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Honoring the origins of Veterans Day and the legacy of local heroes who shaped Seattle's history.
Today’s Veterans Day had its beginnings in the United States when in November of 1919, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation to honor the end of World War I. It stated, in part, “… the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory….” It had been one year since hostilities had ceased and an armistice had been called to end The Great War.
In earlier times, local war veterans were honored with a Memorial Day parade in downtown Seattle. Parade grand marshal Colonel Charles Lawton Thompson, pictured above in white rider’s gloves, escorted Colonel William Frederick aka “Buffalo Bill” Cody, a veteran of the Union Army Cavalry and the Indian Wars. Riding to the left is David Clinton, “D.C.”, Brown, of Columbia City (previously councilman, town marshal, and acting mayor). The Seattle Star reported, “Flowers were showered on the heroes of the civil war who marched to the strains of their old battle hymns….” (6/1/1914) The dignitaries also attended services held later that afternoon at the Grand Army of the Republic cemetery in Capitol Hill, established in 1895 for American Civil War soldiers; i.e., the Union Army, Union Navy, and the Marines. The GAR was a national fraternal membership based organization.
Both Colonel Thompson and Private Brown would later be buried at the GAR cemetery. D.C. Brown was commander of the John F. Miller Post, No. 31, of the GAR in 1907 and in 1914 was on the committee in charge of the parade program. His wife Arlettie volunteered with the Miller Post Women’s Relief Corps and her simple gravestone lies next to her husband’s in the cemetery. D.C. Brown had served three years in the Civil War and was wounded in 1864 per his obituary.
As an aside, American activist “Mother Jones” attended the labor parade held that afternoon in May as well. Not known for fancy hats herself, in her address to the crowd she proclaimed, “If women would decorate the outside of their skulls less and put something inside, there would be no militia.” (The Seattle Star, 6/1/1914) Three years later, on April 6, 1917, the United States officially entered World War I against Germany. Eighteen-year-old Enumclaw native Roy Keeley enlisted on April 20, and was headed for the western shores of France aboard the transport ship President Lincoln in December of that year.
In June of 1919, The Seattle PostIntelligencer published an American Roll of Honor reporting for Northwest soldiers, and Roy Keeley’s name appears in the Slightly Wounded category. Military records indicate Private Keeley had been at U.S. Army Base Hospital 64, in France, prior to his transport home in June 1919. This hospital was designated for gas and infected surgical cases. He then spent time at Fort Bayard Hospital, in New Mexico, according to the U.S. Census until his discharge in February 1920. This hospital is known for its treatment of soldiers with tuberculosis.
In June of that year, Roy and Mary were wed at Mary’s childhood home on Ferdinand Street in Columbia City. The ceremony was officiated by Reverend Raymond Espy, founder of Findlay Street Christian Church in Hillman City. Mary’s Womach grandparents had brought the family to Southeast Seattle in about 1890 and her parents built their family home where Columbia School now sits, in about 1901. Roy had been raised in a farming community and returned to Enumclaw with his new wife to farm and raise their family, though Mary returned to her parents’ home for the birth of their first child, Dorothy.
In June 1954, the United States Congress, with the support of President Dwight Eisenhower, changed the name of Armistice Day to Veterans Day and November 11th became the federal holiday to honor all servicemen and women of American wars. While Washelli Cemetery in north Seattle extended an invitation to their Veterans Day program “May Peace come to all” that year, a Rainier Valley newspaper ran the headline, “Local Men Off to Korea” as the Cold War had taken hold.
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