Frozen in Time: May 30, 1911 at Mt. Zion Cemetery

The G.A.R. in Wheeling, 1886. OCPL Archives, Joseph Hoffmann Collection.

Now known as Memorial Day, the first “Decoration Day” was held on May 30, 1868. Created by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), it was originally intended to be a day to honor the memory of those who died in the Civil War. Congress made “Memorial Day” an official, national holiday in 1971.

Wheeling played host to reunions of Civil War veterans of the G.A.R. numerous times in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The J. W. Holliday Post, No. 12, of Wheeling was usually front and center during these activities.

A front page illustration from the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, May 30, 1911.

Period newspaper accounts described elaborate Decoration Day ceremonies staged by the Holliday Post at Greenwood, Mt. Wood, Mt. Cavalry, Stone Church, Peninsula, and Mt. Zion cemeteries. These graveside ceremonies were inevitably preceded by a parade through the Wheeling streets involving the G.A.R., various other veterans groups, patriotic social clubs, and school children.

Located on Fairmont Avenue along Caldwell Run above South Wheeling, Mt. Zion Cemetery is one of Wheeling’s most historic burial sites. The cemetery was dedicated by Zion Lutheran Church on July 3, 1864, and, according to wvgenweb.org, at least 138 Civil War veterans have been interred at Mt. Zion Cemetery.

Tombstone of Frederick Lohman at Mt. Zion cemetery. During the Civil War, Lohman was a private, Company "H" 6th West Virginia Infantry. He is listed in the Mt. Zion Cemetery book, part of the Ohio County Public Library's Special Collections. This photograph was taken by Larry Bloomfield and can be viewed along with hundreds of other photos of Mt. Zion headstones compiled on a CD-ROM in the Wheeling Room at the library. — Tombstone of Freaderick Lohmann at Mt. Zion cemetery. During the Civil War, Lohman was a private, Company “H” 6th West Virginia Infantry. He is listed in the Mt. Zion Cemetery book, part of the Ohio County Public Library’s Special Collections. This photograph was taken by Larry Bloomfield and can be viewed along with hundreds of other photos of Mt. Zion headstones compiled on a CD-ROM housed in the Wheeling Room at the library.

As such, Mt. Zion was often a focal point for Decoration Day activities.

“There was no lack of flowers,” The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer reported on May 31, 1898. “The Woman’s Relief Corps had deftly arranged the bounteous baskets of flowers the old boys in blue carried to the cemeteries, and every grave, designated by small American flags at its head and foot, whether it covered the remains of Federal or Confederate soldier, was almost hidden by heaps of floral tributes…The Ritchie school children, with drum corps, marched with the ‘odd fellows’ to Mount Zion, and the Clay school children attended the Peninsula exercises.”

Plentiful flowers and flags are certainly evident in this very interesting photograph of the 1911 Decoration Day ceremony at Mt. Zion Cemetery, which was recently donated to the Ohio County Public Library Archives by our Heritage Partners at Friends of Wheeling and the Wheeling Area Genealogical Society.

Mt. Zion Cemetery, Decoration Day, May 30th, 1911.

Close-up of Mt. Zion Cemetery, Decoration Day, May 30th, 1911

By 1911, the average Civil War veteran was 72 years old. It is interesting to imagine Civil War veterans marching the streets of Wheeling well into the 20th century.

“Grey and bent with age,” the May 31, 1911 edition of the Intelligencer reported, “the little handful of veterans that remain of the once feared Holliday Post, G.A.R., will today march to the cemeteries of this vicinity and strew flowers on the graves of the boys who wore the blue and those who wore the grey.” The Holliday Post survivors convened at Odd Fellow’s Hall on 12th and Chapline Streets. “During the morning, a detail of the veterans will go to Mt. Zion Cemetery where special services will be held over the graves of the departed.”

“[T]he battle scarred little handful of veterans presented a pathetic site as they swung down Market Street with Old Glory fluttering in the breeze,” the Intelligencer reported on May 31. “Many were too feeble to walk, and rode to the cemeteries in autos…A detail…marched during the morning to Mt. Zion Cemetery, where special services were held… Rev. Ritter, Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, delivered an eloquent address over the graves of the dead.”

Tombstone of Civil War veteran Hiram Bishop at Mt. Zion Cemetery as it looked in 2009. Mr. Bishop served in Company "A" 17th West Virginia Infantry. He was shot and killed at age 21 at the wharf in Wheeling in 1906. Photo by Bloomfield. — Tombstone of Civil War veteran Hiram Bishop at Mt. Zion Cemetery as it looked in 2009. Mr. Bishop served in Company “A” 17th West Virginia Infantry. He was shot and killed at age 21 at the wharf in Wheeling in 1906. Photo by Bloomfield.

In the afternoon, a parade headed by the Cathedral (now Central) High School band marched throughout the streets of Wheeling. The Women’s Relief Corps and ladies of the G.A.R. dropped flowers onto the Ohio River from the Suspension Bridge, “in memory of the heroes who lost their lives on the seas and rivers during the Civil War,” while later on Wheeling Island, the veterans of the “German wars” held a large picnic, and the crowd was treated to a baseball game and a bicycle race.

Unfortunately, as is the case with many historic cemeteries, time and neglect have taken their toll on Mt. Zion.

Like what you’ve read here? ▼ Please share! We’ve made it easy with these buttons below. ▼