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DAILY NEWS RECORD, H AR R ISON BU RG, VIR Gl N IASATURDAY, MAY 13, 1972TheBurningOfDayton:InMemoryOf TheHeroBy NEWTON LIKINSNews Record Staff WriterDAYTONSunday will markthe 10th anniversary of the placing of a plaque commemorating Lt. Col. Thomas E. Wildes for saving Dayton from being burned Oct. 4, 1864.The town was ordered burned by Union Gen. Phillip Sheridan after the death of Lt. John Meigs, chief engineer officer for Sheridan.During the past two years, two relatives of soldiers connected with the burning have begun further research into the incident. One is John L. Alger of New York, a great-great-nephew of Meigs. The other is Orin E. Secoy, a grandson of a member of the regiment ordered todo the burning.Neither descendant could shed any new light on why the order to burn the town was canceled. Mr. Secoy has a copy of Wildes'autobiography which says he was instrumental in stopping the burning.AcopyofSheridan'sautobiography owned by Mr. Alger only states that the burning was stopped.The late P. C. Kay lor, a local historian, insisted that the tow n was saved because a Confederate soldier released Union prisoners who convinced Sheridan to stop the burning.Mr. Kaylor’s descendant, Elmer Kaylor of Harrisonburg, owns the house which was at the center of the incident.The well-documented incident began on the evening of Oct. 3, 1864 when Meigs was killed during a skirmish between three southerners, Meigs and two Union soldiers.History has conflicting reasons for the shooting. According to the northern account, three local residents posing as Union soldiers bushwhacked the lieutenant and his party.The southern account says three Confederate soldiers, including B. Frank Shaver, a local man, were going to visit Shaver’s sister at the house now owned by Mr. Kaylor, when they encountered the Union soldiers and Meigs was shot. The Shaver house had a Union soldier stationed there and the soldier and Shaver’s sister reportedly wereplanning to marry.When Gen. Sheridan heard ofMeig’s death, he ordered Gen. George Custer, who later was killed at the battle of Little Big Horn during the Indian wars, to burneverything within five miles ofwhere Meigs was killed. Gen. Sheridan thought Meig’s killers were civilian bushwhackers from the Dayton area.Although Gen. Custer had started to carry out the orders — with relish, according to a biography of Custer —- Gen. Sheridan ordered the burning stopped.burning order. The Kaylor history says one of the Union soldiers ridingwith Meigs had been captured and was released the next morning so he could tell Sheridan that soldiers, not bushwackers, had killed Meigs.The Union soldiers already had burned 22 buildings before the order to stop came from Sheridan, according to the late John W. Wayland, a local historian.Today, an iron stake marks the spot where Meigs was found. William Bryan, a Dayton native who participated in placing theplaque in Dayton, said the stake was put there around 1900 by someone who had been there whenMeigs was found.Today, the road where the bodywas found is overgrown, although the wagon ruts and road banks are clearly visible. The site lies east ot Va. 42 about three quarters of amile north of Dayton.Standing at the weedy spot where Meigs’ body lay, one can look into Dayton, where the tale that has survived over 100 years took form. Possibly, when young Meigs died he was looking at the lights of Dayton, the town that would be his onlyclaim to fame.Only a quarter-mile away, on the other side of an eastern ridge, is theoldShaver homestead,thedestination of the three confederates.Standing at the Shaver home, which was bought by the Kaylor family in the late 1800s, one can see the remains of the road on which Meigs died. On the mortar bonding together the bricks, there is Shaver’s signature, dated 1858.As a footnote to history, Quartermaster General MontgomeryMeigs’ father, was the first personto suggest forming ArlingtonNational Cemetery.Young Meig's grave can be found in that cemetery in