Decoration Day - May 30, 2026 A Remembrance Day

To-day, May 30th is Decoration Day, a day to step-out and make a short trip to the burial place of any war dead Soldier, Sailor, and/or Marine.

Decoration Day, these days more notably known as Memorial Day, was first officially observed in the USA following the American Civil War on May 30, 1868. May 30th was selected as a day of remembrance to go to the burial grounds and decorate with flowers those Union Soldier graves who died in service during the Civil War -- and of course, May 30th is also a time we can find flowers in bloom. This day May 30th was mainly picked as uniquely significant since no Civil War Battle was fought on that day. Decoration Day was first officially held by proclamation on May 30, 1868, this order by General John A. Logan, then Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The GAR is the influential former major Civil War Veterans organization and veterans rights advocate group formed immediately following the Civil War. GAR died when the last GAR member and Civil War Veteran passed away in 1956. Of course the VFW, the American Legion, and AMVETs had been previously formed under federal charters taking up the veteran's advocacy mission of GAR.

Note: After World War I Decoration Day's (aka Memorial Day) purpose was officially expanded to honor all American service members who died in any war. And in 1971 this day of remembrance officially became the last Monday in May (as changed by law passed by Congress in 1968) to thus provide for a long holiday weekend that “we the people” use to now generally forget our fallen war dead.

Claims today that some Southern States did so honor deceased Civil War Soldiers at times before May 30,1868 are certainly true, but those activities were not the "first-done" by former USA southern states. Technically the south were not then officially re-admitted to the Union. Southern state re-admission to the United States began with Tennessee in July 1866 and ended with Georgia's re-admission in January 1870. It took some time for Southern State authorities to accept the concepts formed, written, and adopted in the U.S. Constitution Fourteenth Amendment (aka Amendment XIV – “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”). Claims today by semi-knowledgeable people that the South first honored and officially remembered fallen Civil War Soldiers are at best nebulous and at worst disingenuous (aka far-fetched revisionist machinations and outright lies). The war death memorials of Union Soldiers was a certain ongoing activity throughout the 1861-1865 active war period and immediately after that war, many of these Union Civil War Soldier memorials were significantly attended by hundreds of common citizens and more notable folks.

Take a refreshing look at a post written in 2008 (updated and re-posted in 2025) concerning Lieutenant William “Willie” Bacon of Utica, New York, late of the 26th Infantry Regiment, New York State Volunteers, Willie mortally wounded-in-action 13 Dec 1862 fighting during the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg --

Click HERE

(Note: also posted to Facebook)

Private Elijah Stanton - "A Revolutionary Soldier"

 

The Eatonville Cemetery hillside graves of “A Revolutionary Soldier” Private Elijah Stanton (1754-1849, a distant 3rd cousin), his beloved wife Lucy (Goodell) Stanton (d.1836), and the badly damaged headstone their youngest child John Warren Stanton (d.1838, lying between) were cleaned and the family grave-site tended per-Memorial Day, 21 May 2026. Elijah's earned American Flag was replaced with a fresh flag and his headstone again treated with the VA suggested Wet and Forget product. During the Revolutionary War, Private Elijah Stanton is recorded assigned to General George Washington's personal bodyguard detail.  He was previously a Connecticut Soldier POW held aboard a British Prison Ship in New York Harbor, his capture likely during Washington's Continental Army/Militia troops defeat/retreat in late summer 1776 during the Battle of Long Island period.  The exploits of Revolutionary War enlisted men are not typically well documented in official records.  What we have are some family-lore written statements and related published news articles by Elijah's youngest daughter Samantha Stanton-Nellis.   

 

Note: The now inactive Eatonville Cemetery is kept well mowed by the Town of Herkimer Highway Department, Herkimer County, New York – many thanks!

Remembering Seven Military Men On Memorial Day

Thinking about our Grandfathers and Cousins on this

respectful 2026 Day of Honorable Remembrance.

 Seven related men in Six Wars.

