Thomson Guards Dispatch
July - December 2024
Tom Holley, Editor
November 2024 Dispatch
Next Meeting -- Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Phil Turner, The Gray Poet
Next Meeting -- Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Phil Turner, The Gray Poet
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Philip Jefferson Turner, who grew up in Harlem, is now enjoying his pursuits as a poet and historian. His first poetry was about the Confederacy. It is so realistic you would think he had actually witnessed and experienced what he wrote. It is also true of his poetry about WWII and Vietnam.
Phil has an abiding interest in historic preservation. Over the years he has conducted and recorded over 200 interviews with WWII veterans to preserve the stories of this fading generation, most of whom are now gone. He has also interviewed a number of Vietnam veterans. Phil has spoken around the |
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Southeast and shared this history. He has also interviewed and recorded oral histories of well-known Augusta and Columbia County names to preserve local history. He and Bill Morris were the force behind the Harlem Bank Project which was the rescue and preservation of bank documents (some dating back to as early as 1905) that were discovered above the original vault in the old Bank of Harlem.
Phil has served as Chairman and on the committee for the Harlem Museum and is a member at large of the Columbia County Historic Commission. The 2022 Oliver Hardy Festival was dedicated to him. He is the official Historian and Poet Laureate of Harlem.
Phil was also recognized by the Captain John Wilson Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, with its Excellence in Historic Preservation Award during the Thomson Guards Confederate Memorial Day Commemoration in April 2023.
During this month’s meeting, he will share several of his poems that have been recorded on a newly published CD: Magnolia Song, Rebel Comin’, For the Boys, Valley Pikes, and To Dixie. The CDs will be available for purchase for $20. Anyone who purchases a CD may also select one of the following poems in a print copy: Rebel Comin’, Southern Bell, and Lee.
Thank you, Phil, for honoring our veterans, videotaping our meetings, sharing your poems and contributing in many other ways to support Camp 91.
Phil has served as Chairman and on the committee for the Harlem Museum and is a member at large of the Columbia County Historic Commission. The 2022 Oliver Hardy Festival was dedicated to him. He is the official Historian and Poet Laureate of Harlem.
Phil was also recognized by the Captain John Wilson Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, with its Excellence in Historic Preservation Award during the Thomson Guards Confederate Memorial Day Commemoration in April 2023.
During this month’s meeting, he will share several of his poems that have been recorded on a newly published CD: Magnolia Song, Rebel Comin’, For the Boys, Valley Pikes, and To Dixie. The CDs will be available for purchase for $20. Anyone who purchases a CD may also select one of the following poems in a print copy: Rebel Comin’, Southern Bell, and Lee.
Thank you, Phil, for honoring our veterans, videotaping our meetings, sharing your poems and contributing in many other ways to support Camp 91.
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Congratulations on your new
professionally recorded CD! |
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Think
Christmas |
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Veterans Day -- Thank you for your service!
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Salute to Our Camp’s Veterans
Ben (active duty) Terry M. Johnson Shawn D. King Michael E. Lacefield Dobbie E. Lambert Paul McCorkle Walter D. Milburn David B. Moore Patric M. Parker Joe Patrick F. Lewis Smith Robert C. Stephenson 
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Flagging Veterans’ Graves Camp 91, Thomson Guards, Sons of Confederate Veterans is honored to mark the graves and memories of our United States military veterans in the Thomson Memorial Cemetery. Each veteran grave is recognized by a small U.S. flag. The camp also posts the large flags along the graveyard frontage on Tom Watson Way. These include the U.S., Georgia, and each of the armed forces service flags. The camp provides these flags as a tribute to all U. S. military veterans - past, present and future, who serve or have served the country honorably. |
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Announcements
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1. Veterans Canteen — Sat., Nov. 9 — 9:00 am—Noon.
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3. Thomson City Council Meeting — Thurs., Nov. 14 — 6:00 pm
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4. Warm Clothing Collection — Tues., Nov. 26
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The Thomson Guards Holds its October 2024 Meeting
On Tuesday, October 22nd, the monthly meeting of the Thomson Guards, Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 91, was held at 7:00 at the local library to hear Thomsonian and member Lewis Smith share the history of his great-great-grandmother’s brother James Michael Barr fighting as a 5th SC cavalry trooper during the War Between the States. The meeting began with Commander Tom Holley welcoming our guests, a prayer by Chaplain Jimmy McDaniel for relief for Hurricane Helene victims, and a southern-inspired poem by Harlem’s Phil Turner. Mr. Holley announced that the Thomson City Council will recognize our camp for its excellent work to restore the Thomson Memorial Cemetery on November 14 at its regular meeting. We are proud to receive such an honor which belongs primarily to Tom Holley.
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Using the text of ‘When We Meet in Heaven – the Civil War Letters of James Michael Barr,’ Mr. Smith built his power-point program around the bond Barr and Ance, his enslaved young man, shared as they traveled together throughout SC and VA during the war. Barr allowed Ance to hire himself out for other work which enabled him to send money back home in Leesville, SC for Ance’s wife and two young boys. Ance cooked, cleaned, washed, ran errands, groomed horses,
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and traveled back and forth unescorted whenever the need arose from battle areas to Leesville. On picket duty, Barr took Ance with him and shared his rations. Barr was shot in the leg by a George Custer Michigan Wolverine during the Battle of Trevilian Station, VA and developed gangrene. He died in Charlottesville a few days after his pregnant wife Rebecca traveled by freight car to be with him at his end. The next month, their daughter died at birth and was buried next to her daddy.
Learning about southern history, protecting its heritage and honoring its ancestors is our purpose. We do nothing and say nothing that might bring dishonor to our camp or to our Confederate heroes. All meetings are fully open to the public. Look us up online. Attend a meeting. Contact commander Tom Holley at 706-466-3678 or
[email protected] or [thomsonguardscamp91gascv.com].
Submitted by Lewis Smith, Camp Historian
Learning about southern history, protecting its heritage and honoring its ancestors is our purpose. We do nothing and say nothing that might bring dishonor to our camp or to our Confederate heroes. All meetings are fully open to the public. Look us up online. Attend a meeting. Contact commander Tom Holley at 706-466-3678 or
[email protected] or [thomsonguardscamp91gascv.com].
Submitted by Lewis Smith, Camp Historian
Due to technology limitations in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, this article was submitted to
The McDuffie Progress and the Warren County Leader at a later date than usual and have not yet
The McDuffie Progress and the Warren County Leader at a later date than usual and have not yet
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October 2024 Dispatch
Meeting -- Tuesday, October 22, 2024
George Washington's Tour of the South
by Dr. John K. Derden
Meeting -- Tuesday, October 22, 2024
George Washington's Tour of the South
by Dr. John K. Derden
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Dr. John K. Derden was born at Fort Benning, Georgia, the son of a career officer in the U.S. Army. As a result he grew up in many different places in the continental U.S., Hawaii, and Europe. He received degrees from Reinhardt University (A.A.) and the University of Georgia (B.S.Ed. and M.A. and Ph.D. in history). He taught history for 31 years at East Georgia State College in Swainsboro, where he now holds the rank of Professor Emeritus.
