Movies and TV Show filming is nothing new to Henry County

Movies and TV Show filming is nothing new to Henry County and the area.
I remember vividly in the late summer of 1976 when the film crew came to McDonough with all their equipment to film a scene on the town square for “Smokey and the Bandit”.  We lived just off the square at the time and it was great fun to watch a movie being made.  People came from all around and even people up on the roof tops watching the movie.  McDonough was to be a town in Arkansas where the Bandit was to lure the police away from Snowman in the big rig.  Burt Reynolds played Bandit driving a new year change to a ’77 Trans Am.  The car was to make some maneuvers on the square and hide behind the old police shack on the square.  Of course it is gone today.  The stunt people tried making the turns on Macon Street and with the angle of the road and a small shower it made the scene hard to film, but they made it.  I was standing on the square with many other folks, but I was lucky enough to be next to the camera man and Burt Reynolds in the car

 right in front of us looks at the camera and smiles.  Then they filmed the Snowman played by Jerry Reed who stopped at what he termed a choke and puke which is a restaurant.  He also had his truck fueled there.  They used Lamar’s Sportsman’s Club on Macon Street near the Cemetery for the scene.  He got into a fight for the scene with some bikers about Fred  his dog.  So they threw him out and of course he gets into his rig and Lamar gives him his food.  And as he leaves he smiles and runs over their motor cycles. 

 I got to meet Burt Reynolds, Jerry Reed, Jackie Gleason, Sally Field and Mike Henry during the filming in Henry County and in Clayton County.  It was a lot of fun.   The movie was released in May 1977 with a budget of $4.3 million and the second largest box office take that year with $126, 737,428.00 behind Star Wars at $307 million.

Then my late father-n-law Mr. Elton Mills was in several scenes of the show “I’ll Fly Away” driving his old pick-up truck for several scenes.  This was in 1989 and he had a great time doing it.  It was something he would never forget.




After Linda and I married we moved to Lovejoy, GA at La Costa Mobile Home Park for a time.  While there one day in May 1995 a knock came on the door and I opened and a whole lot of folks were in our yard looking and a nice man stuck out his hand and introduced himself as Mr. George Harrison (Yes one of the Beatles) and he wanted to speak with me.  His film company was making a movie to be broadcast in Great Britain and they were using some sites in America for the movie.  He said would I mind them using my home and I said for one condition to sign one of my Beatle records which he smiled and happily did.  Then we dealt with the producer and director.  The movie was about an old Motown singing group wanting to get back together for a reunion.  It was entitled the “Soul Survivors.”  The stars were Isaac Hayes, Ian McShane, and Antonio Fargas.  We got to meet all of them.  They wanted to use our house because of the site as we lived in a curve.  They
 were to use it for a “cat house” and Isaac Hayes was to come out in the morning to leave and is caught by reporters.  The scene actually was filmed in the evening as the sun was setting for the effect of a sunrise.  We and about fifty of our neighbors sat in a vacant field across the street watching the filming that went on till past 3:00am in the morning.  The producer said that they handled the “Lovejoy Mysteries” in Great Britain and when they saw the name Lovejoy they decided on using it for part of the movie.  The movie was release in January 1996 to mixed reviews.  It was nice meeting Isaac Hayes who sang the song “Shaft” that was a big hit.

Dr. Mike Moon with his Son and Isaac Hayes

In all the times that I have been involved around or with movie making we have noticed that the production company has things well in hand and we and the others there watching were having great fun.  They seem to want folks there to watch as many of them have performed on the stage and they are used to people watching them.  There is a lot that goes into movie making as well as for making television shows and it takes time and effort.  The crew has to make sure everything is just right with lighting and other parts.  In our case, they used a track system to have the camera man ride to film the scenes around our house. It was a lot of fun and to meet so very famous artists are an honor as well.  We learned that the late Isaac Hayes liked cornbread and pinto beans.  We talked for sometime in between takes.  He was more than happy to speak with us and answer questions.

Black History Month 2015 the black Confederate soldier of the War Between the States

Black History Month 2015 the black Confederate soldier of the War Between the States.

The following accounts and records are from various sources that show the amount of the black involvement in the south during the Civil War.  Many of the black men took up a gun and fought just as the whites and died just as they did on the field of battle.  The following is important and something to be remembered and not forgotten.

Walter E. Williams, professor of economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA is a black gentleman and here is his take on the blacks and the Confederacy.  “The flap over the Confederate flag is not quite as simple as the nation’s race experts make it.  They want us to believe the flag is a symbol of racism.  Yes, racists have used the Confederate flag, but racists have also used the Bible and the U.S. flag.  Should we get rid of the Bible and lower the U.S. flag?  Black civil rights activists and their white liberal supporters who’re attacking the Confederate flag have committed a deep, despicable dishonor to our patriotic black ancestors who marched, fought and died to protect their homeland from what they saw as Northern aggression.”

Frederick Douglass, Douglass' Monthly, IV [Sept. 1861,] pp 516 - "there are at the present moment many colored men in the Confederate Army - as real soldiers, having muskets on their shoulders, and bullets in their pockets, ready to shoot down loyal troops, and do all that soldiers may do to destroy the Federal government...There were such soldiers at Manassas and they are probably there still."

Negroes in the Confederate Army," Journal of Negro History, Charles Wesle, Vol. 4, #3, [1919,] 244-245 - "Seventy free blacks enlisted in the Confederate Army in Lynchburg, Virginia. Sixteen companies of free men of color marched through Augusta, Georgia on their way to fight in Virginia."

From James G. Bates' letter to his father reprinted in the 1 May 1863 "Winchester [Indiana] Journal" [the 13th IVI ["Hoosier Regiment"] was involved in operations around the Suffolk, Virginia area in April-May 1863 ] - "I can assure you [Father,] of a certainty, that the rebels have negro soldiers in their army. One of their best sharp shooters, and the boldest of them all here is a negro. He dug himself a rifle pit last night [16 April 1863] just across the river and has been annoying our pickets opposite him very much to-day. You can see him plain enough with the naked eye, occasionally, to make sure that he is a "wooly-head," and with a spy-glass there is no mistaking him."

The 85th Indiana Volunteer Infantry reported to the Indianapolis Daily Evening Gazette that on 5 March 1863: "During the fight the [artillery] battery in charge of the 85th Indiana [Volunteer Infantry] was attacked by two rebel negro regiments.

After the action at Missionary Ridge, Commissary Sergeant William F. Ruby forwarded a casualty list written in camp at Ringgold, Georgia about 29 November 1863, to William S. Lingle for publication. Ruby's letter was partially reprinted in the Lafayette Daily Courier for 8 December 1863: "Ruby says among the rebel dead on the [Missionary] Ridge he saw a number of negroes in the Confederate uniform."


Federal Official Records, Series I, Vol XVI Part I, pg. 805: "There were also quite a number of negroes attached to the Texas and Georgia troops, who were armed and equipped, and took part in the several engagements with my forces during the day."

Federal Official Records Series 1, Volume 15, Part 1, Pages 137-138: "Pickets were thrown out that night, and Captain Hennessy, Company E, of the Ninth Connecticut, having been sent out with his company, captured a colored rebel scout, well mounted, who had been sent out to watch our movements."

Federal Official Records, Series I, Vol. XLIX, Part II, pg. 253 - April 6, 1865: "The rebels [Forrest] are recruiting negro troops at Enterprise, Miss., and the negroes are all enrolled in the State."

Federal Official Records, Series I, Vol. XIV, pg. 24, second paragraph - "It is also difficult to state the force of the enemy, but it could not have been less than from 600 to 800. There were six companies of mounted riflemen, besides infantry, among which were a considerable number of colored men." - referring to Confederate forces opposing him at Pocotaligo, SC., Colonel B. C. Christ, 50th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, official report of May 30, 1862

"Sargt said war is close to being over. saw several negros fighting for those rebels." - From the diary of James Miles, 185th N.Y.V.I., entry dated January 8, 1865.

Black Southerners also demonstrated loyalties based not on ownership, subservience or fear. The Confederate Burial Mound for Camp Morton, Indiana, at Indianapolis, Indiana, has bronze tablets which list the nearly 1200 Confederates who died at that camp. Among those names are 26 Black Southerners, seven Hispanic Southerners and six Indian Southerners.

At a time when those Black Southerners could have walked into the Camp Commander's office, taken a short oath and signed their name to walk out the gates free men obliged to no one they chose instead to stay even unto death. Your understanding of that choice is likely nonexistent.

Union soldiers robbed, raped and murdered Free Black and slave Southerners they had come to "emancipate." Union "recruiters" hunted, kidnapped and tortured Black Southerners to compel them to serve in the Union Army. At the Battle of the Crater white Union soldiers bayoneted retreating Black Union soldiers and the 54th Massachusetts was intentionally fired upon by Union Maine troops while assaulting Battery Wagner. The Federal Official Records and memoirs of the USCT document all of these war crimes.

