Evening Star Newspaper, March 22, 1931, Page 81

Willson Miller, post commander; senior vice commander; Maj. J. W. vice commander; William T. Collins, M.'D., post adjutant, address Internal Revenue Bureau; A. A, Grant, post quartermaster; ¥. W. Ritter, post surgeon, and S. S. Sumner, chaplain.” An item also of interest in this directory was @ brief statement as to the object and aims of the ‘organization, which said: “The Grand Army- of the Republic is an organization of true and tried honorably discharged soldiers to aid with its charity the maimed and helpless soldiéers and the dependent families of the fallen, to secure for those returned soldiers who have vainly sought for it themselves, and whose very tatteréd uniforms seem an evidence of de- merit in the eyes of many who never dared to clothe themselves with it and its dangerous responsibilities. Whatever secrecy there is about this organization is only such as surrounds the strength, and to beiter secure their charitable objects.” : Rmmc'wm"wummum and Other Societies,” the writer also found the following interesting statement: “The Grand Army of the Republic, according to the ‘Cyclopedia of Fraternities® (3d ed., p. 11), ‘was organized by Odd Fellows. and Free- masons and is largely made up of them.' In spite of this fact and the religious character of the ritual, it has had some priests and even a bishop or two among its members. Archbishop Ryan of Philadelphia, in 1896, declared he could see ‘no objectionable features in it," while Archbishop Ireland of St. Paul repeatedly = is still fresh in the minds of the le. self drove a herd of sheep from New Mexico to San Francisco, where the people gave him a reception. “In 1853 he was appointed Indian agent for New Mexico, and was successively reappointed until the breaking out of the rebellion. “It was apparent that New Mexico would be- come a theater of war. Kit Carson promptly offered his services, and was successively ap- pointed lieutenant colonel and colonel of 1st New Mexico Cavalry, and as such took a promi- nent part in the battle of Valverde. For gallantry there displayed he received the brevet of brigadier general. Affer the battle of Apache Canyon, when ths enemy left the Ter- ritory, he was assigned to special duty, under Gen., Carleton, against the Navajos. Here, while in command of 2,000 men, he succeeded by stratégy in capturing 10,000 men, women . and children, since which time this tribe has been little disposed to go on the warpath. “While on an official visit to Washington he was, on February 17, 1868, mi & member of the post that on his death adopted his name. “He continued in the public service, his last official act being the successful settlement of the difficulties with the Sioux, and while re- turning to his home in New Mexico he died suddenly at the age of 59 years, on May 23, 1868, at Fort Lyon, Colorado, from the effects of the rupture of an artery, superinduced by a fall from his horse while in the lne of duty.” S THE® SUNDAY: STAK, WASHINGTON, B €, MARCH 22 W8l vand he Republic of the District of Columbia, photographed in 1931. Sitting, left to rights Members of the G Anuy:’ :L.t epublic of t rict of }:m' glfnpu. eEhe) (" Comreie Trballer y, Dr. Henry A. Johnson, Samuel John Hammond (deceased), W. Blaisdell, John T. Ryan, John Middle E. D. Godfrey and James A. McDowell. Standing, left to right: Byron W. Bonn Mawson, Gilbert M. Husted; a visitor; John M. Kline cnd William F. Dorsey. OM this beginning new posts were added frequently wuntil altogether the following were granted charters: John A. Rawlins, No. 1; Kit Carson, No. 2; Lincoln, No. 3; Shaw, No. 4; McPherson, No. 5; Joha F. Reynolds, No. 6; Sedgwick, No. 7; Burnside, No. 8; Lyon, No. 9; Farragut, No. 10; Griffin, No. 11; U. S. Grant, No. 12; Ulrich Dahigren, No. 18 T. R. Hawkins, No. 14; George H. Thomas, No. 15; W. T. Sher- man, No. 16; Henry Wilson, No. 17; George U. Morris, No. 19; Lafayette, No. 20, and Prederick Douglass, No. 21. - Later some of these posts shifted their num- bers, while new names were substituted for others. For instance, Shaw, No. 4, became Dempsey Mabery, and later O. P. ‘Morton; McPherson, No. 5, became George G. places from No. 12 to No. 6; Ulrich Dahigren, No. 13, became John A. Logan, and T. R. Haw- kins, No. 14, was changed to Phil H. Sheridan. What became of Post No. 18 the writer cannot say. In the various posts which have existed in the order from the beginning, in 1866, to the present time there have been many commanders, whose names must be omitted at this time for want of space, but there being a much smaller num- ber of department commanders their names and dates of service will be given, as follows: L. E. Dudley, provisional commander, 1867-8. Department commanders—Samuel A. Duncan, 1869; Timothy Luby, 1870-2; Frank H. Sprague, 1873-5; Benjamin F. Hawkes, 1876; A. H. G. Richardson, 1877; George E. Corson, 1878; Har- rison Dingman, 1879; Charles C. Royce, 1880; William Gibson, 1881; Samuel S. Burdette, 1882-3; D. 8. Alexander, 1884; Newton M. Brooks, 1885; Jerome B. Burke, 1§86-7; Charles P. Lincoln, 1888; Willlam S. O'Dell, 1889; M. Emme!t Urell, 1890; James