Bringing John Home
The excitement is mounting as the plans are taking shape
for the homecoming of Corporal John Peyton Byrne.
The vigil and wake will begin at noon on Friday May
27, 2005 when Payne Funeral Chapel opens it’s doors for the 24 hour visitation.
Civil War dressed soldiers will be doing guard duty at the chapel and will
change guards every half hour. Daughters of Union Veterans will serve
as hostesses to greet visitors and hand out commemorative memorial ribbons
and death notice cards. Period guest books will be present for visitors
to sign. 85 red roses will be available for purchase by ladies in
mourning attire. Each rose will be designated as to a specific year
that has passed since John’s death. They will be allowed to save
one petal to press in their Bible and lay the rose in baskets next to the
coffin. These roses will be used by the lads and lassies who will
strew the petals in his path at the cemetery just as in the second verse
of the song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again".
Entertainment at the East steps of the Scotland County
Court House with welcomes by dignitaries will begin at 1:00 p.m. Friday.
Musical and educational programs will continue and culminate with John’s
eulogy being given by his niece, Margaret Gordon at around 8:00 p.m.
During the afternoon and evening, wagons with teams
pulling them will shuttle people from their parked vehicles or to and from
the encampment at Johnson city park. The public is most welcome to
visit the camps and talk to the reenactors.
The Lincoln’s theater performance for 7:00 p.m. has
been sold out of tickets. However, due to this overwhelming response,
the Lincolns have agreed to a repeat performance at 9:00 p.m. This
set of tickets have been printed and are again on sale at Dr. Harlo Donelson’s
office or by calling or emailing Brenda DeMarce at genniebre@hotmail.com
The ticket cost for this second performance is also $10.00 each and the
proceeds will go to the John P. Byrne Memorial fund.
On Saturday after the visitation has ended at noon,
only the family will be present at the closing of the coffin ceremonies.
At 1:00 p.m. the family will leave by way of the front door of the chapel
while the bagpiper plays Irish funeral music. The pallbearers will
bring the coffin out the side door and load it into the hearse for the
funeral parade trip to the Memphis city cemetery while "Going Home" is
being sung by Roger Shannon.
Parking of vehicles will not be available at the cemetery,
however shuttle vans will transport the public viewers from designated
parking areas. They will cease at 12:45 and begin again at 1:15 till
1:45 p.m. The graveside services will begin at 2:00 p.m.
A special event newspaper will be available with maps
for locations, these weekly articles, a more in-depth schedule and other
information. This newspaper will be free and is being paid for by
advertisers. Your ad will go down in history and is very much needed.
Individuals can contribute by purchasing a line in the Roll of Honor section
to honor their Veteran’s name and Unit.
For more up to date and ongoing information please
check the web site www.duvcw.org For those who do not have internet
connections, you can visit the Scotland County Library to use the public
computers there for viewing.
Return to:
http://www.duvcw.org/lastveteran
http://www.duvcw.org