Remembering Fort Fisher’s Black Confederate Soldiers

Remembering Fort Fisher’s Black Confederate Soldiers
One-hundred fifty years ago an enemy invasion fleet landed troops at Fort Fisher after a fierce bombardment, beginning a military campaign which would end North Carolina’s second bid for political independence. This fort began existence as Battery Bolles in early 1861 and steadily grew into a mammoth earthen fortification under the direction of Col. William Lamb and Gen. W.H.C. Whiting. The garrison troops, black and white, were assisted in daily construction activity by African slaves hired out by area plantations – all were responsible for the impressive work that defended the Cape Fear River and Wilmington.
Notable among the fort’s heroic defenders, who all fought with a grim determination though outnumbered by an enemy nearly ten times their number, were black soldiers of the Thirty-sixth and Fortieth Regiments, North Carolina Troops (NCT). At the final capitulation of the fort, Charles and Henry Dempsey, both privates in Company F, Thirty-sixth Regiment, NCT; Privates Arthur and Miles Reed of Company D, Fortieth Regiment, NCT; Private J. Doyle of Company E; Private Everett Hayes of Company F, Tenth Regiment, NCT; and regimental cook Daniel Herring.
A total of nine black soldiers surrender to the enemy at Fort Fisher, and this does not include those who escaped capture by crossing the river to Fort Anderson.
Most if not all the black soldiers captured were imprisoned at Point Lookout, Maryland along with their white fellow soldiers. Unlike the segregated black Northern units that landed with white enemy troops, Southern black men fought alongside their comrades in integrated companies with little if any distinction of skin color. The Dempsey brothers served with other men from Halifax, Edgecombe, Nash, Pitt and Wayne counties; the Reed brothers did the same with their white neighbors from Craven, Wilson, Wayne and Lenoir counties.
These patriotic black soldiers, who were paid with virtually worthless money, fought bravely alongside fellow North Carolinians in defense of their homes, families, neighbors, State and country.

Actually, black Confederate soldiers served with distinction throughout Civil War

Monday, March 10, 2014
CHRISTINE BARR
I appreciated Tony Kendall’s column last week, but wondered if perhaps there was, in the immortal words of Paul Harvey, a “rest of the story.”
I also remembered a fine column appearing in this paper some years ago by William Barr, which discussed the pension records of black Confederate soldiers in Tennessee, and am surprised Mr. Kendall did not.
Then again, being married to the author means that I was perhaps more attentive to it!
Samuel Johnson said there are two kinds of knowledge — that which we know and that which we know how to find.
I would add that we are also wise if we know when to find someone who knows something in which we are interested. I am fortunate to have many historians in my life, both professional and amateur.
Rather than revisit Bill’s column, I was able to get a new perspective.
John Mark King is a Kentuckian and member of the Southern Nationalist Party, which he says “welcome(s) the participation and leadership of black men and women of the South — in the struggle for liberty and just governance.”
And now, for the rest of my column, I give you Mr. King’s remarks:
By JOHN MARK KING
Mr. Tony Kendall writes an interesting column that begins with an encounter with a member of the SCV, which leads him on a journey of research and re-evaluation regarding the actual contribution of black men who served in the Confederate Army.
There are a few areas Mr. Kendall mentions that give me concern, however. He states during his research:
“And all the information I gleaned from several peer-approved websites and the work of renowned civil war historians like Shelby Foote, James McPherson and William C. Davis, the consensus answer is very few blacks were officially Confederate soldiers.”
Academia (from the study of history to the sciences) is pretty much controlled by establishments wedded to a particular world view that espouses humanism (and yet claims to be “religion free”) and the need and desire for large government.
I am always suspicious when I see the term “peer-reviewed.” Whose peers?
For instance, the “venerable” James McPherson has been cited numerous times as passing off war-time federal propaganda as “history” I think this question also adequately demonstrates how these types (the McPhersons of the world, not necessarily Mr. Kendall himself) fool us into believing things that are not entirely accurate by obfuscation of the facts.
Sure, I will agree with the broad general statement that “few blacks were officially Confederate soldiers.” Few whites were, too.
Most Confederate soldiers were composed of state units, militia units, and state records often times reveal different results than Confederate. Also, we must recall how sketchy Confederate records are in the first place.
But did black men only serve “towards the end” of the war? I think there is ample evidence to the contrary:
Dr. Lewis Steiner, chief inspector, U.S. Sanitary Commission, reported on a Confederate advance early in the war. He wrote:
“Wednesday, Sept. 10 — At four o’clock this morning, the Rebel army began to move from our town, Jackson’s force taking the advance.
“The movement continued until eight o’clock p.m., occupying 16 hours. The most liberal calculations could not give them more than 64,000 men.
“Over 3,000 Negroes must be included in this number. These were clad in all kinds of uniforms, not only in cast-off or captured U.S. uniforms, but in coats with Southern buttons, state buttons, etc. These were shabby, but not shabbier or seedier than those worn by white men in Rebel ranks.
“Most of the Negroes had arms, rifles, muskets, sabres, bowie-knives, dirks, etc. They were supplied, in many instances, with knapsacks, haversacks, canteens, etc., and were manifestly an integral portion of the Southern Confederacy Army.
“They were seen riding on horses and mules, driving wagons, riding on caissons, in ambulances, with the staff of generals, and promiscuously mixed up with all the Rebel horde.”
(Report of Lewis H. Steiner, New York: Anson D. F. Randolph, 1862, pp. 10-11.)
Now there are always some in academia who like to challenge Steiner’s eyewitness testimony by suggesting that people in the Confederate government like Howell Cobb or Barnwell Rhett (who were vociferously against blacks serving in the Confederate armies) didn’t know about these black soldiers in Confederate Gray.
The truth is there’s a lot that went on in the Confederate armies that these two jokers didn’t know about.
I am willing to bet that they didn’t know about the nearly 50 black men that rode in Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry, either. And keep in mind that cavalry are elite forces, much like our special forces today.
Of the black men who rode with Forrest, Gen. Forrest bragged, “[T]these boys stayed with me … better Confederates did not live.”
And whereas it might have went unknown to jokers like Cobb and Rhett, New York newspaper man Horace Greeley knew about them:
“For more than two years, Negroes have been extensively employed in belligerent operations by the Confederacy. They have been embodied and drilled as Rebel soldiers and had paraded with white troops at a time when this would not have been tolerated in the armies of the Union.”
Greeley was not alone among influential men of the North who knew about black men serving in Confederate ranks and file.
Frederick Douglass sure knew about them, too, and complained bitterly in his efforts to lobby the U.S. Army to even accept black men into their ranks:
“It is now pretty well established that there are at the present moment many colored men in the Confederate army doing duty not only as cooks, servants and laborers, but as real soldiers, having muskets on their shoulders and bullets in their pockets, ready to shoot down loyal troops, and do all that soldiers may ….”
(Douglass’ Monthly, September 1861, online copy available at http://radicaljournal.com/essays/fighting_rebels.html.)
And contrary to these “peer-reviewed” reports, black soldiers served in the Confederate armies from the beginning and also (surprisingly to many) in most cases as fully integrated units.
In 1895, Christian A. Fleetwood, a black man who had served in the Union army as a sergeant-major (4th U.S. Colored Troops) reported:
“It seems a little singular that in the tremendous struggle between the states in 1861-1865, the South should have been the first to take steps toward the enlistment of Negroes.
“Yet such is the fact. Two weeks after the fall of Fort Sumter, the Charleston Mercury records the passing through Augusta of several companies of the 3rd and 4th Georgia Regt. and of 16 well-drilled companies and one Negro company from Nashville, Tenn.
“The Memphis Avalanche and The Memphis Appeal of May 9, 10, and 11, 1861, give notice of the appointment by the “Committee of Safety” of a committee of three persons “to organize a volunteer company composed of our patriotic freemen of color of the City of Memphis, for the service of our common defense.”
A telegram from New Orleans, dated Nov. 23, 1861, notes the review by Gov. Moore of over 28,000 troops, and that one regiment comprised “1,400 colored men.”
The New Orleans Picayune, referring to a review held Feb. 9, 1862, says: “We must also pay a deserved compliment to the companies of free colored men, all very well drilled and comfortably equipped.”
(Christian A. Fleetwood, The Negro as a Soldier, Washington, D.C.: Howard University Print, 1895, pp. 5-6.) [Michael T. Griffith “Black Confederates, Political Correctness, and a Virginia Textbook” copyright 2011 retrieved: http://www.mtgriffith.com/web.../blackconfederates.html.]
So the testimony of all these people — from both sides of the conflict — stands in stark contrast to our current knowledge of the war (and again, most of that is due to the parroting of war-time Union propaganda as “history”).
Now, what about this seeming discrepancy with the fact that so few records are found at the Confederate (or national level)?
Again, I submit that many of the black men who served did so, and received their pensions from state governments, and also there were just a lot of men period who served in the ranks — both black and white — who were also irregulars (undocumented soldiers), so the trick word here then is “officially.”
Now in closing, I would like to summarize, and relate one last bit of fact: Form the very beginning of the War for Southern Independence, the Confederate armies had black soldiers (both free and slave).
Furthermore, there is ample evidence that many Confederate armies were fully integrated units.
This stands in striking contrast to the statistics for the Union army (who according to the post-war myths the “Union Army and Father Abraham were so valiantly trying to free” — don’t even get me started on all the myths surrounding Lincoln).
The Union Army would not even allow blacks to serve until 1863 — fully two years into the war, and that the U.S. Army remained segregated until 1948 — three years after the end of World War II.