French and Indian War

Private Thomas Sheldon, a 7^th Great Grandfather, Dutchess County Militia, New York Province

Mortally-Wounded-In-Action, Battle of Ticonderoga, 8 Jul 1758, during the disastrous British General James Abercrombie's failed frontal attack on Fort Ticonderoga at Lake Champlain, New York Province.

Died of wounds near the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers while in transit back to his Dutchess County home.

Thomas is probably interred near his homeland church in Bethel Churchyard Cemetery, Pine Plains, Dutchess County, New York Province.  No gravestone is presently found.

American Revolutionary War

Lieutenant Enoch Stanton and Sergeant Daniel Stanton (brothers and distant cousins).

Killed-In Action, The Battle Of Groton Heights, 6 Sep 1781.

Soldiers serving in Colonel William Ledyard's Connecticut Militia Defense at Fort Griswold, Groton, Connecticut.

Interred at Stanton-Hull Cemetery, North Stonington, Connecticut.

Gravestone inscription: “Here Inter'd are the bodies of two brothers, Sons of Capt. Phineas Stanton and Elizabeth his wife who fell with many of their friends Sept 6th, 1781 while manfully fighting for the liberty of their Country and defense of Fort Griswold. The assailants were troops commanded by that most despicable patricide, Benedict Arnold.”

American Civil War

Corporal William Moegling (a Great-Great Grandfather) – died Nov 1869.

Wounded-In-Action, The Battle Of Antietam, Sharpsburg, Maryland

(17 Sep 1862, a gunshot wound).

Service with General Abram Duryea's Brigade, Company H, 97^th Infantry Regiment, New York State Volunteers.

National Archives official records show William's Discharge For Disability from a Belle Plains Landing Field Hospital, Virginia in February 1863.  Interestingly, William's discharge papers are signed by Corps Commander Major General John F. Reynolds (he KIA at The Battle of Gettysburg 1 Jul 1863).  

William's untimely death is logically at least partially military-service-connected. 

William was first interred at Potter Street Cemetery, the first municipal cemetery at Utica, New York, then in 1916 was re-interred in a mass grave with about 5,000 other early settlers at Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica, New York (Section 58B) when Potter Street Cemetery was totally removed and the disinterred remains buried in this presently unmarked Utica-owned mass grave.

World War I

Private Charles Ernest Covert, Company M, 107th Infantry Regiment, 1^st New York Infantry, 54th Brigade, 27th Division, U.S. Army (a first cousin-1xRemoved).

Wounded-In-Action in France, battles include: Dickenbusch, Battles of the Meuse–Argonne, and The Hindenburg Line (a gas attack), et al.

U.S. Army Honorable Discharge – French overseas military service 9 May 1918–26 Dec 1918. Official records report "Wounded severely in action about 30 Oct 1918" – a head wound and documented at 40% disabled on discharge date.

U.S. Veterans Hospital, Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York, Charles' official recorded condition is "Neuropsychiatric."

Charles died while a patient and resident at the aforementioned Canandaigua VA Medical Center, where Charles has been in residence for over 25 years.

Charles is interred along side his beloved mother and our Great Grandaunt Caroline [Anderson] Covert at Oak Hill Cemetery, Herkimer, New York.

World War II

Private Mahlon Barnes Zeh, 47^th Infantry Regiment, 9^th Infantry Division, U.S. Army (a distant cousin).

Mortally-Wounded-In-Action February 1945, wounds suffered as his unit was combat engaged in Germany and he died 8 Feb 1945 while a patient at a Belgium Field Hospital.

Mahlon is interred at the WWII American Military Cemetery and Memorial, Henri-Chapelle, Liege, Belgium.

Vietnam War

Corporal James Richard Brink, USMC (a contemporary Second Cousin).

Enlisted U.S. Marine Corps in July 1965. Active overseas service with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Amphibious Force (MAF).

Killed-In-Action 14 Dec 1966, Thừa Thiên-Huế, Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). Official records report “...a USMC Rifleman – KIA by combat enemy ground fire, remains recovered.”  Military awards include The Purple Heart.   

