New Jefferson Davis library planned
Associated Press - October 7, 2009 6:14 AM ET
BILOXI, Miss. (AP) - A contract has been signed to build a new Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum at Beauvoir, the Gulf Coast house that was the retirement home for the president of the Confederacy.
Beauvoir's Director Rick Forte said Tuesday's signing was the result of 4 years of work.
The J.C. Dukes Construction Company of Mobile, Ala., won the $10.4 million contract, according to WLOX television.
The old library was demolished after being heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. the Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide 90% of the money for the project.
Information from: WLOX-TV, http://www.wlox.com
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Homestead Parade On Again
Confederate flag may fly in VFW Homestead parade
Written by ELGIN JONES
HOMESTEAD – Undaunted by the cancellation of the traditional Homestead Veterans Day Parade, a group of veterans on Wednesday announced that it is organizing its own parade, and would not necessarily ban the Confederate battle flag from being displayed in it.
Officials with the local post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) say they have submitted a permit application to the city of Homestead, seeking to hold this year’s Veterans Day parade in the city.
The revelation came a day after the South Florida Times reported that the Military Affairs Committee (MAC) of the Greater Homestead/Florida City Chamber of Commerce, which has previously organized the 47-year event, voted recently to cancel this year’s Nov. 11 parade. The move followed an announcement by the MAC last month that it would hold the parade, but ban the display of the Confederate battle flag.
The flag is a symbol of southern pride to some, but represents slavery, lynching and racial mistreatment to others.
“We made the decision to go forward, and we just put the application in. I don’t know if we are going to get any resistance to it, but the application has been filed with the city, and we are waiting for the permit,” said William Thibault, a retired veteran who is working with the Arrant-Smith VFW Post 4127 in Homestead to organize the alternative version of the parade.
Homestead city spokeswoman Lillian Delgado said in an email that the VFW has not yet submitted an application to hold the parade.
The VFW is sending out invitation applications from an established list of past parade participants, with a Nov. 6 deadline for them to be returned.
Thibault said the group would not automatically bar the Sons of Confederate Veterans from participating.
“First of all, I have no comment on that because I don’t know who will or will not respond to the applications we are sending out,” Thibault said. “This will not be a decision made by me alone. The committee allows for participation by any organization that honors veterans, and if they tell us on their applications what their theme is, and whether they will have floats, etc., then a decision will be made whether they meet our requirements or not.”
But already, Gregory E. Kalof, a commander in the Miami-Dade County-based Private George Perry camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said his organization will participate in the VFW parade, no differently than other veterans organizations.
The parade is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 11 at noon in downtown Homestead, according to the forms that the VFW is sending to would-be applicants.
“This parade, honoring the memory of the men and women who have fought to defend our nation and liberty is the oldest and, usually, the largest Veteran’s Day celebration in Miami-Dade County,’’ the form reads. “As such, we expect all entries will be designed to convey the patriotic theme of the holiday.”
Thibault said the VFW has been assured that it will get financial and other support, but did not elaborate on the source of that support. The city of Homestead has provided financial support to previous Veterans Day parades.
The MAC canceled its version of this year’s parade after several participants pulled out due to controversy surrounding the participation of Confederate States groups in last year’s parade, and the display of the Confederate battle flag during the event.
The Miami-Dade NAACP and some residents opposed the participation of Confederate organizations, and threatened an economic boycott of the chamber’s member businesses if those groups were not barred from participating in future parades.
After the MAC canceled its version of this year’s parade, Bishop Victor T. Curry, president of the Miami-Dade NAACP, said in a statement emailed to the media on Tuesday: “The Sons of the Confederate Veterans organization and the Confederate flag have no place in a Chamber of Commerce-sponsored and taxpayer-supported event.’’
Curry also said, “The NAACP and the coalition of organizations and concerned Americans does not desire the cancellation of the parade but rather a parade that will truly honor U.S. veterans and not insult significant numbers of our citizens.’’
