Memorial Tree

Two cedar trees were planted and dedicated at the Alabama Confederate Soldiers' Home on February 12, 1928, in memory of Mrs. Sarah H. Bellinger and 1st Lt. Robert C. Norris. Mrs. Bellinger and her husband, Dr. Carnot Bellinger, established the first hospital for Confederate soldiers in Montgomery, Alabama, in June 1861. Norris served with distinction as Sergeant Major of the 15th Alabama Infantry and later as First Lieutenant in the 60th Alabama Infantry, then moved to Brazil after the war. Several years after his death, his widow, Mrs. Martha S. Norris, requested that a tree be planted at the Confederate Soldiers' Home in his memory. According to Soldiers' Home Commandant Dr. J. T. Fowler, the cedar planted at the southeast corner of the administration building was in memory of Mrs. Bellinger, and the cedar planted at the northeast corner was in memory of Lt. Norris. A large gathering attended the ceremony, co-chaired by UDC Soldiers' Home committee chairman Mrs. J.H. Crenshaw and UCV Army of Tennessee commander A.T. Goodwyn, former Adjutant of the 58th Alabama Infantry. The trees were accepted by UDC Alabama Division President Mrs. R.B Broyles and by Bibb Graves, Governor of the State of Alabama. The fate of the cedar planted in memory of Lt. Norris is unknown, and a second cedar later grew near the one planted in memory of Mrs. Bellinger, leaving experts unable to determine which is the original cedar.

Alabama · United States