In March 2022, he presented a program for the Thomson Guards on his book, The Story of Camp Lawton. He also collaborated on the Images of America: Emanuel County, Georgia, has researched the life of Jacques Futrelle (the Georgia mystery author who died in the Titanic disaster), and speaks to historical gatherings such as the National Congress of Sons of the American Revolution. Dr. Derden also contributed an article to Georgia Backroads Magazine. Entitled “A Uniform of Gray the Only Passport Needed,” the article details the significance of Millen, Georgia, during the Civil War. The article explains the importance of the Central of Georgia Railroad’s junction at Millen, making it a communications and transit hub connecting Savannah, Augusta, and Macon. It not only brought important personages such as President Polk and Henry Clay through the town, but its strategic importance also attracted the attention of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman as his forces crossed the state from Atlanta to Savannah in the fall off 1864. They destroyed the junction and left Millen a burning rubble. The article also contains a brief history of Millen’s “Wayside Home,” a volunteer effort by the women of Burke County to provide respite for Confederate soldiers transiting the junction. The home provided food, medical care, rest facilities, and female companionship for war-weary soldiers from its inception in the spring of 1863 to its destruction in early December 1864. In addition, Dr. Derden’s article explains the importance of Camp Lawton, the Confederacy’s largest but short-lived military prison located five miles north of Millen. According to Dr. Derden “the story of Millen demonstrates that small towns can have a rich history, even to the point of becoming epicenters of nationally significant events.” Dr. Derden is married to the former Carolyn Graves of Murphy, North Carolina, and has two children, Mark and Melanie. |
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Compatriot Patrick Lunceford is continuing his responsibilities as a National Guardian
for maintaining a specific Confederate soldier’s burial site.
See the camp’s website / About Us / National Guardian or Georgia Guardian for members of the Thomson Guards who are actively working to promote The Charge by protecting CSA gravesites.
for maintaining a specific Confederate soldier’s burial site.
See the camp’s website / About Us / National Guardian or Georgia Guardian for members of the Thomson Guards who are actively working to promote The Charge by protecting CSA gravesites.
Joseph Morris Shields, Co. K, Hamilton Rangers,
48th Georgia Infantry Regiment, Wright’s Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. Shields Family Cemetery at Deerfield Plantation, McDuffie County, Georgia |
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Commander's Post
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Our prayers and best wishes are extended to all
as we clean up or rebuild after Hurricane Helene’s devastation. “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 |
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Keep America in Your Care
by Helen Steiner Rice
by Helen Steiner Rice
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We are faced with many problems that grow bigger day by day
And, as we seek to solve them in our own self-sufficient way, We keep drifting into chaos and our avarice and greed Blinds us to the answer that would help us in our need... Oh, God, renew our spirit and make us more aware That our future is dependent on sacrifice and prayer, Forgive us our transgressions and revive our faith anew So we may all draw closer to each other and to You... For when a nation is too proud to daily kneel and pray It will crumble into chaos and descend into decay. So stir us with compassion and raise our standards higher, And take away our lust for power and make our one desire To be a shining symbol of all that's great and good As You lead us in our struggle toward newfound brotherhood! |
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. Psalm 33:12 |
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Thomson Memorial Cemetery Restoration Celebration Saturday, September 21, 2024 See the Community / Activities 2024 in this website for a full description of this outstanding community event including program, trivia questions, map, photos and interview broadcast by WJBF. |
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THE THOMSON GUARDS MONTHLY MEETING September 2024
Published in The McDuffie Progress and The Warrenton Leader
Published in The McDuffie Progress and The Warrenton Leader
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The monthly meeting of the Thomson Guards, Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 91, was held Tuesday the 24th at 7:00 in Thomson’s city library. Historian Tom Elmore presented the program, titled ‘The Burning of Columbia - February 17, 1865’. Tom used numerous tales he heard as a young man as the basis for his program about life in Columbia during the Civil War.
Tom, the author of many articles in regional and national publications, holds a B.A. in History and Political Science from the University of South Carolina. He lectures all across the Mid-Atlantic and is a book reviewer for two national magazines. Tom is the South Carolina State Historian for the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He and his wife live in Columbia with its many ante-bellum mansions spared from the Yankee torches during the sacking of the state capital. His terrific slides, however, also showed many destroyed homes before and after their destruction and some after their restoration.
Tom has written 5 excellent books: Columbia’s Civil War Landmarks, A Carnival of Destruction - Sherman’s Invasion of South Carolina, The Scandalous Lives of Carolina Belles Marie Boozer and Amelia Feaster: Flirting with the Enemy, Potter’s Raid Through South Carolina, and Celtic Columbia. They are available on Amazon and other sources. Tom offered signed copies of each after his program.
We hope you joined us at the Thomson Memorial Cemetery Restoration Celebration on September 21st at the old city cemetery, or saw the Channel 6 news report about our great efforts in being the major force in restoring it. The event raised $1,850 for the cemetery, $150 for the SCV Memorial Defense Fund and $220 for the McDuffie Museum. We hope you folks will come see us during the next month at Harlem’s Oliver Hardy Festival and the Wrens’ October Fun Fest and tell us how you think we did.
Learning about southern history, protecting its heritage and honoring its ancestors is our purpose. We do nothing and say nothing that might bring dishonor to our camp or to our Confederate heroes. All meetings are fully open to the public. Look us up online. Attend a meeting. Contact commander Tom Holley at 706-466-3678 or [email protected] or [thomsonguardscamp91gascv.com].
Lewis Smith, Camp Historian
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Vintage Toys
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McDuffie Museum Remote Exhibit Oct. 2024 - Jan. 2025 City-County Admin. Bldg. |
This McDuffie Museum remote exhibit with accompanying scrapbook provides a glimpse of vintage toys that many of us cherish from our childhood. These toys are not actually antiques that you might consider as part of a museum exhibit, but they do represent toys that most adult Americans remember playing with themselves. One important feature for this Vintage Toy exhibit is that all items are kid powered, needing no batteries or electricity. While some true antiques or older items in mint condition might have significant monetary value, the values of these toys can be counted in the pleasure they could bring to you while introducing them and your memories to the children that you know.
Of the twenty-seven toys in this exhibit, only nine have not yet been inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. During its first year, 1998-99, the following toys received this honor: Teddy Bear, Erector Set, Crayola Crayons, Frisbee, Barbie, Etch A Sketch, Monopoly, Tinkertoy, Play-Doh, Marbles and Legos. The accompanying scrapbook provides a chart comparing each toy’s country of origin, important dates and some interesting facts, as well as excerpts from the NTHF website describing each toy’s history and popularity. You can be a part of history by submitting your favorite toy to the Strong National Museum of Play for this honor, https://www.museumofplay.org/exhibits/toy-hall-of-fame/inducted-toys/.
The oldest toy concept in this exhibit is the yoyo. Its history dates to 440 BC in ancient Greece. Not quite that old, the wooden or plastic Duncan Yo-Yo was commonplace in every home since the 1930’s. During the 1950s-60s, many enthusiasts were shown in televised competitions. The modern yoyo was brought from the Philippines to the United States in 1929 when Donald F. Duncan Sr. purchased the Flores Yo-Yo Company from Pedro Flores. Does Walk the Dog, The Elephant, The Creeper, Threading the Needle, and Rock the Baby sound familiar? These are all yoyo tricks that many children and adults have spent hours perfecting. You can now see these incredible tricks on YouTube.
