Six state governors acted as pallbearers. An estimated 75,000 people attended this final salute to President Davis. The ceremony concluded with a 21-gun salute and "Taps."
June 3rd was the 208th birthday of Jefferson Davis who served in the United States House and Senate, 23rd United States Secretary of War and President of the Confederate States of America.
If you listened closely, and the wind was blowing in the right direction, you may have heard a train whistle in the distance. As a youngster near Atlanta, this and the sound of "taps" from nearby Fort McPherson were special sounds. Today, air conditioners and closed windows segregate the sounds of trains, owls and all the wonderful sounds of the symphony of the night. We do not hear our community's soul; we hear only its machines.
On Sunday, May 28, 1893, a few days before "Memorial Day", in New Orleans, a story began that overshadowed all other events.