A look back, by the late Janet Dempsey
Memorial Day was established a few decades after the Civil War in memory of those who lost their lives in the conflict.
These early celebrations were solemn events undertaken by veterans whose own war experiences were still poignant.
The first mention of the holiday – then called “Decoration Day” – was in the Cornwall newspaper of 1880, describing a procession of veterans to the Willow Dell Cemetery behind the Presbyterian Church in Cornwall-on-Hudson. Here they decorated their comrades’ graves with wreaths and bouquets of flowers, and listened to a speech by Alfred C. Roe. He was a local resident who, at the outbreak of the late war, had exchanged the profession of schoolmaster for that of chaplain.
After the founding of the Emslie Post (Grand Army of the Republic) in 1885, this group took over the responsibility of planning the holiday. That year is noted as the first formal Memorial Day parade. The Cromwell Guards served as an honor guard. They were named for Mayor James Cromwell, a local war hero. Then came a band, the Emslie Post veterans, the Storm King Engine Company and a small entourage of “citizens and carriages.” The parade route was from Bay View Avenue along Hudson and Main Streets to the Quaker Cemetery (near the current site of the Cornwall Hospital) where they decorated the graves of veterans; then to the graveyard on Clinton Street and back to the Willow Dell Cemetery.
After disbanding, the marchers and spectators proceeded to the “Rink”, a large meeting hall on lower Duncan Avenue for a program consisting of an invocation by the Rev. E.P.Roe, Emslie Post chaplain, and a poem written for the occasion by Miss Eliza McClean. Then came a rousing patriotic oration based on events of the late war.
In addition to being Town Historian, Janet Dempsey (1921-2015) wrote a regular history column for The Cornwall Local. This article was excerpted from her column of May 31, 2013.
