Compatriots,
At the link below you will find a state by state list of non-profit organizations that are at risk of loosing their non-profit status for failure to file their yearly reports with the IRS. Please take a moment and look at the listing of your state to see if your SCV camp is listed. I made a spot check and noticed some states with SCV camps on the list. I also noticed one reenacting organization as well.
http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=225889,00.html?portlet=7
Chuck Rand
Adjutant In Chief
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
SCV Participates in Reenactment
September 5, 2010
Reenactors offer glimpse into past
By GREG JORDAN
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON – Labor Day travelers used to seeing cars, cell phones and shopping centers during their end of summer journeys are seeing something unexpected at one tourist center — a scene from the Civil War.
Reenactors wearing Confederate uniforms and working in a camp like those seen during the Civil War is open for viewing today at the West Virginia Tourist Information Center. Organized by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, West Virginia Division, Southern Brigade Camp No. 1694–Flat Top Copperheads, the camp gives visitors an opportunity to learn more about the daily lives of Civil War soldiers.
As the name states, members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans have ancestors who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, said the camp’s adjacent, Richard Lockhart. Members participate in reenactments and living histories to help educate people about life during the war. At the camp, visitors can learn how soldiers in the field lived their lives; lives that were often difficult.
For instance, Lockhart pointed out that as a captain, he would be able to afford a good uniform and equipment. Privates in the Confederate Army often had to make do with whatever they could bring with them after enlisting or find later during a campaign.
“They lived a hard life,” Lockhart said. “They often didn’t have shoes and rarely had enough to eat. Their clothes weren’t often the best.”
Sometimes after a battle, Confederates in need of shoes or clothes would take them off Union causalities, Lockhart said.
During the Civil War, Mercer County’s residents were mostly for the Confederacy. Approximately 1,100 of the county’s residents enlisted in the Confederate Army.
“And of those, 40 percent were killed in battle,” said Lockhart, who added that he is writing a book about these soldiers. He has located 400 graves representing the approximately 700 men who survived the war.
“There are 150 still left to find,” he said.
Among the equipment visitors can see is a Model 1841 Field Howitzer. Its owner, Bobby Tabor of Narrows, Va., walks over to his cannon and explains that it’s not just a showpiece: It’s a real cannon.
“It can shoot several different things: canister, shot–what most people call a cannon ball–and I can shoot a shell which will explode,” Tabor said.
He goes into the camp and picks about a cylinder made of metal and wood that’s about the size of a small coffee can. Such “canisters” contained 25 metal balls, each about an inch in diameter. It was designed to injure up to 75 people arrayed in three advancing lines. Besides the musket balls inside the canister, pieces of the canister itself added to the projectiles fired at an advancing enemy.
“In desperate need, you could shoot two canisters,” Tabor said.
One of Tabor’s friends, Clate Dolinger, 71, of Pembroke, Va. was ready to leave after giving some outdoor cooking lessons. He took a moment to go through a thick binder of details surrounding a Civil War photograph often seen in Civil War books: three Confederate soldiers who was captured at the Battle of Gettysburg. The men in that photograph–Andrew Z. Blevins, Epharim Blevins–and John R. Baldwin are all Dolinger’s ancestors.
Under a nearby picnic canopy is a collection of bullets, firearms, belt buckles, glassware, knives, artillery shells and other Civil War artifacts.
“This is 31, 32 years of collecting,” said owner Blaine Hypes, 56, of Princeton. He found some of the items himself and purchased others from fellow relic hunters. The bottles and glassware alone came from Confederate and Union camps “up and down the Shenandoah Valley.”
While many of the items a person can still find today are has harmless as belt buckles and bottles–Hypes knew a Princeton man who found a Civil War bottle while digging a fence post–others are still dangerous despite their age. Hypes recalled one collector who was killed while “deactivating” a 30 pound Civil War artillery shell.
“A lot of the ordinance found in the ground is still live, still dangerous even after 150 years. That’s hard to believe, but people are still finding this stuff all the time,” he said.
Hypes looked at his collection. “Every little piece could tell you its own story if it could tell it.”
Visitors can also talk with camp members who bring Confederate generals to life: Gen. Robert E. Lee (Al Stone), Lt. Gen. James Longstreet (Jay Vogel) and Brig. Gen. Albert G. Jenkins (John Belcher).
General Lee explained why he chose to serve with the Confederate Army. He said that he owed allegiance to the “country” of Virginia, which had chosen to join the Confederacy. Like other future Confederate generals and officers, his education at West Point had taught him that states allowed a centralized government only certain powers, and that a state had a right to secede if its citizens believed this move was necessary.
