05/28/2026
For : The Intelligencer dated Friday, May 30, 1913, reported, “Spectators looked on as they watched several hundred school children, the little girls all in white, march to the band music of ‘Onward, Christian Soldiers’ to the headquarters of General Bodine Post, GAR, this morning, carrying white flowers, their tribute to the memory of the soldiers. Led by the Doylestown Band and with a large American flag at the head of the column, the children marched two by two, the smallest in the lead, from Court and Main streets to Oakland avenue, while hundreds of spectators lined the street.”
Decoration Day, as it was called then, was celebrated every May 30 but was not a national holiday. It was observed only in Northern states honoring deceased Union soldiers and sailors who had served during the Civil War. (Southern states did not participate until World War I but instead observed Confederate Memorial Day.) The day’s solemn ceremonies usually included church services and addresses by clergymen. While there were parades, the highlight of the day was decorating soldiers’ graves with flowers, reflecting on the origin of Decoration Day just after the Civil War.
The Intelligencer’s account of the day continued -–
“Shortly before 2 o’clock, military organizations escorting the veterans formed on Oakland avenue and marched to the monument to the living and dead of the 104th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, while the band played a dirge.”
NOTE: Doylestown’s Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Post met in a building on Oakland Avenue. The post was named after Gen. Robert L. Bodine (1832-1874) who fought in the Civil War. Bodine died at age 41 and was buried in Doylestown Cemetery.
Source: Edward Levenson, www.theintell.com›story›news› 2014/05/26
Photo caption - The original, restored flag of the 104th Pennsylvania Volunteers, housed today in the Mercer Museum
