General Oliver Otis Howard arrived in Galesburg on the early morning train June 2, 1894. Post 45, Grand Army of the Republic, had planned a welcome at the railroad depot, but the General outflanked them. He was traveling from his military post on Governor's Island in New York to Omaha for the annual convention of the National Home Missionary Society of which he was president.

In the evening the G.A.R. marched from their hall on East Main Street to the home of Reverend A.F Sherrill on North Broad Street where the general was staying. A carriage was provided for the general and the Sherrills. A band and the members of various military organizations of the city escorted them to the Opera House.

The stage of the Opera House was decorated with potted plants, flags and the portraits of U.S. Grant and John A. Logan. Mayor Forrest F. Cooke delivered remarks of gratitude to General Howard for his service in the Civil War. Major Robert M. Woods welcomed him on behalf of the old soldiers. He sketched the achievements of Howard in the Civil War, his work as head of the Freedman's Bureau after the war and his efforts supporting organizations which favored temperance, religion and charity.

L.S. Lambert, commander of Post 45, introduced General Howard. The general then spoke of Grant and Logan and the roles they played in the Civil War. During the day he had visited the high school, seen the First Church on the Public Square and the new Y.M.C.A. He complimented the fine facilities.

He told of his work as head of the Freedman's Bureau after the Civil War. He said there were 144,000 paupers which had to be fed, housed, educated and provided with work.
Professor Bentley of Knox College sang "Drink from the Old Canteen" and the audience sang "America" to close the program.

On Sunday General Howard visited the First Church, the Brick Church (Beecher Chapel), and the Mission on South Seminary Street. In the evening he attended the Presbyterian and Baptist Churches. It was a day of high temperature and Howard had given six speeches. He seemed to weather it well.

O.O. Howard was born November 8, 1830, in Leeds, Maine. He received degrees from Bowdoin College and the United States Military Academy. He served in the military from 1854 until 1894. During the Civil War he was a Brigade Commander in the Army of the Potomac. At the Battle of Fair Oaks in 1862 he lost his right arm.

In 1865 Howard was made Commissioner of the Freedman's Bureau which was to care for and educate the freed slaves. It lacked sufficient power to create a legal system to protect them.

In 1867 Howard was part of a group which established Howard University in Washington, DC. He also helped establish Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, for students in the Appalachian Mountains. In 1874 Hoard was appointed to command troops in the West during the Indian Wars.

General Howard visited Galesburg on at least one other occasion. At that time he advised the members of the Woman's Relief Corps who were planning the monument to honor Mary Ann "Mother" Bickerdyke. He told the women to have the statue made of bronze as it would last forever.

General Howard died October 26, 1909, and is buried in Burlington, Vermont. Carl Sandburg surely read in the newspapers about General Howard's visit to Galesburg in 1894. It may have helped increase his interest in the Civil War.