A book used at West Point, titled “The Law of Nations,” taught future generals that “the people have the right to determine how they will be governed,” General Longstreet said. And one cannot accept just certain parts of the “Law of Nations” and reject the rest, he added. It has to be accepted as a whole. Three hundred and six West Point graduates decided to serve with the Confederacy.
Members of the camp also work to show visitors the issues Confederates thought about before deciding to secede from the Union. For instance, Confederates did not make the decision to go to war in a hurried and rash manner, Gen. Jenkins said. For instance, the Jenkins plantation was along the Ohio River, a major route for military traffic if war was declared. Jenkins said that he knew if war came, the “Yankees” would soon be at his front door.
Reenactors offer glimpse into past
By GREG JORDAN
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON – Labor Day travelers used to seeing cars, cell phones and shopping centers during their end of summer journeys are seeing something unexpected at one tourist center — a scene from the Civil War.
Reenactors wearing Confederate uniforms and working in a camp like those seen during the Civil War is open for viewing today at the West Virginia Tourist Information Center. Organized by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, West Virginia Division, Southern Brigade Camp No. 1694–Flat Top Copperheads, the camp gives visitors an opportunity to learn more about the daily lives of Civil War soldiers.
As the name states, members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans have ancestors who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, said the camp’s adjacent, Richard Lockhart. Members participate in reenactments and living histories to help educate people about life during the war. At the camp, visitors can learn how soldiers in the field lived their lives; lives that were often difficult.
For instance, Lockhart pointed out that as a captain, he would be able to afford a good uniform and equipment. Privates in the Confederate Army often had to make do with whatever they could bring with them after enlisting or find later during a campaign.
“They lived a hard life,” Lockhart said. “They often didn’t have shoes and rarely had enough to eat. Their clothes weren’t often the best.”
Sometimes after a battle, Confederates in need of shoes or clothes would take them off Union causalities, Lockhart said.
During the Civil War, Mercer County’s residents were mostly for the Confederacy. Approximately 1,100 of the county’s residents enlisted in the Confederate Army.
“And of those, 40 percent were killed in battle,” said Lockhart, who added that he is writing a book about these soldiers. He has located 400 graves representing the approximately 700 men who survived the war.
“There are 150 still left to find,” he said.
Among the equipment visitors can see is a Model 1841 Field Howitzer. Its owner, Bobby Tabor of Narrows, Va., walks over to his cannon and explains that it’s not just a showpiece: It’s a real cannon.
“It can shoot several different things: canister, shot–what most people call a cannon ball–and I can shoot a shell which will explode,” Tabor said.
He goes into the camp and picks about a cylinder made of metal and wood that’s about the size of a small coffee can. Such “canisters” contained 25 metal balls, each about an inch in diameter. It was designed to injure up to 75 people arrayed in three advancing lines. Besides the musket balls inside the canister, pieces of the canister itself added to the projectiles fired at an advancing enemy.
“In desperate need, you could shoot two canisters,” Tabor said.
One of Tabor’s friends, Clate Dolinger, 71, of Pembroke, Va. was ready to leave after giving some outdoor cooking lessons. He took a moment to go through a thick binder of details surrounding a Civil War photograph often seen in Civil War books: three Confederate soldiers who was captured at the Battle of Gettysburg. The men in that photograph–Andrew Z. Blevins, Epharim Blevins–and John R. Baldwin are all Dolinger’s ancestors.
Under a nearby picnic canopy is a collection of bullets, firearms, belt buckles, glassware, knives, artillery shells and other Civil War artifacts.
“This is 31, 32 years of collecting,” said owner Blaine Hypes, 56, of Princeton. He found some of the items himself and purchased others from fellow relic hunters. The bottles and glassware alone came from Confederate and Union camps “up and down the Shenandoah Valley.”
While many of the items a person can still find today are has harmless as belt buckles and bottles–Hypes knew a Princeton man who found a Civil War bottle while digging a fence post–others are still dangerous despite their age. Hypes recalled one collector who was killed while “deactivating” a 30 pound Civil War artillery shell.
“A lot of the ordinance found in the ground is still live, still dangerous even after 150 years. That’s hard to believe, but people are still finding this stuff all the time,” he said.
Hypes looked at his collection. “Every little piece could tell you its own story if it could tell it.”
Visitors can also talk with camp members who bring Confederate generals to life: Gen. Robert E. Lee (Al Stone), Lt. Gen. James Longstreet (Jay Vogel) and Brig. Gen. Albert G. Jenkins (John Belcher).
