Society Saturday - Letters Home from a Confederate Soldier

At our Daughters of the Union meeting today we saw a little from the other side's perspective.

Our program was given by Patricia and Rich Healy who reenacted the story of Confederate Soldier Larkin Moon.

They did they by "reading" letters that he had written home to his wife Malinda Brunetta in Chatham Co NC.

The first letter was written in April 1862.  Larkin was a new recruit fresh from the farm.  He told how they were going to send those Yankees home before the harvest.  He demonstrated how he learned to hold his musket ("shoulder arms") and the nine steps required to load it.

In July 1863 he told of the battle at Gettysburg, how the hill was full of dead and dying boys, in both blue and gray uniforms.  Of the 800 men in Company G 26th North Carolina Infantry, 600 were lost that day.

In February 1865 the spirits of the troops were very low.  They had very little to eat and subsisted mostly on hardtack with weevils in it.  Several of his comrades had deserted.

The last letter was written on April 12, 1865 where he told of taking part in the surrender of the Confederate army at Appomatox.  The troops laid down their weapons and said goodbye to the "Stars and Bars".

It was a very interesting program from a first person perspective.

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Society Saturday - Wreaths Across America

We were honored to welcome the President General, National Society Daughters of the Union to our John Butler Chapter meeting.  PG Kitty Humphrey is a Veteran, having served in both the Army and the Marine Corps.  She is extremely passionate about Veterans as well as honoring the Flag of the U.S.A., both of which were apparent during our meeting.

Kitty spoke passionately about one of her National projects - Wreaths Across America.  Many patriotic organizations participate in this project, including some of the other organizations I belong to.

She gave the history of Wreaths Across America, which I hadn't heard before:
 
The organization was started in 1992 when Morrill Worcester, of Harrington Maine had a surplus of wreaths at his company.  He thought back to a childhood visit he had made to Arlington National Cemetery and decided to donate those wreaths to decorate the graves of our veterans.  A local trucking company volunteered to transport the wreaths, and several other volunteers helped by tying on red bows and placing the wreaths on graves.

They continued to do this every year until 2005 when a photograph of the wreaths on the grave stones went viral.  Suddenly, many others wanted to place wreaths across the country.  Worcester donated 7 wreaths to each state, representing each of the branches of service, as well as POW's and MIA's.

In 2006, wreaths were laid on the same day in over 150 locations, and interest continued to grow.

In 2007, the Wreaths Across America was officially founded as a 501(c)(3) organization.  Their mission is to "Remember, Honor and Teach".

By 2014, over 700,000 wreaths were placed in cemeteries across the U.S.A., as well as locations such as Bunker Hill and the site of the 9-11 attacks.  Every grave at Arlington National Cemetery (over 226,000) had a wreath.  Over 2000 organizations participated in fund raising and placing the wreaths, and it continues to grow.

The organization believes in the motto that "A person dies twice, once when they take their last breath, and again when their name is spoken for the last time."  Because of this, their name is spoken as the wreath is placed on their grave.

The actual wreath laying occurs every December - the next one will be on December 16, 2017.

http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/

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Society Saturday - Three Illinois Women in the Civil War

The John Butler chapter of the National Society Daughters of the Union had a very interesting speaker at their meeting.

Betty Carlson Kay is a former school teacher who has written several books about the Civil War and various people associated with the Civil War.  She gave us a program in first person about three women from that era.

One woman was Mother Bickerdyke.  She was Mary Ann Bickerdyke, a widow from Galesburg, IL who was asked to assist at the Army hospital in Cairo, IL for a few weeks.  She realized the great need that the army had for someone to properly care for the soldiers, and ended up spending several years with the army.

Another was Julia Dent Grant.  She was from Missouri, but became the wife of Ulysses S. Grant, a West Point classmate of her brother Frederick.  They lived in Galena, IL before he became President.

The most interesting woman that Mrs. Kay portrayed was Jennie Hodgers.  She was an irish woman who immigrated to this country ca 1860 and settled in Belvidere, IL.  Because she was young and single, she pretended to be a man so that she could work and not be taken advantage of.  Thus, Jennie Hodgers became Albert D.J. Cashier. She joined the Union Army and served throughout the war, retiring to Saunemin, IL.  She continued to live as a man and even stayed in the Quincy Veterans Home.  Her secret was discovered on occasion by a few doctors, but they let her continue with her deception.  Her tombstone was recently marked by our chapter, and contains both of her names.

Daughters of the Union Wreath Laying

The John Butler Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the Union 1861-1865 (NSDU) has been laying wreaths at the graves of civil war ancestors.  I attended the most recent of these this past week.  After driving for about 3 hours to Elmwood, IL (north of Peoria), we honored Joseph Wheeler.  His great-granddaughter and great-great-granddaughter are members of our chapter.   They were present, along with other family members.
The ceremony was very nice - developed by chapter Regent Shari Worrell.  We learned about Joseph Wheeler, born in 1837 in England and died in 1917 in Elmwood, IL.  He immigrated in 1844, settling first in New Jersey, then making his way west to Illinois.  He enlisted in the 47th Illinois Volunteer Infantry in 1861 and served for over 3 years.  After discharge he was paid the lofty sum of $100.
One of the reasons that I enjoy my membership in these lineage societies is the ability to honor our ancestors by laying wreaths and learning about their lives.

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