Petersburg City-Dinwiddie County Virginia USGenWeb Archives News.....Memorial Day, 1878 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ Memorial Day Services, Poplar Grove National Cemetery, 30 May 1878 "The (Richmond, VA) Daily Dispatch," Sat., June 1, 1878, p. 2, col. 3-4 PETERSBURG. HONORS TO THE FEDERAL DEAD - A BEAUTIFUL BURIAL SPOT - SPECIAL NOTICE OF THE CONFEDERATE GRAVES - MONTHLY STATISTICS - CIRCUIT COURT - PERSONAL - INTERESTING MEETING OF THE COUNCIL - INTERNAL-REVENUE COLLECTIONS FOR MAY - DESTRUCTIVE STORM, &C. [Correspondence of the Richmond Dispatch.] May 31, 1878. The ceremonies attending the decoration of the graves in the National Cemetery at Poplar Grove yesterday was witnessed by several hundred people, and would doubtless have been witnessed by many more had the facilities for reaching the cemetery been greater. The cemetery is about five miles from the city, and though special trains were run on the Petersburg railroad for the accommodation of visitors, yet those going out by this means had to walk a mile from the railroad to reach the grounds. The contributions of flowers were quite large, but not sufficiently so to meet the requirements of the occasion, and a single rose-bud, or magnolia, or laural [sic; laurel] blossom, was all that many of the 5,000 graves could receive. The cemetery is one of the most beautiful burial spots in the country. Every grave - save those of the few Confederates buried there - is marked with a granite head-stone, and wherever the dead is known the name appears on the block. The graves are arranged in regular circles around a central mound, from which a tall flag- staff has been arranged. The grounds are enclosed by a handsome brick wall four feet high, inside of which an Osage-orange hedge is growing, with a gravelled walkway between them. The graves are all levelled, and the whole ground is neatly turfed. While occupying this spot during the latter months of the war the Federals built a beautiful rustic church, which stood there for some years. But the poles of which it was built finally decayed, and the structure had to be removed. The Confederate graves in this cemetery yesterday received as much, if indeed not more, attention than the others. The speeches of Messrs. Van Auken and Edgar Allan were entirely free from political allusion. The graves in the National Cemetery at City Point were also decorated yesterday, but there were no special ceremonies. The number of Union soldiers buried there is 5,304. During the month of May there were only sixty-seven cases before the Mayor - the charges in over two thirds of them being breaches of the peace. Of the parties arraigned fifty-four were colored and thirteen white; and only two were sentenced to imprisonment. The amount of fines collected was $67.50. Sixteen marriage-licenses were issued during the month - ten to white and six to colored couples. In one day licenses were issued to three citizens, aged respectively sixty, sixty-five, and seventy years, to marry. The May term of the Circuit Court of this city commenced to-day - Judge Weisiger presiding. The docket is a very small and unimportant one. The Judge made a very pointed charge to the grand jury, especially in regard to the law concerning the sale of liquor to minors and the Moffett-register law. The grand jury, however, could find no evidence upon which to base any presentments, and were discharged for the term. Most of the business which formerly came before this court now goes into the Hustings Court. Mr. John R. Williamson, who for the past three or four years has been in business in India, arrived here last evening on a leave of absence for a few months. He started home from Calcutta on the first of April. The meeting of the Common Council tomorrow afternoon will probably be an unusually interesting one. The questions of fixing the estimates of expenses for the next year and of the rate of taxation will be considered. The Finance Committee recommend $1.55 as the rate of taxation, but they also recommend a decided reduction in the expenses of the citv. The following is a statement of the collections of internal revenue in this district during the month ending to-day : On spirits, $360; on tobacco, $117,618.54; special tax. $13,976.67; on cigars, $652.40; on snuff, $51.74. Total collections, $132,650.35. The amount of tobacco exported in bond from this city during the month was 365,908 pounds. [...] Mr. Benjamin Cuykendall, a worthy and esteemed citizen, died yesterday; aged sixty-two years. His funeral took place this afternoon. Robin Adair. [...] Additional information: Article posted as part of the Library Of Virginia's "Virginia Chronicle" Virginia newspaper project, at: http://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/virginia_newspapers - text of article corrected Poplar Grove National Cemetery lies in Dinwiddie Co.: https://www.nps.gov/pete/learn/historyculture/poplar-grove-national-cemetery.htm New York native Benjamin Cuykendall is buried in Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg. (Find a Grave Mem. #168999888) Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by by File Manager Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com). file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/petersburg/news/18780601rd.txt