Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1909-10-13
WALIIALEA, s. O.:
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER I3. 1900.
IN MEMORY or OUR HEROES.
Why Not Build the Monument Now?
Honor the Dead.


OF Walhalla were. believe nearly |
all whose names are inscribed on the |
face Of that shaft have passed to |
their final reward. While their lips |
have been scaled in death, this gran
Jtc shaft sp"aliS.
| have been asked to write an ar
ticlc in behalf Of the Confederate
monument to be erected in the town
of Walhalla; and iii doing so shall
appeal to the common sense and rcu-
son Of every white citizen Of Oco-
nee county. | believe every county
in the state has Il monument except
Oconoc. In II very short while every
Confederate veteran now living will
have crossed over to the other shore,
and nothing will be lcrt but a little
dry history.
Just after the war few noble
women got together, U think in
Richmond, Va.), and said: "Our
fathers, our husbands and sons have
made the ground crimson with their
blood upon more than hundred bat
tlcieldS. Now we must perpetuatc
their memory in marble and in bras;
so tell for years to come how they
could fight and how they could die
for what they conceived to be right
And to-day the South is dotted with
these silent scntinclS. We give all
the honor to the noble women Of the
south These monuments have been
erected to our convictions and con-
Sccrated to the memory Of our dead
These monuments and shafts that
have been erected by loving hands
Will be living witness to the love
loyalty, and devotion of the Confed-
crate soldier to his country. and that
flag which SO proudly noatcd for four
years will live i'm the hearts OF the
Southern people as long as stone
Will bear the mark Of the engraver's
chisel. And long after every soldier
mas heard the last buglc cav and
when years and years have rolled
away, these grim Sentinels in mar
bic and granite will ever call out
from the spot at which you have
erected them. "AU is well! All Is
wcll!"
Friends of Oconee county, in the
name OF all that Is holy, let the mar
bic stones crumblc and the granite
shafts decay before YOU forget the
sacred dead Of Oconee county-your
fathers and grandfathcrs, who, with
bare and bleeding feet pressing the
ice and snow, with trousers torn
jackets rent, blankets in shreds, with
old slouched hats, with haversacks
empty, followed the battlc-torn flag,
and watched and marched. and
fought to the last ditch. and wrote
there, N letters Of blood, their chiv-
airy and their courage.
1t is the duty Of every true South
ern man to keep alive the fires of
devotion and patriotism. 1t is wo-
man $ mission on earth to wipe away
Tears, to soften sorrows and heart
aches, and to bind up with tender
hands the open wounds Of grief
Painters have pictured and poets
nave sung Of the fame and glory of
the Southern soldier. how they
marched unShod, weak from hunger
lhe1r only inspiration was their sense
or dulE and devotion to right. 1t was
this that ncrvcd the hearts Of Pick
etts Division on the heights of Get
tYSburG. They were glorious; they
wer, grand in their efforts for a no.
bic principle that was nurtured I'm
the pure soil OF a Southern heart and
that hloSSomed under the bullet
showers OF battlefield. They fell
tlghting for principle taught at the
tr"sid" at home. The Southern SOL
dl"r died like a man. and in tho
winding sheet OF the Confcderacy's
rove Hc was lalu to rest under thp
blue sky; no flowers but the stars.
no monument but the hills, no tears
onl ''c showers from the clouds. no
prayerS but the signing Of the wind
IhrOuGh the pines.
what | have said Of the Southern
soldier applies with equal force to
every one who marched from OCOnce
county in the sixties. III the name
al the good women who have done
so much 10 pcrpCtuatc the memory
oi the Confederate soldier, let this
monument be built At ONCE. As
Sood soldiers as the world has ever
seen went from OConcc county. and
now Will YOU let them be FORGOTTEN
IN the future? They passed under
the same rod, and through the same
IRE and smoke OF battle, as did the
solid South. Why not give to their
memory the same glory that other
counties have, by erecting n nice
monument In the town Of Walhalla?
IL III reflect credit upon the town
and Jconee county. Come, friends.
with willing hearts and open hands,
The Keowee Courier will gladly re-
ceiVe whatever you may give.
Let me say, in the language of
Webster on Bunker Hill monument.
-"Fhis silent shaft will be the most
powerful speaker; its speech will be
OF civil and religious liberty; 1t will
speak OF patriotism and courage; 1t
will speak Of Oconee's devotion to
the South and the elevation Of man
kind. Decrepid age will lean against