The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-08-24

1t Will Not Be Unreasonable to Ask
he State to Erect Over the Tn
marked Graves of Confederate Sol
diers a Simple Stone Bearing Name
and Regiment.
To the Editor. The Confederate
Reunion to be held at Charlotte next
week will be attended by>a large num-
Der Of veterans who meet together
perhaps for the last time, for the old
soldiers are passing away each year
and many of them go to unknown
graves.
: 1t would be a fitting occasion for
h survivors of that heroic band to
bestir themselves in trying to pre-
serve from oblivion the name and
fame Of comrades now resting in for
gotten graves. 1t would be a work Of
love and patriotism to OrganiZ a vet
Grams committee in each county in
North Carolina to cooperate with the
county authorities in preparing an
accurate and complete record of all
her Confederate soldiers. Now is an
opportune time to begin this work.
The most complete roster cannot be
entirely accurate, n at best will
merely mention the soldiers. The rOs-
ter now being prepared. by the Fed
era1 Government will be based Upon
such official muster rolls. as have been
preserved and collected. [ am fOrci-
bly, impressed with the need Of some
action Of this kind, for almost daily
the office Of the Secretary Of State re-
ceives inquiries concerning soldiers in
former vars, and in the Great War.
which cannot be answered for want OF
information. 1t is even now almost
too late to preserve a faithful record
Of the Confederate soldier, but much
oor rrnf hn 6nnn ln Qnfh rnaAr0
ton the record Of tens of thousands
Of Confederate soldiers from North
Carolina will be forever lost. Let US
| pay the Confederate private the trib-
ute Of officially preserving a line to
his memory in grateful remembrance
Of the sacrifices he made for the
honor of OR State. I would suggest
that the Veterans Association pass
resolution somewhat similar to the
following:
Whereas, the State of North Caro-
lima owes it to herself, and especially
to posterity, to preserve in enduring
and accessible form the names of the
North Carolina soldiers who took up
arms in her defense, who for our
Years, from Bethel to Appomattox,
wrote with blazing guns one Of the
| most v~alorous pages in American his
tory, and whose names are now fast
being forgotten, therefore,
Be it Resolved, That the General
Assembly Of North Carolina at it's next
| session, be and is hereby petitioned
to enact a law requiring the County
Commissioners of each county to have
a County Confederate Record Book
prepared containing such data as is
now o~btainable concerning every Con-
federate soldier sent to the war by he
| respective counties, Or of such SOL
diers as have been, or are now, identi-
| fed with the county. This record
rrIoo ooyooyIofn1 cha11 ha lxo~4 :. u
| office of the Clerk Of the Superior
Court, whose duty it shall be to make
such additional entries as may be nee
essary and to record the deaths of SOL
| diers in the county. The record book
shall be in substantially the following
form:
- County Confederate Records.
Date and place. of birth.
Date and place of death.
Place of burial.
Name of parents.
| Name of wife.
Names Of children.
Date OF enlistment
Record Of rank.
Company.
Regiment.
Brigade.
Battles participated in.
Noteworthy incidents or remark
able events in life of soldier.
Certificates as to variety of state
| ment."
When these county records are
completed, provision could be made
to have copies deposited with the
| North Carolina Historical Commits
sion.
Their are many of us who also
think that it will not be unreasonable
to ask the State to erect over the un-
marked graves of Confederate sol
diers, a single stone bearing name and
regiment.
J.. BRYAN GRIMES.