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M i l itary Order, Loyal Leg ion, United States.
COMMANDERY O F THE S TATE O F PENN S Y L VANIA ,
( Const i tu t i on
ARTIC L E V .
M EMBERS .— The M embers, or Companions, of th is Order shal l be‘
of three ( 3 ) C lasses
I st . “ Commissioned Officers of the U n i t e d S ta tes Army,Navy and
M ari ne Corps— Regu lar and Volunteer, -who have been ac tua l l y eng ag e d
i n the suppression of the Rebe l l ion , —whether as a Commissioned O fficer, _
Non - Commissioned O fficer,Warran t Officer, or En l isted man . The e ldes t
male l i neal descendants of deceased Companions of the F irst ( I st ) C lass &and
,i n defau l t of such i ssue , th en of the ir co l lateral branches i n the order
of genealogical succession .
2d .
“ The e ldest sons of l i v ing Companions of the F irst ( I st ) C l ass,provided they be twenty- one ( 2 1 ) years of age . Upon the death -
of theCompanion of the F irs t ( I st ) C lass, through whom el ig ibi li ty of membership i s derived
,a Companion of the Second ( 2 d ) C lass shal l become a
Companio n of the F irst ( I st ) C lass .
3d .
“ Gent lemen in c iv i l l i fe, who, during the Rebe l lion , have beenspec i al ly di st ingui shed for conspic uous and consis tent loyal ty to the
Nat ional Government,and who have been ac t i ve and emi nen t i n main
t ain ing the supremacy of the same . &
S AM U EL BRADFO RD FA L ES i s the son of Samue l Fales , of Boston ,Massachuse t ts ( deceased) , who was a ve ry h igh l y respected and
successfu l merchan t . On h is father ’ s s ide , he i s descended from
Nathan ie l Fales , who emigra ted from Wales to Bos to n i n 1 636 5 he
i s al so a l i neal descendan t ( the 7 th) from Wil l iam Bradford , one ofthe “ P i l gr im Fa the rs
,
& who crossed the A t lan t ic i n the & May
&owe r ,&i n 1 6 20
,and became G overn or of P l ymou th Colon y i n
1 6 2 1, re tai n i ng that office for a pe r iod o f abou t th i r ty years . On
h is mothe r ’ s s ide,he t races h i s descen t from Doc to r O t is , of Sci tuate ,
Mass , a cous i n of J ames O t is of Revolu t ionary fame & and also
i s descended from t he Ha l y burt ons, o f Sco t land , and claims an
u nbroke n l i ne from Si r Wal te r Hal y burt on ,the son o f David ,
the son of Truc te. Dav id confi rmed h is father ’s donat ion of a
chu rch o r chape l i n 1 20 7 (wi d e Char te r of & e lso , 239 , 1 83 , D . A
private work by S i r Wal te r Scot t,a desce ndan t o f the Hal ybu rtons,
cal led “ The Memorials of t he The Ha l y bu rtons
were a very ancien t and powe rfu l fam i l y— great fr ie nds of the Black
Douglass , o f Sco t land .
RECORD .
Samuel Bradfo rd Fales,merchan t
,was born i n Bos ton ( i n Tre
mon t S t . , oppos i te the Bos to n Common ) . He was educated at the
Bos ton L a t i n School & subsequen t l y he en te red H arvard Col lege , i n
1 8 2 1 , and graduated i n 1 8 2 5 , afte rwards stud ied med ici ne wi th Doc
tor G orham , of Bos ton , d iscont i nued h is read i ngs , and i n 1 83 2 wen t
t o Ph i ladelph ia , where he en te red i n to the impor t ing and commiss ion
busi ness wi th E l i phale t Wi l l iams,under the firm name of Fales
Wi l l i ams , at No. 1 0 2 Ches tnut S t reet & the part ne rsh i p expi red i n
1 83 5 , when he re t i red from mercan t i le pu rsu i ts .
H e next tu rned h is at ten t i on to the fine ar ts and stud ied fo r a
number o f years,and commenced mak i ng a col lec t i o n o f cho ice
eng rav i ngs,pain t ings
, &c . In 1 8 5 7 he was e lected a D i re c to r of
the Pe n nsylvan ia Academy of F i ne A r ts,
& and res igned t ha t pos i
t ion i n 1 860 .
