camp officers - tom smith camptomsmithcamp.com/documents/theheritagemarch2017.pdf · there was a...
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Camp Officers
Commander Kevin Beale
(757) 630-5091
1st Lt. Commander Tim Houde
(757) 484-3560
2nd Lt. Commander Jerry Talley
(757) 477-8383
Adjutant Bill Shumate
(757) 538-1000
Aide-de-Camp Karl Bunch
(757) 650-0857
1st Color Sergeant & Historian
Bill Marlowe
(757)934-8893
Quartermaster Wayne Bowen
(757) 718-7132
Paymaster John Brown
(912) 674-0143
Reporter Phil Carr
(757) 642-0286
Chaplin Jim Parker
(757) 484-0084
Newsletter Editor Mike Brinkley
(757) 284-7507
A monthly publication of the Tom Smith Camp 1702, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Volume 27 Issue 3 March 2017
March’s Program:
Randy Watkins, Fort Stedman in Petersburg
Chesapeake flag gets the attention of Travelers, City Officials and the Virginian-Pilot…..we all knew it would.
On Thursday, March 2, I walked down my driveway like I always do to get the newspaper, and just like Ward Cleaver did, I opened it up before I started walking back to the house. And as I did, in oversized font I saw:
“New Confederate flag near Virginia toll plaza is part of a
different kind of battle plan” I will admit it took longer than I thought it would, from the January 28th dedication, before it made some kind of news around Hampton Roads. When I read the opening line I knew it was going to be a good article. “Yankees heading to the Outer Banks this summer are in for an extra dollop of Dixie as they near the Chesapeake Express-way toll plaza: an 8-foot-by-8-foot Confederate battle flag, flying atop a 35-foot pole.” With what I think is a very flattering picture of the 8X8 Battle Flag, the article was for the most part positive toward the flag and the Virginia Flaggers. For anyone who has not read the article, I encourage you to.
As a added bonus, someone from newspaper made a video via drone around the flag and I think it is very well done. Proudly flying in the winter breeze. The link to the article is below:
http://pilotonline.com/news/local/history/new-confederate-flag-near-virginia-toll-plaza-is-part-of/article_7b07fa75-c5a9-5992-932e-01cdd803547a.html
Stephen Etzell of Chesterfield whose wife’s family
owns the property to which the flag pole sits. (above)
The 8X8 Battle Flag shown from presumably a drone
taken picture (right) Photos by Stephen M. Katz
The regular monthly meeting of the Tom Smith Camp 1702 met Monday, February 20, 2017 at the Kings Fork Community
House, 1600 Kings Fork Road, Suffolk, VA. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 by Commander Kevin Beale and the
Colors were posted. The pledges and salutes were repeated.
Cdr. Beale welcomed members and guests. Jim Mayo and Chris Nickerson were in attendance after being unable to
attend due to illness.
Lt. Commander Tim Houde read the SCV Charge and Chaplain Jim Parker recited the Tom Smith Charge and asked the
invocation and blessing for the meal.
Cdr. Beale announced the raffle would be a book “Such Troops as These”. The Door prize was a
free dinner at the next meeting.
Dinner was served.
After dinner Cdr. Beale thanked the WKW Caterers.
Bill Richards lit the memorial candle in honor of his ancestors of
the 64th VA.. He has found he has over 100 ancestors who
fought in the War Between the States on the side of the South.
Cdr. Beale introduced the speaker, Mr. Lindsey Jones of Portsmouth and member of the
Stonewall Camp. He spoke on the Barton Family of Old Point VA, a family who served in
the Navy from the beginning of this country. He presented an
interesting talk enhanced with visuals.
After his talk, Lt. Cdr. Houde presented Mr. Jones with an
honorarium and a container of Tom Smith Peanuts.
A break was taken.
Cdr. Beale called the meeting back to order and into business session.
Joel Ellison was presented by Adjutant Bill Shumate as seeking membership into the camp. Cdr. Beale read the induction
and Adjutant Shumate administered the pledge. Cdr. Beale then welcomed him into the camp and granted him privileges of
the camp, gave him his pin, certificate of membership and CSA stickers.