Of the twenty-seven toys in this exhibit, only nine have not yet been inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. During its first year, 1998-99, the following toys received this honor: Teddy Bear, Erector Set, Crayola Crayons, Frisbee, Barbie, Etch A Sketch, Monopoly, Tinkertoy, Play-Doh, Marbles and Legos. The accompanying scrapbook provides a chart comparing each toy’s country of origin, important dates and some interesting facts, as well as excerpts from the NTHF website describing each toy’s history and popularity. You can be a part of history by submitting your favorite toy to the Strong National Museum of Play for this honor, https://www.museumofplay.org/exhibits/toy-hall-of-fame/inducted-toys/.
The oldest toy concept in this exhibit is the yoyo. Its history dates to 440 BC in ancient Greece. Not quite that old, the wooden or plastic Duncan Yo-Yo was commonplace in every home since the 1930’s. During the 1950s-60s, many enthusiasts were shown in televised competitions. The modern yoyo was brought from the Philippines to the United States in 1929 when Donald F. Duncan Sr. purchased the Flores Yo-Yo Company from Pedro Flores. Does Walk the Dog, The Elephant, The Creeper, Threading the Needle, and Rock the Baby sound familiar? These are all yoyo tricks that many children and adults have spent hours perfecting. You can now see these incredible tricks on YouTube.
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Coming Soon for the Holidays
More vintage toys will be displayed at the McDuffie Museum. With a Facebook post, Board of Directors President Chase Beggs, has already generated a list of our McDuffie County neighbors who are excited to share their treasures with the public. Please contact Cassidy Blackwell, the museum’s director, who will get your information so that a well-rounded exhibit can be developed. Please email your toy photo and contact information to her at [email protected]. |
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Compiled by Karen Holley,
McDuffie Museum Board of Directors |
McDuffie Museum
Free and Open Fri. & Sat. Noon - 5:00 pm. |
Halloween 1984
Lewis & JoAnn Smith’s sons dressed as CSA soldiers |
September 2024 Dispatch
Meeting -- Tuesday, September 24, 2024
The Burning of Columbia, February 17, 1865
By Tom Elmore
Meeting -- Tuesday, September 24, 2024
The Burning of Columbia, February 17, 1865
By Tom Elmore
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Tom Elmore’s books and articles include:
- The Burning of Columbia, February 17, 1865.
- The Confederacy’s New Mexico Campaign of 1862.
- Fifty Shades of Blue & Gray.
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book place after Lee's surrender. The 54th Massachusetts was involved.
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Compatriot Terry Johnson
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Dear Camp 91 members, friends and supporters,
Today, I would like to formally recognize Compatriot Terry Johnson for his outstanding contributions to Camp 91 and the SCV. Terry has continuously bolstered the camp by providing great ideas, recruiting and participating in our community programs. And, recently, Terry has contributed his beautiful folk art Confederate flags for the camp to sell with proceeds sent to the Georgia Division’s legal defense fund. He has provided two large “Stars and Bars” and four of each of the smaller flags, "Stars and Bars” and “Bonnie Blue.”
Two large flags were sold for $100 each and two smaller ones for $50 each.
The camp will be selling the remaining smaller flags at the Thomson Memorial Cemetery Restoration Celebration event on September 21, and at the fall festivals. Or, as a camp member or supporter, you are welcome to purchase. Not only would you own a beautiful flag that displays your dedication for Confederate history and heritage, but 100% of the funds will help protect our Confederate monuments.
Terry is also supplying the camp with ten “Crosses of Honor” to be used at the Thomson Memorial Cemetery where we are short approximately this count.
Terry, thank you for continuing to support the Thomson Guards and the Sons of Confederate Veterans by actively providing your time, energy, money and talents. You, Sir, are a treasure!
Sincerely,
Tom
Today, I would like to formally recognize Compatriot Terry Johnson for his outstanding contributions to Camp 91 and the SCV. Terry has continuously bolstered the camp by providing great ideas, recruiting and participating in our community programs. And, recently, Terry has contributed his beautiful folk art Confederate flags for the camp to sell with proceeds sent to the Georgia Division’s legal defense fund. He has provided two large “Stars and Bars” and four of each of the smaller flags, "Stars and Bars” and “Bonnie Blue.”
Two large flags were sold for $100 each and two smaller ones for $50 each.
The camp will be selling the remaining smaller flags at the Thomson Memorial Cemetery Restoration Celebration event on September 21, and at the fall festivals. Or, as a camp member or supporter, you are welcome to purchase. Not only would you own a beautiful flag that displays your dedication for Confederate history and heritage, but 100% of the funds will help protect our Confederate monuments.
Terry is also supplying the camp with ten “Crosses of Honor” to be used at the Thomson Memorial Cemetery where we are short approximately this count.
Terry, thank you for continuing to support the Thomson Guards and the Sons of Confederate Veterans by actively providing your time, energy, money and talents. You, Sir, are a treasure!
Sincerely,
Tom
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Thomson Memorial Cemetery Restoration Celebration
Saturday, September 21 — 10:00 a.m.
Saturday, September 21 — 10:00 a.m.
After three years of extensive restoration, the TMC Committee will welcome the public to visit and enjoy this important historical site. This cemetery is a time capsule for McDuffie County history. Burials include citizens who were significant to our community's growth and prosperity, as well as 110 Confederate soldiers and fifteen veterans from other wars including the Mexican War, the Philippine Uprising, World War I, World War II, and Vietnam; all a part of our heritage. This community event will attempt to recreate the historical tradition associated with the 19th century "Rural Cemetery Movement," known for families gathering in cemetery gardens for picnics and visiting neighbors. After the brief opening rededication ceremony, guests may walk along a self-guided tour where at least ten docents will present information about selected citizens who are buried in TMC. Weekly articles have been published in The McDuffie Progress featuring some of the deceased who will be recognized.
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Restoring Brickwork — Before and After — Feb. & May, 2024
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Special Acknowledgement for the
Thomson Guards, Camp 91, Sons of Confederate Veterans who have contributed many resources and volunteer hours for this restoration. Thank you from TMC Committee: David Moore, Chase Beggs, Tom Holley, Phillip Farr, Wade Matthews and Liz Yarborough |
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Thomson Guards — Fall Festival Season 2024
Notice sent to all Camp 91 Members on August 31, 2024 — A few details have been updated.
Notice sent to all Camp 91 Members on August 31, 2024 — A few details have been updated.
The season for fall festivals is fast approaching and we need to verify what members will be able to volunteer for each event. Since there has been interest shown in hosting a booth at both the Wrens and Thomson festivals on Oct. 26, some resources needed to be secured before our regular Sept. 24th meeting.
Fall Festival Dates -- Registration for each festival is $50 ($20 for Warrenton).