On the break i ng ou t o f the Rebel l io n,he arraved h imsel f on the
6
side of the gove rnmen t,and w as one of the ve ry firs t t o look afte r
the comfor t and refreshmen t of our b rave so ld ie rs i n the i r passage
t h rough the c i t y of Ph i lade lph ia . On May 2 7 th ,1 86 1
,he became a
membe r of t he Vo lun tee r Refreshment Saloon ( foot of Wash ingto nand Sw anson S t ree ts ) , afte rw ards cal led the
“ U n i on'
V o l'
u ntee r
Refreshmen t Sal oon .
&Fo r ove r five years h is en t i re t ime was
d evoted to the wel fare and su ccess of t hat i ns t i tut i on . He
was from the fi rs t e lec ted and served as chai rman,al l th rough the
war,of the fo l lowing comm i t tees
,v i z . ,
of the H osp i tals , M i l i tary
Recep t i on , Civic Recep t i on , on the Bu i ld ing Commi t tee , and on
Records and Pr i n t i ng a lso,Correspond ing Secre tary and t he G ene ra l
F i nan c ia l Agen t . In December,1 86 5 , the sa loon bu i ld ings we re
to r n down and the commi t tees ’ labors ceased . On Octobe r 2 5 th ,1 86 5 , h is assoc iates of t he U n io n Volun teer Refreshmen t Sal oo n
passed a se r ies of reso lu t i ons,cer t i fy i ng to the prominen t par t he
took i n the grea t work .
The commi t tee i n the i r engrossed reso lu t i ons,and also the
sold ie rs , gave h im the n‘ame of the “ Sold ie rs ’
Fr ie nd .
&
A fter t h i s he re turned t o.pri vat e l i fe a nd devoted h is t ime i n
add ing t o h is gal le ry of art . Duri ng this t ime he was agai n sum
moned t o feed and care fo r t he sold ie rs . On Sep tember 2 9 t h ,1 868 ,
he cal led t he commi t tee toge the r fo r t he l as t t ime t o feed t he Boys i n
Blue,who vis i ted Ph i ladelph ia a t the t ime of t he nomi na t i on of Gen
eral U . S . G ran t , and at the Nat i onal Hal l , Marke t S t ree t , the com
m i t tee fu rn ished to them meals i n forty - e igh t . hours , from
Oc tobe r I s t to the mo rn ing of the 3 d ,1 868 .
On A ugus t 2 9 t h , 1 86 7 , he was e lec ted a Compan ion of the M i l i ta ry
O rder of the L oya l L egion of the U n i ted S ta tes , and i n 1 868 t o
the Counci l of the Commandery of the S tate of Pen nsy lvan ia .
He was re - e lec ted Oc tobe r 8 th , 1 8 7 7 , a D i rec to r of t he Pennsy l va
n ia Academy of F i ne A r ts,bu t dec l i ned to serve .
In Octobe r , 1 8 7 9 , was unan imously e lec ted a Trus tee of the
Pennsylvan ia Museum and School of Indus tria l A rt , , by the Se lec t
C ounc i l of Ph i ladelph ia & he sen t i n h i s decl i nat i on J anuary 1 3 th ,
1 880 .
D O CU M ENTS
APPENDED TO
RECO RD .
A
[From“G od ey
’
s L ad y’
s Book, Ph i l ad e lph i a , Ap r i l ,
A F IN ISHED P ICTU RE O F PH ILADELPH IA WOM EN.
I n our Table of last month we gave a photograph pic ture of the “CO O per
Shop chari t ie s during the late war. The noble deeds of the l adies , whoth ere min istered to the so ld iers
,were on ly half to ld . I t i s nece ssary to
see the counterpart , and have i t de l i neated more minute ly i n order toshow , adequate ly , the wonderfu l resources of our c i ty, and the perfec t io n( i f our vol untary benevolent system which
,i n th is instance
,for four long
years, worked on , day and night ( i n Washington Avenue, wh ich shou ldbe famous as the place of th ese chari t ie s ) , withou t pause , never lack ingmateria l means nor mora l energ ies . The two I nst i tu t ions, twin s isters ingood deeds, we may we l l c al l them , wi l l mark a memorable epoch in theh istory of thi s c i ty of Brotherly L ove .