February Camp Meeting Minutes …. Adjutant Bill Shumate
2
Phil Carr, who was not able to be at the January meeting due to illness, was installed as Reporter.
Bill Lynch will be Historian and will be installed at the March meeting.
Robert Joyner, Commander of the Mahone Camp said their camp will hold a fund raiser March 18. They will be selling
sausage.
John Sharrett, Commander of the Stonewall Camp said the flag has been installed adjacent to Rt. 168 in Chesapeake.
There was a good turnout for the ceremony. He will be giving a program at his camp on the flag raising at their meeting
February 28.
Cdr. Beale said Mike Brinkley, newsletter editor, who was not at the meeting due to his work schedule, did a good job
with his first newsletter. He expressed the camp’s appreciation for Mike taking on this position.
Jerry Tally, 2nd Lt. Cdr., said a field trip is planned on Mar. 18 to Mulberry Island and to sign up if you plan to go. They
will leave about 10:00 a.m. and he will let those who sign up know where to meet. Members will carpool and there is no
charge. Jerry said to see him or Phil Carr if you have not had your picture taken for new badges and the roster.
Aide-de-Camp Karl Bunch said Robert Joyner will light the memorial candle for the March meeting.
Please sign up for future months.
Color Sargent Bill Marlowe asked members to sign up to participate in the Color guard for the meetings.
Paymaster John Brown reported a Balance of $3,820.20. Outstanding bill of $112.00 is for the post office box which he
will pay on 02/21/2017.
Chaplain Jim Parker asked members to remember Lee Hart and Rose and Curtis Nichols who are ill.
Cdr. Beale said it was discussed at the board meeting that the camp needs an honor guard. Approximately seven people are needed for an honor guard. Ten or twelve men would need to meet once a year. Several members raised their hands in response to having a uniform and a musket.
Flag Day will be observed at Oakwood Cemetery in Richmond March 4 at 2:00. Period attire is requested.
The Virginia Division Convention will be held April 21 – 23 at Berry Hill Resort Conference Center, South Boston, VA. Information and registration forms are printed in the newsletter. Members are encouraged to attend. Cdr. Beale said he had sent in information for the camp for the Outstanding Camp award. A fund raiser was discussed. A suggestion is a yard sale in early May. Members would bring articles for sale and donate 50% of their proceeds to the camp. The location to be determined. Camp trash pickup will be in April. No date has been set. There will be a field trip in June. The place has not been decided. Fred Taylor gave an update on the City Council of Charlottesville’s decision to move or tear down the monument of Robert E. Lee and rename Lee Park in that city. This action is unlawful; however the City Council is proceeding anyhow. There was no other business. The raffle was won by Jerry Tally. The door prize was won by Phil Carr. Chaplain Parker dismissed in prayer and Dixie was sung.
January Camp Meeting Minutes (con’t)
3
Compatriots, Looks like New Orleans is the next victim for monument removal, most likely followed by liberal-swaying Charlottesville (makes me glad Haley is going to be a Hokie!). Seems like things happen quickly and drastically these days, sometimes faster than you can process it. What does all of this mean for the SCV? What does our future look like? It looks as though we are fighting an enemy ignorant of historical truths and the desire to even consider our view point. After decades of liberal, socialist, politically correct history being taught to Americans, how will we ever break through? I now believe there is a large portion of our itty-bitty feelings society that will never be reached or educated. If you take away the perception of slavery being the end all argument for societal problems and suffrage, there would be no one to blame or no excuse for those who would cry oppression. These days I am very careful as to whom I discuss these matters with. I have had to re-examine my purpose in the SCV. I joined for my own purposes, amongst them being my love of the old Confederacy and what I believe it stood for, my love of the Southern way of life we hold dear, and most of all, to honor my family members who fought to protect all they believed in. If I can make someone now and then listen to my view point on the War of Northern Aggression and why I think it was fought, fine. If not, it will not change my passion for the Southern Cause. My opinion is we will not able to stop the tsunami of political correctness bringing down monuments, flags and all things Confederate. What do we do about it? All I can tell you for sure is what I am going to do about it. No matter where these monuments are relocated, I will find them. I will visit the museums, parks, and monuments every chance I get. No matter how deep in the woods they keep pushing us, I will find and honor what I am looking for. Honestly folks, I can’t say I care anymore for the opinion of those who will not try to learn or those who completely ignore historical accuracy. I guess I’ve been hardened a little from years of listening to people scream entitlement and oppression, often traced back 150 plus years to the great American sin – slavery. My ancestors were slaves to the Throne of England. So what? It doesn’t have a damn thing to do with what I will do today, tomorrow, or the next day. If we lose the coming fights for monument removal and relocation, so be it. In our society, I can’t say it will surprise me. But they cannot stop us from gathering around these monuments to show our pride and honor for which they stand, as we always have. Try and stop us!
