Why Southerners Eat Black Eyed Peas and Greens On New Year's Day

A story that you might hear a lot as New Years is approaching. A story that should be retold and reminded to us every year 

Why do Southerns eat Black Eye Peas on New Years Day?
What Is In Your Kitchen ?

The story of the Southern tradition of eating black-eyed peas as the first meal on New Year's Day is generally believed to date back the winter of 1864 - 1865 during the later part of the of Southern Independence. 

When Union General William T. Sherman led his invading troops on their destructive march through Georgia, the fields of black-eyed peas were largely left untouched because they were deemed fit only for animals. 

The Union foragers took everything, plunder the land, and left what they could not take burning or in shambles.
But one thing did remain the lonely peas and good Ol Southern salted pork. 

As a result, the humble yet nourishing black-eyed pea saved surviving Southerners - mainly women, children and the disabled veterans of the Confederate army - from mass starvation and were thereafter regarded as a symbol of good luck. 

The peas are said to represent good fortune. Certainly the starving Southern families and soldier were fortunate to have those meager supplies. 

According to the tradition and folklore, the peas are served with several other dishes that symbolically represent good fortune, wealth and prosperity in the coming year. Some folks still traditionally cook the black-eyed peas with a silver dime in the pot as a symbol of good fortune. 

Greens represent wealth and paper money. Any greens will do, but in the South the most popular are collards, mustard greens, turnip greens, and boiled cabbage. 

Cornbread - a regular staple mean among Southerners in absence of wheat - symbolizes gold and is very good for soaking up the juice from the greens on the plate.
You should always have some on hand in your kitchen anyway.  

Pork symbolizes bountiful prosperity and the progressing into the year ahead. Ham and hog jowls are typical with the New Year meal, though sometimes bacon will work too. 

Stewed tomatoes are often eaten with this meal as well. They represent health and wealth. 

So reflect on those stories when you sit down at your family table and enjoy this humble uniquely Southern meal every New Years Day. Be thankful of what this year did give you and better days that are coming ahead of you 

It was what your Southern Kinfolk DID and reflected upon every year. 

(Contributed by Larry Spears, SCV Camp 1524)

Merry Christmas from the Prattville Dragoons, Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524

Vida Alabama Christmas Parade

A number of Prattville Dragoons and friends participated in the annual Vida Christmas Parade on Saturday December 15th.  The morning started with a misting rain but it stopped for the parade fortunately and there were hundreds of spectators lining County Road 19 to watch the parade.  Thee Dragoons entered three vehicles including the purple Dodge Charger of Commander Waldo which had a couple Confederate Battle flags flying off the back windows, the Honda S2000 of Compatriot Don Drasheff and, the Ford F150 driven by Wyatt Willis which allowed Quartermaster Myrick to sit in the bed on a folding chair and toss candy along the parade route.  Compatriots Bill Gill and Tyrone Crowley also participated in the parade, riding along.  The Dragoons handed out hundreds of mini Confederate Battle flags as well as SCV coins and of course candy.  After the parade, the folks of Vida host all the parade participants and spectators in the community center there with a BBQ lunch including homemade desserts.  This is a very special country Christmas parade event.

"The Christmas Social at Buena Vista", a Poem by Bill Anthony

THE CHRISTMAS SOCIAL AT BUENA VISTA

“Tis again, that magical time of year

When we all come, a way out here

To Buena Vista, the remnants flock

To turn back the hands, on history’s clock.

We’ll conjure up, the South’s golden past

When she was free, and her farms were vast;

When houses like this one, dotted our land

The centers of life, on plantations grand.

So here we gather by invitation

To remember our roots in our Southern nation,

And to mark the day our Lord first cried

 And why He lived, and why He died.

The Dragoons are our gracious hosts,

So let’s propose some Christmas toasts!

First raise your cups to General Lee

Who gave us this great recipe!

This egg nog comes but once a year,

Our Dragoon hosts provide this cheer;

So let us also toast our hosts

To each of them who’s manned a post.