He continued: “Confederate symbols are symbols of support for white supremacy, resistance to desegregation and fighting to maintain slavery. They are as offensive as the Nazi swastika.’’
Neither Curry nor other NAACP officials could be immediately reached for comment about the VFW’s plans for its own Veterans Day parade.
http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3409&Itemid=199
Written by ELGIN JONES
HOMESTEAD – Undaunted by the cancellation of the traditional Homestead Veterans Day Parade, a group of veterans on Wednesday announced that it is organizing its own parade, and would not necessarily ban the Confederate battle flag from being displayed in it.
Officials with the local post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) say they have submitted a permit application to the city of Homestead, seeking to hold this year’s Veterans Day parade in the city.
The revelation came a day after the South Florida Times reported that the Military Affairs Committee (MAC) of the Greater Homestead/Florida City Chamber of Commerce, which has previously organized the 47-year event, voted recently to cancel this year’s Nov. 11 parade. The move followed an announcement by the MAC last month that it would hold the parade, but ban the display of the Confederate battle flag.
The flag is a symbol of southern pride to some, but represents slavery, lynching and racial mistreatment to others.
“We made the decision to go forward, and we just put the application in. I don’t know if we are going to get any resistance to it, but the application has been filed with the city, and we are waiting for the permit,” said William Thibault, a retired veteran who is working with the Arrant-Smith VFW Post 4127 in Homestead to organize the alternative version of the parade.
Homestead city spokeswoman Lillian Delgado said in an email that the VFW has not yet submitted an application to hold the parade.
The VFW is sending out invitation applications from an established list of past parade participants, with a Nov. 6 deadline for them to be returned.
Thibault said the group would not automatically bar the Sons of Confederate Veterans from participating.
“First of all, I have no comment on that because I don’t know who will or will not respond to the applications we are sending out,” Thibault said. “This will not be a decision made by me alone. The committee allows for participation by any organization that honors veterans, and if they tell us on their applications what their theme is, and whether they will have floats, etc., then a decision will be made whether they meet our requirements or not.”
But already, Gregory E. Kalof, a commander in the Miami-Dade County-based Private George Perry camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said his organization will participate in the VFW parade, no differently than other veterans organizations.
The parade is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 11 at noon in downtown Homestead, according to the forms that the VFW is sending to would-be applicants.
“This parade, honoring the memory of the men and women who have fought to defend our nation and liberty is the oldest and, usually, the largest Veteran’s Day celebration in Miami-Dade County,’’ the form reads. “As such, we expect all entries will be designed to convey the patriotic theme of the holiday.”
Thibault said the VFW has been assured that it will get financial and other support, but did not elaborate on the source of that support. The city of Homestead has provided financial support to previous Veterans Day parades.
The MAC canceled its version of this year’s parade after several participants pulled out due to controversy surrounding the participation of Confederate States groups in last year’s parade, and the display of the Confederate battle flag during the event.
The Miami-Dade NAACP and some residents opposed the participation of Confederate organizations, and threatened an economic boycott of the chamber’s member businesses if those groups were not barred from participating in future parades.
After the MAC canceled its version of this year’s parade, Bishop Victor T. Curry, president of the Miami-Dade NAACP, said in a statement emailed to the media on Tuesday: “The Sons of the Confederate Veterans organization and the Confederate flag have no place in a Chamber of Commerce-sponsored and taxpayer-supported event.’’
Curry also said, “The NAACP and the coalition of organizations and concerned Americans does not desire the cancellation of the parade but rather a parade that will truly honor U.S. veterans and not insult significant numbers of our citizens.’’
He continued: “Confederate symbols are symbols of support for white supremacy, resistance to desegregation and fighting to maintain slavery. They are as offensive as the Nazi swastika.’’