Southern Regards, Kevin
Commanders Comments by Cdr. Kevin Beale
4
Members of the Tom Smith Camp attend Flag Day at Oakwood Cemetary
in Richmond on March 4, 2017
One of the most vexing questions in African-American history is whether free African Americans themselves owned
slaves. The short answer to this question, as you might suspect, is yes, of course; some free black people in this country
bought and sold other black people, and did so at least since 1654, continuing to do so right through the Civil War. For
me, the really fascinating questions about black slave-owning are how many black “masters” were involved, how many
slaves did they own and why did they own slaves?
The answers to these questions are complex, and historians have been arguing for some time over whether free blacks
purchased family members as slaves in order to protect them — motivated, on the one hand, by benevolence and
philanthropy, as historian Carter G. Woodson put it, or whether, on the other hand, they purchased other black people “as
an act of exploitation,” primarily to exploit their free labor for profit, just as white slave owners did. The evidence shows
that, unfortunately, both things are true. The great African-American historian, John Hope Franklin, states this clearly:
“The majority of Negro owners of slaves had some personal interest in their property.” But, he admits, “There were
instances, however, in which free Negroes had a real economic interest in the institution of slavery and held slaves in
order to improve their economic status.”
In a fascinating essay reviewing this controversy, R. Halliburton shows that free black people have owned slaves “in
each of the thirteen original states and later in every state that countenanced slavery,” at least since Anthony Johnson and
his wife Mary went to court in Virginia in 1654 to obtain the services of their indentured servant, a black man, John
Castor, for life.
And for a time, free black people could even “own” the services of white indentured servants in Virginia as well. Free
blacks owned slaves in Boston by 1724 and in Connecticut by 1783; by 1790, 48 black people in Maryland owned 143
slaves. One particularly notorious black Maryland farmer named Nat Butler “regularly purchased and sold Negroes
for the Southern trade,” Halliburton wrote. Continued on Page 7
Did Black people own slaves…. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Devine Words …. Chaplain Jim Parker
FAMILIES OF FAITH
“Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established.” Proverbs: 24:3
“Neither violence nor harshness should ever be used (in child rearing), and
the parent must bear constantly in mind, that to govern his child, he must show him that he can control himself.” Robert E. Lee
The family is the most important institution in the world. It was God’s idea in the first place. It was not the invention of sociologists or economists or government bureaucrats who decided it would make society operate more smoothly. Families existed before cities and governments, before written language, nations, temples, and churches. In the home, character and integrity are formed, values are made clear, and goals are set. These last a lifetime. And if they aren’t formed correctly, that, too, will result in patterns--bad patterns--that last a lifetime, if God doesn’t intervene. Today, Satan is attacking the family as never before. But what are our defenses against such attacks? As always, our best defense is the Word of God. Read the Bible together as a family. Have family devotions. Pray for one another daily by name. Be on guard against the forces that tend to pull families apart today. And most of all, commit your marriage to Christ, and make Him the center of your home--and your life.
Billy Graham HOPE FOR EACH DAY
Please keep Rose and Curtis Nichols, Dennis Thompson and Jim Mayo in your prayers.
Please inform me of any illness, deaths or concerns of other camp members.
