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SOUTHERN HEROES
OR
THE FRIENDS IN WAR TIME
BY
FERNANDO G. CARTLAND
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
BENJAMIN F. TKUEBLOOD, IL. D.
' LIFT IN Christ's name his cross against the sword."
CAMBRIDGE
prtntfD at ttjr Hitergine prcs^sf
1895
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Er5"40
Copyright, 1895,
By FERNANDO G. CARTLAND.
All rights reserved.
The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.
Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghtou and Company.
TO
ABBIE F. CARTLAND
THIS WORK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
BY HER HUSBAND
PREFACE.
In presenting this volume to the public, the writer
would say that he has been only one o£ many who
have for a long time realized the importance of pre-
serving, in book form, a record of certain facts con-
cerning the sufferings of Friends in the South, during
the war of 1861-65. Others have begun the work,
but from various causes they have thus far failed to
complete it.
As years have passed, the opportunities for gaining
reliable information have become less and less favor-
able, on account of the death of some of those who,
" for conscience toward God, endured grief, suffering
wrongfully." To delay longer would make the task of
writing such a book still more difficult. \,
This work has therefore been undertaken with the
desire to preserve for coming generations this portion
of a hitherto unwritten history.
To all those who have so kindly aided in the pre-
paration of the manuscript, the writer would hereby
express his appreciation and gratitude ; and it is his
hope that the deeply interesting nature of the subject
may induce the critical reader to pass lightly over the
numerous defects which may be discovered in the work.
/
PREFACE.
Above all, he desires that the book may be an in-
strument in the hand of God to convince the minds of
many of the reasonableness of peace and the un-
righteousness of war.
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Peaceable reign of Christ. — Slowness of Christians to accept
Christ's teachings. — Early Christians. — Non-resistants
in all ages. — Charles V. of Germany saw its foolishness.
— George Fox teaching peace ; remarkable effect. — Im-
prisoned.— Pall Mall Gazette's opinion of him. — His
followers everywhere have maintained the doctrine. —
Whitefield. — Mason and Slidell taken from British ves-
sel.— Liability of war. — Friends' petitions for peace. —
Acknowledgment of A. Lincoln. — Speeches at Peace
Congress at Chicago. — Hugh Price Hughes' opinion of
the Friends. — Behring Sea trouble. — Five Christian
nations have had 75 wars in 80 years. — More than two
hundred controversies settled by arbitration. — Opinions
of Prince Albert, General Grant, General Lee. — Inter-
view of Generals Scott and Lee at AVashington. — Num-
ber killed and wounded in war of '61. — Secretary's report
of cost of war of '61. — Edward L. Fox's return of prize
money. — Lukens Iron and Steel Company. — Exjjendi-
tures of different countries for education and war. —
Yorkshire Quarterly Meeting's minute. — European coun-
tries' burden. — Krupp Gun ; cost and expense of firing ;
destructive power. — Other recent inventions. — Cost to
United States in 1893 on account of war measures. —
Pensions. — Military training. — Boys' brigades . . . 1-23
CHAPTER IL
Arrival of Friends in America. — Sent back to England. —
Returned witli others. — Established churches from North
Carolina to Georgia. — Settlement of Rliode Island, Penn-
sylvania and Carolina by Friends. — Landing of William
viii ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.
Penn. — Ilis peaceful government. — Duponceaii's ad-
dress in 1821. — Henry Phillips, first Friend settled in
Carolina. — Williant Edmondson, first Friend preacher in
Carolina. — Appearance of his congregations. — John
Archdale appointed Governor. — His letter to George Fox
concerning improved condition of Indians. — Prophetic
spirit of Friend ministers. — Mahlon Hockett preaching.
— Joseph Hoag's two visions concerning civil war. —
Abolition of slavery. — Eli Jones' speech in Maine legis-
lature 24-39
CHAPTER III.
Founders of the Government expected slavery to be abol-
ished. — Opinion of Washington, Jefferson, Patrick Henry,
James Madison. — Population of Virginia compared with
New York. — North Carolina and Massachusetts. —
Charleston once an importing city. — Southern States'
early advantages. — Small number of Southern slave-
holders. — Attention given to politics. — Offices in govern-
ment largely filled by them. — Small renumeration for
labor in the South. — Slaves' contempt for poor whites. —
Free schools not advocated by slaveholders. — Danger-
ous to speak against slavery. — Jesse Whalen banished.