Neither Curry nor other NAACP officials could be immediately reached for comment about the VFW’s plans for its own Veterans Day parade.
http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3409&Itemid=199
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
SCV On-Line Mall Now Available
Compatriots,
You may remember a few years ago when we had a deal with Amazon where the SCV got a percentage of the money you spent there. Wouldn't it be nice to have places to shop where a portion of your money goes to support the SCV? Now you have that place, a whole mall in fact. A mall with hundreds of stores where each purchase helps the SCV. There you will find all the big name stores that you may already order from. Also there are discounts and coupons available.
We now have the SCV on-line Mall. We have partnered with an organization called We-Care.
Their motto is Shop with Purpose. Well we certainly have a purpose!
The link is: http://scv.we-care.com/
Of course this can only be a successful venture if we use it. Please immediately book mark that page. For those who might forget to go there before shopping, you can download a reminder, so that if you go to, for example eBay or Amazon, a box will pop up that asked is you want a portion to got to the SCV, you will of course say yes! You can find the reminder program under the Downloads tab on the Mall page or go to :
http://scv.we-care.com/Downloads/Reminder
Please go check this out and spread the word. Anyone can shop there! Send the links to all your friends and family. Use it for business purchases. Put in on your social networking sites like facebook. Make it a part of your signature on your emails. Put the link on your personal webpage. Below I have placed a web banner that you can attach the link to. I ask all SCV webmasters to put it on their sites. Notice that I have not used the SCV logo on the banner, that way any of our friends, like the UDC or OCR, can place it on their sites as well!
I truly believe this program will benefit us greatly. Be sure to forward this email to your contacts,and place this information in your newsletters. I hope you all enjoy using this service and I appreciate your efforts.
YOS
Chuck McMichael
CiC SCV
scvcic72@gmail.com
You may remember a few years ago when we had a deal with Amazon where the SCV got a percentage of the money you spent there. Wouldn't it be nice to have places to shop where a portion of your money goes to support the SCV? Now you have that place, a whole mall in fact. A mall with hundreds of stores where each purchase helps the SCV. There you will find all the big name stores that you may already order from. Also there are discounts and coupons available.
We now have the SCV on-line Mall. We have partnered with an organization called We-Care.
Their motto is Shop with Purpose. Well we certainly have a purpose!
The link is: http://scv.we-care.com/
Of course this can only be a successful venture if we use it. Please immediately book mark that page. For those who might forget to go there before shopping, you can download a reminder, so that if you go to, for example eBay or Amazon, a box will pop up that asked is you want a portion to got to the SCV, you will of course say yes! You can find the reminder program under the Downloads tab on the Mall page or go to :
http://scv.we-care.com/Downloads/Reminder
Please go check this out and spread the word. Anyone can shop there! Send the links to all your friends and family. Use it for business purchases. Put in on your social networking sites like facebook. Make it a part of your signature on your emails. Put the link on your personal webpage. Below I have placed a web banner that you can attach the link to. I ask all SCV webmasters to put it on their sites. Notice that I have not used the SCV logo on the banner, that way any of our friends, like the UDC or OCR, can place it on their sites as well!
I truly believe this program will benefit us greatly. Be sure to forward this email to your contacts,and place this information in your newsletters. I hope you all enjoy using this service and I appreciate your efforts.
YOS
Chuck McMichael
CiC SCV
scvcic72@gmail.com
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Mississippi Battlefield to be Preserved
Friends of Raymond take an impressive step
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Persistence has paid off for the Friends of Raymond in the group’s effort to preserve more of a Civil War battlefield. The beneficiaries will be generations to come.
Saturday, the self-formed group cut the ribbon to 67 additional acres in Hinds County, part of the site where 16,000 soldiers fought on May 12, 1863, and about 1,000 were killed, wounded or declared missing.