Oct. 26 -- Wrens -- October Fun Fest
Nov. 9 -- Warrenton -- Sportsman Festival
Volunteers
Afternoons -- 12:30 pm - 5:00 pm, including take-down
- We have purchased another canopy -- $54 (available seasonally at WalMart or more expensive online)
- David Butler will also order a custom SCV Camp 91 banner, which luckily has not increased much in cost since the first one was purchased. -- $150
- We also need 1 or 2 more red tablecloths -- long 8 ft. table and maybe a card table -- Can you loan us either of these?
Fall Festival Dates -- Registration for each festival is $50 ($20 for Warrenton).
- Already paid registration fee
Oct. 26 -- Wrens -- October Fun Fest
- Have not yet registered -- Will register after the Sept. 24th meeting.
Nov. 9 -- Warrenton -- Sportsman Festival
Volunteers
- Between now and our Sept. 24th meeting, please notify me with specific info about when you can work.
- I need to know which town, date and time slot. Need a minimum of 3 people for each session, preferably 4.
Afternoons -- 12:30 pm - 5:00 pm, including take-down
If not us, who? If not now, when?
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Thomson Guards — Fall Festival Season 2024
1. Oct. 5 — Harlem Oliver Hardy Festival — 9:00 am—4:00 pm
Notes:
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- Tom will have all materials necessary to set up
- Morning Shift & Set-up — Set up by 7:45 am
- Afternoon Shift & Take-down
Notes:
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2. Oct. 26 — Wrens’ October Fun Fest — 9:30 am—4:00 pm
Notes:
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- Tom will have all materials necessary to set up.
- Morning Shift & Set-up — Set-up between 8:00 — 9:00 am
- Afternoon Shift & Take-down
Notes:
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3. Oct. 26 — Thomson’s Camellia City Festival — 10:00 am—3:00 pm
Notes: $50 payment deadline by Oct. 15.
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- Jimmy Crawley will have all materials necessary to set up.
- Morning Shift & Set-up — Set-up by 8:30 am
- Afternoon Shift & Take-down
Notes: $50 payment deadline by Oct. 15.
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4. Nov. 9 — Warrenton’s Sportsman Festival — 9:00 am—4:00 pm
Notes: $20 non-profit vendor
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- ___________ will have all materials necessary to set up.
- Morning Shift & Set-up
- Afternoon Shift & Take-down
Notes: $20 non-profit vendor
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THE THOMSON GUARDS MONTHLY MEETING August 2024
Published in The McDuffie Progress and The Warrenton Leader
Published in The McDuffie Progress and The Warrenton Leader
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On Tuesday, August 27th, the monthly meeting of the Thomson Guards, Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 91, met at 7:00 at the Library to enjoy a presentation by Mrs. Julie Hardaway about the unique ‘band of sisters’ known as the Nancy Harts Militia. Mrs. Hardaway, the organizing regent of the Esther Marion Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Aiken, is the Speakers Staff Coordinator for the South Carolina DAR and is a National Vice Chair serving DAR President General Pamela Wright. Since its founding in 1890, a million women have joined the DAR. To reunite the country after the Civil War, love of country was used by them to try to connect women from the North and the South. Today the DAR promotes patriotism, preserves American history, and secures better education for our children.
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The James L. Hardaway house, one of the most historic homes here in Thomson, was built in 1842 by George Washington Hardaway, Mrs. Hardaway’s husband’s ancestor. After purchasing the home over 20 years ago, the Reverend D. Alan Smith and his family restored it almost entirely by themselves.
Mrs. Hardaway is the present Vice President General of the National United Daughters of the Confederacy which collects, preserves and displays historical records relating to the Civil War. On the local, state and national level, the Daughters work with homeless shelters, homes for battered women and children, hospital associations, and food banks. Mrs. Hardaway entertained and educated our camp with her excellent program about |
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the 40-member all-female Confederate Militia of Troup County, GA. In April 1861, the LaGrange Light Guards of the Fourth Georgia Infantry left their homes to fight for the Confederacy. The deployment of 1,300 men during that year left LaGrange vulnerable to Union attacks to sever the midway-link between Atlanta and the Confederacy’s first capital at Montgomery. Soon after the men departed, the women formed their own military company and armed themselves with weapons their husbands and brothers left behind. The women called themselves the “Nancy Harts,” or “Nancies,” in honor of Nancy Hart, a Patriot spy who outwitted and killed a group of Tories near Elberton, GA during the Revolutionary War. Although the Nancy Harts organized as a military unit, they served primarily as nurses. Unlike other female militias, these women actually faced Union troops as an armed regiment. In April 1865, Major General James Wilson led a Union raid into west Georgia. As the Union troops approached LaGrange from West Point, the local Confederate cavalrymen fled, and the Nancy Harts stepped in to protect the town. When the Union cavalry arrived, the women opposed them, their rifles and muskets locked and loaded, but then peacefully surrendered when the Yankees agreed they would not burn their homes. The Union troops destroyed factories, stores, and railroad tracks helpful to the Confederate war effort, but did spare most private homes and property. A great program indeed. You should have been there.
Learning about southern history, protecting its heritage and honoring its ancestors is our purpose. We do nothing and say nothing that might bring dishonor to our camp or to our Confederate heroes. All meetings are fully open to the public. Look us up online. Attend a meeting. Contact commander Tom Holley at 706-466-3678 or [email protected] or [thomsonguardscamp91gascv.com]. Come join us at the Thomson Memorial Cemetery Restoration Celebration on September 21st at 10:00 a.m. at the cemetery. We’ll also be found at the Oliver Hardy Festival, the Wrens’ October Fun Fest, the Thomson Camellia City Festival and the Warrenton Sportsman Festival…
Submitted by Lewis Smith, Camp Historian
Learning about southern history, protecting its heritage and honoring its ancestors is our purpose. We do nothing and say nothing that might bring dishonor to our camp or to our Confederate heroes. All meetings are fully open to the public. Look us up online. Attend a meeting. Contact commander Tom Holley at 706-466-3678 or [email protected] or [thomsonguardscamp91gascv.com]. Come join us at the Thomson Memorial Cemetery Restoration Celebration on September 21st at 10:00 a.m. at the cemetery. We’ll also be found at the Oliver Hardy Festival, the Wrens’ October Fun Fest, the Thomson Camellia City Festival and the Warrenton Sportsman Festival…
Submitted by Lewis Smith, Camp Historian
August 2024 Dispatch
Meeting -- Tuesday, August 2024
Nancy Hart Militia, the All-Female Militia Unit of
LaGrange, Troup County, Georgia
By Julie N. Hardaway,
Vice President General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
Meeting -- Tuesday, August 2024
Nancy Hart Militia, the All-Female Militia Unit of
LaGrange, Troup County, Georgia
By Julie N. Hardaway,
Vice President General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
Julie grew up in Augusta, Georgia and attended Georgia Southern College. She graduated from the Medical College of Georgia in 1986 with a BS in Medical Technology and is certified by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. She married Cliff Hardaway and has 3 sons and 1 daughter who are scattered from Colorado to Tennessee to South Carolina. She is grandmother to twins and another on the way in November.
