Joe Cain

Joseph Stillwell Cain Jr. (October 10, 1832 – April 17, 1904) was an American Confederate military veteran largely credited with initiating the modern way of observing Mardi Gras and its celebrations in Mobile, Alabama, following the Civil War.

Joe Cain, who had played Old Slac until 1879, died in 1904 and was buried in the fishing village of Bayou La Batre (Alabama).

[2] Joe and Elizabeth are two of the few, if only, people known to have been buried three times as both bodies were moved after the re-interment in the old Church Street Graveyard the following year to be nearer to his parents' graves.

His gravestone carries the inscription: Here lies old Joe CainThe heart and soul of Mardi Gras in Mobile Joseph Stillwell Cain Slacabamorinico - Old Slac 1832 - 1904 In 1866 (sic.

Julian Lee "Judy" Rayford established Joe Cain Day in 1967 by walking at the head of a jazz funeral, along with his beloved dog Rosie (the only dog to ever lead a Mardi Gras parade in Mobile) down Government Street to the Church Street Graveyard, where he had arranged to have Joe Cain and his wife reburied[1] in 1966.

"[1] The feathers were passed in 1970 to Fireman J.B. "Red" Foster who, attired in Plains Indian fashion, led the procession for 16 years.

He then passed the feathers, tomahawk and peace pipe to author, historian, public relations, marketing professional and pastor, Bennett Wayne Dean Sr. in 1985.

Old Slac IV "hisself" marked his 30th anniversary under the feathers during Joe Cain Day in 2015 noting that he "was just getting started."