&
U N ION V OLU NTEER REFRESHM ENT SALOON .
I t may be that Phi l ade lphians wi l l g lance almost w i th surpr ise at theheading o f thi s art ic le . Any further not i ce of thi s wonderfu l work , thi smammoth labor of love
,which must ever remain fresh i n the ir memories
,
seems to be so l i t t le needed . And yet , whi lst i t c an never be unwe lcometo hear the pra ise s sounded of an enterpri se of which Hon . Edward Evere t t wel l said : I t has g iven your c i t y a new and most commanding t i t let o her beaut ifu l name
,to those at a distance some fact s c onnected with i t
may be new .
On the arr ival of the first regiment going to Washington,in Apri l ,
1 86 1,the c i t i zens i n the neighborhood contribu ted coffee and sandw iches ,
wh ich were distributed to the so ldiers from smal l table s hast i ly erected onthe pavement
,corner of Washington and Swanson S treets . This cont i nued
for a short t ime,bu t the necessi ty for concerted act ion was soon apparent ,
and the Union Volunteer Refreshment C ommit tee was according ly i nst i tut ed on the 2 7 th of M ay, 1 86 1 , and obtained a smal l bui lding , origi na l lya boat shop and rigger’ s loft, on the same corner where the tab les hadbeen placed .
The saloon O pened under the name of The Volunteer Refreshmen tSaloon , and i s so menti oned i n the newspapers of the day , v i z . , T/ze
Press, Tne Inqu i rer , l Vor f/z Amer i can , E v en i ng Bu l l et in and Ha rper'
s
0
weekly . The present t i t le was ad 0pte :l in 1 862 . I t went i nto operat ionM ay 27 th , 1 86 1 , was final ly c losed D ecember i st , 1 86 5 , and torn down
J anuary 2d , 1 866, not even a mark left in any way to des ignate the spot .D uring thi s period
,the rece ipts were estimated at abou t i n
a l l, count i ng c ash ,san i tary store s
,donat ions in provi sions , etc .
From th is fund,more than a m i l l ion of meals were provided, not only
for the soldiers,e i ther in servi ce or di scharged, but for sai lors, refugees ,
freedmen and sou th ern pri soners or deserters & no one who c laimed theirhospi tal i ty ever being t urned away . Al l thi s was done by the volun taryoffer ings of the people
,day by day
,week by week , month by month, and
year by year & the committee rece iv ing no aid whatever from C i ty , State,or General Government
,but on the contrary , even dec l ining an appropr ia
t ion from our C i ty C ounc i l s,on the ground that the generou s hearts, which
had so long sustained thi s noble work,desired to do so unt i l the end .
No cold , co lossal contribut ion hereRears the tal l shaft to stamp some brazen name,
The nameless mi l l ion pi le their gifts sincere ,Nor ask nor wish to cal l the ac t ion fame. &
The accommodat ions very soon prov ing insuffic ient,several addi t ion s
t o the bui ld ing were made,unti l i t covered a lot of ground 1 50 fee t square,
w i th a c apaci ty t o feed from ten to twelve hundred soldiers at one t ime ,whi l st the amplest fac i l i t ie s for washing
,bathi ng
,and
‘
wri t i ng le t ters werefurn i shed & the lat t er, a pri v i l ege eagerly welcomed and constant ly used .
