This is Bob Myers from the Historical Society of Michigan with a Michigan history moment. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, two little girls from Michigan followed their father to war. Their experiences would have a permanent impact on their country. Ella and Josephine May were the daughters of Franklin and Maria May of Kalamazoo. Reverend Franklin May, a Methodist minister, enlisted as a chaplain of 2nd Michigan Volunteer infantry soon after the bombardment of Fort Sumter in 1861. As the regimental chaplain and an officer, Reverend May was allowed to bring his family with him. April 1862 found the May family in Arlington Heights, Virginia. As 8 year old Ella and 13 year old Josephine ambled around the grounds of a large estate, they gathered handfuls of wildflowers. Then they came upon freshly turned earth that marked the grave of a soldier. The girls impulsively laid their flowers on his resting place. As they walked home, the girls picked more flowers and laid them on other graves. Their mother Maria was moved by the sentiment when they told her what they had done. The next day, Maria May and a friend went out and placed flowers on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers. Maria and her friend Sarah Evans did the same thing a year later. And in 1864 as well. As they visited graves in Fredericksburg and other battlefields, people began to take notice. Citizens of other states emulated their actions in 1866. Immediately after the war, several towns held ceremonies at their cemeteries. In 1868, General John Logan, Commander of the grand army of the Republic, a Union veterans organization, declared that on May 30, veterans of all grand army of the Republic posts should put flowers on their comrades graves. May 30 became Decoration Day. In 1871, Michigan became the first state to make it a state holiday. In 1888, Congress declared Decoration Day a national holiday. Decoration Day became Memorial day, and in 1971, Congress changed the date to the last Monday in May. And what about the little girls who started it all by laying flowers on the graves in 1862? Josephine May died in 1872 at the age of 25 before Decoration Day became a fully realized observance. When Ella passed away in 1901 at the age of 48, she was honored as one of the founders of Memorial Day. This Michigan history moment has been brought to you by michiganhistorymagazine. Org.