Plot 1, Grave 1. A bronze statue on a marble gravestone shows young Meigs, as he was found by Union soldiers, lying on his back, his pistol besidehim.Buried with him are his parents. The lieutenant’s grave gives him the rank of Brevet Major, an honorary title given to soldiers for heroism during the Civil War.Philip L. Alger, father of John Alger, wrote that he had told Miss Cornelia Meigs about the spot where Meigs died after his sonvisited here.Lt. Meigs would have been MissMeigs’ Uncle.The senior Mr. Alger said he is interested in placing a small plaque at the spot where Meigs died. Plaques commemorating the Union soldier who was the subject of the burning of Dayton and the soldier who saved it would then be less thana mile apart.If each could stand at his plaque,thov r mi Id ;ilmost exchange a waveGrave of Lt. John R. Meigs in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.CfOK*at-■m'.-i!_■nHKV.V*.X.fry*Hi■lt;hftV-V.JH M EM OK*/:vmt*$nfm ohi RioiMim■/. / • Sufi/.-. T ’v • ■/ . -v- S' v ' . I. i-r.- XV- •.XXr/Ky.'..TrJbL'J. - •. Wv .'7. . Atr ■:'Amen■%mm.j *.4. A- 'V7 ■-Mw ■lt;mmMBms* ■?i.Vv/ntfi Vnm i aitu caw,T1JM TOvn I OtPor aOitust. iUSZMG CiOOia-MAKTmhmMfL 'V.7wV/.sVi/AJrllS it 1HAL MlD KIA fm a oom rmiMMm to muiS -. -t --rw....rim roww mouWE*v.'Vir'ry-Plaque placed in Dayton in 1962 in memory of Lt. Col. Wildes.William Bryan looks toward Dayton from stake marking spot where Meigsx died.Consumer Question BoxQuartf32OuncesMeanSame ThingOnCartonBy MARGARET DANAQ. I recently called the weights and measures department in my in pale yellow town asking why quart and half- white the words_ m. _ _ A _____ _ _____f f I 4 m m • A -kthe label more carefully. I foundletters against “imitationgallon cartons of milk arenot preserves.” It was impossible tobeing marked with the weightsee those words while the jar was32 and 64 ounces liquid measure. I on the grocer s shelf or m regulari • a n ilGn k ^ Lwr*kPwastold that permission was light. Can this be legal?given by the federal government ..... _to dairies nationwide to drop the not, this is silly and shortsightedA. Whether currently legal or• a . * I 1 1ounces. I feel consumers will beon the part of the processor. It ismislead thetaken advantage of by some plainly meant todairies this way and I resent customer into bu.ying;strongly the giving of this per- seeing. I will report it to the FDA.Q. Could you tell me if it is nowlaw for all stores to return cash refunds instead of just credit slips for merchandise returned by a customer? I thought 1 saw suchan announcement on a TV broadcast recently. The store says it doesn’t have to refund my money and the BBB says it knowsmission. What steps can 1 take as an individual to have this permission removed?A. Frankly, I see no steps you could or should take. The labeling is factual and since according to our national mandatory standards, a quart must always be 32 liquid ounces, and a half-gallon of liquid always 64, I can see no room here for cheating. Inspectors must check for thenothing of such a law.A. There is no such federal lawounces, the same as they would if which would extend to all statesounces were stated on the label, and areas. LSut some states andsome cities have adopted such aQ. I am enclosing a label from a regulation, or are debating- similar legislation. Generallya im . Ajar of what I thought was strawberry preserves. The label has a background color picture of big red strawberries and in large rod letters against white it saysspeaking, a retailer is free toconduct his business in his ownhe givescustomers fair warning of hisway, so long ascnIt Will W Cl* XOKTJPMm17*' MIC 18* MtB TWCTE *1'*[ f WtUTP! ft tilt tWfvp 1*1 ' V WART v SDAILY NEWS RECORD, H AR R I SON BU RG, V I R Gl N IASATURDAY, MAY 13, 1972
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Daily News-Record
Harrisonburg, Virginia, US
Sat, May 13, 1972
Page 20
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Other Publications Near Harrisonburg, Virginia
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