The saloon was div ided in to dining- room,store- room
,l arge apartmen t
for cookery , and one or two smal ler rooms. The wal ls of the din ing- roomwere hung with very pre tty paint ing s and engrav ings, i n addi t ion to whichwere su spended cards neat ly pri nted with inscri pt ions
,
“Welcome to thebrave volunteers,
& The c i ty of Phi lade lphia i nv i tes you to her. hospi t al i ty,
&
etc etc . , e tc . Tru ly i t was a sight which no one who once looked upon i tc an ever forget & to see hundreds of worn and weary men we lcomed ,cheered , comforted , and tended by those earnest , brave- hearted men andwomen , who, ut terly forgetfu l of self, responded ever to the signal gunwhich cal led them to the ir post at any hour . Night or d ay ,
storm or sunshine , i t mattered not , there they were , fai thfu l to the cal l of sel f- imposedduty . Woman ’ s true i n&uence was never more beau ti fu l ly shown than i nth is place an d i n th is work . Here did she find a fi t t i ng exerci se for he ronly proper Rights,
& and nobly did she use them in the most femin ine
I I
and womanly way . Here d id she prove the comforter,consoler, and
friend , offering not on ly material bu t moral aid . Count less desponden theart s, sad and su ffering , have confessed that the extended hand, the k indWord , the loving smi le d id fu l ly as m uch, even more for them,
than thephysi ca l re freshment so bount i fu l ly bestowed .
The test imony of an officer i n one of the Eastern regiments, on th i spo int , is worthy of not ic e. He te l l s u s that hi s regiment
,pr incipal ly com
posed of farmers’ sons and unused to the temptat ions of a c i ty l i fe,had
become much demoral i zed by be ing compe l led to remain for some t im ei n camp in New Y ork ,
‘on the ou tskirt s of the c i t y . The camp was surrounded by low taverns & the rat ion s were poor and i nsuffici ent , and a l l
the assoc iat ions ev i l . The men became di spiri ted, su l len, and ready fo rdeserti on . Orders came to go to Phi lade lphia . They reached i t , werem arched direc t to the “ Un ion Vo lunteer Refreshment Saloon
,
& andrece i ved a warm welcome . The officer cont inues : This
,with th e
hearty shake of the hand , and the ample and de l ic ious fare served up tou s, put a new sp irit in my men . Over and over again during our passagefrom Ph i lade lph ia
,I heard remarks l ike th i s from one and another
,
‘Wel l,
they showed there they did care for u s, after a l l i Weren ’ t those n ice,
handsome ladies that he lped u s, there e tc . , e tc . H e also adds that thei n&uence of that n ight ’ s su pper in prevent ing demoral i zat ion, and rousingthe ambit i on and se lf- respec t of the men, was wonderfu l .
I t wou ld be an inv id ious as we l l as a most d ifficu l t t ask to se lec t anyo ne now l iv ing for words of prai se from that nob le l i t t le band
,but we
sure ly have a r ight to speak of the dead—~of her who gave her l i fe astru ly for her count ry as the bravest general whose memory i s wreathedw i th the laure l s of hi s country ’ s love .
We al l ude to M rs . E l i za G . Plummer, whose untiring exert ions andse lf- sacrificing devotion re su l ted i n the i l lness which caused her death .
At the beg inning of the war, before hospi t al arrangements had beenmade
,severa l so ldiers were taken so i l l i n pass ing through thi s c i ty
,as to
be unable to proceed,and i n the despatch requ ired to reach the seat o f
war,they were necessari ly left unprovided for. M rs . Plummer withou t
hesi tat ion came forward and rece i ved seven of them , i nto her own house ,who were then i l l wi th mal ignant typhoid fever, and nursed them back t oheal th with the tenderest and most unremi t t i ng care . Such cases were toon umerous to ment ion. Ex u no d isce omnes. Four years and a half o fsuch fai thfu l
,persi ste nt
,unfal tering l abor, seek ing no praise, c laimi ng no
1 2
reward,but go ing on qu ie t ly
,u nobtru s ive ly and unosten tatiously . Where ,
in the annal s of the world , can thi s be paral le led &
We must be perm i t ted a word as to the cooking department , which ,though not under the charge of Professor B lot , m ight we l l have aston ishedhim by i t s magn i tude . The kitch en contained enormous boi lers
,fo r
cooking meat and making coffee and tea suffic ien t for men perday . Two barre ls of l iqu id coffee ( 1 20 gal lons ) cou ld be made at once ,and five days' meat rat ions have been cooked i n two hours for a thousandsoldiers . Each reg iment
,upon an average
,u sed seven barre l s of l iqu id
coffee , besides many gal lons of tea. The bi l l of fare i nc luded beef, ham ,
vege tables, pick les, whi te bread , coffee , te a , cakes, and p ies . On oneoccasion men were furn ished wi th food i n twenty- eight hours .
