The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1874-02-04
The Fairfield Herald.
pUBLISH y
-EV'TRY WEI W'EtS:DN Y.
The Southern Historical Society.
GENERAL WADE nAMrToN's CIRCULAR.

'rn Historical Society by corrcspon-
lcnco or personal application, it
seems to me that the best course to
present the claims Of this institution
to our people is through, the agency
Of such papers rs are favorable to the /
enterprise. The attention Of Chose
most interested will thus bo called
to it, and zeal in its behalf will be
aroused. The Society was organ
lied in New Orleans in 1860, with
the parcut Society in that city, and a,
Vice President was appointed in each
State, the Rev. y. MI
Palmer, distinguished divine, be :
ing President of tho whole organiza +,
tion. The Object of the Society was
to collect and preserve, in an cndur-
ing form, the rich and abundant
materials of history scattered through
out the South, but which arc fast
pcr!ahing Tor want Of the proper care
to their preservation. 1t was pro-
posed thnt this collecting of the
raw material Of history should, as
rapidly as gathered, be collected and
digcstcd, and should form tlo basis
of a thorough, truthful, and, as far
as possible, documentary history Oft
our people and of our times w.
The work itself is too noble, too
patriotic, too necessary to be aban.
donca land the thought is intolera-
bic Of leaving the vindication of our
principles land of our brave and
martyrcd dead to the honesty of somo
chance antiquarian of ,the future
who may mourn over tho loss of
records which it should bo our busi.
ness to preserve" Dr.. Palmer,
whose language is quoted in tho cx-
tract above, goes on to say Why tho
Society las not met with tho success
desired, and giving as two reasons,
first, the location of the Parent So.
"lcty in New Orleans, which "situat.
"d the edge Of our common country.
Is almost cntircl y commercial in its
pursuits, with IL population less stable
than elsewhere with fewer men of
cultivated lciurc, and above all, in
n State SO heavily borne down by it's
political troubles, that whatever of
public spirit exists, is absorbed with
The difficulties Of peculiarly op.
pressed condition. III the second
pl"cr, tho experience Of the past fow
years has demonstrated that no re
lance can be placcd on voluntary
and diltused agency, even for the
collection of the materials which lie
III such abundance around us, The
w"'k is one "ftoo much dotail, and
the men who are competentt to the task
ave to" much cngrosscd with their
private business to warrant tho cx.
rertntlon Of its being accomplish, i
BY this means Itmust be made ,L,
special duty ami sole occupation OF
some one party 60 go abou; from
safe to State aud gather this seat
tered material wherever he could
Ind it," In addition to these reo-
sons, so c"gcn'ly expressed by the
Prc$idcnt OF the Society, which have
INITIATED against success, there was
one other, equally grave. No pro.
VISION was made by the Society for
the publication Of it's records, and
our people could not feel that vital
,h't''M IN this enterprise they would
nave done bad the important and
v"lnahtc papers collected by the
society been regularly placed before
thrm. All these difficulties which
h's"t the path of eur young Society
nave been removed two of them
the first and iast-~with comuletc
success, FOR the lomicic Of the par.
ent Society has been established in
li'chmond, and it has been arrauped
that all records collected shall be
regularly published in the Southern
Magazine, Of Baltimore, one cf The
abiest periodicals of the country.
The Executive Committee of tho
Society have cndcavored to overcome
the second obstacle in the way of
success by doing me the honor to ask
that would undertake the task of
coIlecting the material for our uturc
history, aud that aiding the Society
ny placing in it's possession the best
V'hdlcation Of our people which can
pe ocqueathed to our postcrity. This
TASK appeals so strongly to my
PATRIOTISM aud scems so vital to tho
. Hare, the safety, tho honor O
the South, that | have accepted it, |
III the hope that though my efforts |
to accomplish it may fall far short !
of success the work itself deserves,
they will not be totally unavailine
In this hope, appeal to every man, J
and to every woman Of the South. !
who has pride in our past glory or
our iuturc honor who wishes to
place upon the record for all time
to come the vindication of our people:
who desires to see tho whole trnth
!aid tefore the august tribunal of
history who chcrishes amid all
these evil times love and reverence
for our heroic dead, or who homes
that our children shall not dcnouncc
their fathers as rebels and traitors. to
aid this sacred work.
10 insure tho success Of tho Socic.
".