The fighting between Union and Confederate troops was part of the Campaign for Vicksburg, led by Gen. U.S. Grant. All previous strategies to capture the city and, thus, split the Confederacy and return control of the Mississippi River to the Union, had failed. Grant had ferried his troops across the river from Louisiana at Bruinsburg, west of Port Gibson, and in a mission fraught with risks, was moving his army up central Mississippi as his supply lines grew longer and longer. The stakes for Grant, and for the future of the nation, were high.
Southern forces did not want to retreat into Vicksburg. Although it was a natural fortress, it was clear enough that an army pinned down would eventually be an army defeated. So, though the North had vastly superior numbers, there was fierce fighting almost every day as Grant tried to advance.
Last week, a PBS series by Ken Burns reminded TV viewers that national parks didn’t just happen. Preserving the nation’s natural and historic treasures almost always started at the grassroots. Congress doesn’t appoint committees to look at maps and decide what to save. Individuals and organizations petition to advance the process. Indeed, this is how the Vicksburg National Military Park was created in 1899.
If or when the battlefield near Raymond will be submitted for federal consideration is not known, but the efforts of the Friends of Raymond, including Parker Hills, a retired general and past president of the group, are certainly admirable. He has good reason to celebrate the acquisition. “This is the core of the battlefield, where I would say at least 85 percent of the actual combat took place,” he said.
The Friends of Raymond was chartered 11 years ago and has a mere 200 members. The group raised $115,000 and the Civil War Preservation Trust added another $102,500. That left $217,500 needed from the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program to complete the purchase.
Initially, interpretive trails and signs are planned. Over the years, however, expect more, perhaps even monuments honoring the soldiers.
What a great comment about America it is to see citizens initiating preservation of our nation’s history. It was everyday people who struggled in combat. How fitting that everyday people are taking action to assure how they shaped America is never forgotten.
http://www.vicksburgpost.com/articles/2009/10/11/opinion/doc4acf88fc3fd2e375398760.txt
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Persistence has paid off for the Friends of Raymond in the group’s effort to preserve more of a Civil War battlefield. The beneficiaries will be generations to come.
Saturday, the self-formed group cut the ribbon to 67 additional acres in Hinds County, part of the site where 16,000 soldiers fought on May 12, 1863, and about 1,000 were killed, wounded or declared missing.
The fighting between Union and Confederate troops was part of the Campaign for Vicksburg, led by Gen. U.S. Grant. All previous strategies to capture the city and, thus, split the Confederacy and return control of the Mississippi River to the Union, had failed. Grant had ferried his troops across the river from Louisiana at Bruinsburg, west of Port Gibson, and in a mission fraught with risks, was moving his army up central Mississippi as his supply lines grew longer and longer. The stakes for Grant, and for the future of the nation, were high.
Southern forces did not want to retreat into Vicksburg. Although it was a natural fortress, it was clear enough that an army pinned down would eventually be an army defeated. So, though the North had vastly superior numbers, there was fierce fighting almost every day as Grant tried to advance.
Last week, a PBS series by Ken Burns reminded TV viewers that national parks didn’t just happen. Preserving the nation’s natural and historic treasures almost always started at the grassroots. Congress doesn’t appoint committees to look at maps and decide what to save. Individuals and organizations petition to advance the process. Indeed, this is how the Vicksburg National Military Park was created in 1899.
If or when the battlefield near Raymond will be submitted for federal consideration is not known, but the efforts of the Friends of Raymond, including Parker Hills, a retired general and past president of the group, are certainly admirable. He has good reason to celebrate the acquisition. “This is the core of the battlefield, where I would say at least 85 percent of the actual combat took place,” he said.
The Friends of Raymond was chartered 11 years ago and has a mere 200 members. The group raised $115,000 and the Civil War Preservation Trust added another $102,500. That left $217,500 needed from the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program to complete the purchase.
Initially, interpretive trails and signs are planned. Over the years, however, expect more, perhaps even monuments honoring the soldiers.