Two large hospi tal s were erec ted i n addit ion to the orig inal bui ldings,
capab le of accommodat in g abou t one hundred beds, with a commod iou sbath- house at tached . si ck and wounded have been rece ived andm edical ly treated here , and have had their wounds dressed, i nt ransi t n whi l st over t1 00ps have rece ived temporary quarterse i ther at the saloon
,or at p lac es procured for them by the Commit t ee .
We have said that the final c l osi ng of the Refreshment Saloon tookp lace D ecember I st, 1 86 5 . The two separate saloons , vi z . : The Un ionand Cooper Shop ,
& were publ ic ly c losed August 28 th ,1 86 5 , with appro
pri a te ceremonies at the Academy of M us ic . Whi lst these very ceremo
n ies were going on at one end of the ci ty,
so ldiers were knockingfor admi ttance at the we l l - known quarters at the other end . The ladie sconnec ted wi th the saloon , who l ived i n the neighborhood, at once brokeo pen the doors, resumed their old duti es , and furni shed them with th eneeded refreshment .
The act ion of c losing had been premature, owi ng to misinformat ionfrom some part ies i n au thori ty
,as to the number of return ing tr00ps .
The Commit tee immediate ly met , reso lved to re- open , passed resol ut io nsto that e ffect, and not ified the officers of the “ Cooper Sh0p , request ingthem to re turn to the i r work and co- operate as u sual . This be ingdec l ined , the Union Refreshment Saloon rece ived, provided for, andentertai ned al l the returning troops from August 28 th , 1 86 5 , to Decemberl st , 1 86 5 , fu l l men .
This inst i t u t ion was the first that sent sani t ary stores to M i ssouri,afte r
the death of General L yon . Genera l C rossman ( then Colone l ) wroteto the Union Vol unte er Refreshment Saloon to procure suppl ies fo r
I3
the suffering so ld iers . Two car loads, worth abou t were i n st ant lydespatched , and th is, in addi t ion to the work going on at home . Thi swas, of course , before the estab l ishment of the Sani t ary Commission .
We sincere ly regret that our very l imi ted space prevent s our doing
&usti ce to thi s sub&ec t . We are on ly able at presen t t o give thi s l i t t l esketch, i n the fu l l confidence , however, that the t ime i s not far di stant ,when we shal l have a fu l l and complete hi story of the whole work . Ourci ty owes i t to herse l f to demand such a record
,and i t shou ld be done ,
whi l st those most prominent in the work are st i l l wi th u s,and can bear
the ir te st imony to the fac t s .
We have already lost one of the warmest,truest friends of the work ,
Rev . D r . Brainerd , who , we are very sure , wou ld have indorsed ev erv
word of prai se which we have u ttered,and borne wi l l ing wi tness to i t s
t ru th , bu t h is'
l oss on ly proves that there shou ld be no further de lay .
Such a hi story cou ld be on ly complete ly and correc t ly writ ten,by
one— cou ld he be persuaded to u ndertake the task— thorough ly cogni zan tof every fact from the i ncept i on of the work to i t s comple ti on & one ,eminent ly fit ted for the duty
,as we l l by schol arly at tai nment , as by hi s
noble , unceasing , unt iri ng efforts for the cause , resign i ng ease , comfort s,and the i ndu lgence of a refined and cu lt i vated t aste , for the sake of thesick and suffering , or those who in any way needed aid or assi stance .
We need scarcely say,that we al l ude to Samue l B . Fales , Esq
whose name must ever be l inked with that of the Union Vo lu nteerRefreshment Saloon .
From t h e Ev e n i ng Bu l l e t i n , Ph i l ad e l ph i a , J a nu ary z g t h ,1 866 .
WELL- DESERV ED TES TIM O NIAL .