— Daniel AVorth imprisoned. — Slaves forbidden to read.
— Preachers taught they had no souls. — U. S. laws
framed for slaveholders. — Northern men liable to im-
prisonment for aiding slaves. — Col. Uteley fined in the
United States courts. — " The Philanthropist." — First
abolition society, 1785. — First anti-slavery society, 1833.
— Society for gradual emancipation, 18G3. — Slaveholders
form a manumission and colonization society. — Fi'iends
withdrew. — Virginia legislature favors it. — American
Colonization Society formed in Washington. — INIanagers
all slaveholders. — Popidar, North and South. — Formed
colony in Africa. — Negroes kidnapped there. — School-
teacher sells children. — 8000 slaves promised in four
months at Moravia. — Appropriations of United States,
Maryland and Vii-ginia, for the society's use. — Wilber-
force deceived. — AA'illiam Allen's opinion concerning it.
— Op])osod to abolition society. — Liberation of slaves by
Friends. — Prophetic voice of preachers warning Friends
to fiec the judgments of the Almighty 40-68
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. ix
CHAPTER IV.
Stringent laws against slaves. — Laws in Washington. —
Wasliington one of the greatest slave markets. — Slave-
factory of Franklin and Arinfield. — Loss of the "Big
Comet " with 160 slaves. — Northern men not all aboli-
tionists. — Persecntion of George Thompson. — Garrison
mobbed and imprisoned. — Anti-slavery society in Haver-
hill. — Attempt to mob Mr. May and John G. Whittier.
Attempt to establish colored school in New Haven. —
Teacher imprisoned. — Office of the " Philantlu-ojiist " in
Cincinnati ransacked. — Mott sisters. — Josephine Grif-
fith. — Laura Haviland. — Kentucky kidnappers offer
$3000 for her head. — Stealing colored people from
Raisin Valley, Mich. — Thomas Garret. — Bold delivery
of captives. — Shrewd management in liberating a colored
woman. — Fined !$3000. — John Fairchild. — Shipping
slaves from Washington and Baltimore. — Narrow escapes.
— Liberated slaves from every Southern State. — Finally
shot. — Fear of negro insurrection by southern whites. —
Reign of terror at Natchez. — Negroes whipped and hung
every Saturday. — Large amounts offered for their free-
dom. • — Case of Eliza Garner. — Attempt to kill her child.
— Tried in Cincinnati, but given back to her owner,
and taken south. — Jumps overboard and drowns her
babe , 69-94
CHAPTER V.
Levi Coffin. — Early home. — Coffles of slaves. — Carolina
corn-husking. — First slave freed by. — Removal West.
— Underground railroad. — His house a union station. —
Threatened with hanging and shooting. — Largest com-
pany of fugitives entertained by him. — Flight of slaves
through the cornfield. — Pursued and some shot. — Cared
for. — Sent on their way. — - Continued pursuit. — Safely
hidden. — Man came to help Levi Coffin fight. — Origin of
the term "Underground Railroad." — Tried. — Evidence
of slaves not accepted. — Case dismissed. — Colored Jim.
— Thousands of refugees landed in Canada. — First
paper published advocating free - labor goods. — John
Woolman's journal. — Read by Levi Coffin. — Abstains
from using product of slave-labor. — Opens in Cincinnati
X ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.
free-labor goods store. — Emancipation proclamation ruins
Untlergroiuul Railroad. — Levi Coffin visits England,
Scotland and France. — Large and successful meetings.
— Rapid advancement of freed people. — Death of Levi
Coffin 95-116
CHAPTER VI.
Location of Friends in the South. — Order of churcli govern-
ment. — Friends North and South divided only by geogra-
phical lines. — No Friends voted for secession. — Popular
votes in North Carolina against it. — Influence of Friends
prevents passage of a law requiring every citizen above
16 years of age to renounce all allegiance to tlie United
States. — Minute of North Carolina Yearly Meeting. —
Committee of Friends visits the Confederate Congress. —
Passage of law exempting Friends and Dunkards from
service. — Ishani Cox willing to fight single-handed all
the true Friends in the Northern army. — Abraliam Lin-
coln and others of his cabinet descendants of Friends. —
Called " the Quaker war-cabinet." — Secretary Stanton's
proposition to relieve Friends. — Conference of the yearly
meetings' committees in Baltimore. — Account given by
Francis T. King. — Visit of Eliza P. Gnrney to Abraham
Lincoln. — Her letter. — His reply. — Elizabeth L. Com-
stock's service. — Her appeal from army chaplains to
Abraham Lincoln. — His authority obtained for whatever
service she desired. — Request to pray for him . — Death
three days after 117-138
CHAPTER VII.
