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Show ENCAMPMENT WAS A GRAND SUCCESS OLD SOLDIERS ENTHUSIASTIC IN PRAISE OF TREATMENT WHILE IN SALT LAKE CITY. Former Governor Van Sant of Minnesota Min-nesota Chosen Commander-in-Chief, a Resident of Utah Being Given Second Place Next Convention Con-vention at Atlantic City. Salt Lake City The Forty-third Annual Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic is now history, the closing exercises of a five-day session ses-sion being held on Friday, August 13. Tired but happy, and feeling in a most gracious mood toward the people peo-ple of the city in which they had J.-W. Bostaph, of Ogden, was chosen senior vice-commander. The other officers selected were: Junior vice-commander, Alfred B. Beers of Connecticut; surgeon general, gen-eral, Dr. W. H. Lemon of Kansas; for chaplain, Rev. Daniel Ryan of Indianapolis In-dianapolis was chosen. Resolutions were adopted by the Grand Army of the Republic and auxiliary aux-iliary branches, before adjournment of the convention, giving lavish praise to Utah and Salt Lake City for the manner in which the visitors had been entertained. For the staff officers and 1,000 friends in the G. A. R. Frank O. Cole, retiring adjutant general, at the closing clos-ing session, presented General Henry M. Nevius, the retiring commander-in-chief, a beautiful diamond studded G. A. R. badge. For the members of the G. A. R. Colonel Frank M. Sterrett, chairman of a committee appointed for that purpose pur-pose a year ago. presented Judge Charles G Burton of Nevada. Mo., whose term of office as commander-in-chief of the G. A. R. expired a year ago, with a beautiful chest of silver. While the veterans were holding women. One of the greatest undertakings under-takings of the W. R. C. is the reclaiming reclaim-ing of Andersonville prison and the making of this as a free gift to the-Union. the-Union. The Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic was organized in 18S, and numbers some 60,000 women, its work being along the same general line of that undertaken by the Wonv an's Relief Corps. President Taft ha lately been elected an honorary member mem-ber of this organization. The Daughters of Veterans is just what the name implies, daughters or granddaughters of the men who fought in the civil war. Mrs. Jennie I. Berry of Cedar Rapids, Rap-ids, Iowa, was chosen president of th National Woman's Relief Corps at Thursday's session. She was elected by an overwhelming majority. Mrs. Delia Rawlings Henry of Ivan-sas Ivan-sas City. Mo., was chosen president of the Ladies of the Grand Army ot the Republic at Friday's session. Mrs. Minnie T. Guiiland of Alliance, Al-liance, Ohio, was victorious in th race for president of the Daug! ter of Veterans. Commander-in-Chief Nevius. in his 1 . : 'V - v I, , - . - - 'H life s x SAMUEL R. VAN SANT, W. M. BOSTAPH, Commandep-ln-Chief Grand Ao'my of the Republic. Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief. their convention, the wives, sister;', and daughters of the Union soldiers ' FERDINAND SHAVERS, President Lincoln's First Bodyguard. gathered from every portion of the United States, the nation's defenders who had been permitted to again greet their former comrades in arms and attend to the necessary business of the organization which is the pride of every loyal American, joined in singing "God be With Us Till We Meet Again," and the convention, one of the most successful and enjoyable en-joyable in many ways ever held, came to a close. While for five days the veterans bad been granted the freedom of the city, and had been feted and enter-taind enter-taind in true western style during every moment that they were not engaged en-gaged in the conduct of tjae business of the organization, at the convention hall in the Tabernacle, a great number num-ber of the visitors were so well pleased with the reception given them by the people of Utah as a whole that they will remain in Utah several days, making side trips from Salt Lake City, and visiting points ot interest they were unable to see during dur-ing the time allotted for the business sessions. report, says: On December 31, 1907, the memebrs in good standing of the. Grand Army of the Republic numbered num-bered 225,157. The number remaining' on the suspended list at that date numbered 13,489. By the consolidated report of the adjutant general for this encampment, there were remaining in good standing on December 31, 1908, 220,C16. The number remaining suspended sus-pended on the same date was 8,539. The number of comrades reported as having died between December 31, 1907, and December 31, 190S, was 10-124. 10-124. Our gains during the year have been: By muster in, 7,434; by transfer, trans-fer, 2,984; by reinstatement, 7,146; by gain from delinquent reports, 3,020. Total gains. 21,154. Ferdinand Shavers, wrhite haired and Hearing 75 years old, was one of the celebrities of the G. A. R. encampment. encamp-ment. Shavers, who is a negro, was President Lincoln's first bodyguard after his election to the presidency and until after the breaking out of the war was with hian through the day and those hours of the night when Lincoln would permit of a guaixl of any sort being near him. For four years before Lincoln was made presi- were holding conventions of their organizations, or-ganizations, the Woman's Reliei dent the colored man was his family servant. After the election an even thousand of Lincoln's neighbor signed a petition asking that Shaver be appointed his bodyguard and Lincoln Lin-coln complied. When the war broke out Lincoln feared for the man' safety and would not permit him te continue as his guard. Shavers asked for an appointment to one of the colored col-ored regiments being formed for the. war and his appointment to the recruiting re-cruiting ollicership of the colored regiments regi-ments of Indiana resulted. Shaver now lives In Colorado, and for year has never missed an encampmenL Among the prominent persons With the department of the Potomac, at the G. A. R. encampment were Corporal Cor-poral James Tanner, past commander-in-chief of the G. A. R., and John Me. Btroy, past senior vice coniinander-in-chief. Corporal Tanner is known all over the United Stales through hi war record. He was only 17 when he entered the army and in the second battle of Bull Run both legs wer shot off. CORPORAL JAMES TANNER, Who Lost Both Legs at Bull Run. One of the most conspicuous figure among the delegates to the Grand Army encampment was John Fletcher Spence, A.M., L.L. D., of Knoxvllle. While he represented the entire south at the encampment, he also repi'esoju-ed repi'esoju-ed the whole G. A. R., in one genet, for he is the chaplain-in-chief of th G. A. R.. U. S. A. "A man may have the wealth of Rockefeller, the philanthropy of ( arnegie, the genius of an Edison, the oratory of a Bryan, and the meeknes of a Cardinal Gibbons, but he can't . wear one of these buttons," said one of the speakers at a campllre. There were many cases of old veterans vet-erans meoling comrades in Salt I-ak-City that they had not met before r. thirty years. Some had drifted away from home at the close of the war. ad settled In the west, and had never heard from their former comrades until un-til they met In (he western convention city. . Jk ) There was a warm fight between St. Louis and Atlantic City. N. J., for tie privilege of entertaining the veterans at the next annual convention, At- : lantic City finally winning the coveted : honor. For commander-in-chief, Samuel R Van Sant, of Minneapolis, was chosen, and will direct the affairs of the Grand Army of the Republic for th next twelve months. The new com mander-in-chief was formerly governor nf the state of Minnesota. Corps, the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Daughters ol veterans. Tnese three organization:-; held their conventions on Thursday and Friday, the sessions being held in the First Presbyterian church, the -hist Congregational church, and the Eagle's hall. The largest organization Is the Woman's Relief Corps, formed short ly after the close of the war as an outcome of the Christian Corps or war times. The body numbers 1C3.0)' |