Julie has lived or worked in GA, SC, NC, VA, MD, OH and KY. She joined the UDC in 2006 on the line of her great great grandfather Hugh Lawson Burke, Company H, 63rd GA Infantry, then served as Chapter President and Treasurer of Albert Sidney Johnston 120 in Louisville, KY. She was KY Division President from 2010-2012, when she moved to SC to be near aging parents and in-laws. She was the last Chaplain of General to hold memorial services in a church (2014). She was Recorder General of Military Service Awards 2020-2022. She currently serves the UDC as Treasurer of Jefferson Davis 2465 Chapter in Aiken and as Vice President General. She has 15 proven supplementals including two for Civil service (one a Confederate tax collector) and the first two women ever proven for militia duty (Nancy Hart).
Julie is a follower of Jesus Christ, is a member of Town Creek Baptist Church in Aiken and has lead numerous Bible studies including Bible Study Fellowship. She is proud to be an American, but is most proud to be a Southern American.
Julie has lived or worked in GA, SC, NC, VA, MD, OH and KY. She joined the UDC in 2006 on the line of her great great grandfather Hugh Lawson Burke, Company H, 63rd GA Infantry, then served as Chapter President and Treasurer of Albert Sidney Johnston 120 in Louisville, KY. She was KY Division President from 2010-2012, when she moved to SC to be near aging parents and in-laws. She was the last Chaplain of General to hold memorial services in a church (2014). She was Recorder General of Military Service Awards 2020-2022. She currently serves the UDC as Treasurer of Jefferson Davis 2465 Chapter in Aiken and as Vice President General. She has 15 proven supplementals including two for Civil service (one a Confederate tax collector) and the first two women ever proven for militia duty (Nancy Hart).
Julie is a follower of Jesus Christ, is a member of Town Creek Baptist Church in Aiken and has lead numerous Bible studies including Bible Study Fellowship. She is proud to be an American, but is most proud to be a Southern American.
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Julie N. Hardaway brought greetings from UDC at Camp 91’s Confederate
Memorial Day program, April 20, 2024. In her role as a national UDC officer, she travels across many states in an effort to educate and encourage pride concerning our Southern heritage. |
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Pictured with Karen Holley, Dr. David Hollingsworth and Phil Turner (right)
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129th SCV National Reunion - North Charleston, South Carolina - July 17-20, 2024
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Photo (l to r): Janet Manning, Dollie &Mike Lacefield, Tim Pilgrim and Tom & Karen Holley These are my take-away items from the latest convention in Charleston, SC:
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Elections
1. Mr. Walter “Donnie” Kennedy, formerly the Lt. CIC, was unanimously elected as the new SCV Commander in Chief. 2. Mr. Carl Jones, formerly councilman of the AOT, was elected Commander of the Army of Tennessee.
National SCV Museum — On July 31, 2023, the debt was $2,300,000. On July 15, 2024, the debt was $1,067,000. At the end of the convention, the debt is $975,000. Great progress. However, our mortgage rate of current 3.75% will be adjusted on July 31, 2025. Therefore, we must do all possible to pay off the debt.
Mr. Timothy Pilgrim
Overview
1. Mr. Walter “Donnie” Kennedy, formerly the Lt. CIC, was unanimously elected as the new SCV Commander in Chief. 2. Mr. Carl Jones, formerly councilman of the AOT, was elected Commander of the Army of Tennessee.
National SCV Museum — On July 31, 2023, the debt was $2,300,000. On July 15, 2024, the debt was $1,067,000. At the end of the convention, the debt is $975,000. Great progress. However, our mortgage rate of current 3.75% will be adjusted on July 31, 2025. Therefore, we must do all possible to pay off the debt.
- Camp 91 will continue to submit $60 per month.
- 2025 Houston, TX / 2026 Lexington, KY / 2027 Mobile, AL
Mr. Timothy Pilgrim
- Georgia Division Commander in Chief, gave an excellent program during the Heritage Defense luncheon. His emphasis was on: Communication within the division and What the division is doing to protect our monuments.
Overview
- Tom and Karen Holley with Mike and Dollie Lacefield and Janet Manning attended the event. The speakers were excellent. The business meetings were well attended and lots of necessary business was accomplished. Many old acquaintances were renewed. YOU should consider going to at least one National convention.
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The H. L. Hunley Submarine Historical Museum
is a must-see experience when you visit Charleston, South Carolina. https://www.hunley.org/ 
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Vinny Balducci
At the 2022 national reunion in Cartersville, GA, and the 2023 reunion in Hot Springs, Arkansas, we met a very charming, but very unlikely SCV member. Here we are again in 2024 with Vincent Balducci.
Vinny is a member of the Private Meredith Pool, Camp 1805, in Hammonton, New Jersey. He was born and raised up north. He is currently nearing completion of a PhD at Walden University in clinical psychology with a focus on family therapy with a Christian perspective. |
He is exuberant about his Southern heritage. His tour of the United Daughters of the Confederacy headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, was the catalyst for our visit there last summer.
He was the first person we met in Cartersville and we enjoyed the Banquet & Grand Ball finale together. And, of course, he wore his period uniform for the big event. At that time he was trying to decide where he wanted to move down South to begin his career. He has now selected Dothan, Alabama to be his new home.
Congratulations and best wishes, Vinny. You are a true asset for SCV and Alabama will be lucky to have you as a new resident. — Karen and Tom Holley
He was the first person we met in Cartersville and we enjoyed the Banquet & Grand Ball finale together. And, of course, he wore his period uniform for the big event. At that time he was trying to decide where he wanted to move down South to begin his career. He has now selected Dothan, Alabama to be his new home.
Congratulations and best wishes, Vinny. You are a true asset for SCV and Alabama will be lucky to have you as a new resident. — Karen and Tom Holley
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Thomson
Memorial Cemetery Restoration Celebration Sat., Sept. 21 10:00 a.m. |
The Thomson Memorial Cemetery Committee will host a grand event to showcase the results of three years of hard work. The goal was to restore the old Confederate cemetery to its former glory in recognition of our brave heroes. This cemetery is the final resting place for 110 CSA soldiers and has provided our camp the perfect historical site for our Confederate Memorial Day commemoration programs. With considerable help from Camp 91, the goal is nearly achieved. Come and enjoy the recognition of the fruits of your labors.
After a brief welcome, by Compatriot David Moore, committee chairman, along with the U. S. pledge and refreshments, there will be 10-12 docent stations where one can tour the cemetery and learn more about our people and heritage, including not only those from the WBTS era, but also individuals from later times.
Please come and support the TMC Committee, your camp and our Confederate heroes.
After a brief welcome, by Compatriot David Moore, committee chairman, along with the U. S. pledge and refreshments, there will be 10-12 docent stations where one can tour the cemetery and learn more about our people and heritage, including not only those from the WBTS era, but also individuals from later times.
Please come and support the TMC Committee, your camp and our Confederate heroes.
Camp 91 Accomplishments
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1. Clean up by many members & wives
2. Headstone cleaning & restoration expertise from Compatriot Mike Lacefield 3. Brickwork by Compatriot Ron Awe 4. Fence repair by friend Jimmy New 5. TMC Committee leadership: Compatriot David Moore & Commander Tom Holley |
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THE THOMSON GUARDS MONTHLY MEETING July 2024
Published in The McDuffie Progress and The Warrenton Leader
Published in The McDuffie Progress and The Warrenton Leader
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On the 23rd of June, the Thomson Guards held its monthly meeting in the Thomson – McDuffie County library. We welcomed our guests and enjoyed our opening prayer. We pledged our support for the United States and State of Georgia flags. We then saluted the Confederate flag and charged ourselves to tell the true history of the brave men who defended the South. Tom Holley and Mike Lacefield and their wives attended the SCV National Convention in Charleston and gave us all the noteworthy details of their mid-July trip.