When Rucker Called the Roll — A Soldier’s Story

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

By Calvin E. Johnson, Jr.
Writer, Speaker, Author of book, looking to republish
“When America Stood for God, Family and Country”
and member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
cjohnson1861@bellsouth.net

The following should be included in American History studies in schools.

Mrs. Daisy Anderson was the last widow of a Black Union soldier whose husband Private Robert Ball Anderson served in the 125th United States Colored Troops. She and Mrs. Alberta Martin, the last widow of a Confederate soldier, met in Gettysburg, Pa. in 1997. Both of these grand ladies have sadly passed over the river to rest in the shade of the trees.

The Confederate flag, which continues to come under attack, was the proud banner of Black, White, Hispanic, Jewish and Native American sons and daughters of Dixie who stood nobly in defense of their homeland and way of life during the War Between the States. Once upon a time neither the Confederate nor the Union Veterans or their blood stained battle flag needed any defense.

The following is one of over 50,000 stories of the Black Confederate Soldier, slave and free, who stood honorably and proudly for Southern Independence, 1861-1865. After the war many of these men attended the reunions of Confederate soldiers including that at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

On August 10, 1905, Amos Rucker, an ex-Confederate soldier and proud member of the United Confederate Veterans, died in Atlanta, Georgia. His friends of the UCV had previously bought a grave site and marker for him and his wife Martha who had a limited income.

Amos was a servant and best friend to Sandy Rucker. Both men joined the 33rd Georgia Regiment when the South was invaded. Amos fought as a regular soldier and sustained wounds to his breast and one of his legs that left him permanently crippled.

Amos Rucker joined the W.H.T. Walker Camp of the United Confederates after the war in Atlanta, Georgia. He faithfully attended the meetings that were held on the second Monday of each month at 102 Forsyth Street. He was able to remember the name of every man of his old 33th Regiment and would name them and add whether they were living or dead.

Amos Rucker and wife Martha felt that the men of the United Confederate Veterans were like family. Rucker said that, "My folks gave me everything I want." The UCV men helped Amos and wife Martha with a house on the west side of Atlanta and John M. Slaton helped with his will and care for his wife. Slaton was a member of Atlanta's John B. Gordon Camp 46 Sons of Confederate Veterans and was governor of Georgia when he commuted the death sentence of Leo Frank.

A funeral service for Amos Rucker was conducted by former Confederate General and Reverend Clement A. Evans. An article about the funeral related that Rucker was clothed in a gray Confederate uniform and a Confederate flag covered his casket. It is written that both white and black friends of Rucker came to pay their last respects. There was not a dry eye in the church when Captain William Harrison read a poem, entitled, "When Rucker called the roll."

A grave marker was placed in 1909 by the United Confederate Veterans that for many years marked the graves of Amos and Martha Rucker but some say it was taken many years ago. A few years ago the Sons of Confederate Veterans remarked Rucker’s grave.


Battle Of Griswoldville, Georgia

Battle of Griswoldville Georgia
The face off with General William T. Sherman!
History is not an absolute, but cause and effect: Change the cause and you alter the effect. What if a single decision or battle had went the other way? Perhaps an election had turned out differently! We as individuals are capable of altering the future course of history by our activism, or lack thereof. Imagine with us for a moment, certain historical events had indeed taken an alternate course. "Victory is for those with the persistence and fortitude to resist the temptation to withdraw or whose resolve has been tempered, when conditions worsen and the cost rises; it is not for the weak hearted, nor those who are softened by the ease and comfort of a gilded cage, provided by the enemy at the cost of liberty. It is for those who continue to fight the good fight, even after others who have gone before, having faced overwhelming numbers and firepower found themselves unable to complete the mission." --- Jay Buckner. In any case Confederate Fiction allows
 us to dream and envision victory; otherwise "where there is no vision, the people parish." {Proverbs 29:18}
The story told here is not my story, rather retold exactly as related by a dear friend, the late Mr. Elgie Barker, who passed away on 28 December 1995 at the age of 78 years. Mr. Barker was a Southern Gentleman in the truest sense of the word, but more important to the story, he was by his own definition, a 'Negro' and a 'colored man.' While relaxed he reverted back to what I considered his true dialect, that of the Ole South Negro. But he could also speak in the modern context of our times when called upon to do so. The family cared for their totally disabled adult son Rochelle Barker!
I knew the family for about ten years or more prior to his death, and daily transported their son to various activities and medical appointments. On one such occasion a prolonged delay at the Barker residence gave us time to speak and it being a pleasant day, we did so. Every one being inside the house and the two of remaining outside and standing along side my large cargo size van, old Mr. Barker began to speak. "Thomas, I am gettin' up in years - my time draws near. I have a story and I'd like to tell it before it can't be told. I am a native of Georgia you know, but what you don't know is my Grandpappy was a Confederate Soldier - died in that terrible war, fightin' those Yankee folks. The story I want to tell you, won't be found in no 'White History Book.' But it happen just the same!"
"When all the white folks went off to do the fightin, only the women and the colored folks were left behind to do the work. We were treated good, not like them Yankee folks say now a days - it was alright. We took care of the plantation and saw to it the women were alright. We wanted to go fight too and not many of us colored folks got to go at first, but later many did. The fightin' wore on and the victories turned to loss, as our boys began to loose ground. Finally the summer of 1864 came and rumors had it that the whole Yankee army was outside of Atlanta. Us colored folks got real concerned, because we heard that fella Sherman was killin' and burnin' everything in his path - killin women, children, colored and white alike. So some of us got together and went to the white ladies so as to say how we felt. We said, sooner or later this Yankee Sherman and his army is comin our way and we'll all be doin some fightin and diein' soon enough. We said, could
 we form what you white folks call a militia, so we would be ready. The ladies said alright, so we began preparin' - We over heard all about such things from those white boys, before the war. So we chose us a Commander"
"It wasn't long in comin' and we soon heard Sherman had burned Atlanta, killed all kinds of people and was now comin' out the other side, headin' this way. We rounded up such weapon as we could find, some were old revolutionary muskets left behind, machetes, pitchforks and even clubs. But still we had no fightin flag. All the cotton and wool was gone to the war, so we rounded up what rags that we could and made us one of them Confederate Battle flags out of them rags. The colors didn't come out too good, but we had a flag. Come the day when we were fixin' to march off to face down Sherman's Army, we gathered in the town square, 300 of us. Raggiest army I ever did see. We'd be out numbered over 200 to one, but that's alright, it was our homes and families too, and we'd fight to defend them. What a motley bunch we were, daring to face off with the mightiest' army in the land."
"Those 300 colored men and their Confederate Battle Flag sewed out of rags - Had I been alive back then, they would have had 301, because I would have been amongst them." Ole Mr. Barker looked far way into yesteryear as he was telling his story, and he finished. "Before we left to face off with Sherman an elderly colored lady come up to our new commander and spoke to him. If'n those white boys couldn't stop this fella Sherman, what makes you think you can? The ole colored commander paused while looking back at the lady then answered, "I don't know about such things" he said "but if Sherman's fixin' to come through Georgia, he'll have to come through us." "Thomas," he said, "300 colored Confederates marched off that day and face off with this General Sherman. Takin down as many of them Yankee soldiers as they could. Only three came back, and my grandpappy wasn't among them that come back."
Ole Mr. Barker still far away, he looked at me with glassy eyes and said to me, "these modern African-Americans like so many modern white folks, couldn't cover one inch of the ground those colored Confederates stood on." After hearing that story, I was deeply moved! I've never had to face those kinds of odds in peace let alone in battle and while so only men such as these can only talk of heroism. But these are heroes of the highest order and as for me, I'd build a monument as big as a house to these 300 brave Soldiers of the Confederacy. These men were in every respect Southern Gentlemen. Mr. Barker had one last remark before closing his story. "Thomas," he said with deep emotion, "I'd give every thing I own in this world if I could but hold in my hands that Confederate Battle Flag made with rags, that my grandpappy and those motley 300 men carried off when they face off with Sherman."
Black Southerners in Confederate gray

