Charleston Daily Mail
May 24, 1910
Dr. Mayer's Last Address
[Note - This address was forwarded to encampment and read by Asst. Commander Wm. N.
Brown, probably last public paper of Dr. Mayer.]
Comrades: -
I greet you as I call to order the 28th Department Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic.
In the month of May, 1909, on the banks of the Ohio, in the City of Parkersburg, where you were so hospitably entertained, you conferred upon me the highest honor within your gift, that of Department Commander, and now, here on the banks of the Great Kanawha, in the City of Charleston, with its two Posts and two Relief Corps, its churches, its schools and its palatial residences, located within the mountain ranges of this great mountain State, rich in agriculture, minerals, mines, mills and factories, we are the guests of the Comrades of Blundon Post No. 73 and George Crook Post No. 3, as well as of Blundon Relief Corps No. 6 and George Crook Relief Corps No. 16, and of the citizens of this hospitable city, who are doing all in their power for our entertainment, and to make your sojourn among them most happy and agreeable, during this, our 28th Department Encampment, and I am called upon to render you an account of my stewardship.
When I was elected, I said to you that the Grand Army of the Republic did not belong to me but that I belonged to it, and in exercising the functions of the office to which you had elected me, I should be guided by that interest of the Grand Army of the Republic, in accordance with the rules and regulations, and well constituted authorities of the Grand Army of the Republic.
I will not take up your time by any eulogy of our order, its origin, its growth, its attainments and its achievements. To do so would be simply to tell you what you already know, and what has been told to you eloquently for many years by my predecessors.
I promised you that with your hearty co-operation and support, I would, with all the zeal and ability of which I was possessed, discharge the duties of this high office to the best of my ability, and at all times uphold the dignity and honor of our organization, to honor our Flag, always having regard for the best interest of the greatest number of our comrades. How well I have kept my promises and discharged the duties of this office, is for you to determine.
My report is not as favorable in all respects as I had hoped that it might be, for soon after my election I became ill, and very seldom was able to go to our headquarters. I have been ill for almost the whole year, and the most of the business was accomplished by my able Assistant Adjutant General, who not alone was faithful in the discharge of his duties, but assumed mine, and did most of the work.
I am happy to say to you that you will find through the report of the Assistant Adjutant General that we have gained in membership as well as in finance, having been careful in finance department, as you will find through the Assistant Quartermaster's report. At any rate we will be in a position to turn over to our successors more money than was turned over to us by our predecessors.
I also desire to say to you that I rented an office last May, the rent of which is paid by the Blundon Relief Corps, the Assistant Adjutant General and myself, and is not charged to the Grand Encampment; and here I express my thanks for the kind treatment we received from the Blundon Relief Corps.
Again I desire to express to my Assistant Adjutant General my sincere thanks not only for the careful and efficient manner in which he has performed his duties, but also for his many acts of kindness and attention to me during the many months of my illness.
I also desire to express my thanks to the Assistant Quartermaster for the very efficient manner in which he has performed his duty, under the most painful circumstances, having lost his beloved wife two months previous to his appointment to office, and during his affliction he has maintained a christian fortitude most sublime. I ask the sympathies of this Encampment for him in his deep affliction.
I need not enter into the details of the splendid hearty co-operation and support of the elective and appointed officers of this administration, including the members of my staff and all the comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic in this Department. My relations with all of them, and each of them, and especially of the two Relief Corps, have been the most cordial and most harmonious, and each and every one has done all in his power to make this administration a successful one, and I desire to extend to all publicly this expression of sincere gratitude. Each and every one of then have been faithful to the honor conveyed upon them and the trust reposed in them. May the close relations which have existed between us remain unbroken forever.
And now, comrades, I am not going to say good-bye nor farewell, but after I shall have presided over this Encampment I will return to the ranks from whence you called me, and there again take my place, and while life and health shall last, continue in the performance of my duty as a comrade, in the necessary work and pleasure of unbuilding, maintaining and preserving this grand organization - The Grand Army of the Republic.
May Heaven protect us and give us strength to meet in annual communication many more years.
Respectfully submitted,
DR. D. MAYER,
Department Commander.