1897 Cannon Acquisition

In 1998, the cannon shown in the following 1940s picture, which can also be seen in person at the Greenwood cemetery, was re-dedicated at its 100th year of being located in Fowlerville. The inscription on the side of the base reads 'In Memory of Our Fallen Comrades." As I've continued to look through old articles of The Fowlerville Review, I've come across numerous reports and informational articles about the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) and the John G. Gilluly Post #114, once very active in the village. I usually skim through these reports but not very closely as I'm afraid that would become another book in and of itself. But one paragraph seemed to literally jump off the laptop screen begging for my attention. It is as follows:

Gilluly Post, G.A.R., is in receipt of a condemned cannon 10 1/2 feet long and weighing 4,200 lbs., furnished by the government. A suitable base will be purchased by the post and the gun will be placed in the cemetery as a monument.

By the spring of 1898, The cannon recently received from the government has been placed upon a large cut stone base at Oakwood cemetery and presents a fine appearance and serves as a very appropriate monument to the dead heroes.

And then the celebration:

Decoration Day Exercises~~Decoration Day will be observed in Fowlerville on Monday, May 30, by John Gilluly Post, G.A.R., in the dedication of the monument placed in Greenwood cemetery, with the following program. The Post will meet in their Post hall at 9:30 a.m., and at 10 o'clock march to the cemetery. The W.R.C., public schools, civic societies and all citizens are invited to join in the march and all of the exercises of the day.

At the cemetery, the following exercises will take place:
Music......"America"
Prayer.....Rev. A.B. Whitney
Music....."Star Spangled Banner"
Presentation of Monument to Post by.....Hon. F.G. Rounsville, Pres of Village
Response......by a Comrade
Address......Rev. J.H. Thomas
Music
Benediction......G.L. Adams
Decoration of graves by Post and children of public schools.

Of all the days in the year Memorial Day is the one that should receive the most attention at the hands of the nation. The tendency which has seemed to be growing during the past few years to make it a day of pleasure and sport should meet with a firm rebuke at the hands of the older ones and the younger portion of the nation should be thoroughly taught its solemnity and to fully appreciate its significance and how to properly observe the day of sacred memory to the nation's dead heroes, for every man who ever wore the blue and passed into battle is a hero. A soldier may have enlisted for money or for a prospective journey and a general good time, but a few weeks of actual service and contact with the stoutest patriotism which filled the ranks soon wrought a change and the fire of true patriotism must have burned in every heart.

Another opportunity of showing our love and appreciation for the memory of those heroes will offer itself to every citizen on Monday next and we hope that all will lay aside the busy cares of the farm, shop and store to show proper respect for the day, for the memory of the dead and the honor of the living.

Because of this, a current-day picture will now need to be taken, which you can see as today's "then and now" squint shot.