A camp that works hard every year

To make us happy while we’re here.

We’ll have some tunes of way back when;

Our rebel ghosts will live again.

Within these rooms now filled with mirth

We’ll hear some songs of Jesus’ birth,

And maybe Santa will appear

With goodies and more Christmas Cheer.

And when your tummies are all aglow

And you’ve enjoyed their Christmas show,

You shan't forget this historic site

And you’ll keep your memories of this night,

When a Christmas social in these hallowed rooms

Comes once a year from your Prattville Dragoons.

                                                           From William’s Pen

                                                           December 2018

Prattville Dragoons Annual Christmas Social

The Dragoons enjoyed hosting a record number of participants at the camp's annual Christmas social Friday evening 14 December 2018 and had a wonderful time socializing, partaking of an excellent catered Christmas meal and basking in the history and ambiance of the beautiful Buena Vista Mansion. It appears that all 67 persons who preregistered for the social were able to attend which resulted in a slightly overflow crowd but seating capacity was increased using the foyer.  Everyone was comfortable with the table arrangement and delighted in the festivities of the evening.  Bill and Peggy Myrick provided beautiful centerpieces which were set atop the linen tablecloths which made the parlor look beautiful. 

The party had outstanding piano music from the pianist who played period music and Christmas classics throughout the evening. She also entertained us with solo renditions of "O Holy Night" and of course, "DIXIE"!   Camp 1524 is blessed with our Chaplain, Tom Snowden who presented special music leading everyone in singing Christmas carols and performing a beautiful presentation of “Mary Did You Know?”   Additionally, new member John Dennis was sworn in, Darlene Leistner provided a history of Buena Vista Mansion where the original Dragoons had a reunion in 1901, 1st Lt. Harold Grooms read a hilarious version of "The Cajun Night Before Christmas" and, everyone enjoyed a delicious catered meal by Smokin S Restaurant.  Buena Vista was decorated with greenery and Christmas decorations including a live Christmas Tree and many folks took the opportunity for a self guided tour of the mansion.  Compatriot Bill Anthony from Tallassee was unable to attend because of health issues but Pat Godwin graciously read a very special poem written by Bill to commemorate the evening.  Prayers and heartfelt thanks go out to Brother Bill at this time struggling with health problems and all Confederate compatriots thank him for all the tremendous contributions he has made and continues to make to Southern Heritage.   A number of members contributed doorprizes which culminated the festivities with drawing and distribution handled by Mrs. Kerri Waldo and Brent Jenks.

Pictured below are those in period dress, John and Nancy Land from the Montgomery Semple Camp with his sister who came all the way from Denmark; Commander Stuart Waldo who emceed the event; Pat Godwin reading Bill’s poem and Todd Kiskaden in Confederate uniform standing in front of Buena Vista where we had draped a beautiful Battle Flag provided by Past Commander Wyatt Willis. 

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Ring the Bell for the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle

Members of Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 had a wonderful time ringing in the holiday season on Saturday December 8th.  For the third year, the Dragoons  rang the bell for the Salvation Army and the event was a great success with at least fifteen compatriots participating.  The weather was dreary and cold with rain and highs only in the mid-40s but the men covered the hours of 9:00AM - 9:00PM at the Prattville Winn Dixie, standing in front of the store but then moving inside when the wind picked up to make the conditions even harsher outside. Grocery store customers and employees were very cooperative and friendly as the bell ringers greeted everyone with a "Merry Christmas”.  Many customers donated so collections were brisk and should be tallied by the Salvation Army later in the week. 

Some of the Dragoon participants are pictured below.  Participants included Bill Branch, Will Dismukes, Tyrone Crowley, Karl Wade (who was also the organizer of the event), Wayne Sutherland, Harold Grooms, Douglas Beir Butler, Bill Gill, Stuart Waldo, Don Owens, Bill Myrick, Dale Boyles, Don Drasheff, Louis Turner and Larry Spears. 