Confederate Government's act relating to non-combatants.
— Minutes of North Carolina Yearly Meeting relative
thereto. — Great temptation to purchase religious liberty.
— Severe test to which Friends were put. — Parties at-
temping to leave arrested and brouglit back. — Many hard-
ships undergone by those endeavoring to escape. — Many
besides Friends hiding in caves and woods. — Passage of
conscript law. -^ Formation of companies of home guards.
— Friends much reduced by emigration. — Those left
mostly in rural districts. — Many did not approve severe
treatment of non-combatants. — Governor Worth's letter.
— Experience of Jesse Buckner. — Experience of a nou-
k
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. xi
combatant Methodist liberated by efEorts of Friends.—
Minnte of North Carolina Yearly Meeting . . . 139-153
CHAPTER VIII.
Southern prisons. — Those responsible for their management
passed away. — Most if not all met violent death. —
Letter from T. H. Mann. — J. H. Winder declared he
killed more Yankees in prison than the army did in battle.
— Shooting by Wirz of prisoners. — G. N. Gidney's terrible
experience. — Reports of Southern officials relative to con-
dition of prison and hospitals. — Description of Salisbury
prison. — No wish to cast unjust reflections. — Prison
guards composed largely of boys, careless of human life.
Order of Gen. Winder concerning the murder of help-
less prisoners. — Men put in dead-house while they were
livino-. — An instance. — Rude way of handling bodies. —
Kind of food given the prisoners. — Vermin cover the
ground. — Efforts to dig tunnels. — Escaped men caught
by bloodhounds. — Official reports of Wirz. — Wicked-
ness among the prisoners. — Organization of police force.
— Hanging of culprits. — Order of Wirz to shoot pris-
oners. — Salisbury cemetery 154-177
CHAPTER IX.
Holly Spring neighborhood. — Description of meeting-house
and o-raveyard. — All men between 18 and 35 ordered to
appear at the court-house. — Generation after generation
taught principles of peace. — Some of the Friends answered
the call ; stated their objections to war. — Told the army
was no place for religion. —First draft. — Some Friends
included. — Some went West. — Their guide captured
and shot. — Forty-three names given of Friends drafted
from this place. — Proposed to serve the Prince of Peace
and not the god of war. — Laws of nations violated in
arresting those who had been furnished substitutes. —
17 year old boy's experience. — The "Bull Pen," where
they punished old men and women. — One mother hung. —
Levi Cox. —United States postmaster. — Gideon Macon
taken to the army. — Refuses to take a gun, or place as
cook. — Bucked down. — Process described. — Army re-
treats. — Orders to hang him. — Yankees appear. —
Hurried on. — Luprisoned at Petersburg. — J. J. Allen's
xii ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.
experience. — Southern pulpits used for war purposes. —
Ahijah Macon conscripted. — Efforts of schoolmate to
get him released. — Convinced that he would be released
by death. — Directions as to his own burial. — Taken
to the army. — Only cane-seed ineal to eat. — Died in
the hospital. — Isaiah Macon, remarkably sensitive. —
Captured by home guard. — Not allowed to sec his wife
and children. — In the battle of Winchester. — Put into
front to stop bullets. — Men shot all around him. — Took
no part in battle. — Taken prisoner. — Died in Point Look-
out prison 178-194
CHAPTER X.
Arrest of Hinshaw brothers and Barker brothers. — Hurried
march, 32 miles, to railroad station. — Thomas Hinshaw's
wife follows with food and clothing. — She cares for the
farm. Men packed in freight-cars like cattle. — No food
or drink for 34 hours. — Would not accept military equip-
ments or clothing. — Offered release upon payment of
§500. — Plead religious liberty. — Freedom to obey Christ
should not be purchased with money. — Would suffer
cheerfully the penalty. — Lieutenant determined to break
them in. — Soldiers ordered to run them through. — Tied
behind wagon. — Must help load fodder or be pitched into
the river. — Welcomed back by the men of their company.