What a great comment about America it is to see citizens initiating preservation of our nation’s history. It was everyday people who struggled in combat. How fitting that everyday people are taking action to assure how they shaped America is never forgotten.
http://www.vicksburgpost.com/articles/2009/10/11/opinion/doc4acf88fc3fd2e375398760.txt
New Park To Open In Virginia
Va. Side of White's Ford Slated For Park
We have good news from the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority on the preservation front. Park officials have announced plans to purchase a 275-acre farm on the Potomac River that includes the ford where the Army of Northern Virginia crossed into Maryland on Sept. 5-6, 1862, bringing the war to the North. Twelve days later came Antietam.
The property, near Leesburg, Va., includes the home and farm of Elijah Viers White, commander of the 35th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry. The ford, named for him, is a wide, shallow crossing on the river where the water is usually only a few feet deep.
On the Maryland side, the shoreline is already protected as part of the C & O Canal National Park. Re-enactors often stage a crossing on the September anniversary but have only been able to enter from the Maryland side, cross over to Virginia, then turn around and march back.
This is the place where historians often note how the Confederates entered the North, with flags held high and regimental bands playing "Maryland, My Maryland," a song written after the 1861 riots in Baltimore when Union troops were attacked as they passed through that city. The song, a powerful indictment of the federal occupation of the state, is now Maryland's state song.
Confederates were expecting hundreds to thousands of Maryland men to immediately join their cause as they marched through the state, but few did so.
White and the 35th Battalion fought in Jackson' s Valley Campaign and were among the first units to arrive at Gettysburg.
After the war, White returned to his farm, ran successfully for sheriff and took over operation of Conrad's Ferry, now known as White's Ferry. The ferry, a few miles down the river from the ford, was once one of about 100 ferries that crossed the Potomac River but is the last one still in operation today.
According to a press release, the Authority plans for White's Ford Regional Park to be used for camping, fishing and hiking and will preserve White's house.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/house-divided/2009/10/va_side_of_whites_ford_slated.html#more
We have good news from the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority on the preservation front. Park officials have announced plans to purchase a 275-acre farm on the Potomac River that includes the ford where the Army of Northern Virginia crossed into Maryland on Sept. 5-6, 1862, bringing the war to the North. Twelve days later came Antietam.
The property, near Leesburg, Va., includes the home and farm of Elijah Viers White, commander of the 35th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry. The ford, named for him, is a wide, shallow crossing on the river where the water is usually only a few feet deep.
On the Maryland side, the shoreline is already protected as part of the C & O Canal National Park. Re-enactors often stage a crossing on the September anniversary but have only been able to enter from the Maryland side, cross over to Virginia, then turn around and march back.
This is the place where historians often note how the Confederates entered the North, with flags held high and regimental bands playing "Maryland, My Maryland," a song written after the 1861 riots in Baltimore when Union troops were attacked as they passed through that city. The song, a powerful indictment of the federal occupation of the state, is now Maryland's state song.
Confederates were expecting hundreds to thousands of Maryland men to immediately join their cause as they marched through the state, but few did so.
White and the 35th Battalion fought in Jackson' s Valley Campaign and were among the first units to arrive at Gettysburg.
After the war, White returned to his farm, ran successfully for sheriff and took over operation of Conrad's Ferry, now known as White's Ferry. The ferry, a few miles down the river from the ford, was once one of about 100 ferries that crossed the Potomac River but is the last one still in operation today.
According to a press release, the Authority plans for White's Ford Regional Park to be used for camping, fishing and hiking and will preserve White's house.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/house-divided/2009/10/va_side_of_whites_ford_slated.html#more
Monday, October 19, 2009
Memorial Held at Point Lookout
4,000 Ghosts Honored at Point Lookout Prisoner of War Cemetery
ST. MARY'S COUNTY - 10/13/2009
The Captain Vincent Camalier Camp Sons of Confederate Veterans along with the Point Lookout Prisoner of War Association held a Memorial service to honor the 4,000+ prisoners buried at the Confederate cemetery on Point Lookout on Saturday, Oct. 10.