This is a great community service project,  another great opportunity for the Dragoons to support our local friends and neighbors and a worthy cause. 

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Chaplain's Column for December 2018

Chaplain’s Column – Gift from the Father

John 3:16

     Think about all the presents you’ve received in your life. Some may have seemed heavenly, but Jesus Christ is the only gift any of us will ever receive that came straight from heaven. Without a maker, without a beginning or end, He is unlike any other gift in human experience. And although He arrived as a tiny infant, He is precisely what all mankind desperately needs.

      When you placed your faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you could not have been given a gift that was more practical or necessary. Sin had so wrecked humanity that we were all under the wrath of God and in desperate need of forgiveness and deliverance from our guilt, shame, and fleshly behaviors. We had emotional needs, material needs, and all manner of brokenness.

      So God the Father sent His only begotten Son into our lives. He knew that no other gift could ever provide for our needs or fulfill our longings as completely as Christ Jesus.

      He came in human flesh. That’s what the incarnation is all about. God came into this world with a body like ours so that we could see Him, touch Him, and understand Him. And yet the tragedy is that most people never “unwrap” this gift. They keep Him a baby in the manger scene or categorize Him as just a teacher or preacher. But this will never do. If you do not unwrap the gift, you will never know what is inside. To open the present, open the Bible. The more you get to know Jesus, the better you will understand how perfect the gift is for you.

Please remember all those that are on our prayer list 

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1624 Commander's Column for December 2018

Commander's Column – Another Reconstruction

Listened to the Rick and Bubba radio show on Thursday morning, a couple days after the midterm elections.  A woman called in saying that she was concerned about her daughter and things she says regarding politics and government that don’t reflect her upbringing.  Interestingly, she called as “Anonymous” not wanting to divulge her name I suppose for fear that her friends and neighbors may learn of this skeleton in her closet.   The woman said that her millennial daughter feels disenfranchised when she hears of all the corruption and mismanagement in the federal government and has espoused a new form of government as the remedy.  Rick provided a comprehensive response when he said that she should inform her daughter that just because there is corruption and ineptitude in our present government in Washington, that does/should not lead to the conclusion that a different form of government, specifically socialism, is the answer.  He went on to explain that the reason for these problems is that politicians today have strayed from the founders’ intent.  We have 30-year career politicians who get fat and filthy rich as a “public servant” in Washington. 

These politicians become drunk with wealth and power and disconnected from the voice of their constituents and believe that more and bigger government is the solution for everything.  Socialism and communism would certainly entail more and bigger government and has always throughout the history of the world led to a corrupt ruling elite and poverty for the working class.  Rick rightly said that these Washington bureaucrats have no regard for the founders’ principles of a limited federal government and states’ rights (and individual liberty).  Bubba has previously on their talk show gone off on Lincoln’s abuse of power and misplaced effort in prosecuting the War for the collection of tariffs.  But so many of these radio talk show hosts, particularly Mark Levin just ignore the reality that the War for Southern Independence was the last gasp, the last fight for the founding principles of limited federal government and states’ rights and individual liberty.  They don’t recognize the problems with a behemoth omnipotent federal government losing a connection and accountability with their constituents numbering 300 million. 

I was chatting with a colleague the same day and he texted me something about the Georgia gubernatorial election.  I told him that Georgians should be ashamed that they narrowly defeated a candidate whose platform included an expansion of the welfare state with government regulated/provided healthcare with an expansion of Medicare, more tax breaks/credits for lower income earners who aren’t paying any taxes already, day care provisions for single mothers to enable more illegitimate children, gun ownership restrictions while allowing “economically disadvantaged” criminals to walk free without any bail, an illegal immigrant sanctuary state furthering a one-world order, government regulations to combat the hoax of global-warming-power production and, selectively erasing history by literally blasting away the Stone Mountain relief sculpture. 