— Tried to get them to run away. — A furlough granted
for fifteen days. — Efforts made to have them pay the tax
and not return. — Great trial, but they went back. — No
military duty ever required. — Regiment engaged at
Gettysburg. — All officers of the regiment above the lieu-
tenant killed. — Repeatedly ordered to tlie front. — Made
up their minds not to go unless guarded. — Taken pris-
oners. — Solomon Frazier arrested. — Taken to Salisbury
prison. — Would not act as guard. — Bucked down. —
Suspended by hands. — Heavy piece of wood tied around
his neck. — Pierced with bayonet. — Gagged with bayonet.
— Raised upon a cross in imitation of Christ. — In a bar-
rel shirt. — Must now take a gun or die. — Kept prisoner
imtil surrender of Salisbury. — Jesse Milton Blair. —
Taken to army near Petersburg. — Given coarse corn-
bread and sorghum molasses. — Refuses a gun. — Soldier
ordered to knock him down. — Refuses to march in drill.
k
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. xui
— Pierced with bayonet. — Hung up by his thumbs for
two hours. — Given one hundred lashes on bare back. —
Strap fastened around his neck and hung to the limb of a
tree. — Becomes unconscious. — Taken to hospital. —
Visited by Joseph Hockett. — Retreat of Lee's army. —
Return home. — Marlborough meeting. — Arrest of mem-
bers. — Letter from S. W. Loflin, and J. A. Hill. — Lof-
lin's persecution. — Kept from sleep 36 hours. — Pierced
with bayonets. — Court-martialed. — Sentence of death.
— Army summoned. — Soldiers detailed. — Prayed for
them. — Soldiers refuse to shoot. — Sent to Windsor hos-
pital. — Long illness and death 195-213
CHAPTER XL
Back Creek neighborhood. — Deep River. — Meeting-house
described. — Amusing story. — Experience of Jones
brothers. — Original discharge from Confederate army. —
Deep Creek neighborhood. — Letter of Isham Cox. —
Lewis Caudle in battle. — New Garden meeting. — Isaac
Harvey ; discouraged ; takes a gun ; disowned by the
Church. — One of the first killed in battle. — Only in-
stance of the kind. — Spring meeting. — John Newlin's
six sons. — Error in exemption laws. — Four Woody
brothers' experience. — Three Hobson brothers attempt
to go West. — Arrested by sheriff. — Start again. —
Taken to the army, — Mahlon Thompson and Joshua
Kemp ; cross the mountains. — Arrested by army officers.
— Taken to battle at Fredericksburg. — Assist the
wounded. — Cane Creek. — Joseph Dixon, a Friend elder.
— Attempt to hang him. — Prays for his enemies. —
Robbed and released. — Hanging of Micajah Mc-
Pherson. — Murder of Joseph Dixon's son. — Account of
Joseph Dixon's last day on earth 214-230
CHAPTER XIL
William B. Hockett. — Conscripted. — Returned home. —
Vision. — Wife's encouragement. — Taken to Greensboro.
— Said Christianity and war as far apart as Heaven and
Hell. — Quotations from diary. — Assigned to 21st North
Carolina. — Before Colonel Kirkland. — Refuses to pay
out. — Refuses a gun. — Asked whether he would rather
be shot that night or the next morning. — Chooses neither.
xiv ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.
— Sent to the wagon yard. — Refuses to take a soldier's
place. — Reported to the Colonel. — Copy of prayer
written that night. — Taken out to be shot. — Soldiers
detailed. — Prayed, " Father, forgive them." — Men
could not shoot. — Attempt to make him carry a gun,
and walk in drill. — Officer's attempt to ride over him. —
— Horse will not step on him. — Struck on the head
with gun. — Soldiers ordered to run him through. — Gun
placed against his back. — Soldier will not shoot. — Left
by the roadside. — Walks into camp with gun tied to
him. — Battle of Gettysburg. — Refuses to cook or carry
water. — Cares for sick Dunkard who will not fight. —
Terrible scenes of battle. — Taken prisoner. — Placed in
Fort Delaware. — Visited by Robert Pearsall Smith and
others. — Paper prepared for government authorities. —
Extracts from journal. — Liberated by order of Secretary
of War. — Among Philadelphia Friends. — Sent West. —
Retui'ns to North Carolina. — Found, as had been
promised, all well 231-253
CHAPTER XIII.
Himelius and Jesse Hockett. — Conscripted. — Ordered to
take a gun or accept work. — Declined on account of re-
ligious scruples. — Told they may embrace such religion
as they please when the war is over. — Sent to prison. —
Sent home. — Again conscripted. — Refuse to take gun or
walk in drill. — Soldiers run bayonets through their
clothing. — Sent to Kinston. — Bible discussion. — Re-
fused food or drink until they obeyed Gen. Ransom's
orders. — Give up food brought from home. — H. M.