Note: The writer gratefully acknowledges Zack Malpass, Murfreesboro SCV Camp 33, for so generously sharing his extensive research, and to Dr. George Smith, for providing both research and viewpoint.
February marks the beginning of Black History Month – a remembrance of important people and events of African American origin that began in 1926.
There have been many major contributions to our nation and to our society by black Americans some that have changed history – and are continuing to do so today. One area that has never received the recognition it deserved and has even been over-looked to a certain degree was that of black Southerners who fought for the Confederacy.
One would have to ask, “Why haven’t we heard more about them?”
Ed Bearss, National Park Service Historian Emeritus, made the following statement: “I don’t want to call it a conspiracy to ignore the role of Blacks, both above and below the Mason-Dixon line, but it was definitely a tendency that began around 1910.”
And, Historian Erwin L. Jordan, Jr., calls it a “cover-up” which started back in 1865. He writes, “During my research on pension applications, I came across instances where black men stated they were soldiers, but you can plainly see where ‘soldier’ is crossed out and ‘body servant’ or ‘teamster’ inserted.”
Another black historian, Roland Young says that “he is not surprised that blacks fought ... some, if not most, would support their country, and that by doing so they were demonstrating that it was possible to hate the system of slavery and love one’s country.”
This same principle was exhibited by African Americans who fought for the colonies during the American Revolution, despite the fact that the British offered them freedom if they would fight for them. Peter Jennings, an early settler of Rutherford County, was one of more than 5,000 black soldiers who fought for the colonies in the war for Independence. In 1830 Jennings was listed as having built a house on the corner of Vine and Church streets, which was also his bakery shop. There is a marker in the old City Cemetery commemorating his services in the Revolutionary War, but the exact place of his burial is not known.
It has been estimated that more than 65,000 Southern blacks served in some form or fashion in the Confederate ranks, and more than 13,000 of these “saw the elephant,” a term used to describe meeting the enemy in combat. These black Confederates included both slaves and free men. The Confederate Congress did not approve blacks to be officially enlisted as soldiers, except as musicians, until late in the war. But in the ranks it was a different story. Many Confederate officers, ignoring the mandates of politicians, enlisted blacks with the simple criteria, “Will you fight?” According to historian, Ervin Jordan, “biracial units were frequently organized by both local and state militia commanders in response to immediate threats by Union troops.” As of February 1865, there were 1,150 black seamen who served in the Confederate Navy. One of these was among the last Confederates to surrender, aboard the CSS Shenandoah in England, six months after
 the war ended.
However, Dr. George Smith has done extensive research on this subject as well and based upon both Union and Confederate documents included in the Official War Records, it is his opinion that “Since it was illegal for Blacks, either free or slave, to carry and bear arms, it is extraordinarily hard to believe there were 65,000 Blacks serving in Confederate ranks, with over 13,000 seeing combat. Closer to 100,000 freemen and slaves were impressed under the numerous impressments acts. All the impressments acts clearly delineated slaves were to be used as teamsters, laborers, hospital orderlies, cooks, etc.”
As the war was nearing its final days, the Confederacy took progressive measures to build back its ranks with the creation of the Confederate Colored Troops, copied after the segregated northern colored troops, but this idea came too late for any measure of success. CSA Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne, at the height of his military career and recognizing the plight of the South’s dwindling supply of able-bodied men, made a bold proposal in late 1863 to “drill and arm as many as 300,000 black slaves.” Included in this proposal was the idea to not only free the blacks who volunteered, but their wives and children as well. Cleburne was quite disappointed that his idea was not more readily embraced. However, in 1864, President Jefferson Davis, in an attempt to gain official recognition of the Confederacy by Britain and France, did approve a plan that proposed the emancipation of slaves. But what actually passed on March 13, 1865 was General Orders No. 14
 which stated: “SEC. 2, that the General-in-Chief be authorized to organize the said slaves into companies, battalions, regiments, and brigades, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of War may prescribe, and to be commanded by such officers as the President may appoint. ... that nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize a change in the relation which the said slaves shall bear toward their owners, except by consent of the owners and of the states in which they may reside, and in pursuance of the laws thereof.” This occurred just one month before the end of the war and by this point, there was no time, no munitions, no supplies, no uniforms, no nothing, for it to ever come to fruition. It is unclear whether the wages would go to the slaves or to the owners.
Contrary to what a lot of people believe, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which went into effect in January of 1863, stated that only those slaves held “within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States” would be freed and those slaves in states “not in rebellion” were not affected.
Free black men served the Confederacy as soldiers, teamsters, musicians, and cooks. They earned the same pay for their service as did white Confederate privates, which, in the Union Army, was not the case. They also earned the wrath of their fellow black men of the North. Ex-slave Frederick Douglas commented: “There are at the present moment, many colored men in the Confederate Army doing duty not only as cooks, servants and laborers, but as real soldiers, having muskets on their shoulders and bullets in their pockets, ready to shoot down ... and do all that soldiers may do to destroy the Federal Government.” Horace Greeley, observing the differences between the two warring armies, commented: “For more than two years, Negroes have been extensively employed in belligerent operations by the Confederacy. They have been embodied and drilled as rebel soldiers and had paraded with white troops at a time when this would not have been tolerated in the
 armies of the Union.”
Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was a slave trader before the war, had both slaves and free men serving in units under his command. After the war, Forrest said of the black men who served under him, “These boys stayed with me ... and better Confederates did not live.” And, in an address given by Col. William Sanford, at the Confederate Veterans Reunion of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment of Cavalry, Forrest’s Corps, at Columbia on September 22, 1876, Col. Sanford said: “And to you, our colored friends ... we say welcome. We can never forget your faithfulness in the darkest hours of our lives. We tender to you our hearty respect and love, for you never faltered in your duty nor betrayed your trust.”
When Forrest made his raid on Murfreesboro on July 13, 1862, there is documentation regarding the participation of Black Confederates according to Col. Parkhurst’s report (Ninth Michigan Infantry) included in the Federal Official Records. He wrote: “The forces attacking my camp were the First Regiment Texas Rangers, Colonel Wharton, and a battalion of the First Georgia Rangers, Colonel Morrison, and a large number of citizens of Rutherford County, many of whom had recently taken the oath of allegiance to the United States Government. There were also quite a number of negroes attached to the Texas and Georgia troops, who were armed and equipped, and took part in the several engagements with my forces during the day.”
Southern generals owned slaves but northern generals owned them as well. Gen. Ulysses Grant’s slaves had to wait for the Thirteenth Amendment for freedom. When asked why he didn’t free his slaves earlier, General Grant replied, “Good help is so hard to come by these days.” In February of 1865, Grant in fact ordered the capture of “all the Negro men ... before the enemy can put them in their ranks.” And Frederick Douglas warned President Lincoln that unless slaves were guaranteed freedom (those in Union controlled areas were still slaves) and land bounties, “They would take up arms for the rebels.”
With the South’s surrender, men stacked arms and went home. Many had no home to go to. During the early 1900s, many members of the United Confederate Veterans advocated awarding former slaves rural acreage and a home. There was hope that justice could still be served to those slaves who were once falsely promised “forty acres and a mule.” In 1913, this plan was printed and promoted by the Confederate Veteran Magazine, as “the right thing to do.” There was much gratitude toward former slaves, which stated, “thousands were loyal, to the last degree,” now living with total poverty in the big cities. Regrettably, this proposal fell on deaf ears on Capitol Hill.
In 1891, Tennessee began granting pensions to Confederate veterans. The Board of Pension Examiners was established to determine if those applying for pensions were eligible. Eligibility requirements included an inability to support oneself, honorable separation from the service and residence in the state for one year prior to application. Widow’s pensions were first issued in 1905. These applications show place of birth for widow and soldier, and information about their children. Proof of marriage was required. The board maintained three separate rolls: soldiers’ roll, widows’ roll and African-American soldiers’ roll. The following notice appeared on the “Colored Man’s Application for Pension.”
“The Negros’ pension law passed by the Tennessee Legislature, provides that Negros Pensioned by this Act must have been bona fide residents of this State three years if they served with a Tennessee Command, and ten years if they served with a command from any other State. They must have remained with the army until the close of the war, unless legally relieved from service. They must be indigent. Unless you come clearly under the law, it is useless to file an application.”
Of those Black Southerners who wore Confederate Gray, only those surviving to pension age, or were fortunate enough to overcome postwar anti-Negro prejudice, even stood a chance of receiving a pension. The pension files were controlled by State authority, and were often subject to a local county review board. Of the 290 people represented on the Tennessee Colored Pension Application for CSA Service, apparently 267 pensions were granted. The following 14 pension applications were from Rutherford County:
Avant, Alfred Scott -born in Rutherford County, in 1852; application rejected
Averitt, Albert – born in Rutherford County, in 1843, claimed service with the 18th Tennessee Infantry Co. C, application accepted
Clayton, Sam – born in Rutherford County, about 1848, claimed service with the 23rd Inf., application disposition unknown
Kirk, Sam – born in Rutherford County, claimed Hospital service, application accepted
Ledbetter, Ralph - born in Rutherford County, application disposition unknown
Maney, James – born Murfreesboro in 1843, claimed service with General Money’s Headquarters, application accepted
McCulloch, Ned - born. in Rutherford County, claimed service with the 17th Tennessee Inf., application accepted
Miller, William – born in Rutherford County, in 1847, claimed service with the 11th Tennessee Cavalry, application rejected
Nelson, Henry – born in Rutherford County, in 1842, claimed service with the 19th and 20th Tennessee Cavalry, application disposition unknown
Ransom, Alexander – born in Rutherford County, in 1840, claimed service with the 24th Tennessee Infantry, Co. A, application accepted
Ready, Albert – born in Rutherford County, in 1848, claimed service with the 23rd Tennessee Infantry, application accepted
Rucker, William – born in Rutherford County, in 1842, claimed service with the 2nd Tennessee Infantry, application accepted
Seay, Frank M., born in Rutherford County, on Jan. 25, 1843; claimed service with the 24th Tennessee Infantry, Co C., application accepted
Windrow, Wyatt, born in Rutherford County, , organization unknown, application accepted
Another pension granted, though not from Rutherford County, was that of Louis Napoleon Nelson, a member of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry, which was part of Forrest’s command. Louis Nelson was born in Lauderdale County and originally went off to war as a bodyguard for E. R. and Sydney Oldham. E. R. Oldham became a general in the 7th Tennessee Cavalry, Co. M.
According to his grandson, Nelson Winbush, a native of Ripley, Tennessee, and a retired high school assistant principal now living in Florida, his grandfather died when he was five years old at the age of 88. “He was buried with great ceremony, dressed in full Confederate uniform with a Battle Flag draping his coffin. Sons of Confederate Veterans members came from three states to see him off on his last campaign. ... He had been to 39 SCV reunions before he died.”
Nelson Winbush, like his grandfather and himself a member of SCV, speaks proudly of having the flag, which draped his grandfather’s coffin, in his possession. “My grandfather was there ... 1861 -1865 ... at Shiloh, Lookout Mountain, Brice’s Crossroads, and Vicksburg. He was originally a cook and forager, ... but when they needed him, he fought just like anybody else.”
So why did so many Southern black men choose to wear Confederate gray?
Blacks fought for the very same reason as whites – to defend their homes and their families. Historical data can sometimes be a matter of interpretation and the facts can sometimes contradict themselves. But, one must remember that day and time and judge it accordingly, for a man of the 19th century should not be compared to a man of today’s world and evaluated by current standards. Regardless of how black Southerners participated, whether voluntary or involuntary, one thing is certain: the thousands of slaves and free persons of color in the South are the most forgotten group of the Civil War. They, too, should be remembered for the suffering, sacrifices and contributions they made.

