APRIL IS CONFEDERATE HISTORY AND HERITAGE MONTH Confederate Memorial Day On Saturday, April 23, we will have our formal service at the historic plantation home and burial site of Captain John Thaddeus Stovall, 1353 Cedar Rock Road, Thomson. The service will begin at 10:30 A.M. sharp. Bring a lawn chair. Period clothing is encouraged. Many members will have individual responsibilities that day. A photo, less anyone’s name, will be submitted to the Georgia Confederate. Time required: 1.5 hours including program and tour. We will travel to Fernanda’s for lunch. ********** NEXT MEETING -- TUESDAY, APRIL 26 New Locations -- We’re moving back to Thomson.
Speaker: Alan Smith -- Topic: Pilgrims Delbert Alan Smith is a retired Methodist minister and supporter of groups that encourage historic preservation and awareness of history. These include the National Trust, the Society of Cincinnati, the Huguenot Society of South Carolina, First Families of Georgia, and the Jamestowne Society. He is Assistant General of the Georgia Society of Mayflower Descendants. He is past president of the William Few Chapter of the Georgia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and has participated in numerous GASSAR grave markings of Revolutionary soldiers. He supports historic preservation in McDuffie County as president of the Wrightsboro Foundation and chairman of the Rock House Advisory Committee. He and his wife Judy restored their 1842 home. Alan did the research required for its placement on the National Register of Historic Places. They did nearly all of the restoration themselves over a number of years. They have worked to make a comfortable home for themselves and visiting children and grandchildren while keeping the house accurate to its historic roots. The house contains family pieces and antiques collected over many years. The Captain John Wilson Chapter, National Society Daughters of American Revolution presented them the DAR Excellence in Historic Preservation certificates and medals in 2021. ********** ANNOUNCEMENTS
********** April Events in the WBTS
********** As a member of Camp 91, Thomson Guards, please remember that above all things:
********** MARCH PROGRAM -- THE LARGEST PRISON: THE STORY OF FORT LAWTON At the regular monthly meeting of Camp 91, Thomson Guards, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Dr. John Derden, Professor Emeritus of History gave a fact based power point presentation on the Confederate prison called Fort Lawton located at Magnolia Springs near Millen. From November 1864 to the spring of 1865, the newly erected prison of 42 acres held about 12,000 Federal prisoners that were mostly transported there from the Andersonville prison near Americus. When General Sherman began his March to the Sea military campaign from Atlanta, he had three main objectives. First, he wanted to capture the Georgia capital in Milledgeville. Second, he wished to capture the city of Savannah. Third, he sent his Calvary commanded by General Sheridan on a forced march to free the prisoners at Fort Lawton and to totally destroy the strategic railroad intersection at Millen. When Sheridan arrived, the prisoners were gone but he did lay waste to the depot and tracks. It was a fantastic presentation ********** ********** COMMANDER’S POST ARRIL IS CONFEDERATE HISTORY AND HERITAGE MONTH The General Assembly hereby finds and determines that tourism is a great economic resource in Georgia; and historical, heritage, and cultural inheritance are among the tourism industry's most popular attractions. Georgia's Confederate heritage, physical artifacts and battle sites, and historic events and persons not only attract visitors, they are potentially of even greater importance and benefit to our state's economy. Increased development of our state's Confederate history and heritage as part of the tourism industry will be enhanced through recognizing, celebrating, and advertising that heritage and history.
The month of April of each year is hereby designated as Confederate History and Heritage Month and shall be set aside to honor, observe, and celebrate the Confederate States of America, its history, those who served in its armed forces and government, and all those millions of its citizens of various races and ethnic groups and religions who contributed in sundry and myriad ways to the cause which they held so dear from its founding on February 4, 1861, in Montgomery, Alabama, until the Confederate ship CSS Shenandoah sailed into Liverpool Harbor and surrendered to British authorities on November 6, 1865. Officials and departments of state, county, and municipal governments, boards of education, elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, businesses, and all citizens are encouraged to participate in programs, displays, and activities that commemorate and honor our shared history and cultural inheritance throughout each April during Confederate History and Heritage Month. |