General Lee explained why he chose to serve with the Confederate Army. He said that he owed allegiance to the “country” of Virginia, which had chosen to join the Confederacy. Like other future Confederate generals and officers, his education at West Point had taught him that states allowed a centralized government only certain powers, and that a state had a right to secede if its citizens believed this move was necessary.
A book used at West Point, titled “The Law of Nations,” taught future generals that “the people have the right to determine how they will be governed,” General Longstreet said. And one cannot accept just certain parts of the “Law of Nations” and reject the rest, he added. It has to be accepted as a whole. Three hundred and six West Point graduates decided to serve with the Confederacy.
Members of the camp also work to show visitors the issues Confederates thought about before deciding to secede from the Union. For instance, Confederates did not make the decision to go to war in a hurried and rash manner, Gen. Jenkins said. For instance, the Jenkins plantation was along the Ohio River, a major route for military traffic if war was declared. Jenkins said that he knew if war came, the “Yankees” would soon be at his front door.
Georgia Raises Battleflag in I-75
HUGE CONFEDERATE BATTLE FLAG
GOING UP ON I-75 IN GEORGIA
(ATLANTA - 21 September 2010) In conjunction with the launch of events to commemorate the Sesquicentennial of the War Between the States, the Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans will be erecting a 100' flagpole with a Confederate battle flag on Saturday, September 25, 2010 at I-75 Exit 71, just north of Tifton.
The flag raising is part of the ongoing Flags Over Georgia project of the Sons of Confederate Veterans here in the state and is designed to increase awareness of the significant role that Georgia played during the War. Due to the current political climate in America, there is more interest today than any other time in the last hundred years regarding our Confederate Heritage as people attempt to understand the South's stand against an out-of-control federal government.
Earlier this year, the Florida Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans received national attention when they, too, raised a large Confederate battle flag alongside a major expressway in their state.
Georgia Division Commander, Jack Bridwell, had this to say about Saturday's flag raising, "This beautiful Flag signals the start of our celebration of the Sesquicentennial of the War for Southern Independence. We will continue to highlight times, sites, and people over the next 4 years; hopefully the public will join us in this celebration. "
The Sons of Confederate Veterans are also preparing to launch a statewide radio and television campaign with commercials which will educate the public about Georgia's Confederate heritage and role during the War in commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the War Between the States.
Interviews or more information about the Sons of Confederate Veterans or the flag raising may be obtained by contacting the Georgia Division at
1-888-SCVinGA or online at www.GeorgiaSCV.com.
GOING UP ON I-75 IN GEORGIA
(ATLANTA - 21 September 2010) In conjunction with the launch of events to commemorate the Sesquicentennial of the War Between the States, the Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans will be erecting a 100' flagpole with a Confederate battle flag on Saturday, September 25, 2010 at I-75 Exit 71, just north of Tifton.
The flag raising is part of the ongoing Flags Over Georgia project of the Sons of Confederate Veterans here in the state and is designed to increase awareness of the significant role that Georgia played during the War. Due to the current political climate in America, there is more interest today than any other time in the last hundred years regarding our Confederate Heritage as people attempt to understand the South's stand against an out-of-control federal government.
Earlier this year, the Florida Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans received national attention when they, too, raised a large Confederate battle flag alongside a major expressway in their state.
Georgia Division Commander, Jack Bridwell, had this to say about Saturday's flag raising, "This beautiful Flag signals the start of our celebration of the Sesquicentennial of the War for Southern Independence. We will continue to highlight times, sites, and people over the next 4 years; hopefully the public will join us in this celebration. "
The Sons of Confederate Veterans are also preparing to launch a statewide radio and television campaign with commercials which will educate the public about Georgia's Confederate heritage and role during the War in commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the War Between the States.
Interviews or more information about the Sons of Confederate Veterans or the flag raising may be obtained by contacting the Georgia Division at
1-888-SCVinGA or online at www.GeorgiaSCV.com.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Memorial Service for Heroes Von Borcke
The recent Memorial Servicefor Heroes Von Borcke, held in Poland in September, 2010, can be viewed at the following link. The SCV participated in an earlier service, in 2008, where a new CSA grave marker was place on the grave.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QArwc29reUU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QArwc29reUU
Thursday, September 23, 2010
SCV and VFW Join Forces to Honor Confederate Veteran
September 22, 2010
Paying Tribute
VFW dedicates marker of Confederate soldier
By JANIE SLAVEN
Wed Sep 22, 2010
PINE KNOT — To passersby, it may have appeared to be a routine military funeral occurring at Pine Knot Cemetery over the weekend. But a closer inspection would have revealed details not routinely witnessed in more than a 100 years.