Remembering Black Confederates

Wednesday, April 11, 2007
ELIZABETH JOHNSTON / A View from the Valley

Since April is Confederate History Month, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss a much overlooked part of the history of the Confederacy — that of the service of black Southerners, both slave and free, in the Confederate army.

Of course, loyalty to the South was by no means uniform; an estimated 500,000 blacks came into Union lines during the War Between the States, a significant number, though not the majority of Southern blacks.

Blacks, like other Confederate soldiers, had numerous personal reasons for enlisting. Some joined for the excitement. Of the quarter of a million free blacks in the South, 25 percent owned slaves, and it was common for them to enlist in high numbers, feeling threatened by the North.

In other cases, as one black Confederate put it: “No matter where I fight, I only wish to spend what I have, and fight as long as I can, if only my boy may stand alone in the street equal to a white boy when the war is over.”

A strong minority were deeply loyal to the South and its cause, which to them meant freedom. But the most common reason for enlisting was simpler, and black and white Rebels shared it. They saw the North as an invader and wanted to protect their homes, families and way of life.

For all but the last few months of the War Between the States, the Confederate national government did not encourage the enlistment of blacks, but many were able to join the army through their states or local communities. The number of black Confederates was probably between 50,000 and 100,000. Unfortunately, Confederate records of both its black and white servicemen were very poor, so the exact number of either is guesswork.

The loyalty of many Southern blacks was a shock to Northerners. A black Texan guarded a federal major so carefully that he complained in his journal: “Here I had come South and was fighting to free this man. If I had made one false move on my horse, he would have shot my head off.”

The Union captors of one slave held at Point Lookout, Md., reminded him that his master had signed the Oath of Allegiance and wanted to know why he refused. “Master has no principles,” the slave responded in disgust.

A Northern newspaper commented after First Manassas: “The war has dispelled one delusion of the abolitionists. The Negroes regard them as enemies instead of friends. ... (T)hey have jeered at and insulted our troops, have readily enlisted in the rebel army, and on Sunday at Manassas, shot down our men with as much alacrity as if abolitionism had never existed.”

Even Frederick Douglass, who was instrumental in the North’s decision to allow blacks to serve in its armies, noticed: “There are at the present moment many colored men in the Confederate army doing duty not only as cooks, servants, and laborers, but as real soldiers, having muskets on their shoulders and bullets in their pockets, ready to shoot down loyal troops and do all that soldiers may do to destroy the Federal government and build up that of the traitors and rebels.”

Black Confederates served as body servants, musicians, teamsters, sentries, cooks, quartermasters, and engineers, as well as in the commissaries and in construction of fortifications. An estimated 40,000 served in combat. In fact, a black Confederate soldier named Sam Ashe was probably the one to kill Major Winthrop, the first Union officer to die in combat.

The engineering skills of another black Rebel, Horace King, were so well known that he was called “the bridge builder of the Confederacy.” Sixty-five blacks rode with Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry. One Tennessee regiment, lacking a chaplain, chose a black man named Uncle Lewis to serve in that position.

The deadly sniping of one black Rebel sharpshooter at Yorktown, Va., became such a hindrance to the Union forces that an elite unit of Federal marksmen had to be sent out to stop him. In the Confederate Navy, 1,150 black sailors had served as of February 1865. Dozens of Confederate blacks refused Northern offers of freedom and chose instead to surrender at Appomattox with the white Confederates whom they had marched alongside.

The black Confederates served just as bravely as other Rebels. As we remember the Confederacy this month, we should be careful not to forget them.

Monuments honor the Blacks who wore gray

BY LISA HOFBAUER
Of The Post and Courier Staff
Agnes Corbett always knew that her hometown of Camden had once had its share of Confederate soldiers. What she didn't know was that some of them were Black.
Corbett, the director of the Camden Archives, learned about the town's Black veterans when her organization decided to survey local cemeteries and document the names of everyone who fought in the Civil War.
When she learned of a tombstone at a Black church that had a Confederate States of America seal on it, she was amazed.
"That is a part of our history that has not been brought to the surface. Nobody has researched it," Corbett said. "We didn't even know about it until we did the survey."
Memorials to Blacks who served in the Confederacy are rare, but not unheard of. Though the debate rages on about the Confederate battle flag atop the statehouse in Columbia and the Confederate monument in Walterboro, many people haven't learned about the role that southern Blacks played in the Civil War.
At least two Black Confederate monuments exist in South Carolina, and several others can be found in other states.
One monument in Darlington is dedicated to Henry Dad Brown, a drummer for the Confederate troops who, according to Darlington resident and historian Horace Rudisell, was not allowed to carry a firearm because of his race.
Brown was able to draw a Confederate pension after the war, however, and was said to be highly respected in town because he had served. The monumnent was erected shortly after Brown's death in 1907.
Rudisell said that the monument used to be kept up by a local Black teacher until the county offered to maintain it.
Darlington County also had 10 to 12 other Black men who were body servants, or valets, to soldiers and who also drew CSA pensions. The Darlington Historical society is trying to determine the burial sites of those men so they can erect a monument honoring them.
Another Black Confederate monument was erected in 1895 in Fort Mill. That monument is dedicated to the Confederate slaves who helped protect and defend the women and children left alone during the war.
The granite obelisk has carvings of Blacks on its sides along with the names of roughly 15 slaves. Two other monuments, one dedicated to the women and children and a third for the Catawba Indians who fought for the Confederacy, stand on the same site.
William J. Bradford, the unofficial but widely respected town historian and former editor of the Fort Mill Times, said that even locally it has been underappreciated. Since the monument belongs to the people of Fort Mill and not the county, funds aren't available to keep it in top condition.
"We have always felt that it should receive more attention than it has," Bradford said. "It hasn't been vandalized, but it hasn't been kept up. None of them have been preserved as they should have been."
A monument that honors a Black Confederate soldier killed in battle also exists in Canton, Miss.
Efforts to bring to light the Black's role in the Civil War continue - and from some unlikely sources. Several chapters of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans are trying to identify Blacks who fought in the war. Terrell's Texas Calvalry 34th Regiment, a Confederate reenactment group with members in several states, is raising funds for a monument to Confederate soldiers of color. They plan to erect the monument in Richmond, Va., where the White House of the Confederacy still stands.
According to John Danylchuck, captain of a 34th Texas Calvary unit in Killeen, Texas, some reenactors have trouble believing that there were Black and Hispanic soldiers in the Confederate Army.
Danylchuck recalled one incident in which his unit was asked to reenact a battle for a television miniseries. After he and two other men - one of whom was Black - went to meet with the casting director, Danylchuck got a strange phone call.
"(The director) said, `Yeah, we'd like to have all you guys - but not the Black guy,' " Danylchuck recalled.
When asked if he knew why that happened, he said, "I know why. They don't want to see Black people wearing gray."
Many historians agree that Blacks did play a role in the Confederate army. According to the Appomattox Courthouse National Historic Site, 36 Black Confederates were among those who surrendered to the Union army at Appomatox Courthouse in Virginia on April 9, 1865. Most were teamsters, guards, cooks or musicians.
Historians estimate the total number of Black men who sided with the Confederates either as laborers or soldiers range anywhere from 60,000 to 90,000.
James Eaton, a professor at Florida A & M University who studies Black Confederates, explained why those men might have joined the cause. He said that one reason many of them did so because they were afraid their lives would be more difficult if they didn't.
"Some of them were promised their freedom if they fought. Others went out of loyalty for their masters, and stayed with them in times of trouble," Eaton said.
"Black men did fight on both sides," he continued. "There's been a whole lot of credible work done about the side of the Union, but we have not given any scholarly research to the Confederate side."