Hockett's account of their experience. — Argument with
preachers. — Remarkably preserved. — Need of any
earthly thing little felt. — Plot to release them. — Ran-
som's sentence revoked by Governor Vance. — Letters
written by H. M. Hockett to his wife and father. — Gen-
eral Daniel proposes to place them where they will serve
as breastworks to stop bullets. — General Daniel soon
killed in battle. — Made to march the streets of Kinston
with logs tied to them. — II. M. Hockett tried by court-
martial. — Offered a lawyer. — Pleads his own case. —
Visits from Friend ministers. — Called with others to
receive sentence. — Some branded with hot iron. — He
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. xv
sentenced to six months' hard labor, bound with ball and
chain. — Officers recommend clemency. — Jefferson Davis
declines to sign recommendation. — Jesse Hockett cruelly
pierced with bayonets. — Taken to Fort Caswell. — Colonel
Jones very kind. — Manacled with chain attached to
heavy ball. — Much interest in the Christian prisoner. —
Religious discussion with soldiers and officers. — Kind-
ness of officers and men. — Not required to do any work.
— Sent back to Wilmington. — Sleeps with his guard. —
Placed behind the iron doors in Wilmington. — Brother
Jesse brought to him from Kinston. — Kindness of Major
Sparrow. — Sent to Goldsboro. — Visited by wife and son.
— Given liberty of the city. — Prison seems like mission
fields. — Discharged. — Women plough the fields, and
support the families 254-285
CHAPTER XIV.
Centre meeting. — Members arrested. — None made to
fight. — Springfield meeting. — First Bible School. —
Only one continued during the war. — School enrolled
three hundred. — A. U- Tomlinson & Sons' Tannery and
Shoe Factory keep many men out of army. — Friends sent
to Salisbury prison. — F. S. Blair conscripted when only
17 years old. — Friends' horses taken while riding from
meeting. — Persons liable to arrest for unguarded speech.
— Rufus P. King. — Conscripted. — Attached to Petti-
grew's brigade. — Under Captain Jennings. — Sickness
and death of Captain Jennings. — Rufus's care of him.
— Return home. — Converted. — Joined the Methodist
Church. — Conscientious scruples against fighting. — De-
tailed as nurse. — At Gettysburg. — Prayer for dying
lieutenant. — Night spent in trying to relieve the wounded
and dying upon the battle-field. — Next day's terrible
work. — Wounded and dying by the roadside. — Cap-
tured. — Imprisoned at Point Lookout. — Closed many
eyes in death. — Sent by ship to Savannah. — Again
taken from home. — Returned to camp. — Way being
opened, he went over to the Yankees. — Would not swear.
— Passed outside of the army. — Found a home at Mill
Creek, Indiana. — Taken to a Bible School. — Learned to
read. — Received into Friends' Church. — Sent to school.
— Recorded as minister. — Travels in different lauds 286-298
xvi ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XV.
Tennessee. — A few Fi'iends remaiiiiug. — All refusing to
be registered ordered treated as deserters. — Of 1000
men iu Blunt County only 20 appeared for registration.
— In Green County about 20 Friends subject to con-
scription. — Five paid gold. — Account of James F. Beals.
— Cave discovered by J. Beals. — Made habitable. —
Fourteen Friends secreted. — Kept for nearly a year. —
Some escape West, some captured. — A boy of 19 years
dwelt in a cave of his own making. — Friendsville. —
William Forster's grave. — William J. Hackney. — Ar-
ranged to secrete men in cave near his house. — 50 men
soon hidden in it. — Started on tlie Underground Railroad
West. — Cave again filled. — Over 2000 men thus cared
for. — Under suspicion. — General Burnside wishes to
appoint William Hackney a staff officer. — Would re-
ceive no remuneration for his service to the government.
— Confiscation of property of Union sympathizers. —
Case of AVilliam Morgan. — Attempt to shoot Riley T.
Lee. — Soldiers destroy poor woman's property. — Lost
Creek meeting. — Soldiers destroy building and library.
— Women compelled to cook for them. — Property taken
without recompense 299-315
CHAPTER XVI.