5
1861
Mar 4 Abraham Lincoln becomes 16th President of the United States
15 Lincoln meets with his Cabinet to decide whether or not to provision Fort Sumter
1862
Mar 3 Siege of New Madrid, Missouri begins
7 Battle of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern), Arkansas
8 CSS Virginia engages and destroys USS Cumberland and USS Congress
9 USS Monitor and CSS Virginia battle at Hampton Roads, VA
11 Lincoln relieves McClellan from position as General-in-Chief of the Federal Armies
14 Union forces capture New Madrid, Missouri
New Bern, North Carolina captured
18 George W. Randolph named Confederate Secretary of War
23 Battle of First Kernstown, Virginia
24 Riot at abolition meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio
26 Engagement at Apache Canyon, New Mexico Territory
28 Battle at Glorieta Pass, New Mexico Territory
1863
Mar 3 Abraham Lincoln signs first Conscription Act
11 Confederates block Union attempt to bypass Fort Pemberton along the Mississippi River
14 Confederate batteries at Port Hudson fire on Union squadron sinking USS Mississippi
17 Engagement at Kelly's Ford, Virginia
24 Union amphibious expedition skirmishes with Confederates, Steele's Bayou, Mississippi
26 West Virginia votes for gradual emancipation in the state
27 Skirmish at Palatka, Florida
1864
Mar 1 Federal cavalry raid by Judson Kilpatrick and Ulric Dahlgren on Richmond, Virginia
5 Confederate gov. orders all vessels to give half freight capacity to gov. shipments
9 U.S. Grant promoted to Lieutenant General
12 Red River Expedition begins in Louisiana
20 Confederate raider CSS Alabama arrives at Cape Town, South Africa
21 Nevada and Colorado territories admitted into the Union
22 Fighting at Bald Spring Canon on Eel River, California
25 Attack on Paducah, Kentucky by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest
1865
Mar 2 Engagement at Waynesboro, Virginia
4 Abraham Lincoln inaugurated for second term as President
6 Lincoln appoints Hugh McCulloch as United States Secretary of the Treasury
Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida
10 Engagement at Monroe's Cross Roads, South Carolina
Battle of Kinston (Wise's Fork), North Carolina concludes
13 Jefferson Davis signs law authorizing black men to serve in Confederate Army
16 Battle of Averasborough, North Carolina
18 Confederate Congress adjourns for the last time
Wilson's Raid on Selma, Alabama
19 Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina
25 Battle at Fort Stedman, Virginia
Civil War Timeline
6
Perhaps the most insidious or desperate attempt to defend the right of black people to own slaves was the statement made
on the eve of the Civil War by a group of free people of color in New Orleans, offering their services to the Confederacy,
in part because they were fearful for their own enslavement: “The free colored population [native] of Louisiana … own
slaves, and they are dearly attached to their native land … and they are ready to shed their blood for her defense. They
have no sympathy for abolitionism; no love for the North, but they have plenty for Louisiana … They will fight for her in
1861 as they fought [to defend New Orleans from the British] in 1814-1815.”
These guys were, to put it bluntly, opportunists par excellence: As Noah Andre Trudeau and James G. Hollandsworth Jr.
explain, once the war broke out, some of these same black men formed 14 companies of a militia composed of 440 men
and were organized by the governor in May 1861 into “the Native Guards, Louisiana,” swearing to fight to defend the
Confederacy. Although given no combat role, the Guards — reaching a peak of 1,000 volunteers — became the first
Civil War unit to appoint black officers.
When New Orleans fell in late April 1862 to the Union, about 10 percent of these men, not missing a beat, now formed
the Native Guard/Corps d’Afrique to defend the Union. Joel A. Rogers noted this phenomenon in his 100 Amazing
Facts: “The Negro slave-holders, like the white ones, fought to keep their chattels in the Civil War.” Rogers also notes
that some black men, including those in New Orleans at the outbreak of the War, “fought to perpetuate slavery.”
How Many Slaves Did Blacks Own?
So what do the actual numbers of black slave owners and their slaves tell us? In 1830, the year most carefully studied by Carter G. Woodson, about 13.7 percent (319,599) of the black population was free. Of these, 3,776 free Negroes owned 12,907 slaves, out of a total of 2,009,043 slaves owned in the entire United States, so the numbers of slaves owned by black people over all was quite small by comparison with the number owned by white people. In his essay, ” ‘The Known World’ of Free Black Slaveholders,” Thomas J. Pressly, using Woodson’s statistics, calculated that 54 (or about 1 percent) of these black slave owners in 1830 owned between 20 and 84 slaves; 172 (about 4 percent) owned between 10 to 19 slaves; and 3,550 (about 94 percent) each owned between 1 and 9 slaves. Crucially, 42 percent owned just one slave.