According to Jim Dunbar, association head, the event held each year to honor the descendants of those Confederate soldiers that died at the Camp Hoffman prison. “There were probably close to 14 thousand men that died in the prison,” said Dunbar. “The monument has the names 3,300 men that died and we have gone through records and uncovered an additional 700 names that need to be honored.
The moving service included color guards, re-enactors and guest speakers. After the service the Confederate Memorial park next to the cemetery was opened for an all day event of celebration, living history, food and more speakers.
One of the speakers, H.K. Edgenton, a black Confederate activist who works to provide the ‘real truth’ as President of Southern Heritage 411, Inc. Edgenton gave an impressive, passionate speech to the audience as part of the ceremony designed to tell the facts from the perspective of hundreds of thousands of black people who love and support the south, its people, customs and history.
The prison – a facility for Confederate prisoners of war was built at Point Lookout on the tip of the peninsula at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. During the two years the camp was in operation from August 1863 to June 1865, the prison was jammed with inmates, easily overwhelming the camp’s capacity of 10 thousand. It is estimated that at any given time, the camp contained from 12 thousand and to 20 thousand prisoners. During its two years in operation, it is estimated that 50,000 military and civilians were held.
The camp was laid out in a series of streets and trenches designed to drain runoff. It was surrounded by a fourteen foot parapet wall. Prisoners lived sixteen or more to a tent and suffered from short rations and limited fire wood in winter. When the coffee ration was suspended for federal prisoners at Andersonville, the Point Lookout prisoner lost theirs as well.
The worst suffering came because the physical conditions. The ground was flat and sandy and at almost sea level so that was just above high tide, adding to the misery, including every imaginable weather extreme, from blazing heat to bone-chilling cold.
http://www.thebaynet.com/news/index.cfm/fa/viewstory/story_ID/15142
ST. MARY'S COUNTY - 10/13/2009
The Captain Vincent Camalier Camp Sons of Confederate Veterans along with the Point Lookout Prisoner of War Association held a Memorial service to honor the 4,000+ prisoners buried at the Confederate cemetery on Point Lookout on Saturday, Oct. 10.
According to Jim Dunbar, association head, the event held each year to honor the descendants of those Confederate soldiers that died at the Camp Hoffman prison. “There were probably close to 14 thousand men that died in the prison,” said Dunbar. “The monument has the names 3,300 men that died and we have gone through records and uncovered an additional 700 names that need to be honored.
The moving service included color guards, re-enactors and guest speakers. After the service the Confederate Memorial park next to the cemetery was opened for an all day event of celebration, living history, food and more speakers.
One of the speakers, H.K. Edgenton, a black Confederate activist who works to provide the ‘real truth’ as President of Southern Heritage 411, Inc. Edgenton gave an impressive, passionate speech to the audience as part of the ceremony designed to tell the facts from the perspective of hundreds of thousands of black people who love and support the south, its people, customs and history.
The prison – a facility for Confederate prisoners of war was built at Point Lookout on the tip of the peninsula at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. During the two years the camp was in operation from August 1863 to June 1865, the prison was jammed with inmates, easily overwhelming the camp’s capacity of 10 thousand. It is estimated that at any given time, the camp contained from 12 thousand and to 20 thousand prisoners. During its two years in operation, it is estimated that 50,000 military and civilians were held.
The camp was laid out in a series of streets and trenches designed to drain runoff. It was surrounded by a fourteen foot parapet wall. Prisoners lived sixteen or more to a tent and suffered from short rations and limited fire wood in winter. When the coffee ration was suspended for federal prisoners at Andersonville, the Point Lookout prisoner lost theirs as well.