Tilghman Ross Vestal unwilling to shed blood. — Con-
scripted. — Sent home. — Again conscripted. — Among
his relatives prominent Friends. — Letter from Major
Venable. — Letter from T. R. Vestal to John B. Cren-
shaw. — Sentenced to be punished until he bear arms. —
Said he was a Christian and could not fight. — Knocked
down repeatedly. — Given in charge of another officer. —
Pierced with a bayonet 17 times. — Sent to Richmond. —
Imprisoned. — Sent to Salisburj'. — Terribly beaten for
trying to remove vermin from liis own person. — Liber-
ated by intervention of Friends. — Account quoted from
" Nashville Banner " by Brigadier-General Maney . . 316-326
CHAPTER XVII.
Virginia. — Friends' meetings established. — No more wel-
come than in Boston. — Extravagant stories believed. —
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. xvii
Copy of an act for the suppression of the Quakers. —
Nothing prevents them from coming. — By patient suffer-
ing conquer unrighteous laws. — Large tracts of land
taken by Friends. — Become slaveholders. — In 1817 all
Virginia Friends free their slaves. — Large emigration of
Friends. — Winchester. — Washington's headquarters. —
Banishment of Philadelphia Friends to Winchester. —
General Morgan. — Afraid in time of battle. — Winches-
ter taken by the contending forces 76 times. — All men
between 16 and 60 out to fight the Yankees. — Robert
Griffith and Governor Halliday. — Aaron Griffith's letter
taken from the mail. — Made cause of complaint. — He
imprisoned. — Mill robbed. — Factory robbed. — Ma-
chinery taken away. — Liberated by Southern officer. —
House frequently visited by soldiers. — Doors barred. —
Attempt to obtain entrance by claiming to be Friends. —
Old-fashioned meeting-house, overlooking Shenandoah
Valley. — Quarterly meeting. — John Scott preaching. —
Battle going on the same time. — Terrible shock of
battle. ■ — Francis T. King present. — Congregation quiet.
— Two days' journey to get around the army. — Friend
Griffith could not return for over three months. — Futile
attempt to take his sister's horse.- — Jesse Wright's house
frequently shot over by both armies. — Officers and men
of both armies entertained there. — His sons escape. —
Jesse Wright passes picket lines to care for the dead.
— On his return arrested and put in jail. — Remained
three days. — Joseph M. Jolliffe. — His vote only one cast
for Lincoln in Frederick County. — Left home. — Attempt
of wife and children to flee with retreating army. — Re-
turn home. — Battle fought around their house. — None
of the family hurt. — Dreadful scenes. — Friend Jolliffe
before General Early. — Released and admonished to
pray for the Confederacy. — General Breckinridge's
headquarters in Jolliffe's yard. — Elizabeth Comstock and
other Friends visit General Sheridan 327-344
CHAPTER XVIII.
Small meetings in Virginia. — Nathaniel Crenshaw liber-
ates many slaves. — John B. Crenshaw's time given to
assisting unfortunates. — Assists North Carolina Yearly
Meeting's committees. — He edits the " Southern Friend."
XX ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.
ernment. — General Sherman's estimate of damage. —
William Cox. — Battle of Bentonsville watched from
windows. — Women and children under beds. — Bullets
rained upon the house. — Accounts given by wife and
daughter. — Isaac Cox visited by soldiers. — Robbed.
— Visit of soldiers to L. J. Moore's. — Sausage man
astride a horse. — Everything taken. — Jesse HoUowell.
— His wife instructs aristocratic neighbors in the art of
carding, spinning and weaving. — Men and women shoe-
makers. — End of the war near. — Slaveholders think
their property safer in Friends' houses. — Soldiers know
no difference. — Robbed of horses, buggies and every-
thing. — Description by his son. — United States issues
rations to citizens. — Visited by Friends from Baltimore
Association. — Account of their arrival. — Time of sur-
render of the Confederate forces 415-427
CHAPTER XXIII.
Purpose of this Book. — Visit to Southern battle-fields. —
Awfulness of war seen. — Description of Fredericks-
burg. — St. Mary's Heights. — Confederate and Federal
cemeteries. — 12,000 graves marked " unknown." — Five
bloody battles. — George Whitefield's curse on Fredericks-
burg. — Remarkable fulfillment. — London " Times' "
account of the battle of Fredericksburg. — Account as
given by the Richmond " Examiner." — The Irish brigade.
— Number of Union men lost. — Discouraging outlook. —
Stone River. — "Fighting Joe" Hooker takes command.