Pressly also shows that the percentage of free black slave owners as the total number of free black heads of families was
quite high in several states, namely 43 percent in South Carolina, 40 percent in Louisiana, 26 percent in Mississippi, 25
percent in Alabama and 20 percent in Georgia. So why did these free black people own these slaves?
It is reasonable to assume that the 42 percent of the free black slave owners who owned just one slave probably owned a
family member to protect that person, as did many of the other black slave owners who owned only slightly larger
numbers of slaves. As Woodson put it in 1924’s Free Negro Owners of Slaves in the United States in 1830, “The census
records show that the majority of the Negro owners of slaves were such from the point of view of philanthropy. In many
instances the husband purchased the wife or vice versa … Slaves of Negroes were in some cases the children of a free
father who had purchased his wife. If he did not thereafter emancipate the mother, as so many such husbands failed to
do, his own children were born his slaves and were thus reported to the numerators.”
Moreover, Woodson explains, “Benevolent Negroes often purchased slaves to make their lot easier by granting them
their freedom for a nominal sum, or by permitting them to work it out on liberal terms.” In other words, these black slave
-owners, the clear majority, cleverly used the system of slavery to protect their loved ones. That’s the good news.
But not all did, and that is the bad news. Halliburton concludes, after examining the evidence, that “it would be a serious
mistake to automatically assume that free blacks owned their spouse or children only for benevolent purposes.” Woodson
himself notes that a “small number of slaves, however, does not always signify benevolence on the part of the owner.”
And John Hope Franklin notes that in North Carolina, “Without doubt, there were those who possessed slaves for the
purpose of advancing their [own] well-being … these Negro slaveholders were more interested in making their farms or
carpenter-shops ‘pay’ than they were in treating their slaves humanely.” For these black slaveholders, he concludes,
“there was some effort to conform to the pattern established by the dominant slaveholding group within the State in
the effort to elevate themselves to a position of respect and privilege.” Continued on Page 9 7
Did Black people own slaves…. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (con’t)
“Charge to the Sons of Confederate Veterans”
To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we will commit the vindication of the Cause for
which we fought. To your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's
good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation
of those principles which he loved and which you love also, and those ideals which made
him glorious and which you also cherish. Remember, it is your duty to see that the
true history of the South is presented to future generations.
“Tom Smith Charge”
The Tom Smith Camp #1702, Sons of Confederate Veterans, is proud of the 1,500 brave
men from Suffolk & Nansemond County who left their homes & Families in defense of
Constitutional Liberty and States Rights to face overwhelming odds. Many paid the ulti-
mate price, all endured hardships and suffering while maintaining the reputation of the
greatest fighting force the world had ever known. Placing their faith in God, the South-
ern soldiers fought for a just cause and the light of their accomplishments can never be
dimmed or shadowed by any.
Salute to the Flag of our Commonwealth:
Flag of Virginia, I salute thee. To Thee I pledge my loyalty, my service and my life.
Our Salute to the Confederate Flag:
I salute the Confederate Flag with affection, reverence, and the undying devotion to the cause for which it stands ….. Amen.
8
January Brisco Marlowe
February Phillip Richman
March Robert Joyner
April Mike Brinkley
May Available
June Available
Memorial Candle Lighting Schedule
July Available
August Available
September Available
October Available
November Available
December Available
In other words, most black slave owners probably owned family members to protect them, but far too many turned to
slavery to exploit the labor of other black people for profit.
Who Were These Black Slave Owners?
If we were compiling a “Rogues Gallery of Black History,” the following free black slaveholders would be in it:
John Carruthers Stanly — born a slave in Craven County, N.C., the son of an Igbo mother and her master, John Wright
Stanly — became an extraordinarily successful barber and speculator in real estate in New Bern. As Loren Schweninger
points out in Black Property Owners in the South, 1790-1915, by the early 1820s, Stanly owned three plantations and
163 slaves, and even hired three white overseers to manage his property! He fathered six children with a slave woman
named Kitty, and he eventually freed them. Stanly lost his estate when a loan for $14,962 he had co-signed with his
white half-brother, John, came due. After his brother’s stroke, the loan was Stanly’s sole responsibility, and he was
unable to pay it.