Compatriot Lee Herron from Hiltonia, GA drove an hour and a half to present our program. Lee is a faithful member of the SCV, the SAR, and the Burke County Artillery and Skunk Hat Brigades. He and his cohorts constantly |
travel the South, entertaining and educating the public about patriotism, survival, honor and history. Lee presented us with a very interesting history of his ancestor John Jouett, a patriotic farmer and politician from Virginia and Kentucky. Jouett was a Captain in the 16th Regiment of the Virginia militia in the American Revolution. All three of his brothers also served. Jouett is best known for a 40-mile ride during the war that pegged him as the Paul Revere of the South. The all-night ride through brush and bramble was made to warn Thomas Jefferson, the outgoing governor of Virginia, and his sitting Virginia legislature, that British cavalry had been sent to capture them. He most surely saved their lives.
Afterwards, we passed the hat for donations, we thanked our visitors and our Chaplain closed the meeting with another nice prayer. Since our Camp basically does nothing but community service, our achievements are quite impressive. We mark all U.S. veterans’ graves with U.S. flags in May for Memorial Day and in November for Veterans Day. We hold a Georgia Confederate Memorial Day celebration for the public at the city cemetery in April. We post the U.S. flag, the GA flag and all military service flags along Tom Watson Way during holiday periods. We participate in Harlem’s Laurel & Hardy Festival, Thomson’s Camellia City Festival, Warrenton’s Sportsman’s Festival and this year at Wren’s Festival in October. We continue to ensure the Thomson Memorial Cemetery and all its veterans’ gravestones are maintained. We provide scholarships, monetary gratuities, book donations, and support to schools, camps and parks. We attend memorial services, banquets and other patriotic meetings all over Georgia.
Afterwards, we passed the hat for donations, we thanked our visitors and our Chaplain closed the meeting with another nice prayer. Since our Camp basically does nothing but community service, our achievements are quite impressive. We mark all U.S. veterans’ graves with U.S. flags in May for Memorial Day and in November for Veterans Day. We hold a Georgia Confederate Memorial Day celebration for the public at the city cemetery in April. We post the U.S. flag, the GA flag and all military service flags along Tom Watson Way during holiday periods. We participate in Harlem’s Laurel & Hardy Festival, Thomson’s Camellia City Festival, Warrenton’s Sportsman’s Festival and this year at Wren’s Festival in October. We continue to ensure the Thomson Memorial Cemetery and all its veterans’ gravestones are maintained. We provide scholarships, monetary gratuities, book donations, and support to schools, camps and parks. We attend memorial services, banquets and other patriotic meetings all over Georgia.
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We give of our sweat and treasury. We are the number two supporter of the GA Legal Defense Fund to stop the removal of statues of any kind in Georgia and Virginia. We mount Confederate flags in cemeteries in Thomson, Harlem, Wrightsboro and Warrenton. We remain in plain view and perform our community projects beyond any done by any other non-profit organization in our area. Our purpose is about learning our history, protecting our heritage and honoring our ancestors. We do nothing and say nothing that might bring dishonor to our camp or to our Confederate heroes. Join our camp! Contact our Camp Commander Tom Holley at [email protected] for more information.
Submitted by Lewis Smith, Camp Historian. |
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Commander's Post under Editorials by Lewis Smith
On the Jews: If statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. by Mark Twain |
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July 2024 Dispatch
Meeting -- Tuesday, July 2024
Jack Jouett: The Paul Revere of the South
by Lee Herron
Meeting -- Tuesday, July 2024
Jack Jouett: The Paul Revere of the South
by Lee Herron
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Lee Herron is the Vice President and Registrar of the Brier Creek Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution in Sylvania, GA. He is married to Tammy Forehand Herron and they live in Hiltonia, GA. They have two daughters, Courtney Herron Duffie and Summer Herron Wolfgram. They have one granddaughter Aidyn Grace Wolfgram who is 10 yrs. old and a great granddaughter Demi Grace who is 2 yrs. old.
Lee is a member of the Brier Creek Artillery & Militia “Skunk Brigade.” He retired from Procter & Gamble after 27 yrs. of service as an Industrial Maintenance Mechanic and then went to work for Kellogg and Ferrara Candy Company for the next 9 yrs. in the same capacity. He fully retired on March 17th, 2022 on the date of his father’s birthday. |
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The Skunk Brigade at Meadow Garden on July 4,
Lee Herron is fourth from left. |
His home camp is the Black Creek Volunteers #549 in Sylvania, GA and he is a Life Member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (National and State of Georgia) on the service of his 2nd great grandfather Pvt. William Eason, Co. B Cobb’s Legion “Bowden Volunteers”, member of the National Society War of 1812 on the service of his 4th great grandfather Isaiah Hembree, National Society Sons and Daughters of Pilgrims on the record of his 11th great grandfather Colonel John George, and Sons of the American Revolution on the service of his 6th great grandfather 2nd LT Joseph Anthony of the Bedford County Militia in Virginia.
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Continued Restoration and Beautification of
Thomson Memorial Cemetery
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On Saturday, June 29th, Camp 91 Thomson Guards, working in conjunction with the Thomson Memorial Cemetery committee added two large pots with flowers at the main entrance. Diane Wood of Peacock Hill graciously donated the large beautiful pots. Mayor Cranford agreed to have the city regularly water the decorative flowers. On Saturday, September 21, after three years of renovation, the combined group plans a grand cemetery restoration celebration. The public will be welcomed and encouraged to attend.
Shown in top photo is Compatriot Damon Davis of the SCV
assisting Liz Yarborough of the cemetery committee.
assisting Liz Yarborough of the cemetery committee.
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Announcements
1. Please refer the camp website under About Us / Officers & Meetings, so that you can
record important meetings on your personal calendar.
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Commander Tom Holley wrote and published this manual as a convenient resource so that other camps , esp. those with new commanders, might find helpful guidelines for improving their camp’s viability. Practical ideas and specific examples are explained so they could be easily replicated or adapted. This manual was introduced by AOT Commander Jimmy Hill during the AOT recruitment training conference held this past May at the SCV headquarters in Columbia, TN.
Contact Tom if interested in ordering a copy. |
If not us, who? If not now, when?
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Celebrating Independence Day
George Walton
of Meadow Garden, Signer of the US Declaration of Independence |
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Abraham Baldwin,
Signer of the US Constitution and a Founder of University of Georgia |
Lewis Smith, camp historian, was the keynote speaker at the
14th Annual Signers Monument Celebration in downtown Augusta.
His topic was “A Look at Founding Fathers Who Are Forever Linked to Georgia,”
with an emphasis on Abraham Baldwin.
See the complete text and photos of his presentation on this website, under
Local History / Founding Fathers.