— Army defeated at Chancellorsville. — Abraham Lincoln
greatly distressed. — Meade takes command. — Officers
refuse to take their men into action at Mine Run. —
Battle of the Wilderness. — Deadly hand-to-hand conflict.
— No cavalry, no artillery. — No victory for either side.
— 70 men claim the promise of God in Psalm xci. 7.
— All spared. — Spottsylvania, most deadly and fiercest
battle of the war. — Grant goes South and Fredericksburg
rests from the sound of battle. — Dreadfid loss at Cold
Harbor. — Soldiers refuse to renew the attack. — Com
parison of Esdraelon with the plain below St. Mary's
Heights. — The curse of King David on the plain of
Esdraelon 428-442
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. xxi
CHAPTER XXIV.
Francis T. King. — His conversion. — Business Life. —
Peace principles. — Retires from business. — Philan-
thropist. ^- Influence among officials. — Advice against
Maryland's secession. — Excitement in the city. — Pass-
ing of troops to Washington. — First bloodshed. — Quiet
gathering of Friends to worship. — Frequently visits
Washington. — Visit to Point Lookout prison. — Excellent
condition of same. — Liability of the South being aban-
doned by Friends. — Keeps himself informed as to this
condition. — Conceived the idea of helping them at
home. — Organization of Baltimore Association. — Letter
to John B. Crenshaw. — Friends North and South not
divided. — Condition and location of Friends' meetings.
— Visited by John Scott and Joseph Moore. — Joseph
Moore appointed as superintendent for Baltimore Associ-
ation. — Friends' boarding-school continued through the
war. — Normal school started. — Visited by Governor. —
Work of repairing old schoolhouses and building new. —
Travels of superintendent. — More attention given to
coloi'ed children than white. — Professor Moore called to
presidency of Earlhara College. — Allen Jay appointed in
his place. — Institutes and conferences held. — Much at-
tention given to Bible schools. — Minutes from the records
of Baltimore meetings. — Appeal for aid liberally re-
sponded to. — First Normal School ever held in North
Carolina. — Model farm. — Growth of the schools. —
Large sums spent. — Schools and colleges still being
maintained. — Increase of membership in North Carolina.
— Number of meeting-houses built. — Better condition
of farms. — Per cent of population who can read and write
largely increased. — Interest in education more general.
— Guilford College. — Normal School becomes a State
institution. — Friends no longer a dependent body. — Aid
in missionary and general church work 443-480
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Friends' Meeting-House at New Garden, N. C. Erected in
1791 Frontispiece.
Dr. Nereus Mendenhall 118
John Carter
ISHAM Cox
John B. Crenshaw
} ....... 12G
Allen U. Tomlinson J
A Friends' Meeting "of the olden time" . . . 214
William B. Hockett 232
H. M. Hockett 254
EuFus P. King 290
Francis T. Kino 448
INTRODUCTION.
The annals of Christianity contain numberless in-
stances of cruel persecution heroically and patiently
endured, but it is doubtful if any of these in any age
have been more striking and painfully instructive
than those recorded in the pages of this book. To
most of us, persecution on account of loyalty to Chris-
tian principle, at least in its more cruel physical
aspects, seems to belong to a far-away past age, or to
dark and barbarous countries. We should refuse to
believe the stories of inhuman treatment recorded in
the chapters of " Southern Heroes," if the evidence
were not so overwhelming. How is it possible that
such things can have happened here in a country
which has made civil and religious liberty its boast for
a century ? The account must be wrong, we are
tempted to say. It must have been long ago and in
some other country that these dreadful deeds were
done. No ; they were done here, within the memory
of livino- men. The witnesses are so numerous that
no one can doubt. Some of the sufferers still live and
bear in their bodies the " marks " of the fearful ordeal.
No one can tell when the line of martyrs for the
sake of religious freedom and civil liberty will be
ended. Human wickedness is still the same in spirit
that it has heretofore been, and martyrdom does not
xxvi INTRODUCTION.
always come in the same form. It is permitted, how-
ever, to hope that in civilized lands there will never
again be material for the writing of such a book as
this. Plowever that may be, it is well that this story,
or series of stories, has been written down. It is
highly instructive from many standpoints. It is a
part of the history of our country's struggles for and
progress toward real freedom, the depth of whose
meaning has as yet been but imperfectly understood.