On Saturday morning, the Charles Moore VFW Post 5127 joined forces with the Cumberland Brigade of the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ Kentucky Division to memorialize the grave of James S. Ward, who fought with the “Lynchburg Rifles” during the Civil War.
When VFW member Dan DeLaughter learned that the United States Department of Veterans Affairs could provide military markers for Confederate veterans, he and historian Sam Perry (also a VFW member) set about applying for a stone to mark the only known local grave of a Confederate veteran.
Born on January 10, 1834, in Campbell County, Virginia, Ward was working as a farmer when his home state seceded from the Union in 1861. Ward enlisted in the 11th Virginia Infantry Regiment and was assigned to Company E, popularly known as the Lynchburg Rifles.
The 11th Regiment fought in many battles, including Sayler’s Creek where it is believed that a wounded Ward was captured as a prisoner of war. He wasn’t released until Lee’s surrender in April 1865. After taking an oath of allegiance to the United States Constitution, Ward returned to farming until he moved to Kentucky in the late 1870s to work for the Cincinnati Southern Railroad.
Ward was a trackwalker who kept the rails free from debris until he retired at the age of 90. He died at his home in Pine Knot on March 25, 1932, at the age of 98.
Through two marriages, Ward fathered eight children: Edward (who was posthumously honored last year for his contribution to Army aviation), Minnie, Lula, Alice, Etta, Rosetta, Grace and James W.
Ward’s descendants were among those in attendance at Saturday’s ceremony, which Moses Hamlin of the Cumberland Brigade said would resemble a burial that could have occurred on a Civil War battlefield. The service concluded with a flag presentation to Bill Stephens, a grandson who still lives in McCreary County, and an unveiling of the military marker.
http://mccrearyrecord.com/local/x180463364/Paying-Tribute
Paying Tribute
VFW dedicates marker of Confederate soldier
By JANIE SLAVEN
Wed Sep 22, 2010
PINE KNOT — To passersby, it may have appeared to be a routine military funeral occurring at Pine Knot Cemetery over the weekend. But a closer inspection would have revealed details not routinely witnessed in more than a 100 years.
On Saturday morning, the Charles Moore VFW Post 5127 joined forces with the Cumberland Brigade of the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ Kentucky Division to memorialize the grave of James S. Ward, who fought with the “Lynchburg Rifles” during the Civil War.
When VFW member Dan DeLaughter learned that the United States Department of Veterans Affairs could provide military markers for Confederate veterans, he and historian Sam Perry (also a VFW member) set about applying for a stone to mark the only known local grave of a Confederate veteran.
Born on January 10, 1834, in Campbell County, Virginia, Ward was working as a farmer when his home state seceded from the Union in 1861. Ward enlisted in the 11th Virginia Infantry Regiment and was assigned to Company E, popularly known as the Lynchburg Rifles.
The 11th Regiment fought in many battles, including Sayler’s Creek where it is believed that a wounded Ward was captured as a prisoner of war. He wasn’t released until Lee’s surrender in April 1865. After taking an oath of allegiance to the United States Constitution, Ward returned to farming until he moved to Kentucky in the late 1870s to work for the Cincinnati Southern Railroad.
Ward was a trackwalker who kept the rails free from debris until he retired at the age of 90. He died at his home in Pine Knot on March 25, 1932, at the age of 98.
Through two marriages, Ward fathered eight children: Edward (who was posthumously honored last year for his contribution to Army aviation), Minnie, Lula, Alice, Etta, Rosetta, Grace and James W.
Ward’s descendants were among those in attendance at Saturday’s ceremony, which Moses Hamlin of the Cumberland Brigade said would resemble a burial that could have occurred on a Civil War battlefield. The service concluded with a flag presentation to Bill Stephens, a grandson who still lives in McCreary County, and an unveiling of the military marker.
http://mccrearyrecord.com/local/x180463364/Paying-Tribute
1st Secession of Louisiana
Little known republic in Louisiana celebrates 200 years
By MARY FOSTER
Wed Sep 22, 2010
BATON ROUGE, La. – While Texans are fiercely proud their state was once its own republic, and California celebrates the same former status on its flag, relatively few Louisianans know that a group of their forebears overthrew Spanish rule to carve out a tiny, independent nation 200 years ago. With the bicentennial coming up Thursday, historians and descendants of the rebels are hoping to change that.
