The cover of the GHS’s next publication, Memorial Day in Granville, 1873-1936: An Ohio Village Shapes a Tradition. by Charles A. Peterson.
Granville’s annual Memorial Day program is today regarded as an outstanding salute to the men and women who gave their lives in the nation’s wars, featuring a parade that marches from downtown to Maple Grove Cemetery where a full ceremony is held.
Generously funded by a $3,000 grant from the Granville Community Foundation, the ninth edition in the Granville Historical Society’s popular pocket history series, just released, tells the story of how this tradition began.
Entitled Memorial Day in Granville: 1873 to 1936, it details approximately the first five decades and the origins of the community’s Memorial Day ceremony, starting with the year of the first observance and ending with the year Granville’s last two Civil War veterans died.
Subtitled An Ohio Village Shapes a Tradition, the pocket history was written by Charles A. Peterson, retired editor of The Granville Sentinel and vice president of the Society’s Board of Managers.
Pocket histories are easy-to-read paperback books that are short takes on aspects of Granville History—a tradition begun in 2011.
Granville’s first Memorial Day observance, known early on as Decoration Day, was held in 1873, led by veterans of the Civil War who continued to sponsor the event until 1926.
The book quotes several keynote speeches and other addresses given during the 1880s, 1890s and 1930s in particular, and describes how a parade marched from downtown to Maple Grove Cemetery as part of the program, much the same way it does today.
Chapters are also devoted to four prominent personalities who impacted the tradition during these early years. They are:
The Rev. Thomas Sheppard, a survivor of the Confederates’ Andersonville prison for Union soldiers;
Dr. Edwin Sinnett, who spent two years as a surgeon in the Civil War and later gave Memorial Day talks tailored for his fellow veterans;
The Rev. Charles Baldwin, pastor of the Granville Baptist Church, also a veteran, who gave numerous speeches during this time; and
Dr. Francis W. Shepardson — too young to have served during the war, but a well-known lecturer and popular Granvillean of the day.
Chapters are also devoted to participation by women and minorities in the programs through the years, and lists of past Memorial Day keynote speakers and Granville High School students who participated in the more recent programs with readings are also included.
Pocket histories may be purchased at the museum on Thursdays during open hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Robinson Research Center behind the museum. They are also available in the Society’s web store: Click here to order the book now from our online store!