 FIRST NEGRO REGIMENT

Was Raised in New Orleans for the Confederacy.
Offered Their Services, But Didn't Fight.
RECENT DISCOVERY
New Orleans Daily States, May 24, 1903.
Some War Department officials were considerably surprised a few days ago while compiling the list of soldiers who served during the civil war, to discover that a regiment of negroes had been mustered into the Confederate service from New Orleans, says a New Orleans correspondent of the New York [Times?].
This discovery has been described as bringing to light a forgotten incident of civil war history.
There has been especial comment on the fact that the Confederate States should have enlisted negro soldiers first, and nearly a year ahead of the United States.
It is, of course, well known that the Confederate Cabinet during the last years of the war, seriously discussed the advisability of arming the negro slaves and enlisting them to drive back the Northern invaders, the slaves to be rewarded with freedom for their services. Mr. Davis is said to have favored the plan, which was proposed only when the outlook for the Confederacy was desperate, and to have abandoned it, not because he distrusted the negroes, but because it was pointed out that to take them from the farms would be to deprive the South of its food supply.
But although the war department has dug up this interesting and forgotten fact of the organization of a negro Confederate regiment, it has succeeded in collecting very little information on the subject. It has found, for instance[,] the roll of but a single company, commanded by Louis Lainez, and it has been unable to get any definite information even as to that company.
It is not possible to give all the story of this regiment, for much of it has been lost in time, but as far as it goes it is interesting, and especially interesting just now in view of the attention being given throughout the country to the relations of the whites and the negroes. It will throw some light on these relations during the period of slavery. . .
There is little reason to doubt that the colored men who organized a regiment intended to fight for the Confederate cause. Had they done so, had they been allowed to do so, it would not only have been a curious incident, but it might have had important effects. Thus Jefferson Davis might have conceived the idea of arming the negroes at the beginning of the Civil War instead of near the end of the struggle, when it was too late.
The Native Guards, however, were treated with a scant courtesy that killed any enthusiasm they might have felt for the Confederate cause. They were sworn in and mustered out of the service and called back again only in the last few desperate days before the capture of the City by Farragut's fleet.
Four months after his occupation of the City, Butler took up the work where the Confederates had dropped it. He saw the possibility of utilizing the free men of color who had some military education and discipline and on August 2, 1862 [sic] he issued an order calling on all members of the Native Guards to enlist in the service of the United States.
None of the men who had taken prominent part in the organization of this regiment in the Confederate service re-enlisted on the other side, but some of the rank and file did. The First Louisiana Native Guards was organized with Lieutenant Colonel Bassett in command and with all other officers colored. The regiment fought with courage and distinction at Port Hudson, where one of the captains, Andre Caillioux [sic], lost his life, and became a hero of the negro troops.
Nor did the colored men who took part in the organization of the negro regiment for the Confederate service have any share in the organization of the Republican party in Louisiana, and in the period of Reconstruction, and it is unfortunate for the negroes that they did not. They were men of property, many of them of education, and they might have led their people in a much better cause than the negro gamblers, bootblacks, barbers and stable boys who joined the Carper- baggers to install the horrors of Reconstruction.
The freemen of color would never have permitted the excesses which followed for they were generally friendly to the whites. Only one of the organizers and officers of the Confederate Native Guards, Arnold Bertonneau, took part in post-bellum politics. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of April 1868, which gave Louisiana its first Reconstruction Constitution.
The military spirit of the negroes died out with the Civil War. Even during Republican days no success was met with in organizing a negro militia. Under Democratic regime several negro militia companies were organized, the last survival being a company named in honor of General Beauregard's son-in-law.
A few years ago the Militia Act passed by the Louisiana Legislature suppressed the independent companies and got rid of the negro militia. Thus it is that while Louisiana had militia companies during all the days of slavery, when one of its negro regiments fought bravely during the war of 1812 and another offered its services in the Southern cause in the Civil War, today with all the negroes free, there is no negro military organization of any kind.

 BILL KING, A BLACK CONFEDERATE - Confederate Veteran June 1910 [P.294].
Bill King is dead. Members of the 20th Tennessee (Battle's) Regiment will remember him. No more faithful negro ever served a cause than did Bill King serve the boys of the old 20th. He went into the war as the body servant of the sons of Mr. Jack King, of Nolensville, Tenn., but he became the faithful servant of every member of this regiment. He went with the brave boys into the heat of battle, he nursed and cared for them in sickness, and assisted in burying the dead on the battlefields. He was as true to the cause of the South as any member of that gallant band under the intrepid leadership of Col. Joel A. Battle. In Shiloh's bloody affray Colonel Battle was captured, and the leadership fell to young Col. Thomas Benton Smith.
When one of his young masters was killed in battle, Bill was one of the escort which tenderly bore the body back to his mother and father.
Since the war Bill King had been classed as an unreconstructed Rebel. He was a true and loyal Confederate until his death. He affiliated with old soldiers, attending every gathering within his reach. He was a member of Troop A, Confederate Veterans, Nashville. He lived on his old master's farm, near Nolensville, but he died in Nashville at Vanderbilt Medical College, where he underwent a serious surgical operation.
Mr. William Waller, an undertaker, took the body back to Nolensville for burial. The body was clad in the Confederate uniform which he had during the past few years worn on all reunion occasions, according to his request. The funeral service was conducted in Mount Olivet Methodist Church (white) by the pastor, Rev. H. W. Carter.
Bill King was seventy three years old, and leaves a wife and ten or eleven children. He was a Baptist, but as there is no church of this denomination near his home, his friends decided to have the funeral in the Methodist church. He was buried in the Nolensville Cemetery.

posted by barrycdog at 6:38 PM
Camp Morton Prison
Confederates of Color
Camp Morton Prison

Confederate Soldiers and Sailors who died at Indianapolis, Ind. while prisoners of war

Alabama
Adam Cagle 8/16/64
William Birdsong 8/1864
Joseph Light 6/14/64
John Willis 7/16/64

Arkansas
R.M. Evans 2/2/65

Georgia
James E. Baldwin 2/17/65

Kentucky
J. Christian Morgan’s 2nd Cav. 11/22/63
J.W. Vance CSA Mail Carrier 3/14/64

Mississippi
Samuel Johnson 12/14/65
B.F. Keelin 2/14/65
Solomon Littleton 3/3/62
C.L. Matthews 6/18/64
Robert Vance 1/27/64
James Williams 1/20/65

Virginia
Benjamin Brown 4/2/65
Jacob Groves 2/1/65
Henry Mayo 3/23/62
John S. Kyger 1/28/65
A. Lee 3/14/65

Unknown CSA States
Alexander Blanton 1/12/64
George Frazier 1863
G.W. Hardy 2/6/65
J.C. Mitchell 1/24/64
John Woolsey 10/7/63

Official Confederate Soldier Records
NARA = National Archives and Records Administration
Died in duty to the Confederacy
Records available online at fold3.com

 Name    Listed As / Military Duty       CSA Unit       NARA Catalog ID  NARA Microfilm #        # of Pages

Reuben  Negro / Cook    Georgia 1st Battalion Sharp Shooters    586957  M266    1

Isaiah  Negro / Musician        Georgia 1st (Olmstead's) Infantry       586957  M266    8

George Brice    Colored / Musician      Georgia 1st (Olmstead's) Infantry       586957  M266    6

William Davidson        Colored Man / Drummer (In Service)      Georgia 1st (Olmstead's) Infantry       586957  M266    15


Bucchus Davis   Colored / Musician      Georgia 1st (Olmstead's) Infantry       586957  M266    5

Alexander Harris        Colored Man / Private & Musician (In Service)   Georgia 1st (Olmstead's) Infantry       586957  M266    9


Simeon T. Harvey        Colored / Musician      Georgia 1st (Olmstead's) Infantry       586957  M266    14


Maurice Middleton       Colored / Musician      Georgia 1st (Olmstead's) Infantry       586957  M266    10

Joseph (Joe) Miller     Colored Man / Musician (In Service)     Georgia 1st (Olmstead's) Infantry       586957  M266    10