The worst suffering came because the physical conditions. The ground was flat and sandy and at almost sea level so that was just above high tide, adding to the misery, including every imaginable weather extreme, from blazing heat to bone-chilling cold.
http://www.thebaynet.com/news/index.cfm/fa/viewstory/story_ID/15142
Preservation In Franklin, TN
Preservationists target second pizza place
Franklin's Charge hopes to have replica cotton gin built
by 150th anniversary of 1864 battle
By Kevin Walters • THE TENNESSEAN • October 15, 2009
FRANKLIN — Franklin's reclamation of its battlefield land could take another leap forward in time for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Franklin.
Organizers of local nonprofit Franklin's Charge are negotiating to buy the Domino's Pizza restaurant and Four Star Market at the corner of Cleburne Street and Columbia Avenue and convert them into a new park, where a replica of a cotton gin that once stood there would be built.
The buildings and land are owned by developer and longtime resident Don Cameron, who says he's willing to give Franklin's Charge a chance to buy the buildings for the park, but he says he won't wait forever.
"I want to be more than fair about it," said Cameron, who recently had the site reappraised. "It's time to fish or cut bait with them. I've agreed to do it, and now it's time for them to step up to the plate."
If the deal happens, it would be another reclamation of land where hundreds of soldiers died when four Confederate divisions met Union forces on Nov. 30, 1864, in the fighting of the Battle of Franklin. The 150th anniversary would be in 2014. In 2005 a Pizza Hut restaurant across the street from the land was demolished.
Details of the deal are emerging after a weekend in which thousands of people and national media attention turned to Franklin for the funeral and burial of an unknown soldier killed sometime around 1864. The soldier's bones were accidentally unearthed in May and reburied Saturday in Rest Haven Cemetery.
Ernie Bacon, president of Franklin's Charge, said the high attendance for the funeral proved there's great public interest in historic-themed events and sites.
"I think it speaks very well for the value of heritage tourism," Bacon said.
Franklin's Charge is a local coalition of local nonprofit groups first organized for the $5 million purchase of a 110-acre golf course adjacent to Carnton Plantation that will be a Civil War park.
Bacon says Cameron's land at that intersection is a key piece to creating the larger plan for land begun years ago. He said negotiations have been ongoing.
"We're reclaiming what land is available to us now," Bacon said. "The property on that corner is significant because of the intense fighting that occurred during the Battle of Franklin."
Sale is 'not a business deal'
Cameron, who can trace his family roots here to the earliest days of the city's founding, said he's previously turned down offers to sell that land to other investors, including a bank.
"This is not about a business deal," Cameron said.
In 2005, city officials paid $300,000 for roughly a quarter of an acre on the thern side of the intersection where the Pizza Hut once stood. After a public ceremony was held where the restaurant was torn down, a park was built commemorating where Confederate Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne was killed during the Battle of Franklin.
Last year, Franklin's Charge bought a house and property at 1219 Columbia Ave. for $950,000 to add to land for the park. The Heritage Foundation of Franklin and Williamson County already owns the Carter Cotton Gin property, which adjoins this land. Carter House, considered the site of the most intense fighting, is across the street on Columbia Avenue.
Bacon, who was an alderman when the city bought the former Pizza Hut land as well as the Eastern Flank property, said the group would not seek public money to pay for this acquisition.
The group might turn to the Civil War Preservation Trust for grant money.
"We're stepping up our fundraising," Bacon said.
Cameron declined to give the sale price of the land. County records show Cameron Properties bought the site, which includes addresses 1221 through 1225 of Columbia Avenue back in September 1997 for $620,000. No contract for a sale of the property has been made, and Cameron declined to say what the sale price would be.
Bacon estimated that Franklin's Charge would spend $3.2 million, including last year's purchase, the purchase of Cameron's property and building a replica of the former cotton gin.
