Memorial Day observances began at Blandford Church on Well's Hill in Petersburg, Virginia, on June 9, 1865 and not on the last weekend in May as it is observed today.  It was the following year that Mary Cunningham Logan, wife of General John A. Logan, saw young school girls placing flowers on the graves of slain Confederate soldiers on May 26th, the day set aside by Mississippi to commemorate the fallen.  When Mrs. Logan learned from the girls' headmistress, Nora Davidson, that they intended to hold a "Decoration Day" every year, she urged her husband to propose extending the gesture nationwide.  As commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, General Logan spearheaded the work for the establishment of an official Memorial Day.  His objective was achieved when, by Act of Congress, the occasion was first celebrated across the country on May 30, 1868.

The history of Old Blandford Church does not start with the War Between the States.  The church, the oldest building in Petersburg, was built in 1735.  The earliest date on a gravestone is 1702, marks the grave of Richard Yarbrough, who died at the age of 87.  When the British lost the Revolutionary War, the Church of England (or Protestant Episcopal Church as it was then called) lost members.  In the year 1799 only six services were held at Blandford Church, one a memorial service for George Washington.  The church was abandoned entirely by 1819.

       The city of Petersburg added a new roof to the deteriorating building in 1882.  But is was not until 1901 that the Ladies Memorial Association of Petersburg undertook its reconstruction.  During the Civil War, Blandford Church had served as a hospital for wounded Confederate soldiers.  More than 30,000 Confederate dead were laid to rest in the church cemetery.  To honor these sons of the South the Ladies Association of Petersburg commissioned Louis Comfort Tiffany to design windows for the rebuilt church, one for each of the southern states plus the three border states of Maryland, Missouri and Kentucky.  Each state had to raise the money for its window (about $400).

Louisiana's window, commissioned and paid for by the Washington Artillery of New Orleans, was the only regiment represented.  All the states paid except divided Kentucky which had already arranged its own memorial.  Tiffany donated the 15th window, the "Cross of Jewels."  This window, even more than his other works, has the iridescence of jewels.  Tiffany, an experienced chemist, developed a unique technique for adding crushed copper, gold and cobalt for special depth and luster.  No one has ever been able to duplicate Tiffany's artistic creations.  On the morning after his death, at his direction, his formula and notes were destroyed.

The church contains several memorial plaques.  One honors the men who lost their lives in the Battle of the Crater.  Their gallant commander, General William Mahone, who led the crater charge is, at his request, buried in the churchyard with the unknown Confederate soldier. A plaque on the church wall has a poem attributed to the Irish actor Tyrone Power, grandfather of the Hollywood star, written before the restoration when the church was still in ruins.

Thou art crumbling to the dust, old pile, Thou art hastening to thy fall,  And 'round thee in thy loneliness    Clings the ivy to thy wall

The worshippers are scattered now Who knelt before thy shrine, And silence reigns where anthems rose, In days of "Auld Lang Syne."

The historic graveyard has been the scene of more than one duel.  On one notable occasion two suitors, R.C. Adams and James B. Boisseau, fought for the affections of Ellen Stimson and were both mortally wounded.  Dr. Ira Ellis Smith, who was called to their sides, failed to save his patients, but he saved Miss Stimson by marrying her.