William Ellison’s fascinating story is told by Michael Johnson and James L. Roark in their book, Black Masters: A Free
Family of Color in the Old South. At his death on the eve of the Civil War, Ellison was wealthier than nine out of 10
white people in South Carolina. He was born in 1790 as a slave on a plantation in the Fairfield District of the state, far up
country from Charleston. In 1816, at the age of 26, he bought his own freedom, and soon bought his wife and their child.
In 1822, he opened his own cotton gin, and soon became quite wealthy. By his death in 1860, he owned 900 acres of land
and 63 slaves. Not one of his slaves was allowed to purchase his or her own freedom.
Louisiana, as we have seen, was its own bizarre world of color, class, caste and slavery. By 1830, in Louisiana, several
black people there owned a large number of slaves, including the following: In Pointe Coupee Parish alone, Sophie
Delhonde owned 38 slaves; Lefroix Decuire owned 59 slaves; Antoine Decuire owned 70 slaves; Leandre Severin owned
60 slaves; and Victor Duperon owned 10. In St. John the Baptist Parish, Victoire Deslondes owned 52 slaves; in
Plaquemine Brule, Martin Donatto owned 75 slaves; in Bayou Teche, Jean B. Muillion owned 52 slaves; Martin
Lenormand in St. Martin Parish owned 44 slaves; Verret Polen in West Baton Rouge Parish owned 69 slaves;
Andrew Durnford was a sugar planter and a physician who owned the St. Rosalie plantation, 33 miles south of New
Orleans. In the late 1820s, David O. Whitten tells us, he paid $7,000 for seven male slaves, five females and two
children. He traveled all the way to Virginia in the 1830s and purchased 24 more. Eventually, he would own 77 slaves.
When a fellow Creole slave owner liberated 85 of his slaves and shipped them off to Liberia, Durnford commented that
he couldn’t do that, because “self-interest is too strongly rooted in the bosom of all that breathes the American
atmosphere.”
Hey Grandpa, What’s for supper?
Hamburger Steak
Steamed Onion with Gravy
Mash Potatoes, Peas, Rolls & Dessert
YUM! YUM!
9
Did Black people own slaves…. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (con’t)
Tom Smith Camp Dates to Remember
April 21,22 & 23, 2017 Division Convention at Ber ry Hill resor t and convention
center in South Boston, Va. A block of rooms have been secured at the VERY special rate of
$89.00/night plus tax. Visit www.berryhillonline.com for more information about this
outstanding venue, including pictures. The front desk is now ready to receive your
reservations and its recommended that you make your reservations soon. You must call
Berry Hill Resort at 1-434-517-4000 and mention the SCV to get your special rate.
March 20th Camp Meeting Kings Fork Community House
**April 1st 0730 at Beales Run Farm 350 W. Liberty Springs Rd--Adopt-a-Highway**
Breakfast Provided
April 17th Camp Meeting Kings Fork Community House
** May 6th Camp Field Trip Fredricksburg/Chancellorsville Battlefields**
May 15th Camp Meeting Kings Fork Community House
Monthly Special Event (Date TBA) -- UDC Memorial Day Service
June 19th Camp Meeting Kings Fork Community Hous
July 17th Camp Meeting / Cook Out -- KFCH
August 21st Camp Meeting Kings Fork Community House
September 18th Camp Meeting Kings Fork Community House
Monthly Special Event (Date TBA) -- Isle of Wight Fair
October 16th Camp Meeting Kings Fork Community House
Monthly Special Event (Date TBA) -- Adopt-a-Highway Road Clean Up
November 20th Camp Meeting Kings Fork Community House
Monthly Special Event (Date TBA) -- Camp Project
December 18th Camp Christmas Meeting/Camp Awards KFCH
COPYRIGHT NOTICE, In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107; any copyrighted material published herein is distributed
under fair use without profit or payment to those who are interested in receiving the provided information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. 10
Brother of Past Commander Roy Pope