William Waters  Colored Man / Fifer & Musician (In Service)     Georgia 1st (Olmstead's) Infantry       586957  M266    10


Wesley Schley   Colored / Musician      Georgia 2nd Battalion Infantry  586957  M266    10

Braham (Bram)   Slave / Cook    Georgia 4th (Clinch's) Calvary  586957  M266    5

George  Slave / Cook    Georgia 4th (Clinch's) Calvary  586957  M266    5

Scipio Africanus        Colored Troops / Cook (1865 Appomattox Parolee) Georgia 18th Battalion Infantry 586957  M266    16

Lewis Gardeen   Colored Troops / Musician (1865 Appomattox Parolee)     Georgia 18th Battalion Infantry 586957  M266    2

John Lerry      Colored Troops / Cook (1865 Appomattox Parolee) Georgia 18th Battalion Infantry 586957  M266    2

Henry McCleskey Negro / Musician (Employed)     Georgia 18th Battalion Infantry 586957  M266    20


Joe Parkman     Colored Troops / Musician (1865 Appomattox Parolee)     Georgia 18th Battalion Infantry 586957  M266    2

James Polk      Colored Troops / Cook (1865 Appomattox Parolee) Georgia 18th Battalion Infantry 586957  M266    2

William Read    Colored Troops / Cook (1865 Appomattox Parolee) Georgia 18th Battalion Infantry 586957  M266    2

George Waddell  Colored Troops / Musician (1865 Appomattox Parolee)     Georgia 18th Battalion Infantry 586957  M266    2

Henry Williams  Colored Troops / Musician (1865 Appomattox Parolee)     Georgia 18th Battalion Infantry 586957  M266    2

David Riley     Colored Boy / Musician  Georgia 30th Infantry   586957  M266    20

J       Slave / Military Duty Unknown   Georgia 50th Infantry   2133276 M347    1

Luke Burroughs  Slave / Chief Cook      Georgia 63rd Infantry   586957  M266    8

Catharine Dawson        Colored / Cook  Georgia 63rd Infantry   586957  M266    3

Hannah Dawson   Colored / Cook  Georgia 63rd Infantry   586957  M266    3

Joe Fox Colored / Nurse Georgia 63rd Infantry   586957  M266    5

Nelson Jones    Slave / Nurse   Georgia 63rd Infantry   586957  M266    2

Abram Ranger    Slave / Assistant Cook  Georgia 63rd Infantry   586957  M266    8

William Young   Slave / Musician & Drummer      Georgia 63rd Infantry   586957  M266    15

Mallard Hambrick        Colored/Nurse   Georgia 85th Hospital   2133276 M347    2

Bill    Negro / Carpenter & Mechanic    Georgia / E. D. Hugennan (Hugennin)     2133276 M347    1

Horace  Negro / Carpenter & Mechanic    Georgia / E. D. Hugennan (Hugennin)     2133276 M347    1


There were an estimated 65,000-100,000 black Confederate troops and some 13,000-20,000 on the battle front.  Another feature that has come to light is that in the records of the period here in Georgia there were 250,000 free blacks and 25% of them owned slaves.  This is the part of history that many don’t want to be told. But the records verify it from the State & Federal Archives at Morrow, Georgia.  Black History Month is richer than earlier believed and they should be proud of their ancestor’s heritage.

Georgia Not Doing As Good As We Have Been Told

Here’s some news from Gallup-Healthways Inc. about the poll they have been doing since 2008 ranking the states with the highest and lowest well-being index that covers,
Purpose-like what you do each day and being motivated to achieve your goals;
Social-having supportive relationships and love in your life;
Financial-managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security;
Community-liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community;
Physical-having good health and enough energy to get things done daily.

Georgia’s ranking in 2013 was number 27 in the 50 states.  The 2013 Purpose rating was 13; Social rating was 18; Financial rating was 23; Community rating was 35; and Physical rating was 38.

Georgia’s ranking in 2014 took us down to 30 in the 50 states. The 2014 Purpose rating was 21; Social rating was 16; Financial rating was 47; Community rating was 37; and Physical rating was 25.

The number 1 state for 2014 in the US was the State of Alaska.  They jumped several numbers to become number 1.  Georgia slid 3 numbers to 30th in the nation.

This poll was devised by the Gallup and Healthways Groups to show the well being of the people in each state in all aspects from health to finances.  And Georgia clearly has some problems to overcome before it can become a true key player.  This poll was devised with the support of the Chamber of Commerce of each state to find out how their states were performing overall nationally.

Here are the top 10 states in the nation in ranking: 1. Alaska; 2. Hawaii; 3. South Dakota; 4. Wyoming; 5. Montana; 6. Colorado; 7. Nebraska; 8. Utah; 9. New Mexico; 10. Texas.

Here  are the lowest 10 states in the nation in ranking: 41. Missouri; 42. Michigan; 43. Arkansas; 44. Tennessee; 45. Alabama; 46. Mississippi; 47. Ohio; 48. Indiana; 49. Kentucky; 50. West Virginia.

We Are Not Atlanta!!!

An article for the Henry County Community News Blog from a long time Ellenwood resident.

On February 17, 2015 at the Henry County Board of Commissioners meeting  I watched these people take away some of the rights of private property owners and this will be met in court when certain businesses want to come into the area and are denied.  Fairview has always been a quiet and nice little community that didn’t need all the hype it is receiving as of late.  My husband said it is a lot of sh*&t and he is not the only person who feels this way.  We moved to this area in 1983 from Atlanta to get away from the problems that were feeding that area.  Now we see the same problems growing here.  When taking property rights from owners who might have an opportunity to sell  a piece of their property to a business such as a pawn shop then it is getting to the point of dictatorship and appeasing a certain sector of the society.  This leads to more corruption and more under the table deals of people in the area wanting a property fixed to put in a park or
 other place such as this doctors complex.  Many are asking questions as to how much money was put under the table to fill the accounts of those in power.  My neighbor told me to look at a website and see how they are trying to make this Atlanta instead of where we live.  This is the kind work that has hurt this county in the past because they are looking out for themselves and their ego driven purposes.  Wonder when property owners take the county to court over this issue will it still be the in thing.  We are not Atlanta and we will never be.

Alice Cummings
Ellenwood Resident

The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following a link on this site.  Any article sent by citizens are their own property.

Black History Month about Mr. Lucius King.

Here is another in the series on Black History Month about Mr. Lucius King.

Mr. Lucius King was the brother of  Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr. and uncle to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Mr. King wasn’t one to be out front when all was happening during the Civil Rights movement.  He was born in Stockbridge, GA in September 1899.  His brother Michael (Daddy King) was born in 1897 according to the Census of 1900.
Lucius attended school to the third grade and then began working at odd jobs around town to help out with the family.  He was harassed by the white supremacists of the day and made his life miserable here.

His sister Lenora had married and moved to Griffin, GA and so Lucius left Stockbridge about the time their Mama died and he lived with his sister and her husband for a while.  He had gotten a job digging ditches for the road crew in the Griffin area.  He was a shy and bashful person who didn’t say much or want to be in the forefront of things happening in the area.  His brother Michael (Daddy King) had moved to Atlanta and became a minister which was his life’s calling.  But for Lucius he wanted to live a simple life and he moved down to Madison, GA.

He did not realize that this area was a hot spot for the KKK.  Morgan County was ripe with them and he had to be very careful especially in later years.  If they had known  he was related to Dr. King, Jr. he would have likely been hunted down and lynched as a retaliation towards him.  Lucius was working in the framing of houses at this time and kept a low profile.

Lucius was hurt by the assassination of his nephew in Memphis and went to Atlanta to be with Daddy King and his wife at the time to be with the family.  Afterwards, he went back down to Madison.  By this time his health was getting bad and he didn’t work as much as he had once did.  In October 1970, Lucius King passed away in Madison.  This was only a few days after Coretta King had MLK, Jr. moved to where the King Center was being formed.  So, they laid Lucius in the vacated spot of MLK.  Daddy King and his wife Roberta would be buried just above him at South View Cemetery in Atlanta.

Lucius was a proud man and had every right to be.  He worked the best he knew how and at hard work during his life.  He followed his father’s footsteps in working hard to make a living.  One of the silent parts of the King family not heard in history.
 

Black History Month James Weldon Johnson

Continuing with the series on Black History Month I want to cover James Weldon Johnson a man  who would be a special man in the is History of the Black People.

James Weldon Johnson was born in 1871 in Jacksonville, Florida, the son of Helen Louise Dillet, a native of Nassau, Bahamas, and James Johnson. James' maternal great-grandmother, Hester Argo, had escaped from Saint-Domingue during the revolutionary upheaval in 1802, along with her three young children, including (James Weldon Johnson's grandfather), Stephen Dillet (1797-1880). Although originally headed to Cuba, their boat was intercepted by privateers and they were brought to Nassau, Bahamas instead. There they permanently settled. Stephen Dillet was the first man of color to win election to the Bahamian legislature in 1833.

