of water. Surrounding the mound near the c nr,ranee, upon which is mounted a cannon of the Civil war, the childrentake their places behind the circle of American flags that have been setaround ine mound, one fag for each soldier.Standing near the cannon with a long script in his hand, is the secretary of the Memorial association. The audience, men and women from the town and nearby country, stand near the mound, in reverent siience.The secretary calls the roll of honor.. “Datus Abel,” he reads, in clear voice, and pauses. A child steps from the circle, places a bouquet before the flag that flies for that veteran, and resumes his place. ‘ Henry Abel,” reads the secretary, and another child performs a similar act of memory. So, throughout the long list of soldiers, the reading is continued, until 162 bouquets have been placed before the 162 flags, and the service is concluded by a peace-day benediction. There are not enough school children in this village to match the number of its heroes, and so some of the children carry several bouquets, that no veteran shall be missed.No wonder, then, that to Andrew school children the Civil war is a living. vivid story. Many of the boys and girls who take part in the service are direct descendants of the Boys of theSixties.’ Those whose families have come to Andrew since that conflict take part in the day’s event with equal interest, however. The names have become familiar to them through successive Memorial clays and they, too, feel pride in the tradition of their town.And who would say that those men whose valor is thus commemorated dicl not perform a double service to their country, when they fought for its preservation. and now, after three quarters of a century still aid in inculcating in the youth of today the spirit ofreverance and love of country. And who would dare say that in the great camp beyond, those men may not rejoice that their service was not given in vain, and that their heroism has left a lasting mark of patriotism?Hypnotist PerformedAmazing- StuntPauline, the boy hypnotist, performed a wonderful feat at his opening entertainment at Rice’s Opera House Tuesday evening when he hypnotized a young man, making him. rigid as a bar of iron and laying him so that the neck and feet rested upon the backs of two chairs. Then the professor called upon Fred Gregory, whoseweight is 240 pounds, Ed Allen, 220 pounds, and also Walter Dunn andFrecI Wesner who stepped upon and rested their combined weight on thebody. At ten o’clock that night he put the same young man to sleep for 23 hours, and as we go to press he is still sleeping in Dunn Sons show window.—Sentinel, May 19, 1398.
Newspaper Details
Maquoketa Jackson Sentinel
Maquoketa, Iowa, US
Sat, Jan 01, 1938
Page 64
Full Page
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Anonymous
IA, USA 12 Apr 2019
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