I actually heard a couple of radio talk show hosts including Rush Limbaugh stating the observation, decrying that all these liberal Yankees are infesting the South, invading our neighborhoods and townships trying to impose their warped progressive ideals and agenda on us. They have morally and fiscally bankrupted the northeast and west coast states from whence they came and now intend to do the same throughout the Bible Belt. It took unusual events including a witch hunt during a Supreme Court nomination deliberation and a literal invasion approaching our southern border to awaken a slim majority to stem the tide and literally to keep the historic images of those Southern heroes on Stone Mountain in Georgia.  It is unfathomable that this new Reconstruction has taken hold to destroy our culture and history.  It is unfathomable that our children have been indoctrinated in schools failing to educate them on our true history and their civic duty to espouse, embrace, and protect our founding principles of a limited federal government, states’ rights and sovereignty and, individual liberty and the responsibility to be a contributing, productive member of our society and of our communities.  These are the principles and ideals of which the SCV Charge refers which our Confederate ancestors loved and made them glorious in their defense.

Upcoming Events for Confederate Compatriots

From the SCV Camp 1524 Dispatch Newsletter:

Christmas Salvation Army Kettle Bell Ringing – Saturday December 8^th 8am-9pm Winn Dixie, Prattville AL

Christmas Social - Friday December 14^th 6-9pm at Buena Vista, Prattville AL

Vida Christmas Parade – Saturday December 9^th , lineup at noon and starting at 2pm with BBQ lunch after in the community center

Prattville Dragoons January Camp Meeting – Thursday January 10^th at 7pm at Jim’s Restaurant, Prattville

Millbrook Mardi Gras Parade and Festival – Saturday February 23^rd  9am festival opens and 11am parade

Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 in the Prattville Christmas Parade

The Dragoons had a wonderful time on Friday 30 November decorating our float in the morning and forwarding the colors in the Prattville Christmas parade that evening. The float consisted of a trailer decorated with a Christmas tree and plenty of lights and tinsel with hay bales arranged for seating.  Compatriot Earl Edmondson and Adam Hilyer pulled the trailer in one of their semi trucks the doors of which were emblazoned with their company logo which includes crossed Battle Flags. Earl is very proud of his Confederate heritage and promotes it at every opportunity.  They carefully and professionally drove the truck down the parade route and even “tooted” out Jingle Bells on the truck's air horn during the parade!

Eight Dragoons assisted with the float decoration Friday morning including Commander Stuart Waldo, 1LT. Cmdr. Harold Grooms, Bill Myrick, Frank Pelt, Edward Morgan, Bill Gill, Don Owens and Larry Spears.  Always a fun time to begin the Christmas season with this event. 

The camp's entry had nearly 20 walkers and riders in the parade Friday evening including all who decorated plus Frank’s grandson Mr. Presley, Bill Myrick’s brother Jim, Stuart’s family consisting of his daughter, son and wife Kerri, John Dennis, Earl Edmondson, Adam Hilyer along with his two sons Kyle and Colin who volunteered to carry the camp Christmas parade banner at the front. There was enjoyable interaction with the crowd, as always the Dragoons' entry was very well received.  Everyone threw out every last bit of candy to the thousands of spectators lining the parade route.    Reports indicated there was a record number of parade entries which took a while for all the queued participants to actually start down the parade route and then meander down Court and Main Street in downtown but always worth it to see the reception received.  Decoration and parade photos below.

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Holiday Canned Food Drive

The Dragoons completed their annual canned food drive on Tuesday November 27, 2018, delivering all the accumulated canned and dry goods to the Autauga Interfaith Care Center in downtown Prattville.  Adjutant Wayne Sutherland stored all the food which had been donated by members over the last two months at camp meetings and which totaled over 550 pounds.  Commander Waldo and 2nd Lt Karl Wade picked up the food from Wayne to take it down and deliver it to the care center.  The food filled the bed of the truck.  It took three carts to load up and wheel into the building where volunteers immediately started dating the cans and putting them on shelves in the pantry.  Josette Dudle who is a ministry assistant at the AICC and in charge of the volunteers greeted Stuart and Karl and provided a tour of the pantry and a run down on the way the center screens recipients and the services AICC provides including food, clothing and even bill pay assistance.  Josette has been very much involved in the Autauga County Heritage Association in Prattville in which some members of the Dragoons also volunteer so common friends were readily identified.  Josette expressed much appreciation for the donation, another worthwhile community service project of Camp 1524. 

Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Billboard Ad Proclaims the Southern Heritage of Thanksgiving

The Prattville Dragoons placed a new electronic billboard advertisement for Thanksgiving which details the first Thanksgivings were in the South including in St.Augustine Florida in 1565 and at Berkeley Plantation in 1619, years before the Pilgrims in Plymouth colony conceived of a day of Thanksgiving.  The billboard also provides reference to Confederate President Jefferson Davis' proclamation to establish a day of Thanksgiving in October of 1861, again, years before Lincoln plagiarized it.  The camp has rotating digital boards at Hwy 14 and I-65 and at the intersection of Memorial Dr. and Cobbs Ford Rd in Prattville.  This ad was replaced by the camp's annual Christmas billboard ad on Sunday to run for the month before the Christmas holiday.  

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Thanksgiving Turkey Fundraiser

Several Dragoons gathered at Allen Herrod’s Chevron Saturday morning 17 November to distribute the Smokin S smoked turkeys sold during the camp's Fall Fundraiser. The morning was crisp and cool and the camaraderie was evident as lively conversations dominated the event. The task at hand was completed on time and in a very orderly fashion. 

The money raised from this fundraiser will boost the camp treasury to help with expenditures to promote Southern heritage and give some financial reserves in case of urgent needs. Thanks to all who participated in any way with the fundraiser.

Below are pictured Wayne Sutherland, Karl Wade and Bill Gill swapping tall tales. 2nd picture is Mike Stanley, Karl Wade, Wayne Sutherland, Bill Gill, Bill Myrick, Harold Grooms and John Dennis ready to assist any customers picking up their smoked turkeys. 3rd picture is Treasurer Billy Leverette and wife Cathie taking a Dixie Bird home.

SCV Prattville Dragoons Compatriot Tyrone Crowley Report on Prattville Autauga County Bicentennial Fair

The Dragoons' Tyrone Crowley again was a valued contributor in this successful fair, reprising his role as Prattville founder Daniel Pratt; Tyrone provided this report on the fair.

Autauga County Bicentennial Fair

Doster Community Center, Prattville, Alabama

Friday-Saturday 16-17 November 2018

 The Bicentennial Committee of the Autauga Genealogical Society (AGS) spent 18 months preparing for a Bicentennial Fair which the Society hosted at the Doster Community Center, Prattville, Alabama, on Friday and Saturday, 16-17 November 2018.  Response to and interest in the Fair exceeded all expectations, and the Committee all agreed that the many hours of effort to create the 120+ displays offered to school groups and the general public during the exciting two-day event were well-spent.  This was a community event worthy of its name and a credit to its sponsor, the aforementioned AGS.

           The venue included over 120 displays depicting the people, places, and events in the 200-year history of Autauga County.   The excitement and interest were palpable, as evidenced by the animated conversations occurring inside and outside of the Doster Community Center, among both friends and complete strangers.  Visitors came from as far away as the states of Pennsylvania and Washington, some here at the urging of relatives who reside in Prattville, others because they grew up here but now reside in other states.  All were at the Fair to explore the Autauga County’s history from November 21, 1818, when it was established as a county, to the present era.  Those attending stated that to fully appreciate the impressive collection of displays, photos, and artifacts required at least a couple of hours. 

