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. 

Prattville Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 November Meeting

Approximately 26 members and guests attended the November meeting of the Prattville Dragoons, SCV Camp 1524 at Jim’s Restaurant.  A good crowd gathered early for dinner and an attempt was made to show a slide show in the absence of Chaplain Snowden’s who was in attendance but limited dealing with his wife’s illness. But, the chaplain’s video equipment was of a superior quality and the projector used did not provide sufficient brightness and clarity but, everyone nonetheless enjoyed the food and fellowship during the time before the start of the meeting proper.  Chaplain Snowden was able to lead everyone in the opening and closing prayers.  Compatriot George Jenks led everyone in the salutes and pledges to the flags which again, required some improvisation since the camp flags did not make it to the meeting in time. 

Even while working thru these extemporaneous adjustments, the cap meeting was a good one and many members signed up for the Christmas Social and the Thanksgiving smoked turkey fundraiser.  Commander Waldo read the SCV Charge and announced the numerous upcoming holiday events including the canned food drive, Tallassee reenactment (with Beir Butler expounding), Bicentennial Fair in Prattville (with Tyrone Crowley expounding, Christmas parades, Salvation Army kettle bell ringing (with Karl Wade expounding) and, the upcoming Social at Buena Vista.  John Dennis was recognized for again single-handedly working on the Indian Hill Cemetery grounds which should keep it looking good for the rest of the season with colder temperatures coming.  The electronic billboard ad campaign with funds matching from Division as well as the new Indian Hill aluminum historical information sign was also announced. 

Dr. Philip Davis was the keynote speaker who presented a history on Judah P. Benjamin who was a US Senator before following his state of Louisiana in secession to become the Confederacy’s Attorney General then Secretary of War then subsequently Secretary of State and even briefly Secretary of the Treasury when the government was evacuated from Richmond.  Philip said that very little original first person records/documents exist regarding Benjamin as he had the practice of destroying all his case records and correspondence which was actually a common practice in that time.  Nonetheless, Philip was able to weave a wonderful story of Benjamin’s upbringing and education and his later professional and political careers.  Not only did he serve in US and CSA public office but was also a very successful barrister in England where he fled following the collapse of the Confederate government.  He was very accomplished with in law, practicing before being elected to the US Senate, the logistics involved in the provisioning of the Confederate Army, and in diplomacy and negotiations with foreign governments as Sec. of State.  He was a trusted friend to President Jefferson Davis and even was tasked with removing and safeguarding the remaining gold stores from the Confederate Treasury when the cabinet fled Richmond.  Fascinating man of that historical period. 

Photos attached show some of the crowd in attendance as well as Karl and Tyrone speaking on upcoming events and Philip Davis making his presentation on Judah Benjamin.

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Commander's Column for November 2018

Commander's Column – Control the Narrative

New Commander in Chief Paul Gramling wrote in his column in the recent edition of the Confederate Veteran magazine that his “main goal for the SCV (is for) us to “Control the Narrative”. We as a Southern Heritage organization have been reactionary. (He) is working on a long-term plan – the Southern Victory Campaign - with Donnie Kennedy, co-author of “The South Was Right” as (his) chief of heritage operations win which we, the purveyors of truth, will “Control the Narrative”. Newly elected LT CiC Larry Allen McCluney Jr. goes further, “(Those who attack our flag, our monuments and our heritage) have money, the liberal media and, liberal politicians to back them. What they don’t have is the truth. We have the power to defeat our enemies with the truth and now we most go one the offensive and control the narrative.” Donnie Kennedy in his first column in the Confederate Veteran revealed “the establishment of a South-wide educational public relations campaign to arouse the 70 percent passive supporters of Southern heritage and turn them into active supporters to join us and demand their public officials give fair, balanced and, equal treatment to Southern Heritage. The first step is the establishment of the Confederate Legion which will fund a real Confederate counter-offensive. The CL will fund positive pro-South ads to run via Radio Free Dixie, the centerpiece of the PR effort, secondly we will identify friendly media outlets and work with them to promote the Cause and thirdly, upgrade and network our existing social media outlets from the national to the camp level. We will need 1000 people in each Army to sign up to the CL by donating $50 a year which will be used to buy pro-South ads on country and talk radio stations across the Confederation. Imagine the impact such pro-south information will have on the general public. The goal is to have three to five thousand CL members in each army – at that time, the SCV will become a common household name across the South!”

CiC Grambling provided a statement from the SCV which was printed in the Alabama Confederate condemning the toppling of the Silent Sam monument on the UNC Chapel Hill campus but added, “Those who wish to eradicate everything Southern could care less about what we think.” New Chaplain-in-Chief Dr. W. Herman White continues, “The radicals of our day are socialist/secular trash. They have been brainwashed in the government indoctrination centers called schools. Their war is ultimately against God the Father and the Son of God. There are those who question why we should continue to fight in the face of such overwhelming odds. Because it is the right thing to do. General Robert E. Leee wrote to his son, “Do your duty in all things, you cannot do more, you should never wish to do less.” General Stonewall Jackson advised, “That duty is ours, results belong to God.”” The Alabama Confederate reviewed a book on General J.E.B. Stuart recounting how he “sometimes went into battle with a brigade of 700 men when the average Confederate brigade was 1500 to 2000 men, (that his final) year (in the War before his death) was truly a year of desperate struggle.” Division Commander Carl Jones in his column said, “The enemies that we see attacking our monuments around the country are numerous, they are organized, well-funded and they are motivated. We outnumber them vastly in, not only membership, but public support. We have a mission as stated in the Charge, to vindicate the Cause for which our ancestors contended. We are in a war for the survival of our culture. For the heart of America.”

