First Memorial Day Service - Carbondale, IL
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 37° 43.595 W 089° 12.671
16S E 305133 N 4177781
I know the Federal Government has decreed that Waterloo, NY is the home of the Memorial Day celebration. But maybe you should view the evidence before making a final decision.
Waymark Code: WMKYZR
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 06/18/2014
Views: 2
County of site: Jackson County
Location of site: [bordered by] E. Main St., S. Logan Ave., E. Walnut St. (IL 13) & S. Graham Ave., Carbondale
Check this evidence: WMJ2Q
One Historical Marker on site, erected by Tablescapes in 2004:
Site Of The First Memorial Service In Illinois
The first memorial service in Illinois, and one of the first in the nation, to honor those who had died in the Civil War, took place at Woodlawn Cemetery on April 29, 1866. On that day, a group of more than 200 veterans gathered at the old "Blue Church" on what is now East Jackson Street. Methodist Minister J.W. Lane stood on the steps to greet them. The Marshall of the Day, Colonel E.J. Ingersoll, and the speaker, General John A. Logan of the Union Army, led a procession to Woodlawn Cemetery. During the service, General Logan declared that "Every man's life belongs to his country, and no man has a right to refuse when his country calls for it."
Following the Civil War, General Logan became commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. Impressed by the memorial observance at Woodlawn Cemetery, he signed General Order No. 11, setting May 30, 1868, as Memorial Day. Logan hoped the observance would be "kept up from year to year." By 1888, Memorial Day became a legal holiday in twelve northern states. Later, it became a legal holiday throughout the country.
The City of Carbondale continues this honored custom by conducting an observance in Woodlawn Cemetery every Memorial Day. Woodlawn Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 19, 1985, and was designated a Carbondale Historic Landmark on March 8, 1994.
Another marker on site, erected by the Illinois State Historical Society in 2001:
Woodlawn Cemetery Memorial Day Celebration
On April 29, 1868, over 200 veterans and several thousand citizens gathered at Woodlawn Cemetery to honor those who had died in the Civil War. General John A. Logan delivered the keynote address, saying "Every man's life belongs to his country, and no man has the right to refuse when his country calls for it." This memorial service influenced Logan, as Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, to issue G.A.R. General Order No. 11 on May 5, 1868. This order instructed his comrades to observe May 30, 1868, and successive May 30ths, as decoration day by "strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion."
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