The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-05-29
more paper soles but good, honest "wood'
en- bottoms" that let folks know when We
wora comine -

The DEATH Of' SION6WahH ooooSA''
One day I was out on the pavement
PLAYING when our old Union friend, Miss
Van Lew, calling out, "Sallie, does your
mother know sStonewall jackson is dead ?'''
Never will I forget the Cassandra.like
dirge that rang through my childish
heart. mo Jackson. no 4yictoryip'a |
thought, and ewith' streaming eyes ran
home and gaining mothers lap cried out,
"the Confederathy ith lotht! the Confed.
erathy ith lothtw Never for one mo.
mens afterwards did hope, for success.
N seemed That God! would not take such
a. holy consecrated life from a good
cause; that we must have made some
mistake.
1t was lust about this time that col
ored man belonging to my blind uncle
made his escape to the Union army. He
wrote back to his old master saying that
he. had left from no ill-will toward him,
and should time prove the success of the
cause he had espoused and Fortunes
-EfTown-be on his master be would consider
It privilege and, ,henorito assist him by
any means in his power. He thus feel.
ingly closed his letter written with his
own hand: "You have taught me to
respect the. sentiment uttered by Patrick
Henry, Give me liberty, or give me
DEATH and if liberty be dear to the
white man, why not to the colored? /
.am fighting for the freedom of my race,
not from. hatred to the whites" Young
as I was, this touched vein of sympa-
thy, and T wondered if We were not real.
" Sin the dark" After the war, my
uncle had occasion to visit Washington,
and he, was touched at his old servant,
who held some government Office in that
place, begging, on absence of several days
to lead his old master around.
But to lecur to those old days. Our
fathers thoughtth the Yankees had another
motive than the freeing of the slaves !.
the long pent.up hatred toward the
Southern people who held themselves 80
aloof from them. "Human nature is
only human nature; we often.plead a
good cause the more ,zealously when
along with it we can promote our own
welfare or crafty our passions" !" ...-
After Jackson's death the raids around
Richmond became more frequent. Often
did our gentlest girls wend their way to
school all bedecked with the paraphsr.
MALTA of war. Then prisoners and hospi-
tslse#ere crowded. Qurvprivate houses
wsssssIopeneda for, the sick and suffering,
and fight here it1might we'll be said that
no class of our people responded more
readily to the calls of charity constantly
being made upon them than our colored
people. Ragged, worn, barefoot, hatless
soldiers would weep over US children as
we handed them the little our store.
rooms contained, because "Sissy looked
so like tho little girl they had left at
home, and would never see again." And
these mer were our best, the flower and
chivalry of our land. God bless them |!
they died for what they deemed right
the protection Of homeland, loved ones
ard. be the cause blameworthy or not,
there can be few hearts 30 base as not to
honor the heroes of the "Lost Cause"
From garret to cellar Of our once
bright home there came the means of
the sick, wounded and dying. One
young man, just eighteen, a brother of
Governor Brown, of Georgia, had run
away from college and joined the army.
Instead of carrying home the wreath Of
his hard earned victory as his diadem, in
a few short weeks death claimed him as
bis own, and be was;taken from us to his
far away, sunny home with theswreath of
that 'Great Victor" on his brow. How
many such pure, young lives were given
on the altar of their country, which
might have been spared had not hot.
headed politicians Carried the war into
Africa" @s-r>~r yryrv
i LIFE Il l1N4BE COUNTRY. u
It was at this time, the fall of '69, our
father wisely moved us TO his country
place, where he hoped we would not be
disturbed by wars rude alarms" but
mothers high spirit could not stand the
inaction. She organized a Soldiers Aid
Society, and as s'there was q chapel on the
edge of our place, it was decided to hold
prayer meetings there every Friday
afternoon, and the business of the Aid
Society Immediately afterwards. Wehad
only one preacher in the neighborhood,
old "Parson Roach" Baptist brother,
and he was called on to conduct the ser.
vices. We bound ourselves, women and
children, to go without meat every Fri
day, and send that much more TO the
soldiers
BY this time homespun clothes and
squirrel skin shoes, feather flowers, Con-
federate candles, sorghum molasses, rye
coffee, &C., were no longer rage, but
had become necessity. Our old colored
nanny in her various manipulations for
the comfort and support of the family
actually brought, once to the table an
urn of coffee made from parched black:
eyed peas. The patriotism of Bayard
or Washington could not long have
held out under that infliction.
The sight Of man. about those parts
would scare US all but. to death, IS we
held no man had any busines at home,
and whenever we saw one we concluded
at once he must either be deserter or a
Yankee. My oldest brother was off at
our uncle's, in the same county, pretend
ing to study with his cousins; but he
tells wonderful stories about their sitting
till the wee sma' hours of the night over
pine torch making plans about "going
to-help. fight" AT last, doubtless to their
boyish delight, the ."High Bridge" in
Prince Edward County was threatened
and the force to protect it was made
quate. If that were seized, all commu-
nication between Richmond and that
part of the country would be destroyed.
So our band of twelye.year-old school.
boys shouldered their gunsand' marched
off to the war" To escape detection at
home they walked to the second station
on the railroad, intending to ''board the
train" there; but an old neighbor hap:
pened to meet them on the road, and
seeing their warlike appearance, apprised
my uncle of their exit. This uncle was
the gentlest, most loving old man in the
world, but with the keenest sense of the
humorous. Calling up his oldest son,
who chanced to be home "on furlough,'
he told him to get on the train as it went
down that morning, and when the boys
started to get on at the second station to
.