Psalms 61:5 …”thou hast given me the
heritage of those that fear thy name.”
In June, Dragoon Compatriot Larry Spears
and I set off on a day trip to Mexia, Alabama. Mexia is near Monroeville,
definitely off “the beaten path.” We were searching for an old country church
which bears a treasure. That treasure is my paternal Confederate Ancestor,
Jacob Obanyan Snider.
Jacob is the only Confederate Ancestor I
can physically visit as my Maternal ancestor’s grave is under a parking lot in
Missouri! What a joy and honor it was to visit this grave in the back of a
church which opened in 1817. As Jacob was born in 1840, that means he was
raised in this church and after the war. I imagined him going and singing hymns
and being with the Lord every Sunday.
His is a story which may be like your
Ancestor. He mustered in to the 36th Alabama Infantry in April 1862. He was
injured and captured at Missionary Ridge in late November 1863. He spent 18
months in the hellish Rock Island prison in Illinois. He was “paroled” to New
Orleans in May 1865. He came home and tried as best he could to rebuild his
life and that of the Old Salem Baptist Church. Eventually his war-time
injuries, for which he had made and used a cane, caused him to pass at an early
age in 1878.
He left behind a wife and two children.
Why tell you this story in a Chaplain’s
Column? Jacob represents thousands of troops who suffered during the War but came
back and trusted in the Lord unto death. How many times could he ahave lost
heart from his injuries or imprisonment in terrible conditions for almost two
years?
He didn’t. I pondered on this when I
returned home. I remembered how Paul had suffered so greatly (2 Corinthians
1:21-33) but felt blessed to be able to spread the Gospel!
Jacob and so many of his fellow veterans
came home and rebuilt churches and went to work spreading the good word. Even
during the miserable period of “Reconstruction.” Thousands of souls were saved
during the War and thus spread across the South from those great men after the
war.
We need to remember this in these dark
times. When our world is crashing down around us and we need to see the light
and remember to “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own
understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5). Deo Vindice!
I want to raise up a prayer of thanks to
the members of this camp who worked so hard to make this year’s Division
Reunion such a great success!
May God continue to watch over you and
your families and protect you all. And may God save the South!
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