There i s now to be seen at Earle ’ s a beau t i fu l ly execu ted piece of
penmanship , forming a test imonia l presented to our townsman , Samue l B .
Fales,Esq . ,
by the Union Refreshment Commit tee , at the conc lu sion oftheir labors . I t i s a beau t i fu l ly designed affair . compri sing a v iew of the
4
Saloon and H ospi tal,an adm irable medal l ion l ikeness of M r. Fales, and
several emblemat ic figures i l l u strat i ng the work i n which these patr io t i cc i t i zens have so long been engaged . As a specimen of art ist i c penmanship i t i s qu i te
'
w orth a v i si t to Earle ’ s gal lery . The fo l lowing i s the te xt o ft h i s t aste fu l affair
IV /zereas,The four and a hal f years of c i v i l war i n our land hav ing
been brought to an end & the t ime wi l l soon arri ve when our serv i ces asM embers of the C ommittee wi l l be no longer required . We deem i t ourdu ty to place on record some test imonia l to our fe l low- assoc iate , Samue lB . Fales, as the most prominent of the many gent lemen aiding usi n furn i shing Refreshments to the passing troops
,and taking care of the sick
and wounded sold iers . There fore be i t
Resol v ed, That the cord ial thanks of the Union Volunteer Refre sh
ment Commit tee be tendered to Samue l B . F ales , for hi s di si ntereste dsupport from our first organi zat ion
,M ay 2 7 th ,
1 86 1,to the prese nt t ime &
for his sterl i ng i ntegri ty and unt i ri ng energy i n the performance of hi sdu ty as General F i nanci al Agent
,and for the good &udgment exerc ised
a nd digni ty mai nt ained i n the performance of his duty as Corre spondingS ecretary from the t ime he became a member of our organi zat ion to thisdate .
Resol v ed , That we have always found M r . Fales ready and prompti n the performance of every and al l du t ie s assigned him . That he hasalways had the interest of our saloon at heart . That he has been aconstant friend to the so ld ier
,whether sick
,wounded or i n heal th & a true
patrio t and a steadfast supporter of hi s cou ntry in the darkest hour of hertroubles . H i s v al uable serv ice s not on ly ent i t le him to the warmest cons iderat ion of thi s Committee
,but a lso to the thanks of thi s community and
nafion .
Resol v ed, That an engro ssed copy of these reso lut ions be prepared
and presented to Samue l B . Fales, as a token of o ur regard and apprec i at ion of his worth .
[S i g ned J— Arad Barrows, Chairman .
[Signed] —J oseph B . Wade , Secretary .
[S igned]— J ohn B . Smith, W . S . M ason , C urt i s M yers, Committee onT est imonial s .
PH ILADELPH I A , O c t . 2 5 th ,1 86 5 .
IS
[From th e Ev e n i ng Bu l l e t i n , Ph i l a d e lph i a , Sep tembe r 1 8 th,1 868
FRAGMENT OF WAR H I STORY “
.
The fo l lowing correspondence exp lains i t se lf. The Union Vo lunteerRefreshment Saloon of Phi l ade lphia i s a hi storic al i nst i t u t ion . M ore thana mi l l ion meals were there furn i shed gratu i tously to the brave defe ndersof the Union , and i ts noble band of fai thfu l men and women is he ld i ngratefu l remembrance i n every corner of the country whither a loya lsol di e r returned from the war .
The signal gun of the Refreshment Saloon,which for four years
summoned the corps of wi l l i ng at tendants a t . a l l hours of the day andn ight to the gratefu l du ty of min i stering to the weary
,hungry
,and some
t imes sick and dying so ldier,now occupie s an honorable pl ace i n the
Trophy Room of the Phi l ade lphi a Navy Y ard . And the co lumn whichhas &u st been presented by the Government wi l l st and as a last ing monument , marking at once the patrio t i sm of the brave men who sleep i n thec emetery lot o f the Refre shment Saloon
,and the lov ing devot ion of the
t rue - hearted men and women who paid the l ast sad offices of k indnessto them .