"It is the most dramatic event in Louisiana history that has been so little recognized," said Sam Hyde, director of the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies at Southeastern Louisiana University. "We have been lost to all the Cajuns and the debauchery of New Orleans, but it is a unique event that had a lasting effect on this area and others."
In the early morning hours of Sept. 23, 1810, 75 armed rebels slipped into the Spanish fort at Baton Rouge, and in what was described as a "sharp and bloody firefight," subdued the garrison. They lowered the Spanish flag and raised the Bonnie Blue Flag — a single white star on a blue field — that had been adopted for the new nation they called West Florida.
Three days later the rebels signed a declaration of independence and set up a government for the new nation that historians say included about 4,000 people.
The republic was one of three nations that joined with the United States as it expanded west during the 19th century. The others were the republics of Texas and California.
West Florida achieved its goal — annexation by the United States — 74 days after independence, said archivist Betty Tucker of Zachary, La.
Historians generally agree the republic included 8 Louisiana parishes still known as the Florida Parishes, and those completed what became the state of Louisiana in 1812.
"They were English speaking people, several were Tories, and they were sick of Spain," Tucker said of the rebels. "You had to be Catholic (under the Spanish), they had no rights, no vote. They were planning to join the United States from when they started their secret meetings in 1805," she said.
The rebels had also originally claimed all Spanish territory extending east through Mississippi to the Perdido River, which separates Alabama and Florida. But their ambitious attempt to seize Mobile, Ala., failed, and Hyde said people living in those areas outside of Louisiana never actively rebelled.
On Thursday, ceremonies marking the 200th anniversary of the revolt will be held at Old Fort San Carlos in Baton Rouge and a flag-raising is set at the St. Tammany Parish Courthouse in Covington. On Jan. 10, 2011, the bicentennial of the annexation of West Florida will be celebrated at State Capitol Park in Baton Rouge. Neither Mississippi nor Alabama are planning West Florida commemorations.
West Florida's residents were mostly farmers and tradesmen of Scottish and English descent. Its leaders dealt harshly with opponents to either independence or U.S. annexation.
"It was pretty violent," Hyde said. "In one case a man was burned alive."
Tucker said the revolution quickly faded from the state's memory.
"Most people think this was all part of the Louisiana Purchase," Hyde said.
Hyde recalled a confrontational phone call from former Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster during the anniversary of the purchase from France in 2003. Foster scolded him for pointing out that the annexation of West Florida was separate.
"He said, the coins are minted, the posters are printed, and from now on the entire state was part of the Louisiana Purchase!" Hyde said.
But the facts say otherwise. When the United States made the purchase in 1803, it was for French Louisiana and the Isle of Orleans. Areas north of Lake Pontchartrain and east of the Mississippi River — which include West Florida — had been Spanish.
Descendants of West Florida's founders are hoping the bicentennial will give the republic its proper place in history.
In 2002, Leila Roberts, great-granddaughter of Fulworth Skipwith, leader of the republic, donated the original copy of the West Florida Constitution to the Louisiana State Archives, said state archivist Ellen Brown. It's been on display at the Capitol this year.
David Norwood is a descendant of Bennett Hilliard Barrow, one of the rebellion leaders. He proudly displays in his home a small table marked by rings from wet glasses, which family lore holds were left by rebels who gathered to plot their rebellion. Next door is the family home, Highland Plantation, built in 1805, where the rebels gathered.
The year 1810 was a bad one for Spain. Not only did West Florida rebel, but the turmoil of the Napoleonic Wars sparked revolt in Spanish possessions throughout the Western Hemisphere.
"This is unknown history that is important to the rest of the nation," said David Norwood's wife, Cammie. "It started a rash of rebellions against Spain that stretched from Texas to South America."
Online: http://www.selu.edu/acad_research/programs/csls/west_florida/index.html
By MARY FOSTER
Wed Sep 22, 2010
BATON ROUGE, La. – While Texans are fiercely proud their state was once its own republic, and California celebrates the same former status on its flag, relatively few Louisianans know that a group of their forebears overthrew Spanish rule to carve out a tiny, independent nation 200 years ago. With the bicentennial coming up Thursday, historians and descendants of the rebels are hoping to change that.
"It is the most dramatic event in Louisiana history that has been so little recognized," said Sam Hyde, director of the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies at Southeastern Louisiana University. "We have been lost to all the Cajuns and the debauchery of New Orleans, but it is a unique event that had a lasting effect on this area and others."
