In regard to the children’s fair here mentioned, I would say that it was held by only three little children, viz.: Ella May, Frank and Ida Knappin. The weather was cold and rainy, but they did not mind the cold, for their hearts were in their work. The tableaux at Chelsea were gotten up almost entirely through the earnest efforts of Miss Josie May and Miss White, who, I believe, have never before had credit therefor.
Had I begun my work of collecting a little earlier, before the holiday season was over, during which fairs had been held, and various other means employed to raise money, I might have doubled, and perhaps tripled the amount collected; for nearly every place I visited I was met with, “Why didn’t you come sooner? A week or two earlier, and we might have raised twice as much as we now can.” But if the money only went for the desired object, it mattered little through what channel it was conveyed. I would take this opportunity to acknowledge publicly the receipt of thirty dollars from friends in Muir and vicinity, ten from South Jackson, and twenty from Salem, besides a few dollars from individual persons as a present to myself. I here renew my thanks to each and every donor; for it was only through occasional donations of this kind that I was enabled to continue my work so long. One of my former teachers at Kalamazoo, to whom I was indebted thirty dollars for money hired while in school, kindly took up the note, thus relieving me of all anxiety of how that debt, though small, was to be paid.
I know of no better way than through the pages of this little book to notify the members of the Twenty-sixth regiment of Michigan Infantry of the beautiful gold watch, with chain, pin, and corps badge, purchased with the money so generously donated by themselves in the spring of 1864. It is handsomely engraved with name, date, and regiment. To me it has a value far exceeding its intrinsic worth, for many of those represented in the gift are now “sweetly embalmed and hid away in white.” Those who survive will please accept the gratitude of the recipient, by whom their memory will ever be sacredly cherished.
I returned to Washington via Harbor Creek, Penn., where I visited the bereaved family of my sister who died the previous October. Had I consulted my own ease or pleasure, I should have yielded to the earnest entreaties of those motherless boys, and remained with them while their loss was so fresh in memory and so keenly felt; but duty pointed her finger to the thousands of sick and wounded in our hospitals, many of whom, like themselves, were boys in their teens, having been tenderly reared, each one some mother’s darling or some father’s fond hope, far from home and its comforts, their young lives going out one after another in those distant hospitals, in the camp or on the field of carnage—and I could not turn a deaf ear to her call. Fifty dollars more, contributed by friends in Harbor Creek for soldiers, were added to the amount collected in Michigan.
CHAPTER XVII.
FALL OF RICHMOND—SURRENDER OF LEE—MY RETURN TO WASHINGTON—THE ILLUMINATION—THE ASSASSINATION OF THE PRESIDENT—HIS REMAINS IN STATE—FUNERAL OBSEQUIES—THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS UPON HIS LIFE AND MANY VIRTUES—HOSPITAL WORK IN WASHINGTON, ALEXANDRIA AND SURROUNDING CAMPS—THE ARMY RECALLED—THE MICHIGAN “HOME”—TRIP TO BALTIMORE AND ANNAPOLIS—HOSPITAL DISCONTINUED—THE GRAND REVIEW—CLOSING REFLECTIONS.
I arrived in Washington the evening of the 13th of April, the night before that great national calamity, the assassination of our beloved President.
The evening of my arrival there was a grand illumination of the city in honor of our recent victories, which resulted in the fall of Richmond, the surrender of Lee, and the overthrow of the rebellion.
Lights gleamed from nearly every window—the White House was beautifully illuminated and gaily decorated with the stars and stripes—numerous small flags floated from the windows, while larger ones were festooned over the doors or proudly waved from lofty flag-staffs. O ye starry emblems of liberty, what rivers of blood it has cost to maintain your honor!
The stately Capitol, with its myriads of lights blazing from its windows and surrounded with brilliant transparencies, looked indeed like a “city set upon a hill, whose light cannot be hid.” The streets were thronged with admiring spectators. The President, with the General-in-chief of our armies, rode up and down Pennsylvania avenue—alas! for the last time together—rejoicing that the dove had at last returned to the ark with the olive branch of peace. Every loyal heart beat high with hope, not only at the national capital, but throughout the length and breadth of our land. The voice of praise and thanksgiving ascended to Him, who, ruling among the nations of the earth, as well as in the armies of heaven, had crowned the cause of right with victory.