Meanwhile, plans are under way for this year's commemoration of the Battle of Franklin. Volunteers will light 10,000 candles as part of an annual commemoration of the battle, which is set for Nov. 28 at the Confederate Cemetery at Carnton Plantation.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091015/COUNTY090101/910150317/Franklin%20preservationists%20target%20second%20pizza%20place
Franklin's Charge hopes to have replica cotton gin built
by 150th anniversary of 1864 battle
By Kevin Walters • THE TENNESSEAN • October 15, 2009
FRANKLIN — Franklin's reclamation of its battlefield land could take another leap forward in time for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Franklin.
Organizers of local nonprofit Franklin's Charge are negotiating to buy the Domino's Pizza restaurant and Four Star Market at the corner of Cleburne Street and Columbia Avenue and convert them into a new park, where a replica of a cotton gin that once stood there would be built.
The buildings and land are owned by developer and longtime resident Don Cameron, who says he's willing to give Franklin's Charge a chance to buy the buildings for the park, but he says he won't wait forever.
"I want to be more than fair about it," said Cameron, who recently had the site reappraised. "It's time to fish or cut bait with them. I've agreed to do it, and now it's time for them to step up to the plate."
If the deal happens, it would be another reclamation of land where hundreds of soldiers died when four Confederate divisions met Union forces on Nov. 30, 1864, in the fighting of the Battle of Franklin. The 150th anniversary would be in 2014. In 2005 a Pizza Hut restaurant across the street from the land was demolished.
Details of the deal are emerging after a weekend in which thousands of people and national media attention turned to Franklin for the funeral and burial of an unknown soldier killed sometime around 1864. The soldier's bones were accidentally unearthed in May and reburied Saturday in Rest Haven Cemetery.
Ernie Bacon, president of Franklin's Charge, said the high attendance for the funeral proved there's great public interest in historic-themed events and sites.
"I think it speaks very well for the value of heritage tourism," Bacon said.
Franklin's Charge is a local coalition of local nonprofit groups first organized for the $5 million purchase of a 110-acre golf course adjacent to Carnton Plantation that will be a Civil War park.
Bacon says Cameron's land at that intersection is a key piece to creating the larger plan for land begun years ago. He said negotiations have been ongoing.
"We're reclaiming what land is available to us now," Bacon said. "The property on that corner is significant because of the intense fighting that occurred during the Battle of Franklin."
Sale is 'not a business deal'
Cameron, who can trace his family roots here to the earliest days of the city's founding, said he's previously turned down offers to sell that land to other investors, including a bank.
"This is not about a business deal," Cameron said.
In 2005, city officials paid $300,000 for roughly a quarter of an acre on the thern side of the intersection where the Pizza Hut once stood. After a public ceremony was held where the restaurant was torn down, a park was built commemorating where Confederate Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne was killed during the Battle of Franklin.
Last year, Franklin's Charge bought a house and property at 1219 Columbia Ave. for $950,000 to add to land for the park. The Heritage Foundation of Franklin and Williamson County already owns the Carter Cotton Gin property, which adjoins this land. Carter House, considered the site of the most intense fighting, is across the street on Columbia Avenue.
Bacon, who was an alderman when the city bought the former Pizza Hut land as well as the Eastern Flank property, said the group would not seek public money to pay for this acquisition.
The group might turn to the Civil War Preservation Trust for grant money.
"We're stepping up our fundraising," Bacon said.
Cameron declined to give the sale price of the land. County records show Cameron Properties bought the site, which includes addresses 1221 through 1225 of Columbia Avenue back in September 1997 for $620,000. No contract for a sale of the property has been made, and Cameron declined to say what the sale price would be.
Bacon estimated that Franklin's Charge would spend $3.2 million, including last year's purchase, the purchase of Cameron's property and building a replica of the former cotton gin.
Meanwhile, plans are under way for this year's commemoration of the Battle of Franklin. Volunteers will light 10,000 candles as part of an annual commemoration of the battle, which is set for Nov. 28 at the Confederate Cemetery at Carnton Plantation.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091015/COUNTY090101/910150317/Franklin%20preservationists%20target%20second%20pizza%20place
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