The communi ty i s i ndebted to S amuel B . Fale s, Esq . ,for h i s unt iri ng
e xert ions i n every department of the operat ion s of the Union Vo lunteerRefreshment Saloon , from the beginning of i t s c areer down to the proc uring of thi s monumenta l marble to mark i t s c lose . Senator C atte l land Representat i ve O '
Ne i l l have also gi ven their cordial aid i n promot ionof the patrio t i c design of the officers of the i nst i t u t ion .
PH I LADELPH I A , Oc tober 1 7 th , 1 867 .— H on . H ug l i M c el l oc/z,
S ecret a ry of i l ze Treasu ry ,Hh s/z i ng l om
— D EAR S IR — Upon the finalc losi ng of the Union Vo l unteer Refre shmen t Saloon , foot of Washingtonand Swanson stree ts —December I st , 1 86 5 — 1 was e lected chairman of ac ommi t tee for erec t i ng a monument to the brave sold iers who d ied i n ourhospi tal s
,and whose remai ns have been i nterred i n our cemetery lot .
Every do l l ar,and al l sani tary stores, prov isi ons , &c col lected by Contri
bu t ions'
for the so ldiers were expended on them ei ther i n the form of
1 6
refre shments or i n our hospi t a l s,and our present l imited amount of c ash
for the monument to be erec ted,was real i zed from the sale of the bu i lding
materi a ls of& the Saloon,and i s no t suffié ien t for the purpose . Having
heard that the Uni ted States Government i ntended to pre sent to some ofthe State s the marble co lumns which formerly decorated the porch of thePennsy l vania Bank ( i n Second , near Dock street ) , I have been requestedby the Commit tee of the Union Vol un teer Refreshment Saloon to ask ( i ncase they are gi ve n away ) that one of them may be presen ted to the iri nst i tu t ion, to serve as a monument to the brave so ldiers who have diedi n the ir hospi tal s
,and who have laid down their l i ves that thei r cou ntry
might l i ve the greate st and bravest general who lost hi s l ife on thebat t le - fie l d did no more . O ur Committee deem i t the ir duty to preservethe name and memory of these loyal men in the form of a monument , i fpossible
,and t he gi ft of one of these co lumns for thi s purpose wi l l mate
ria l l y assist u s, and at the same time be gratefu l ly acknowledged .
I remain very respec tfu l ly yours,
SAM U EL B . FAL Es,
Chairman of the M onument Commit tee,and Corresponding Secretary
of the Union Volu nteer Refreshment Saloon .
[ From t h e Ev e n i n g Transc r i p t , Bost o n,Sep tember 24 t h ,
1 868 ]
ONE OF THE N O BLEST I N ST ITU TION S OF THE WAR
was the Union Vol unteer Refreshment Room of Phi lade lphi a . I t s C orre sponding Secre tary i s— for the organi zation has not been dissolvedSamue l B . Fales , a nat ive of Boston , and a graduate of Harvard i n thec l ass of 1 82 5 . To him ,
the Phi l ade lphia Bu l let i n says ,
I 7
The communi ty is i ndebted for hi s u nt iring exert ions i n e verydepartment of the O perat ions of the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon
,
from the beginning of i t s career down to the proc uring of thi s monument a l marble to mark i ts c lose .
That &ournal a lso states that“ The signal gun of the Refreshment Saloon
,which for four years
summoned the corps of wi l l i ng at tendants, at al l hours of the day andnight
,to the gratefu l duty of min istering to the weary , hungry and some
t imes sick and dying so ldier, now occupies an honorable place i n theTrophy Room of the Phi lade lphi a Navy Y ard . And the co lumn whichhas&ust been presented to the Governmen t wi l l s tand as a last i ng monument
,marking at once the patriot i sm of the brave men who s leep in the
cemetery lot o f the Refreshment Saloon , and the lov ing devot io n of thetrue - hearted m en and women who paid the last sad offices of kindnessto them .