In the early morning hours of Sept. 23, 1810, 75 armed rebels slipped into the Spanish fort at Baton Rouge, and in what was described as a "sharp and bloody firefight," subdued the garrison. They lowered the Spanish flag and raised the Bonnie Blue Flag — a single white star on a blue field — that had been adopted for the new nation they called West Florida.
Three days later the rebels signed a declaration of independence and set up a government for the new nation that historians say included about 4,000 people.
The republic was one of three nations that joined with the United States as it expanded west during the 19th century. The others were the republics of Texas and California.
West Florida achieved its goal — annexation by the United States — 74 days after independence, said archivist Betty Tucker of Zachary, La.
Historians generally agree the republic included 8 Louisiana parishes still known as the Florida Parishes, and those completed what became the state of Louisiana in 1812.
"They were English speaking people, several were Tories, and they were sick of Spain," Tucker said of the rebels. "You had to be Catholic (under the Spanish), they had no rights, no vote. They were planning to join the United States from when they started their secret meetings in 1805," she said.
The rebels had also originally claimed all Spanish territory extending east through Mississippi to the Perdido River, which separates Alabama and Florida. But their ambitious attempt to seize Mobile, Ala., failed, and Hyde said people living in those areas outside of Louisiana never actively rebelled.
On Thursday, ceremonies marking the 200th anniversary of the revolt will be held at Old Fort San Carlos in Baton Rouge and a flag-raising is set at the St. Tammany Parish Courthouse in Covington. On Jan. 10, 2011, the bicentennial of the annexation of West Florida will be celebrated at State Capitol Park in Baton Rouge. Neither Mississippi nor Alabama are planning West Florida commemorations.
West Florida's residents were mostly farmers and tradesmen of Scottish and English descent. Its leaders dealt harshly with opponents to either independence or U.S. annexation.
"It was pretty violent," Hyde said. "In one case a man was burned alive."
Tucker said the revolution quickly faded from the state's memory.
"Most people think this was all part of the Louisiana Purchase," Hyde said.
Hyde recalled a confrontational phone call from former Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster during the anniversary of the purchase from France in 2003. Foster scolded him for pointing out that the annexation of West Florida was separate.
"He said, the coins are minted, the posters are printed, and from now on the entire state was part of the Louisiana Purchase!" Hyde said.
But the facts say otherwise. When the United States made the purchase in 1803, it was for French Louisiana and the Isle of Orleans. Areas north of Lake Pontchartrain and east of the Mississippi River — which include West Florida — had been Spanish.
Descendants of West Florida's founders are hoping the bicentennial will give the republic its proper place in history.
In 2002, Leila Roberts, great-granddaughter of Fulworth Skipwith, leader of the republic, donated the original copy of the West Florida Constitution to the Louisiana State Archives, said state archivist Ellen Brown. It's been on display at the Capitol this year.
David Norwood is a descendant of Bennett Hilliard Barrow, one of the rebellion leaders. He proudly displays in his home a small table marked by rings from wet glasses, which family lore holds were left by rebels who gathered to plot their rebellion. Next door is the family home, Highland Plantation, built in 1805, where the rebels gathered.
The year 1810 was a bad one for Spain. Not only did West Florida rebel, but the turmoil of the Napoleonic Wars sparked revolt in Spanish possessions throughout the Western Hemisphere.
"This is unknown history that is important to the rest of the nation," said David Norwood's wife, Cammie. "It started a rash of rebellions against Spain that stretched from Texas to South America."
Online: http://www.selu.edu/acad_research/programs/csls/west_florida/index.html
Friday, September 17, 2010
Fredericksburg Monument Case Headed to Court
Trial Likely For Fredericksburg Confederate Monument Case
By Scott C. Boyd
September 2010 Civil War News
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – Barring out-of-court negotiations, which have been unsuccessful so far, a Fredericksburg Circuit Court judge has cleared the way for a trial over the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ (SCV) lawsuit to prevent the city from moving a monument to a cemetery for 51 Confederate soldiers.
At an Aug. 9 hearing, Judge Gordon F. Willis rejected the city’s June 16 motion for summary judgment, which sought to dismiss the suit. No trial date was set.
At issue is a 3.5-foot-high granite stone topped with a bronze plaque listing the 51 Confederate soldiers buried nearby in the unmarked cemetery along Barton Street in front of the former Maury School.
The Confederate monument sits on one corner of a large traffic island where the Fredericksburg Area War Memorial was dedicated in 2008. That memorial honors the dead from the wars of the 20th and 21st centuries.
According to Matthew Fontaine Maury Camp 1722, they placed the monument on April 16, 2009, at a location designated by city zoning and building officials. The city disputes that the camp was authorized to place the monument.