Carl has driven down directives indicating his belief that regular meetings at the camp, Brigade and Division level are critical to forming a cohesive bond to strengthen our organization. Our camp has done a wonderful job participating in Brigade and Division and other local camp events. It is important that we continue to lead as a camp with attendance at our functions and to host worthwhile community outreach events which encourage our members and influence our neighbors. Donnie Kennedy mentioned in his column the concept of highlighting special events like the Confederate “Great Revival” around Easter, America’s Secession Holiday in July and, America’s First Thanksgiving. As a camp we are expanding our billboard ads to include Thanksgiving and along these lines, a special ad will be designed to highlight this as a truly Southern original tradition. We will be running an ad for National Police Week in May and I want the camp to demonstrate our appreciation for our local law enforcement service professionals with pizzas delivered to the city police and county sheriff’s offices. We are in the middle of a new fundraising effort to provide funds for our initiatives and a potential war chest. As a camp we are embracing the power of social media with a website blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts; we have over 500 followers on Twitter and Facebook and have over 97000 pageviews on our website all time, 135 pageviews in just the last two days. These results take dedication and persistence but we need to grow to thousands
of followers and hits each day to be the influencers envisioned to control the narrative. In addition to more opportunities to participate in camp and Brigade activities, the Army of Tennessee is hosting a workshop in Birmingham on January 12th which includes topics pertaining to camp growth and fundraising but also more information on the Southern Victory Campaign presented by Donnie Kennedy. The officers appreciate your dedication to the camp, the SCV, and the Cause and your continued support in these new initiatives like the Confederate Legion and the new museum at Elm Springs. Our sacrifices pale in comparison to those our Confederate ancestors endured but they are nonetheless important in stemming the tide of progressivism threatening our culture. As Stonewall concluded, Deo Vindice!

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

Chaplain’s Column – Every Gift is Needed

I was friends with a kid in my teenage years who spent at least two of his years in high school carrying a tuba in his school marching band. Not necessarily what you’d describe as a call from God, but it wasn’t a wasted experience either. He learned some facts about harmony that I’ll pass on to you.

Would you attend a concert of a hundred tubas? Probably not. But what band would be a band without a tuba? Or a flute? Or a trumpet? Or a steady drum? Get the idea? The operative word is need. They need each other. By themselves they make music. But together, they make magic.

What I saw decades ago in the marching band, I see today in the church. We need each other. Not all of us play the same instrument. Not all of us make the same sound. Some are soft, and others are loud. Some convert the lost. Others encourage the saved. And some keep the movement in step. But all are needed! “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:12).

1 Corinthians 12:12 New King James Version (NKJV). Describes Unity and Diversity in One Body. In verse 12 it says- For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.

Please remember all those that are on our prayer list.

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Announces November 2018 Camp Meeting

The Dragoons' November meeting will be this Thursday 8th November at 6:45pm at Jim’s Restaurant on Memorial Drive in Prattville. The speaker will be Philip Davis and his topic will be Judah P. Benjamin, a member of the Confederate cabinet as Secretary of State.  Come early to enjoy dinner at Jim's and fellowship with Confederate compatriots.  

This is the last meeting to bring nonperishable food items for the camp's Thanksgiving Food Drive. The food items will be donated to the Autauga Interfaith Care Center next week.  This meeting will also be the final opportunity to get a Smokin S smoked turkey as part of the camp's Dixie Bird Fall Fundraiser for Thanskgiving (with distribution scheduled for Saturday Nov 17th). 

Upcoming Events for Confederate Compatriots

Upcoming Events

Prattville Dragoons November Camp Meeting – Thursday November 8th at 7pm at Jim’s Restaurant, Prattville

Tallasee Battle of the Armory Reenactment - Friday - Sunday November 9th -11th in Tallassee AL - http://tallasseearmoryguards.org/battles-for-the-armory

Prattville Bicentennial Fair - Friday and Saturday November 16-17, 2018 at the Doster Center, Prattville

Smoked Turkey Distribution - Saturday November 17th, 8-10am at Herrod’s Chevron in Prattville
Thanksgiving Canned Food Drive – October and November, to benefit the Autauga Interfaith Care Center

Prattville Christmas Parade – November 30th, 7pm Prattville Court and Main St – Dragoon entry
Christmas Salvation Army Kettle Bell Ringing – Saturday December 8th 8am-9pm Winn Dixie, Prattville AL

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

Vida Christmas Parade - 2pm, Saturday Dec 15th at the Vida (AL) Community Center