The exact origins of Memorial Day are lost to history, and in recent decades the purpose of the holiday is often misunderstood and conflated with Veterans Day (November 11th), which was set aside as a day to honor all those who served our country.
Memorial Day (the last Monday in May), however, was set aside to honor solely those who died in service to our country. While the focus is often on remembering those who died in battle, the holiday is intended to honor any member of the armed services who died as a result of their service, whether during war or peacetime, whether due to injury or illness, and whether the death resulting from the injury or illness occurred while they were still in service or after they had been discharged from service.
Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day. Citizens would come together and clean out their local graveyards. Perpetual care cemeteries did not yet exist, so if local residents didn’t actively clean up and maintain a cemetery, it would fall into disrepair. Decoration Day observances often included orators, music, and shared open-air meals.
Decoration Day took on new meaning in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Despite the numerous wars we have fought since the founding of our nation almost 250 years ago, the Civil War was singularly deadly. Over 698,000 military servicemen died in the U.S. Civil War, greater than the combined military death toll of all other wars from 1775 to 2024.
This huge death toll meant that over 2% of the entire U.S. population was killed during the Civil War. Nearly every community and every family felt the impact of this loss of life.
Several cities, including Boalsburg (Pennsylvania), Charleston (South Carolina), Waterloo (New York), and Columbus (Mississippi) hosted solemn occasions between 1864 and 1867 to honor those who had died in the Civil War.
By 1868, General John A. Logan, Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, led the call for a national holiday to honor and remember the Civil War dead, proposed to be held annually on May 30th.
A century later, in 1968, Memorial Day was changed to the last Monday in May, in order to create a three-day weekend that would make it easier to travel and hold gatherings for the holiday.
As we have our own gatherings and reflections on this holiday, let’s not lose sight of the significance and solemnity of Memorial Day and the sacrifices made by those who gave everything so that we could be here today.
As of today, these are our family members who have died in the service of our country:
- Samuel Craft of Massachusetts Bay Colony died in October 1690 in Quebec City as a combatant under Captain Andrew Gardner in the failed campaign of Sir William Phips against the French in Quebec.
- Gideon Dow died on November 12, 1756, in Hampton, New Hampshire, while serving in the Army (no further details yet). Gideon was the 2rd-great-grandfather of Alfred D. “Fred” Peck, my 2nd-great-uncle, and the husband of Mary E. “Mate” Scott.
- Loren Winfield Harmon died on May 3, 1917, in Antwerp, Belgium, during World War I. Loren was the husband of my first cousin, thrice removed, Cora Edna Prettyman, who was the granddaughter of my 3rd-great-grandparents Alfred Wharton Prettyman and Rebecca Harkcom.
- Edward Lawrence Keally, Jr. was killed in action on March 3, 1951. Sergeant Keally was a member of the 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was serving as a forward observer, directing artillery fire on the enemy in the vicinity of Chigu-ri, South Korea on March 3, 1951, when he was hit by enemy mortar fire. He suffered traumatic amputations of both legs and he died as he was being evacuated to the battalion aid station.
- Thomas Hisher McMurry died on May 16, 1863, while fighting at the Battle of Champion Hill in Mississippi during the Civil War. Thomas was my 4th-great-uncle, the son of my 4th-great-grandparents James Benton McMurry and Marry “Polly” Goodnight.
- Isaac Miller was killed in 1813 in Adams County, Ohio, during hostilities as part of the War of 1812. Isaac was my fifth great uncle, the son of my 5th-great-grandfather, Jacob Miller.
- Lt. Clarence “Red” Moore died on July 17, 1944, was killed in action at Nogent-le-Retrou, Normandy, France. Clarence served as an aviator with the 429th Fighter Squadron, 474th Fighter Group. Clarence was my first cousin, twice removed, and was the grandson of my great-great-grandparents Alfred Minos Prettyman and Mary Ann Horan.
- James Matthew Morris died on April 19, 1862, in the U.S. Army hospital in Paducah, Kentucky. James was my 4th-great-uncle, the son of my 4th-great-grandparents Calvin Levi Morris and Jemima (Giminee) Long.
- George W. Prettyman was a member of the Minnesota Volunteers in K Heavy Artillery, and was killed on April 1, 1865, at Chattanooga, Tennessee, when he was only 17 years old. George was my 3rd-great-uncle, the son of my 3rd-great-grandparents Alfred Wharton Prettyman and Rebecca Harkcom.
- John G. “Jack” Prettyman was killed on January 19, 1944, either in France or in Luzon, Philippines (family history says “Luzon, France”), during World War II. Jack was my first cousin, twice removed, and was the grandson of my great-great-grandparents Alfred Minos Prettyman and Mary Ann Horan.
- Charles Delos Rice died on December 7, 1862, while fighting for the Union Army in the Civil War (no further details yet). Charles was my second cousin, four times removed, the great-grandson of my 5th-great-grandparents Issac Bailey and Althea Torrey.
- Hiram Scott died on April 6, 1865, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Hiram died of dysentery. He and three of his sons were fighting together in Company C of the 95th Regiment of Illinois Infantry Volunteers. Hiram was my 4th-great-grandfather, the father of Horace L. Scott), and grandfather of Frank Scott.
- Horace Scott died on July 30, 1870, in Alden, Illinois, of tuberculosis that he contracted while serving with his brothers and father in Company C of the 95th Regiment of Illinois Infantry Volunteers. Horace was my 3rd-great-grandfather, the son of Hiram Scott, and the father of Frank Scott.
- Sever Severson died on September 30, 1864, in Atlanta, Georgia, shortly after the siege of Atlanta. Sever died of dysentery while serving as a volunteer for the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps. He documented his service in his diary, which can be seen here (transcribed here). Sever was my 3rd-great-grandfather, the husband of Martha Arnesdatter Field, and the father of five daughters, including my great-great-grandmother, Ellen Caroline “Carrie” Bailey.
- Fredrick “Fred” Spencer died in 1918 of influenza (likely Spanish Flu) while at the Indianapolis Military Training Academy in Indiana. Fred was my first cousin, three times removed, the grandson of my 3rd-great-grandparents Joseph Askew and Jane Eilbeck.
- Elisha B. Stover died on July 5, 1863, at Vicksburg, Mississippi. 1st sgt. Stover served in Co. A of the 27th Missouri Infantry. He died of typhoid fever that he contracted while serving in the military. He was hospitalized in the 1st Division Hospital on June 15th, and he died the day after the conclusion of the siege of Vicksburg.
Thank you for your service to our country, and for making the ultimate sacrifice for its continued survival. We will not forget you.