Demopolis AL Confederate Sights - St. Andrews Church

This summer when driving thru Demopolis AL, I stopped at an old church on the east outskirts of town.  This was St. Andrews Episcopal Church which is on the National Register of Historic Places.  The church was formed in 1834 as a mission by Rev. Caleb Ives and the building was erected at the site in 1854.  The wood frame building is beautifully preserved and the grounds kept nicely including an old cemetery.  One Confederate veteran's grave was found, that of Joseph Todd Collins, born in 1836 and died in 1922.  In addition to the inscription of his service in the Virginia Cavalry where he was wounded at Sailor's Creek Virginia during the Appomattox campaign on April 6, 1865 at war's end, the tombstone states that for 50 years he was a church Sunday School superintendent and Deacon in the Baptist Church and "Loved his Home, His Country and His God".  No conflict with his service to defend his home state in the Confederate States Army while still loving his country before and after the War.  The inscriptions on these tombstones often provide a meaningful glimpse into the thoughts of these patriots of the period of the War for Southern Independence.