Reenactors included Ginger Jones as an American Indian and Tyrone Crowley, who greeted visitors at the entrance to the exhibits in the person of Daniel Pratt, intendant (mayor) of Prattville ca. 1870.  Other reenactors included Revolutionary soldiers Larry Cornwell, Bill Stone, and Rick Wells, members  of the Sons of the American Revolution, Confederates Jerry McMichael as Lt A Y Smith of the Prattville Dragoons, Douglas Butler as a Confederate soldier, and Tanya and Gabriel Haessly (who drove down from Gadsden, Alabama, to participate) who portrayed a concerned mother and her teenage son, John Whetstone, who goes away to join his brothers in the Autauga Rifles, Confederate States Army, and dies three months later, a casualty of the Battle of Seven Pines.  George Partridge portrayed a soldier from World War I, and members of the Daughters of the American Revolution demonstrated the use of a churn and other household instruments.

 There were 22 displays dedicated to Autauga County veterans of all wars, including a special display dedicated to the work of local women in support of World War II.   Other displays demonstrated the importance of agriculture and timber in the development of Autauga County and of course the importance of the Daniel Pratt Gin Company, later Continental Gin Company in developing industry in the county.  There were also displays on the history of schools, both black and white, as they developed in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  One of the most impressive displays was a American Indian village, built by two members of the AGS, and chronologically the first display in the entire Fair.

On Friday morning busload after busload of schoolchildren arrived and walked through the exhibits, obviously impressed with the many displays and reenactors they saw.  It was estimated that about 900 students benefitted from their visit to the Bicentennial Fair, then went home and told their parents and others, which along with publicity on television, the internet, and newspapers, generated another surge of visitors on Saturday.  Many people recognized ancestors among the many photographs and lists of names on exhibit, and recounted to those around them what they remembered of the person and/or place.  The feeling of community generated by the resulting discussion was remarkable.

A lot of time and effort were expended in making this event the success that it was, and the person who deserves a large share of the credit is Mr. Larry Caver, chairman of the AGS Bicentennial Committee, whose home was basically a storehouse for the many exhibits until the day they were all assembled at the Doster Community Center and had been used as a worksite to create the many trifold displays in the months before the Fair.  Mr. Caver took a week off work during the week preceding the Fair, in order to manage the assembly of the displays and oversee the two-day event on Friday and Saturday.   Mr. Caver, known for his books on Autauga County genealogy and history, can add another another to his list of accomplishments in support of genealogy and local history.  

The Honorable Philip Davis Speaks on Judah P. Benjamin

Notes from the Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Meeting November 8th.

Benjamin destroyed all of his writings except those which were published which was a common practice for lawyers of that period and his surviving personal correspondence was limited to his wife's letters so there is very little first record/account of his life.

Benjamin was born on August 8, 1811 in St.Croix.  When he was 6 or 7 years old his family moved to Fayetteville NC and then to Charleston SC as a boy.  His mother and father were Spanish Jews who were run out of Spain during the Inquisition fleeing first to England and then to St.Croix.  Judah had a good education at the Fayetteville Academy and became learned in Reformed Judaism. He applied to Yale University at the age of 14 completing the admission requirements including an oral exam and translating a chapter of a book of the New Testament Bible  from Latin to English.  After three years he inexplicably left Yale despite a good academic record perhaps because of gambling. 

He left Yale and moved to New Orleans and went to work for a Jewish storekeeper helping him with his accounting but soon started studying law while also teaching the local Creoles English.  It was in this teaching that he met a young Creole girl Natalie and they eventually married although she was Catholic and he was a practicing Jew.  They had one child, a daughter Ninette who was raised Catholic.

About a month after marrying, he got his law license and a year later argued his first case in front of the Louisiana Supreme Court.  Benjamin and Thomas Slidell published the first law digest of the law cases of the state of Louisiana enumerating principles used in the determination of the cases.  Their system cataloging the cases in the digest is still used today.

He later purchased Belle Chasse plantation, a sugar plantation and developed a process for refining cane to sugar. Natalie and Judah separated soon after and he set her up with an apartment in Paris, France.  Judah would travel there three or four times a year to see her, requiring ling ocean voyages for passage.