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Open House at Meadow Garden, home of George Walton, Signer of Declaration of Independence
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Karen Holley describes
a few of the many discoveries found during the current restoration process at Meadow Garden. The front door, stairway and “powder room” were all concealed since before the house was purchased by Daughters of the American Revolution in 1901. In the near future this dining room will be reinterpreted as the parlor. With only two rooms downstairs, this room would have been used by George Walton as his bedroom and law office. |
Signers’ Room (left to right):
Georgia State Regent Helen Powell with docents Karen Holley and Ginger Nicholson
Georgia State Regent Helen Powell with docents Karen Holley and Ginger Nicholson
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Thank you to
Compatriot Terry Johnson for making this wooden flag that he contributed to Camp 91 as a fundraiser. The flag replicates the flag used byGen. Robert E. Lee for his headquarters. Compatriot Paul McCorkle purchased the flag for $100. Terry will make another flag so that we can sell raffle tickets throughout the fall festival season. The winner will be announced after the Nov. 9 festival in Wrens. |
THE THOMSON GUARDS MONTHLY MEETING JUNE 2024
Published in The McDuffie Progress and The Warrenton Leader
Published in The McDuffie Progress and The Warrenton Leader
On the 25th of June, the Thomson Guards held its annual business meeting in the Thomson – McDuffie County library. After welcoming our guests, we enjoyed a Chaplain’s prayer and made our pledges to support the United States and State of Georgia flags. We then saluted the Confederate flag and charged ourselves to present the true history of the South to future generations.
During our regular business meeting we accepted a beautiful wooden Confederate flag for a future raffle, we discussed the recent GA Division reunion where we were presented with the GA Division’s Camp of the Year award, and we were reminded to submit our annual SCV dues. Our program for June was our annual business meeting. Afterwards, we passed the hat for donations, we thanked our visitors and our Chaplain closed the meeting with another nice prayer.
This month’s program, our annual business meeting, recapped all the things we did during the 2022-2023 year. Since our Camp basically does nothing but community service, our achievements were quite impressive. We marked all U.S. veterans’ graves with U.S. flags in May for Memorial Day and in November for Veterans Day. We held a terrific Georgia Confederate Memorial Day celebration for the public at the city cemetery in April with Civil War historian Dr. Hollingsworth (Augusta University professor) as guest speaker. We continued to post the U.S. flag, the GA flag and all military service flags along Tom Watson Way during holiday periods. We continued to participate in Harlem’s Laural & Hardy Festival, Thomson’s Camellia City Festival and Warrenton’s Sportsman’s Festival. This year we will also make our appearance at Wren’s Festival in October. We continued to make sure the Thomson Memorial Cemetery was kept thoroughly cleaned as well as cleaning all its veterans’ gravestones. We provided scholarships, monetary gratuities, book donations, and support to schools, camps and parks. We attended memorial services, banquets and other patriotic meetings all over Georgia. We gave of our sweat and treasury. We were the number two supporter of the GA Legal Defense Fund to stop the removal of statues of any kind in Georgia and also Virginia. We will mount Confederate flags in cemeteries in Thomson, Harlem, Wrightsboro and Warrenton this year. We will remain in plain view and perform our community projects beyond any done by any other non-profit organization in our area (in my personal opinion).
The purpose of our SCV Camp 91 is about learning our history, protecting our heritage and honoring our ancestors. We do nothing and say nothing that might bring dishonor to our camp or to our Confederate heroes. Join our camp! Contact our Camp Commander Tom Holley at [email protected] for more information. Submitted by Lewis Smith, Camp Historian.
During our regular business meeting we accepted a beautiful wooden Confederate flag for a future raffle, we discussed the recent GA Division reunion where we were presented with the GA Division’s Camp of the Year award, and we were reminded to submit our annual SCV dues. Our program for June was our annual business meeting. Afterwards, we passed the hat for donations, we thanked our visitors and our Chaplain closed the meeting with another nice prayer.
This month’s program, our annual business meeting, recapped all the things we did during the 2022-2023 year. Since our Camp basically does nothing but community service, our achievements were quite impressive. We marked all U.S. veterans’ graves with U.S. flags in May for Memorial Day and in November for Veterans Day. We held a terrific Georgia Confederate Memorial Day celebration for the public at the city cemetery in April with Civil War historian Dr. Hollingsworth (Augusta University professor) as guest speaker. We continued to post the U.S. flag, the GA flag and all military service flags along Tom Watson Way during holiday periods. We continued to participate in Harlem’s Laural & Hardy Festival, Thomson’s Camellia City Festival and Warrenton’s Sportsman’s Festival. This year we will also make our appearance at Wren’s Festival in October. We continued to make sure the Thomson Memorial Cemetery was kept thoroughly cleaned as well as cleaning all its veterans’ gravestones. We provided scholarships, monetary gratuities, book donations, and support to schools, camps and parks. We attended memorial services, banquets and other patriotic meetings all over Georgia. We gave of our sweat and treasury. We were the number two supporter of the GA Legal Defense Fund to stop the removal of statues of any kind in Georgia and also Virginia. We will mount Confederate flags in cemeteries in Thomson, Harlem, Wrightsboro and Warrenton this year. We will remain in plain view and perform our community projects beyond any done by any other non-profit organization in our area (in my personal opinion).
The purpose of our SCV Camp 91 is about learning our history, protecting our heritage and honoring our ancestors. We do nothing and say nothing that might bring dishonor to our camp or to our Confederate heroes. Join our camp! Contact our Camp Commander Tom Holley at [email protected] for more information. Submitted by Lewis Smith, Camp Historian.
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Commander’s Post
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Will July 4th, like Columbus Day,
soon simply disappear? We must speak out in defense of this sacred holiday, our Founding Fathers and the American Flag By Douglas MacKinnon |
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Founding Fathers' legacies under attack from far-left progressives
Hoover Institution senior fellow Shelby Steele joined 'One Nation with
Brian Kilmeade' (on Fox News) to discuss the far-left's war on American history.
Hoover Institution senior fellow Shelby Steele joined 'One Nation with
Brian Kilmeade' (on Fox News) to discuss the far-left's war on American history.
When I was a child, I loved the overall themes, celebrations and parades surrounding Columbus Day, a day President Franklin D. Roosevelt made a federal holiday in 1937. To me, it always conjured up images of adventure, the discovery of the "New World," and the planting of the seeds that would one day become the United States of America.
More than that, it was a day of celebration which seemed to unite all Americans… until it didn’t.
When and why did Columbus Day start to become so controversial? Like many protests against historical figures and times, much of it started with the left on our college campuses.
More than that, it was a day of celebration which seemed to unite all Americans… until it didn’t.
When and why did Columbus Day start to become so controversial? Like many protests against historical figures and times, much of it started with the left on our college campuses.
CANCEL CULTURE IN CONGRESS DATES BACK TO JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,
WHO REFUSED TO BE GAGGED
WHO REFUSED TO BE GAGGED
In 1992, in Berkeley, California, "Indigenous Peoples’ Day" was adopted. The idea was to swap out Columbus Day for a day that celebrates indigenous peoples. Not surprisingly, it was a movement that soon began to sweep across campuses nationwide as more and more left-leaning faculty and students condemned Christopher Columbus.