Two days later the camp hosted a dedication ceremony to which the seven city council members were invited. (See article in June 2009 CWN.)
At the request of the Fredericksburg Area Veterans’ Council (FAVC), which sponsored the war monument, the city council voted in September 2009 to approve a memorandum of understanding with the veterans’ group that included relocating the Confederate monument to an unspecified location.
Camp 1722 was not consulted. The city council’s vote prompted the lawsuit filed last Nov. 19.
The complaint filed by the SCV’s attorney, Patrick M. McSweeney (with McSweeney, Crump, Childress & Temple in Richmond, Va.), stated that the monument was covered by Virginia Code Section 15.2-1812, which protects war monuments from being disturbed once they have been erected. He said it could not be moved by city council vote.
At the recent hearing, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley argued that the power to “authorize and permit” the erection of war monuments in Section 15.2-1812 was a “non-delegable legislative duty.” The city council had to authorize the Confederate monument, which it did not, she said.
Dooley said there were no “issues of genuine fact” in dispute. She asked Judge Willis for a summary judgment, or decision without a trial.
McSweeney said there were material facts in dispute over the delegation of authority by city council to city officials. The function of approving monuments can be delegated by the governing authority, such as the city council, to city officials, and was applicable in this case, the SCV’s lawyer said.
He noted the council did not approve a monument to the 7th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment’s amphibious assault across the Rappahannock River during the Battle of Fredericksburg. It was erected in 2003 on the city easement on National Park Service property along the river.
He added that the city council did not approve a historical marker placed on the same traffic island in January 2010 that refers to nearby sites, including the Liberty Town African-American neighborhood, the Potter’s Field graveyard and the unmarked Barton Street Confederate cemetery.
Judge Willis questioned McSweeney about the building permit signed by Camp 1722 monument project leader Roy B. Perry Jr. as “authorized agent.” According to McSweeney city officials prepared the building application and advised Perry to sign it.
If the locality can delegate the authority to its officials, who can authorize local officials to authorize a local citizen, like Perry, to act as an agent for the city, Willis asked McSweeney.
“No one has told the building official [who advised Perry] that he broke the law,” McSweeney said.
“Does it require council approval to erect anything on city property?” Willis asked Dooley. She did not respond.
“Can it be done without direct action by city council, or can it be delegated?” Willis asked.
Dooley said that council has authorized Public Works to put up things like stop signs as well as temporary traffic signs. She said she was not familiar with the 7th Michigan monument, having been handed an affidavit about it minutes before the hearing.
Judge Willis asked Dooley whether two city officials, senior planner Erik F. Nelson and his boss, zoning administrator Raymond P. Ocel Jr., had the authority to authorize Perry to seek the building permit for the monument.
Dooley said they did not have the authority to do what they did. “Perry’s building permit is invalid,” she said.
“It is disputed whether Mr. Perry was authorized by the city to build. I think that is a material fact to be determined,” Willis said, denying the city’s motion for a summary judgment.
He added, “Just because the permit was issued doesn’t make it valid.” He said that such a determination was up to the finder-of-fact at a trial.
The judge reminded the parties that at their last court session in March he recommended they use Virginia’s Judicial Settlement Conference Program, where retired judges help parties negotiate cases outside of court.
McSweeney asked if the negotiations were voluntary. Willis said they were, “I’d be happy if it was ordered,” McSweeney replied.
In informal negotiations the city proposed, and Camp 1722 rejected, two alternate locations for the Confederate monument, both much farther from the cemetery it memorializes.
Billing information obtained by Civil War News indicates that the city paid outside attorney Jennifer Parrish, who is assisting Dooley, $14,253.50 for the period March through July 2010. The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star in an Aug. 15 editorial questioned whether the legal cost is money well spent and urged the city to let the Confederate monument remain where it is.
CWN reporter Scott C. Boyd is a member of SCV Camp 1722 and assisted with the Confederate Monument project.
http://www.civilwarnews.com/archive/articles/2010/sept/fburgconfed_091006.html
By Scott C. Boyd
September 2010 Civil War News
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – Barring out-of-court negotiations, which have been unsuccessful so far, a Fredericksburg Circuit Court judge has cleared the way for a trial over the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ (SCV) lawsuit to prevent the city from moving a monument to a cemetery for 51 Confederate soldiers.
At an Aug. 9 hearing, Judge Gordon F. Willis rejected the city’s June 16 motion for summary judgment, which sought to dismiss the suit. No trial date was set.