Benjamin was elected a Senator from Louisiana and there in Washington DC met Jefferson Davis and his wife Varina and they got along very well.  At one point though, Davis and Benjamin found themselves on opposite sides of a debate and things escalated to the point where Benjamin challenged Davis to a duel.  Davis subsequently apologized though and they became lifelong friends thereafter. 

Benjamin opposed secession but followed his state of Louisiana and when Davis was elected President, he appointed Benjamin Attorney General.  Benjamin developed that role to its modern interpretation including writing opinions, prosecuting cases and, advising the President.  He was later appointed Secretary of War and was accomplished in managing the logistics of that position including provisioning the Army, working trade agreements with countries even including with the Yankees undercover.  Davis did not adhere to Benjamin's advice and criticism on appointment of his generals so Davis eventually moved Benjamin out of that role into Secretary of State. 

Benjamin was a skilled negotiator successfully engaging Europe nations in recognition of the Confederacy.  At the end of the war, when Lee informed Davis he could no longer defend Richmond, the Confederate government evacuated.  Benjamin assumed the role of Secretary of the Treasury helping to remove the remaining gold which only amounted to about $50000, sewing the gold into his overcoat.  It was decided around May 6, 1865 that Benjamin would attempt to escape and take the gold to a British protectorate.  On May 13th he arrived in Monticello FL and abandoned his carriage and was nearly captured by Federal troops.  He survived a sinking ship and made his way thru Cuba to the Bahamas pretending to be a Frenchman fleeing the war.  On the 30th of August, he reached England where he settled.  He became a successful barister retiring after a series of heart attacks.  He died on May 6, 1884 in Paris in his wife's home and was buried in a Catholic cemetery in Paris.

John C. Calhoun Fort Hill Home at Clemson University

Visited my alma mater Clemson University this past weekend and took the opportunity to walk around campus a little with my children.  It was a beautiful time of the year to visit with the fall leaves about at their peak.  I was aware of the historical home of John C. Calhoun being on campus and had seen it before but hadn't taken the opportunity to really look around the grounds.  It is adjacent to the student union, actually on a hill with large trees around the antebellum mansion.  The home is open for tours with hours each day of the week but unfortunately we caught it when it was closed.  But the home has been beautifully maintained and has family furnishings throughout (which we were able to see a dining room and parlor thru a couple windows).  On one side there is a reproduction of the original kitchen.  The kitchen was kept apart from the main house to minimize fire risk and also to keep the heat out of the living quarters.  The informational display for this kitchen indicated it was built in 1944 using materials from a nearby (Pendleton) plantation as the original structure had deteriorated to an extent it had to be torn down and removed.  The same informational board provides some information about the slaves who had worked at Fort Hill including using the kitchen during the Christmas season, a valued blacksmith and, even performing a wedding ceremony there in 1849.  At the back of the main house is the Fort Hill Plantation Office, Calhoun's personal office.  An historical marker provides a short biography of Calhoun including his public service as a House Representative, Senator, Vice-President (under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson)  and also  Secretary of War (under Monroe) and Secretary of State (under Tyler).  In this office he is said to have written his political theories and discourses supporting states rights and the principle of nullification (The South Carolina Exposition and Protest).  Calhoun's  major books included " A Disquisition on Government" and "Discourse on the Constitution".  Calhoun lived at Fort Hill for 25 years and the property is "preserved as an historic house museum in accordance with the will of Calhoun's son-in-law Thomas G. Clemson".  After seeing Fort Hill we went for a walk in the South Carolina Botanical Garden on the Clemson campus.  Some of the garden's camelias were in bloom and it was a wonderful walk in the brisk fall day.  I took note of the Hunt Cabin which was moved to the garden site from Seneca.  The modest abode belying the Hunts wealth as landowners of over 8000 acres.  This home was built by their slaves in 1835 and so they would have been neighbors of Calhoun during this period of time.