M. Pipes, 1891; A. F. Dinsmore, 1892; Solomon - E. Faunce, 1893; Nathan Bickford, 1894; Marion T. 1895; John McElroy, 1896, 1920-1; Thomas S. Hopkins, 1897; Arthur Hendricks, 1898; Calvin Farnsworth, 1899; Slaybaugh, 1900; Israel W. Stone, 1901; Benjamin F. Bingham, 1902; Ivory” G. Kimball, 1903; Abram Hart, 1904; A. P, Tasker, 1905; Benjamin P. Entrikin, 1906; Newton Ferree, 1907; John S. Walker, 1908; Edwin Holbrook, 1909; Henry A. Johnson, 1910; George C. Ross, 1911; J. D. 1912; Thomas H. McKee, 1913; J. K. Gleason, 1914; L. H. Patterson, 1915; Andres J. Huntoon, 1916; Aaron H, Frear, 19:%; Samuel G. Mawson, 1918, 1929, 1931; Hiram B. Snyder, 1919; Har- rison L. Dean, 1922; John W. Reid, 1923; Bris- coe Goodhart, 1924; Hosea B. Moulton, 1925; Charles V. Petteys, 1926; John L. Clem, 1927; William M, Bobb, 1928; Harry T. Dunbar, 1928, and F. J. Young, 1930, THE headquarters of the Department of the Potomec, G. A. R, in 1867, under its pro- ° visional formation, was at 266 F street north- west, which would now, according to the present numbering, be between Thirteenth and Four- teenth streets, and the first meeting place of John A. Rawling Post, No. 1. was at the Union League Hall, cn Ninth street between D and E northwest, In 1869, of the seven posts then in existence, five were meecting at the northeast cormer of Eleventh street and Pennsylvania avenue, the first floor of which was later occupied by Bren- tano and the upper stories by Judd & Detweiler. Two posts met in Georgetown. . The department headquarters were at Ninth and D ‘streets northwest, from 1871 to 1888, when we find it at 1751 Pennsylvania avenue, and at this last date it moved into the Cornwell Building, just razed, and at about this date, as stated, seven posts also moved into this building. In 1877 Dempsey Mabery Post, No. 4, was meeting at Odd Fellows’ Hall, on Twelfth street. In 1883 Post No. 4 was meeting in I. O, O. F. Hall, Seventh street between I and K. The following year Posts 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 were meet- ing at Ninth and D streets; No. 8 at Grand Army Hall, Seventh and.L streets, and No. 9 at Tanners’ Hall, 1218 E street. 4 'I‘omko(mecnndnmu'efflfi a few years back brings to memory nearly o P S lowing gra of 3 although this organization was not established until the following year, yet the men who made ful pursuits. The first day, the Army of the Potomac, of 80,000 men, in a dense column which the wide Avenue from curb to curb, hed by from early morn to late at night. At its head rode Gen. George Gordon Meade, who was in every battle but two fought by the . An idea of the vastness.of the parade may be formed from the fact that there were in line 29 regiments of Calvary, 33 bat- teries of Artillery, 180 regiments of Infantry, and ever s0 many staffs of divisions and corps commanders, O!Iluy 24, the second day of the review, Gen. William ‘Tecumseh Sherman’s great army paraded up the Avenue, led by the same man had marched from Atlanta to the sea, and who were of the armies then being reviewed. Bret Harte has given us an ex:ceilent poetic pic- ture of this occasion, a part of which may bear repeating here: “I read last night of the grand review In Washington’s chiefest avenuc— Two hundred thousand men in blue, I think they said was the number— Till I seemed to hear their trampling feet, The bugle blast and the drum'’s quick beat, The clatter of hoofs in the stony street, The cheers of people who came to greet, And the thousand details that to repeat ‘Would only my verse encumher— Till I fell in a reverie, sad and sweet, And then to a fitful slumber, “When, lo, in & vision I seemed to stand In the lonely Capitol. Cn each hand Far tretched the portico, dim and grand, Its columns ranged like a marial band Of sheeted specters, whom scme command Had called to a last reviewing. And the streets of the city werc white and bare; No footfall echoed across the square; But out of the misty midnight air I mmt;de in the N reading of this grand review in The Star, the writer came across an interesting de- scription of Pennsylvania avenue as it appeared upo;: that occasion. In part, it said: “It was supposed to be pavegrwl_‘th obble- store, but so great had be‘en‘t.hrmvelm by Government wagons and . teams, of -Artillery, etc., that in comparison g fikios (EiiEd the the Avenue was & iiéiégi T E Saigé conducted the dry goods business in a story brick. The Gunton property, on west corner of Ninth street and Pennsylvania avenue, an old-fashioned two-story brick, was occupled for the drug business. Westward were some old-fashioned bricks of two and three stories, nearly all of which have been torn down or have been remodeled. The most prominent building in the square was the iron hall build- being used as the Lewis Johnson banking housé. On the south side of the Avenue,, where the Mutial PFire Insurance Co.’s marble building now stands, were some-old-fashioned brick houses.” . Tfll first Grand Army Encampment held in ‘Washington seecns to have omitted a parade. Of this early event, The Star of May 11, 1870, said: “The National Encampment of the Gran Army of the Republic assembled at 12 o'