I am all for celebrating "indigenous people" and native Americans. They most certainly must be recognized, and their proud and fruitful history protected. While I am strongly in favor of that, I don’t believe it should come at the expense of competing history, facts or truths some on the left might find inconvenient.
Back in 2017, Harvard University – now a hotbed of protest, antisemitism and discrimination – adopted "Indigenous Peoples’ Day." They did so seemingly in lockstep with the far-left Cambridge City Council, which basically viewed Columbus as a war criminal.
Nadeem Mazen, the Cambridge city councilor at the time claimed in part: "At a basic level, we’re saying ‘no’ to a day named after someone who was a tyrant, and was a torturer, and was a destroyer of Indigenous people…"
I am all for celebrating "indigenous people" and native Americans. They most certainly must be recognized, and their proud and fruitful history protected. While I am strongly in favor of that, I don’t believe it should come at the expense of competing history, facts or truths some on the left might find inconvenient.
Back in 2017, Harvard University – now a hotbed of protest, antisemitism and discrimination – adopted "Indigenous Peoples’ Day." They did so seemingly in lockstep with the far-left Cambridge City Council, which basically viewed Columbus as a war criminal.
Nadeem Mazen, the Cambridge city councilor at the time claimed in part: "At a basic level, we’re saying ‘no’ to a day named after someone who was a tyrant, and was a torturer, and was a destroyer of Indigenous people…"
CRISIS ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES:
WHAT UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS CAN LEARN FROM THE FOUNDING FATHERS
WHAT UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS CAN LEARN FROM THE FOUNDING FATHERS
Now, as one who has watched many in the left-of-center media, academia and alleged "historians" regularly censor, deny, invent or reimagine incontrovertible facts over the last eight years in a disgraceful effort to smear, damage, or bring down former President Donald J. Trump, I have learned to take the protests from the "defenders of history" on the left with less than a grain of salt.
Knowing that to be true, how much faith should be accorded the left’s viewing of history from centuries before? How clear is their vision when they are gazing back over 500 years through very clouded and biased
prisms of today? When they change the facts of history these last eight years, who is to say some of the "facts" the left uses to attack Columbus today can’t be wrong? To that point, others who have studied Columbus believe he sought to form good relationships with the native peoples of the New World and had no intention of doing them any harm and often fought to restrain his crew from mistreating the native peoples.
Knowing that to be true, how much faith should be accorded the left’s viewing of history from centuries before? How clear is their vision when they are gazing back over 500 years through very clouded and biased
prisms of today? When they change the facts of history these last eight years, who is to say some of the "facts" the left uses to attack Columbus today can’t be wrong? To that point, others who have studied Columbus believe he sought to form good relationships with the native peoples of the New World and had no intention of doing them any harm and often fought to restrain his crew from mistreating the native peoples.
IT’S TIME TO RESURRECT STATUES OF HEROES TORN DOWN BY THE MOB.
THEY ARE OUR NATIONAL TREASURES
THEY ARE OUR NATIONAL TREASURES
Regardless of whether the left has smeared Columbus with too broad a brush, the result is still total victory for them. Year by year, more and more Americans either stop celebrating Columbus Day, forget its existence or actively denounce it.
Not surprisingly to those paying attention, many on the far left are using the exact same tactics to smear and cancel our Founding Fathers, the 4th of July and the American flag.
But they are not names, monuments, moments or words surreptitiously being attacked in the dead of the night. They are heroes, majestic statues, courageous deeds and iconic words that are being smeared, censored and torn down in broad daylight by radicals daring you to stop them.
Our Founding Fathers did mutually pledge to each other their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. They risked everything to declare in their Declaration of Independence from the tyrannical Crown:
Not surprisingly to those paying attention, many on the far left are using the exact same tactics to smear and cancel our Founding Fathers, the 4th of July and the American flag.
But they are not names, monuments, moments or words surreptitiously being attacked in the dead of the night. They are heroes, majestic statues, courageous deeds and iconic words that are being smeared, censored and torn down in broad daylight by radicals daring you to stop them.
Our Founding Fathers did mutually pledge to each other their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. They risked everything to declare in their Declaration of Independence from the tyrannical Crown:
MEET THE AMERICAN WHO WAS THE 'WORKING MAN' FOUNDING FATHER,
IRISH IRONSMITH GEORGE TAYLOR
IRISH IRONSMITH GEORGE TAYLOR
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
Those of us who do strongly believe in the vision and genius of our Founding Fathers still represent a majority in our nation. We are the "governed," but for far too many years, we have not been asked – or given – our "consent." Even though we are the majority, we have allowed the forces of the left to silence our voices far too many times.
I say this as one who three-plus years ago, spent months "living" in the 1776 timeframe. I did so because I was doing research for a book. Two years ago, that book, "The 56 – Liberty Lessons from those who risked all to sign The Declaration of Independence" was published.
The sole reason for writing that book was to warn of the left’s escalating attempts to cancel the 4th of July, the American flag and our Founding Fathers, and outline how best to stop them.
President Reagan – who I had the honor to write for in the White House – once famously and presciently said: "Freedom is a fragile thing and it's never more than one generation away from extinction…"
I – and many others – believe that generation of loss is now upon us. But I maintain that we can reverse that trend, save our freedom and reestablish the vision of our Founding Fathers in less than a generation. All we must do is reclaim our voices and reassert our consent.
As fewer and fewer of us pause to celebrate the true meaning and glory of the 4th of July, the best way to begin to reclaim our voices would be by speaking out in defense of this sacred holiday, our Founding Fathers and the American flag.
For if we don’t, they will surely suffer the same fate as Columbus Day.
Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official and author of the book: "The 56 – Liberty Lessons from those who risked all to sign The Declaration of Independence."
Those of us who do strongly believe in the vision and genius of our Founding Fathers still represent a majority in our nation. We are the "governed," but for far too many years, we have not been asked – or given – our "consent." Even though we are the majority, we have allowed the forces of the left to silence our voices far too many times.
I say this as one who three-plus years ago, spent months "living" in the 1776 timeframe. I did so because I was doing research for a book. Two years ago, that book, "The 56 – Liberty Lessons from those who risked all to sign The Declaration of Independence" was published.
The sole reason for writing that book was to warn of the left’s escalating attempts to cancel the 4th of July, the American flag and our Founding Fathers, and outline how best to stop them.
President Reagan – who I had the honor to write for in the White House – once famously and presciently said: "Freedom is a fragile thing and it's never more than one generation away from extinction…"
I – and many others – believe that generation of loss is now upon us. But I maintain that we can reverse that trend, save our freedom and reestablish the vision of our Founding Fathers in less than a generation. All we must do is reclaim our voices and reassert our consent.
As fewer and fewer of us pause to celebrate the true meaning and glory of the 4th of July, the best way to begin to reclaim our voices would be by speaking out in defense of this sacred holiday, our Founding Fathers and the American flag.
For if we don’t, they will surely suffer the same fate as Columbus Day.
Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official and author of the book: "The 56 – Liberty Lessons from those who risked all to sign The Declaration of Independence."
Source: https://apple.news/AC2YgeICsQwmIyDvV8-WXxQ — Fox News On Air: July 18, 2022, 06:33