At issue is a 3.5-foot-high granite stone topped with a bronze plaque listing the 51 Confederate soldiers buried nearby in the unmarked cemetery along Barton Street in front of the former Maury School.
The Confederate monument sits on one corner of a large traffic island where the Fredericksburg Area War Memorial was dedicated in 2008. That memorial honors the dead from the wars of the 20th and 21st centuries.
According to Matthew Fontaine Maury Camp 1722, they placed the monument on April 16, 2009, at a location designated by city zoning and building officials. The city disputes that the camp was authorized to place the monument.
Two days later the camp hosted a dedication ceremony to which the seven city council members were invited. (See article in June 2009 CWN.)
At the request of the Fredericksburg Area Veterans’ Council (FAVC), which sponsored the war monument, the city council voted in September 2009 to approve a memorandum of understanding with the veterans’ group that included relocating the Confederate monument to an unspecified location.
Camp 1722 was not consulted. The city council’s vote prompted the lawsuit filed last Nov. 19.
The complaint filed by the SCV’s attorney, Patrick M. McSweeney (with McSweeney, Crump, Childress & Temple in Richmond, Va.), stated that the monument was covered by Virginia Code Section 15.2-1812, which protects war monuments from being disturbed once they have been erected. He said it could not be moved by city council vote.
At the recent hearing, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley argued that the power to “authorize and permit” the erection of war monuments in Section 15.2-1812 was a “non-delegable legislative duty.” The city council had to authorize the Confederate monument, which it did not, she said.
Dooley said there were no “issues of genuine fact” in dispute. She asked Judge Willis for a summary judgment, or decision without a trial.
McSweeney said there were material facts in dispute over the delegation of authority by city council to city officials. The function of approving monuments can be delegated by the governing authority, such as the city council, to city officials, and was applicable in this case, the SCV’s lawyer said.
He noted the council did not approve a monument to the 7th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment’s amphibious assault across the Rappahannock River during the Battle of Fredericksburg. It was erected in 2003 on the city easement on National Park Service property along the river.
He added that the city council did not approve a historical marker placed on the same traffic island in January 2010 that refers to nearby sites, including the Liberty Town African-American neighborhood, the Potter’s Field graveyard and the unmarked Barton Street Confederate cemetery.
Judge Willis questioned McSweeney about the building permit signed by Camp 1722 monument project leader Roy B. Perry Jr. as “authorized agent.” According to McSweeney city officials prepared the building application and advised Perry to sign it.
If the locality can delegate the authority to its officials, who can authorize local officials to authorize a local citizen, like Perry, to act as an agent for the city, Willis asked McSweeney.
“No one has told the building official [who advised Perry] that he broke the law,” McSweeney said.
“Does it require council approval to erect anything on city property?” Willis asked Dooley. She did not respond.
“Can it be done without direct action by city council, or can it be delegated?” Willis asked.
Dooley said that council has authorized Public Works to put up things like stop signs as well as temporary traffic signs. She said she was not familiar with the 7th Michigan monument, having been handed an affidavit about it minutes before the hearing.
Judge Willis asked Dooley whether two city officials, senior planner Erik F. Nelson and his boss, zoning administrator Raymond P. Ocel Jr., had the authority to authorize Perry to seek the building permit for the monument.
Dooley said they did not have the authority to do what they did. “Perry’s building permit is invalid,” she said.
“It is disputed whether Mr. Perry was authorized by the city to build. I think that is a material fact to be determined,” Willis said, denying the city’s motion for a summary judgment.
He added, “Just because the permit was issued doesn’t make it valid.” He said that such a determination was up to the finder-of-fact at a trial.
The judge reminded the parties that at their last court session in March he recommended they use Virginia’s Judicial Settlement Conference Program, where retired judges help parties negotiate cases outside of court.
McSweeney asked if the negotiations were voluntary. Willis said they were, “I’d be happy if it was ordered,” McSweeney replied.
In informal negotiations the city proposed, and Camp 1722 rejected, two alternate locations for the Confederate monument, both much farther from the cemetery it memorializes.
Billing information obtained by Civil War News indicates that the city paid outside attorney Jennifer Parrish, who is assisting Dooley, $14,253.50 for the period March through July 2010. The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star in an Aug. 15 editorial questioned whether the legal cost is money well spent and urged the city to let the Confederate monument remain where it is.
CWN reporter Scott C. Boyd is a member of SCV Camp 1722 and assisted with the Confederate Monument project.
http://www.civilwarnews.com/archive/articles/2010/sept/fburgconfed_091006.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
