File:Mary Elizabeth Kail obituary in Richwood Gazette of Richwood, Ohio on 6 February 1890.jpg

Death of Mrs. Mary E. Kail. There is general regret among Ohioans here over the death of Mrs. Mary E. Kail, of Ohio, who died yesterday at the Garfield hospital, where she had been dangerously ill since the 10th, inst. During her illness she had the constant attention of her daughter, Mrs. S. Flora, and of her son and daughter-in-law, who came from New York to be by her bedside. Mrs. Kail was well and favorably known as a poetess of pronounced ability. Most of her literary productions have been preserved in book form, and all of them stamp her as possessing rare attainments. Washington (D. C.) Cor, Cols. Dispatch, January 29. The editor of the Gazette knew Mrs. Kail well, and in common with hundreds of other friends, is grieved at her death. She was possessed of unusual ability, but, best of all she was a good woman in the highest sense of the expression. Many of her poems have peculiar beauty. She was an ardent Union woman during the war, and has ever since had unbound ed admiration for the boys in blue, whose heroism she celebrated in many of her verses. One of her best known productions is "Crown Our Heroes," a Decoration Day poem which has had wide circulation. It was read at the tomb of Washington, May 20, 1881, on the occasion of the visit to that place of George Washington Post, G.A.R., General McMahon commanding. The verses were placed in the archives and the author presented with the badge of the Post, a gold hatchet on blue silk. Following is the poem:
Crown Our Heroes
Crown our heroes, the soldiers, whose spirits have fled
To the land of the blest: crown the heroic dead.
Let the fair hand of woman weave garlands of flowers Kissed by heaven's pure sunlight in sweet morning hours. Go tenderly, gently, and scatter them where Our heroes are sleeping, go scatter them mere. Crown our heroes, the soldiers, who sleep on the shore Where the call of the bugle can wake them no more. Men who fought to defend ns oh, can we force t The tribute of glory we owe to them yet T tiring love's fairest openings, with tears ana with prayer, And gratefully, sacredly scatter them there. Crown our heroes, the soldiers, whose grandeur and power Saved our own dear Columbia In war's troubled hour "When amid the fierce struggle each soul was a hont. Who was ready to die lest his country be They are dead I they are dead. t what now can we go. As a token of love for the noble and true T Crown our heroes, the soldiers. Oh! scatter ine nowers 0er the graves of the dead : they are yours, they are ours. Men who fought for the flag, and our foes In the frav : For as brothers they sleep, both the blue and the gray. And true to our banner, our offerings we oring, Blushing roses of summer, and violets of spring. Crown our heroes God bless them 1 ho true heart must lag : Crown the dead and the living who stood by tne nag. Through the oncoming ages let each have name Carved in letters of gold In the temple of fame ; For the bright Htars of Freedom our banner unfurled
Is the Joy of Columbia, the pride of the world.

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