Decoration Day/Memorial Day Memories

This weekend has traditionally been significant in the history of my hometown, Maple Hill, Kansas.

As a youth of 10 or 12, I remember everyone calling this Decoration Day.   Over the years, it became known as Memorial Day, a time when we pause to remember our family, friends and others who have served in the armed forces of the United States.

This year will be no exception as folks gather for Memorial Day services at the Old Stone Church and Maple Hill Cemetery.    The Old Stone Church, or Eliot Congregational Church, as it was known initially, is the parent church of the present Maple Hill Community Congregational Church.   Once each year, on Memorial Day, MHCCC holds its services at the Old Stone Church to honor its heritage and to salute veterans of the church and those buried in the cemetery that surrounds it.

This photo was taken in 2011 and shows members of the James Elmer Romick American Legion Post at Maple Hill lined up to fire a salute, play taps and then escort the colors into the church.  That has been the tradition as long as I can remember.

The Eliot Congregational Church, commonly known as the Old Stone Church, was dedicated in 1882 and was twice destroyed and rebuilt.   In 1955, the church burned to the ground leaving only the stone walls.   It was repaired and rededicated in 1963.    In 1994, the church including the stone walls, was destroyed by a tornado.    It was loving restored using the original stone, and rededicated in 1997.    Nothing was changed except new, modern windows were installed. 
The Avenue of Flags was a project of the American Legion Auxiliary, and many donated money to make it possible to have one flag for each of the fifty states line the cemetery road.

This photo of my mother, Lucille (Corbin) Clark and oldest son Nicholas L. Clark, Sr. was taken in 2010.   My Mom would shame me for saying that she was proud of her work with and for the Legion and America Legion Auxiliary, but she was a member for 73 years and served as president of the American Legion Auxiliary for many decades.  

Over the past ten years or so, a new feature has been included with Civil War reinactors bringing their cannon to the cemetery and firing their own salute to those veterans who are buried there.   The "soldiers" come in their respective uniforms, form ranks and fire the salute.   It's a very nice tribute.

My maternal grandmother, Mildred (McCauley) Corbin, all of my aunts, Joan (Corbin) Andrews-Frazier, Sarah Emma (Corbin) Justice, and Vivian (Corbin) Wild were members of the American Legion Auxiliary and worked on various projects.   My cousin, Bonnie (Thomas) Mitchell was also involved for many decades and her brother, Pinkney Thomas, was commander of the American Legion in Oklahoma.  It was decided that the Legion and American Legion needed a permanent home and meeting place in the community and funds were donated to purchase a lot on Main Street and build a new, brick American Legion Hall.

I have purchased many picture post cards of Maple Hill on Internet auction sites, and among them was this one.

I don't know the exact date when the photograph was taken, but the post card was used and the stamp cancelled in September 1916.   When I initially purchased the card, I thought that it was a photograph of the newly completed American Legion Hall.   But after closer examination, it was evident that the two-story brick building was instead the David Stewart General Store.  The Maple Hill Masonic Hall occupied the entire second floor.  This building burned in 1919 and the American Legion Hall was built on the same lot on the west side of Main Street in 1921.

Maple Hill was visited by many horrendous fires during it's early history.   Nearly every building was burned to the ground on both the east and west sides of Main Street.   The Stewart Family certainly sustained many losses during that time.   From the Maple Hill News Items in area papers, I've collected a little history of the Stewart family's businesses.

June 1890 - Gilbert Stewart, Maple Hill's pioneer butcher, has sold his business to his sons, David and Robert.    Gilbert Stewart came to Maple Hill from Paxico soon after the town was established and has been an integral part of the community since.

May 1901 - Fire destroyed nearly all the west wide of Main Street including Gilbert Stewart's Meat Market and Ice House.

July 19, 1901 - Dolly and Stewart's (David Stewart) stored burned to the ground.   Robert Stewart's barbershop also burned.

December 1902 - The newly constructed building owned by Dolly and Stewart burned to the ground.

October 20, 1903 - David Stewart's store burned to the ground but the building and contents were covered by $10,000 in insurance and he will rebuild.This time, the building will be brick and stone.

April 1919 - David Stewart has sold his store to Sam Wiley and will retire.

December 12, 1919 - Sam Wiley's two-story store and the Masonic Hall, burned to the ground last night and was a total loss.   Wiley had no insurance.

David Stewart went back into the grocery store business in 1924, but not in that location.   He purchased the store and goods of Russell T. Updegraff and continued in business until 1927 when he again sold his store and retired.

The Maple Hill American Legion Hall was destroyed in January 2002 when a heavy ice storm collapsed the roof.   The second story fell into the first and onto other nearby buildings.   Luckily no one was injured but it was decided not to rebuild the American Legion Hall.

On Sunday, May 27, 2012 friends and families will gather at the Old Stone Church to honor our veterans, just as they have for nearly 100 years.

Happy Trails!