Under clear blue skies with a slight nip of autumn in the air, the 5th Brigade of the South Carolina Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans held a memorial service for the last South Carolina Confederate Veteran on the 50th anniversary of his death.

Pvt. Arnold D. Murray was laid to rest in the White House United Methodist Church Cemetery on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 30, 1952. He had died five days earlier. He was 106 years old. His last rites had been planned for two years.

In 1950, when then-Gov. Strom Thurmond learned that Murray was the last survivor of the Civil War, he put together a committee to plan the inevitable funeral.

When Murray's funeral procession left Dukes-Harley Funeral Home, the casket bearing his body was draped with a Confederate Battle Flag. The procession included then-Gov. James F. Byrnes, Senator Strom Thurmond, members of the planning committee, representatives of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Sons of Confederate Veterans, a group of Spanish American War Veterans, a Color Guard from Richland County American Legion Post No. 6, a group of Citadel Cadets serving a pallbearers and more than a hundred members of Murray's family.

At the church, they were met by a crowd estimated at 5,000. Cars filled the space in the churchyard, the field that had been rented for parking and lined both sides of Highway 301.

The scene was not much different at Sunday's memorial service. The crowd was considerably smaller, but cars were parked in every available space and along both sides of Highway 301. Approximately 400 people were in attendance, some in authentic costume, to remember and honor, once again, South Carolina's last Confederate Veteran.

Commander Irvin Shuler of the 5th Brigade of the South Carolina Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans coordinated the event. He opened the ceremony with personal recollections of the Murray.

Shuler said he was 11 years old when he read in the newspaper that the last Confederate Veteran had died.

"A few months ago, a friend gave me a copy of that newspaper," Shuler said. "Today, 50 years since the passing of the last Confederate Veteran, what more fitting time to honor Pvt. Arnold Murray and five other Confederate Veterans in this cemetery."

Shuler told the crowd gathered that he had attended Murray's funeral. "He was well known by almost everyone in this area," Shuler said. "I remember my father stopping by Mr. Murray's house and talking with him. Too many people in other parts of the world think Confederate veterans were a privileged land owners and slave holders. But that was not Mr. Murray's background. He lived a simple life. And we owe a great debt to him and individuals like him."

Along with Murray, veterans also honored were John Bozard, Jacob Funchess Zachariah Gramling, Lawrence Connor and Frank Zeigler, the five other Confederate Veterans at rest in the White House United Methodist Church Cemetery. The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the SCV adorned each grave with new or refinished Southern crosses of honor and wreaths of magnolia leaves.

Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina 2nd Congressional District, unable to attend the ceremony, had a letter read by Brad Snellgrove, commander of the Col. Donald R. Barton Camp #121 of Branchville which invited all to "join us as we pay tribute to one of our finest soldiers who exemplified the principles of duty and honor."

State Senator William "Bill" Branton, hailed as one of the magnificent seven who fought to keep the Confederate Battle Flag on the Statehouse dome, told the crowd that "one of the proudest moments of in the senate was the chance to stand up for the Battle Flag."

Branton reported that Murray was one of approximately 60,000 who displayed commitment, loyalty and love for the South.

"He was a retired farmer living in rural seclusion, but he was spry and talked straight," Branton said. "He lived in a three-room cabin in the White House area and received $60 a month as his Confederate pension. And he enjoyed sitting on his porch."

Reading from a letter from Senator Strom Thurmond, David Keller, 1st Lt. Commander-elect of the Rivers Bridge, Camp #842, SCV, said, "As we gather to honor and respect Pvt. Arnold Murray, nothing greater can be said than that he stood strong and proud for his beliefs."

No less than nine chapters of the UDC were represented in the ceremony, with Claire Shuler, president of the Paul McMichael Chapter #427, UDC introducing most of them, each expressing the honor they held being a part of the event honoring Murray and other Confederate Veterans.

Betty Miller, president of the Bratton-Jenkins Chapter #427, UDC, announced that she had three great grandfathers who were Confederate veterans. "May we have a greater love for our history," she said. "For it is we, who will keep our country alive."

Randy Burbage, 1st Lt. Commander, Army of Northern Virginia, spoke directly to the Confederate veterans resting in the cemetery.

"It was 141 years ago that you left your homes and families to defend your new nation against northern aggression," he said. "You returned defeated with heavy hearts, dreading death not half as much as surrender. With your homes in ruin, it would have been easy to give up. But you stepped from the trenches into furrows. You believed then, and we believe now, that you were right. Your sacrifices were not forgotten. We thank you for our Confederate heritage."

He then enumerated the ways that the SCV and UDC have been busy honoring the memories and works of their ancestors, reclaiming bodies of Confederate veterans, including the crew of the Hunley, and giving them proper and honorable burials.

Robert Roper, commander of the South Carolina Division of the SCV, expressed his gratitude to the ancestors for the legacy they had passed on.

"It is my honor to report that the SCV are carrying on the legacy," Roper said. "We will continue to defend the flag that has come to be known as a symbol of resistance to tyranny."

Ending the event, the Palmetto Battalion ceremoniously sounded a salute from their rifles and moved like a flotilla to Murray's grave. Forming a circle they honored their fallen hero by placing their hats on his grave, drinking a cup of water to his honor and pouring some, libation-like, on his grave.

Buzz Braxton read the SCV Charge, written in 1896 by South Carolinian Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee.

"To you Sons of Veterans, we will submit the vindication of the cause for which we fought. To your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles he loved and which made him glorious and which you also cherish. Remember, it is your duty to see that the true history of the South is presented to future generations."

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