Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1902-08-09

So Il was dark when we reached El'
berton. The courthouse was lighted
up and seemed full of people, and the
boys were rapping and calling for
carp" "Bill Arp" The preacher un-
loaded me near by, and told mG to
90 upstairs and open the ball while he
went home to put up his horse. As
1 hurried in the door the doorkeeper
stopped me and said: Hold on, my
friend, you haven't paid" l modestly
told him that 1 was the speaker.
"Oh, yes" said he, maybe you are
and maybe you amt. Several other
men have tried to pass on that sched-
ule. l reckon you had better pay"
So 1 paid half dollar to go in and
hear myself talk, but 1 got half Of it
back when we divided proceeds.
Now, l don't know that Nancy could
read or write, but she could shoot,
and in war times that is better. At
any rate Georgians are proud of her
and her great-grandson, Tom Lee
has never furnished the name or fame
of the family. When John Randolph
boosted of his ancestral blood, iris
tam Burgess, of Rhode Island, his Bit
ter enemy, rose up to say that good
conduct in posterity was of more con-
sequence than good blood in ances-
tors. II have great respect" said
he, "for the gentleman's English blood
and his Indian blood, but he should
remember that he is removed from
them by several generations, and
that only one-sixty-fourth part OF
Lord Rolfe or Pocahontas blood
flows in his veins. That is not much
to boast of. The rest is widely scat
tered, diluted and degenerated." Bur-
CESS and Randolph had many spats
like that, but they never came to
blows.
There never was a time in the south
land when so much eager interest was
manifested in tracing up ancestry
lineage. | receive letters almost daily
from good people, from Carolina to
Texas, asking for help to trace up and
prove their claim to join the Sons or
Daughters of the Revolution or to
service of their father or grandfather
in the civil war of 40 years ago. The
genealogical department of the Con
stitution and George Smiths weekly
contributions to The Journal are do
ing valuable and interesting work or
these lines.
There is one other line that has
been shamefully neglected. From tirsi
to last there were near 10000 Georgia
soldiers in the confederate army, ant
vet there is no record of them
neither in the counties nor the stat
nor at Washington. l do not suppose
there are ten in 100 of these soldiers
, whose children or grandchildren o.
near relatives can prove themselves
,, Col. Avery did the best he could t.
/ make up a roll of each regiment ant
name the officers and the captains o
> the companies, but there is no roll o
the men nor a record of who wa
killed. Some companies changed thei
captains from three to eight times, bu
what became of those who droppe
out? Col. Avery says: "The follow
ing list is painfully imperfect 1t wa
: taken from the confederate war rec
ords at Washington, D. G., and fror
. the meager documents in the Georgi
j. archives and such personal informal
ion as could be had. The war depart
E ment of the confederscy was mos
! loosely run. Regimental muster roll
were mingled and confused; the COZ
g stantly occurring changes were nc
{ noted"
Now. ask any old soldier, Can yo
e prove your service by any undoubte
" evidence? Is there any record tina
n you can 60 to? Two years ago Co
: Gambler alluded to this shameful neg
q lect in his message and urged the al
l. pointment of some one to gather Il
p and make a record of these Georgi
s soldiers before the witnesses were a
d dead, but nothing was done. VIII
u do not the veterans demand it?
d would cost but little-perhaps tn
L salary of a good man for year. II
IL children and grandchildren of the'
Ie soldiers are interested and have a rigl
ID to demand the preservation and recol
N of their fathers or grandfather's no,
orable service. Why not? viii the
Sc be enough veterans or patriotism
Sc the next legislature to see to this al
u have established a muster roll-son
ne kind of a roll that the humblest citiz
10 can point to as the hall of fame?
*. BILL ARP