The reference to the monument i s explai ned by the fol low ing le t ter,
which we copy entire,because i t te l l s i n brie f the story of the benevo lent ,
devoted patriot i sm to whose efficient succor and kindness thousands ofour veterans and other loyal so ld iers c an gratefu l ly bear wi tness — a
s t ory that shou ld be wri t te n i n go lden le t ters , and never al lowed to fadefrom the memory of those who honor the heroes who fought for thenation ’ s l i fe , and those w h o were ready to strengthen them for the con test ,ministering to the ir comfort , le ssening their hardships, and cari ng for themwhen sick or wounded, with a home- l ike so l ic i t ude and tenderness .
PH ILADELPH IA , Oc tober 1 7 th , 1 867 .
A . B . M u l l et t , Esq. , S uperv isi ng A re/t i l ed ,Treasu ry D ep a r tmen t
S IR — Ihave made appl ic at i o n to the Hon . H ugh B . M cCu l l och , Sec
re tary of the Treasury , as chairman of the M onument Commi t tee, andCorresponding Secre tary of the Union Vol un teer Refre shment Saloon , forthe donat ion of one of the marble co l umns of the Pennsy lvani a Bank ( i nSecond stree t
,Phi ladelphia ) , to be used as a monument for the
‘
brav e so ldiers who have been i nterred in our ceme tery lot & Th is appl ic ation i smade by me in my offic i al capaci ty, and fu l ly approved and indorsed bythe committee
,who thi nk that they can make thi s request wi th great pro
prie t y ,from the fac t that from the first c a l l for tr00ps at the commence
ment of the c ivi l war unt i l the last so ld ier had re t urned , our i nst i tu t ion
1 8
was a free hote l for al l so ldiers,whether sick
,wounded
,hungry
,on the i r
march, discharged or i n our hospi t al s & the commi ttee have alwaysrecei ved , refreshed and provided for the United States sai lors , freedmen,refugees, contrabands and rebe l deserters, and have endeavored to co- op
era te with and assi st the Uni ted States Government from the first & andal though they rece ived no compensat io n for the ir servi ces
,have always
cheerfu l ly met and responded to every requirement and al l demands ontheir t i me and means .
At the commencemen t of this rebe l l ion , and before the Uni ted S t ate sGovernment cou ld make the n ecessary and much needed prov i sion forthe c are and refreshment of our brave defenders
,as far back as M ay 2 7 th ,
1 86 1 , the Union Vo lun teer Refreshment Saloon sprang in to e xi stence . It
was the first organi zat ion i n the fie ld i n Phi lade lphi a i n the cause of patrio t i sm and Chri s tian phi l anthropy
,and was got up expressl y to assi s t
the Government , and to prov ide ( as far as i n the ir power ) for the recept ion , entertai nment and comfort of the sold iers . At that time every thingwas new and crude to the genera l i ty of the officers and so ldiers
,thei r
rat ions were imperfec t ly and improperly cooked,and there were no regu
l ar mi l i t ary hospi t als . We gave them g ood and nouri shing food , andtried to al lev iate thei r hardships and discomfort s &and our l adies rece ivedand nursed at the ir own houses over seventy sick soldiers . We claim tohave created the firs t mi li tary hospi tal i n Phi l ade lphia , at the foot ofWashington and S wanson street s, at the very commencement of ournati ona l troubl e s, for the reception of the sick
.
and sufferi ng men . OurCommit tee for over four and a half cont inued years have fai thfu l ly devoted themse lves to their assumed work , and our L adies
' Commi ttee , as thel ate Rev . D r . Thomas Brainerd tru ly and &ust ly said ,
“ l i teral ly duringthat t ime slept at the tap of the drum . We can further state
,and i t has
been admit ted by officers in the United S tates serv ice , that we have ofte nsaved the troops from demoral i zat ion that the pleasant smi le of we lcome ,the hearty grasp of the hand
,and the fu l l apprec iat ion of the ir serv ice s
and sacrifices (which money cou ld not purchase ) , have proved to themthat they were “ cared for, and has cheered them on i n the ir ruggedpathway of duty .
I n conc lu sion,we can say that the Union Vol unt eer Refreshment
S aloon was ent ire ly sustained by the vol untary contribu t io ns of the c i t izens of Phi lade lphi a and vic in i ty
,and received no aid or assi st ance from
the C ity or State au thori t i e s, or from the Uni ted S tate s G overnment & and ,