James is interred at a family burial plot, Sierra Hills Memorial Park, Sacramento, California.  His family had moved from New York State to California near the time of his 1962 graduation from Charles W. Baker High School in Baldwinsville, New York.  James Brink's name is inscribed at Washington DC "THE WALL" -- Panel 13E, Line 43. 

   

A Respectful Happy Mother's Day Remembrance To Our Mom, Our Two Grandmothers, And Our Four Great-Grandmothers

On Mother's Day, May 10, 2026, a greatful remembrance to our immediate three senior female generations.  Expressing very strong appreciation and many thanks for all your past deeds that helped us get to this place in our good Life, our admirable Liberty, and our laudable pursuit of Happiness in this the United States of America's Semiquincentennial Year!

 (DJ's maternal side on left, DJ's paternal side on right) 

(Ladies cited using their Maiden Surnames)

Check out more information on our four Great Grandmothers,

click HERE  

The Mom, Grandma, and Great Grandma Tree Plantings

Three Rows of Norway Spruce Trees, the seven right-side row in first image memorialize Dave's immediate senior female genertions (2018 transplanted trees now approach 12 feet tall).  The center row of Norway Spruce Trees memorialize Terri's immediate senior three female generations (2020 transplanted trees now approach 8 feet tall), and the left side row of Norway Spruce Trees (2022 transpalnted trees now approach 6 feet tall), memorialize the immediate senior three generations of our many near and distant cousins.

 

Norway Spruce Trees Memorialize Mom, Grandma, and Great-Grandma 

(photo dated 4/28/2026), a Northeast View.

Norway Spruce Trees Memorialize Mom, Grandma, and Great-Grandma 

(photo dated 4/28/2026), a Southeast View.

Growing Projects At The Ranch... Spring 2026

 

An amateur for sure, but these days the personal job classification by self-evaluation is best put as a beyond-elementary-hobbyist genealogist, a wild bird watcher & winter birdseed source devotee, a capable cemetery headstone caretaker/cleaner, and a planter-tinkerer holding amateur-horticulturist skills.  A true amateur who holds expanding interests and abilities, but certainly a master of none (while simultaniously clutching-to diminishing technical electronics skills and expertise).

Our small apple orchard started from seed three years ago now sports a mix of twenty-one Honey-Crisp and Macintosh apple trees, where some trees are now beginning their third year, a few starting their second year, and a couple beginning their first full growing year.  All trees survived the winter of 2025/26!  In early April 2026 a new six-foot high 14-gauge welded galvanized wire fence was installed replacing the older rabbit-hole infested 5-foot plastic fence, hopefully to offer better orchard protection from our hungry and significant winter browsing White Tail Deer and Eastern Wild Turkey population. We have an additional ten+ apple trees surviving in different locations on our back lot, a couple of these older trees now bear fruit.

On Arbor Day, Friday April 24, 2026, our customary ten new Norway Spruce Trees were transplanted to their final locations in our back lot grounds. These two-year old Norway Spruce trees were purchased from Herkimer County Soil and Water Conservation District Office. One new 2026 horticulture project is presently underway to plant 25 Rose Of Sharon Tree/Bushes (Hibiscus Syriacus) in the center of our back lot.  Rose Of Sharon seeds were gathered from one of our adult bushes in Fall 2025 and are now started in small peat moss cups to be transplanted in mid-May. 

Subject back-lot photos dated late April 2026 are presented below –

New apple orchard 80'x45' enclosure, a 6-foot welded wire fence.

Northwest view, tree base protected by white cylinders.

Orchard Northeast View. New fenced enclosure late April 2026.

Prospective Rose Of Sharon Hedge planting location, a northwest view.

Holes dug, rocks removed, and fertilized compost mixed in soil.

Horseshoe-shaped Rose Of Sharon (ROS) Bush-Hedge planting location,

a southeast view now ready and awaits a mid-May planting.

Several ROS seeds placed in each planting site on 18 May 2026.      

Three-of-ten Arbor Day 2026 Norway Spruce Trees transplant site.

Our several hundred Norway Spruce Trees planted in

Spring 2003/04 now exceed 30 feet tall.