Logan County, IL.
Planning & 1869 Dedication of the Civil War Monument
by Nancy Rollings Saul (The Courier)
Judge Lawrence B. Stringer, in his history of Logan
County, gives us a very good account of the
In the spring of 1867, in various localities throughout the country, the surviving soldiers of the Civil War took it upon themselves to commemorate the deeds of their fallen brothers by strewing flowers upon the graves of those departed. This was not an organized observance, but was done either by soldiers' organizations or individual survivors. In that year, Dr. W. W. Houser and J. Q. Smith undertook to introduce this observance in Lincoln, but did not succeed in arousing much interest, owing to the newness of what is now an established custom. However, they secured a drum and fife and with a wagon load of flowers, drove out to the cemetery and decorated the graves of their dead comrades. This was probably the first observance of the custom in Logan County. In the early part of 1868, however, General John A. Logan recommended a general and organized observance of the custom, to take place on the thirtieth day of May, then ensuing. In response to that recommendation, the first formal observance of Memorial Day in the county occurred at Lincoln, May 30, 1868. Judge S. C. Parks was president of the day, the exercises being held in the morning, at the courthouse. Prayer was offered by Rev. W. R. Goodwin and the oration was delivered by Hon. G. S. Kretzinger, of Knoxville, Illinois. After the exercises, a procession was formed, which marched to the cemetery, where the graves of some [sic] of the soldiers, who had long gone to their home, were appropriately decorated. [Stringer: The History of Logan County, Illinois ( 1911)]
In the spring of 1867, a movement began in Logan County to erect a monument to honor those men who had given their lives in the Civil War. An association was formed and it was decided to erect a monument, which would eventually be 23 feet in height including a life-sized statue of a uniformed Union soldier. The names of over 300 known Logan County dead from the war were to be placed on the base. (Recent research by William Donath has placed the figure at 447 dead.) These are men who resided in Logan County or those who enlisted in what were known as “Logan County” military units. (Members of a local military unit often included volunteers from other counties and other states.) The monument was completed in 1869 and placed on the north side of the Courthouse lawn. On June 10, 1869, the monument was dedicated, with Richard J. Oglesby as the main speaker. The brass band from nearby Mt. Pulaski was on hand to play that day.