James' brother was John Rosamond Johnson, who became a composer. The boys were first educated by their mother (a musician and a public school teacher) before attending Edwin M. Stanton School. His mother imparted to them her great love and knowledge of English literature and the European tradition in music. At the age of 16, Johnson enrolled at Clark Atlanta University, a historically black college, from which he graduated in 1894. In addition to his bachelor's degree, he also completed some graduate coursework.  During this time, he needed money so he taught at the black school in Stockbridge, GA.  While there he worked to instill in the people at Trinity Methodist Church what their Civil Rights meant to freed slaves.  He molded the very people who would teach Michael King, Sr. (Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr.) about Civil Rights and the meaning of freedom. James was a young man with many talents who finished college by the age of 20.

The achievement of his father, headwaiter at the St. James Hotel, a luxury establishment built when Jacksonville was one of Florida's first winter havens, inspired young James to pursue a professional career. Molded by the classical education for which Atlanta University was best known, Johnson regarded his academic training as a trust. He knew he was expected to devote himself to helping black people advance. Johnson was a prominent member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.
Johnson and his brother Rosamond moved to New York City as young men, joining the Great Migration out of the South in the first half of the 20th century. They collaborated on songwriting and achieved some success on Broadway in the early 1900s.
Johnson served in several public capacities over the next 40 years, working in education, the diplomatic corps, and civil rights activism. In 1904 he participated in Theodore Roosevelt’s successful presidential campaign. After becoming president, Roosevelt appointed Johnson as United States consul at Puerto Cabello, Venezuela from 1906 to 1908, and to Nicaragua from 1909 to 1913.
In 1910, Johnson married Grace Nail, whom he had met in New York City several years earlier while working as a songwriter. A cultured and well-educated New Yorker, Grace Nail Johnson later collaborated with her husband on a screenwriting project.
After their return to New York from Nicaragua, Johnson became increasingly involved in the Harlem Renaissance, a great flourishing of art and writing. He wrote his own poetry and supported work by others, also compiling and publishing anthologies of spirituals and poetry. Owing to his influence and his innovative poetry, Johnson became a leading voice in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.
He became involved in civil rights activism, especially the campaign to pass federal legislation against lynching, as southern states seldom prosecuted perpetrators. Starting as a field secretary, he became one of the most successful officials in the NAACP; as executive secretary, he helped increase members and reach by organizing new chapters in the South. During this period, the NAACP was mounting frequent legal challenges to the southern states disfranchisement of African Americans at the turn of the century by such devices as poll tax, literacy tests, grandfather clauses and white primaries.
Johnson died in 1938 while vacationing in Wiscasset, Maine, when the car his wife was driving was hit by a train. His funeral in Harlem was attended by more than 2000 people. When Mr. Johnson died a great man with a great man died that day.  A man with a clear vision.  And part of his life was spent right here in Henry County, GA.
 

Black History Month Ms. Helen DuBose

Here is another for the series on Black History Month about the late Ms. Helen DuBose

Ms. Helen DuBose passed away on January 24, 2015 at the age of 95 and was a great person in the History of the Black People.  She was believed to be the first black woman in the United States to garner an agriculture degree and was widely recognized for her work in the ways to do organic farming.  Helen DuBose had gone on to earn two master’s degrees in agriculture and agriculture economics from the Tuskeegee Institute.  Helen lived for 32 years on her 12 acre McDonough blueberry farm called Healing Acres.

Helen DuBose was given the 2013 Georgia Organics award named the Barbara Petit Pollinator Award.  The Executive Director Alice Rolls said she contributed so much to the farming culture in Georgia.  Helen was definitely a legendary farmer and agricultural teacher and gave inspiration to so many, especially young African American growers exclaimed Ms. Rolls.  Her work with the land has left a legacy that history will tell and future farmers will benefit.

Helen DuBose was covered by the local paper back in 2010.  She commented that farming was her life.  She said that farming is part of us and that farmers have always been the backbone of America.  Helen grew up on a shade tobacco farm.  This farm produced tobacco for cigars.  She remembered how hard it was for black farmers in the early 20th century.  She realized from childhood that a black sharecropper was at the bottom of the pile except on tobacco farms.  She wanted to learn more about farming and also in the process help those sharecroppers she saw everyday.  She felt she wanted to grow up and see that a better chance for a better living at farming for the black people.

Helen became the first person in her family since slavery to continue through school beyond the sixth grade.  She was the first in her family to graduate from college getting a bachelor’s degree in 1941 at Florida A&M.  She would become the first black woman in the country to earn such a degree. When she left college she went back to farming.  She cultivated some 40 acres that she purchased from her grandfather close to Thomasville, GA.  She also went on to teach high school English in the area.  Helen also worked for the USDA with the agriculture migrant workers in the Everglades of Florida.  As World War II came, she taught programs to increase farm output for the war effort.  During the whole time she worried about the lives of black farmers.  She said that people don’t understand the inequity that exists between the government entities as far as black farmers are concerned.

She wanted her blueberry farm to give the young generation a spearhead to appreciate farming.  As she said you can’t live a day without something from the farm.  She felt that young people are getting a better and healthier view of farming and the needs of the farmers than they once had.  Some are born to be farmers and they should be respected for doing so.

Our world has be blessed to have Mrs. DuBose in our midst.  She has taught many a lesson and has brought forth food for the tables of the uncounted.  Her blueberry farm was exceptional and we will miss her.  The first time I met her was in 1983 when she was 64 years young and still going.  She was a dynamo in the farming industry and will always be remembered for bringing forth a Black Woman of Substance to the world of agriculture.  McDonough lost a legend when she recently passed away.

References:
1.      Agriculture of America
2.      The State Archives.
3.      The Henry Herald Newspaper.
4.      Lemon Funeral Directors

Here is another part of Black History Month that has a tragic ending

Here is another part of Black History Month that has a tragic ending.

Not all of Black History has been a shining glory and much of it has been treated with sinister hands.  This is the condensed story of Mr. Jerry Banks, a black man wrongfully accused of a murder of two white people in 1974.  And his ending is not a happy one.
Jerry Banks lived on Banks Road between Rock Quarry Road and Flippen Road.  The road being named for his family.  On November 7, 1974, Jerry Banks went out hunting with his dog and found two dead bodies those of Marvin King 38 band director at Jonesboro High School and Melanie Ann Hartsfield 19 who attended Clayton Jr. College and was one of King’s former students.  Mr. Banks found their bodies on a lonely dirt road in a very rural part of Henry County.  Each had been shot with a shotgun.  Their bodies had been dragged about a hundred feed from where the shooting occurred into the weeds and covered with a blanket.  Marvin King’s car was then driven off and abandoned in a field three miles away.  Melanie Hartsfield’s car was found at Mays Corner in the Food Giant shopping center.

Jerry Banks happened upon the bodies and was scared right then and went up to Rock Quarry Road and flagged down a motorist to get them to call the police. Almost, exactly one month after the murders Jerry Banks was arrested for the crime.  Basically because he was a black man and a perfect person in the eyes of the police to have committed the crime.  Banks went on trial in January and on January 31, 1975 just four days after the trial started he was found guilty of the crimes and sentenced to die in the electric chair.  His  inept lawyer saw that his client was charged by not putting on a proper defense.  He would later be disbarred for poor practices as an attorney at law.

Jerry Banks sat on death row for some three years as another team went to appeal the sentence and it was still upheld.  So, a group went in and took the case to the Georgia Court of Appeals who over turned the previous convictions because the police had concealed evidence.  He was retried and found guilty again and sentenced for the deaths of King and Hartsfield.  In 1980, Banks had a new group of pro-bono lawyers who took the case to the Georgia Supreme Court and introduced some more new evidence that was not allowed in the original trial. The Court over turned the sentence and released Jerry Banks.  The Henry County District Attorney said he would go for another trial until presented with some more findings and he dropped the idea.

On December 22, 1980, Jerry Banks was a free man.  He had been imprisoned for a double murder for over six years, three of those on death row in the state penitentiary. Jerry Banks joyously returned home and was reunited with his wife and three children.  He soon discovered though that his wife had fallen in love with another man and wanted a divorce.  After all that had happened to him Jerry Banks couldn’t handle this jolting news.  He was suffering  terrific headaches; he was mentally and emotionally crushed; and he was afraid of losing custody of his children.  So, on March 29, 1981, Jerry Banks pulled out a pistol and shot his wife and then himself.  He died instantly, but his wife lingered for a month in a coma before passing away.  Jerry Banks last written words were, “They had taken all that I had, all that I held dear to me.”

Since, that time no one has ever been convicted of the crime of killing Marvin King and Melanie Ann Hartsfield.  That murder is still unsolved.  A black man’s life was ruined by this murder also.  Mr. Charles Sargent has written a very indepth account of the events surrounding the murder of Marvin King and Melanie Anne Hartsfield and the subsequent death of two more Jerry Banks and his wife in “The Sins of Henry County.”   This was a terrible tragedy for a black family here in Henry County.  This is a story for Black History Month that many don’t like to hear, but it needs telling.