Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

The first memorial service in Illinois, and one of the first in the nation, to honor those who had died in the Civil War, took place at Woodlawn Cemetery on April 29, 1866. On that day, a group of more than 200 veterans gathered at the old "Blue Church" on what is now East Jackson Street. Methodist Minister J.W. Lane stood on the steps to greet them. The Marshall of the Day, Colonel E.J. Ingersoll, and the speaker, General John A. Logan of the Union Army, led a procession to Woodlawn Cemetery. During the service, General Logan declared that "Every man's life belongs to his country, and no man has a right to refuse when his country calls for it."

Following the Civil War, General Logan became commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. Impressed by the memorial observance at Woodlawn Cemetery, he signed General Order No. 11, setting May 30, 1868, as Memorial Day. Logan hoped the observance would be "kept up from year to year." By 1888, Memorial Day became a legal holiday in twelve northern states. Later, it became a legal holiday throughout the country.

The City of Carbondale continues this honored custom by conducting an observance in Woodlawn Cemetery every Memorial Day. Woodlawn Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 19, 1985, and was designated a Carbondale Historic Landmark on March 8, 1994.

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