It is also an instructive illustration, not so ancient as
to have lost any of its force, of the power of Chris-
tianity to transform men and to lift them above the
selfish and cowardly weakness which yields quickly
to worldly enticements, slavishly " follows the crowd,"
or cowers before the threats and the lash of tyran-
nous authority.
The Southern Friends, some of whom the reader
will come to know and admire, have given us not only
a remarkable exhibition of steadfast loyalty to prin-
ciple in the midst of great trials, but also an extra-
ordinary manifestation of divine protection and care
in time of peril. It is, of course, theoretically pos-
sible to account for all their marvelous deliverances
from violent death by the mere doctrine of chances.
But no one who believes in the providences of God
and understands anything of the ordinary course of
unregenerate human nature, especially when hardened
by a long training in brutality, will be able to accept
any such trivial explanation of these remarkable facts
as that offered by the theory of chance. If God ever
interfered in behalf of true and faithful men, he inter-
INTRODUCTION. xxvii
f ered in behalf of these ; and his signal protection
and deliverance of them, under such varied circum-
stances of peculiar danger, may fairly be taken as an
evidence of his approval not only of their loyalty to
what they believed to be right but also of the prin-
ciples themselves for which they suffered. There are
in the annals of the Friends other instances of like
extraordinary deliverance in connection with the main-
tenance of their peace principles, but in none of these
cases did political hatred, selfish prejudices, military
tyranny and pure maliciousness so combine to render
the danger exceptionally great as in the examples now
before us. The deliverance of the Friends in the
South was for this reason all the more marked, and
the protective value of peace principles when faithfully
practiced brought into all the greater prominence.
There is another feature of the ease of these South-
ern peace-men which makes it, if possible, still more
interesting and instructive, viz., their thorough patri-
otism and loyalty to the Union. It has often been
charged that non-resistant peace-men are bad patriots,
real enemies to their country. Nothing could be
farther from the truth. The reader of the following
pages will discover that there were no finer exhibi-
tions of loyalty and genuine love of country during
the fierce struggle of the civil war than those made
by the Southern Friends. Their patriotism was an
intelligent and discriminating one, founded ou princi-
ple, and no blast from the hot furnace of persecution
was able in the least to make it yield. They were the
foes of secession and disunion as much as of slavery.
xxviii INTRODUCTION.
When the storm of war was about to break and all
other voices were growing silent, they continued to
the last moment to utter their protest against the mad
course on which the South was entering. When the
tides of strife and persecution were surging about
them, their lips were generally sealed through pru-
dence, but no amount of suffering or enticement could
force them open in behalf of rebellion. The reader
will be inclined to think that they did as much in
their own way to weaken and cripple the rebellion, to
bring on the overthrow of slavery and to save the
Union as any other body of men of equal numbers in
any part of the land. It is right, therefore, to record
their names, every one of them, in the catalogue of
oflr truest national heroes.
The author of this work has had exceptional oppor-
tunities of learning the exact nature of the facts which
he records, and his statements of the character and ex-
tent of the sufferings and trials not only of those whom
he mentions but also of the whole body of the Friends
in the South may be credited as in every instance
substantially correct. Though making no pretense of
general historical knowledge or literary culture, he
has succeeded in bringing together in a simple and
natural way, which must please every reader, the chief
events of this hitherto unwritten portion of the history
of the great struggle which a generation ago shook
our national structure to its very foundation.
B. F. T.
Boston, August, 1895.
SOUTHERN HEROES.
CHAPTER I.
" Shall the sword devouj- forever ? "
' ' Put up the sword ! " The voice of Christ once more
Speaks, m the pauses of the cannon's roar,
O'er fields of corn by fiery sickles reaped
And left dry ashes ; over trenches heaped
With nameless dead ; o'er cities starving slow
Under a rain of fire ; through wards of woe
Down which a groaning diapason runs
From tortured brothers, husbands, lovers, sons
Of desolate women in their far-off homes,
Waiting to hear the step that never comes.
0, men and brothers ! let that voice be heard.
War fails, try peace ; put up the useless sword !
Whittier.
When tlie advent of Christ was announced to the
shepherds upon Judea's plains, suddenly there ap-
peared unto them a multitude of the Heavenly Host,
proclaiming the Gospel of Peace in the joyful song,
" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth Peace,
good will toward men."
The King of kings descended to earth that " the
kingdoms of this world might become the kingdoms
of our Lord and of His Christ." " He came not to
conquer by force of arms, but by the power of love
2 SOUTHERN HEROES.
untl truth to establish His kingdom amono- men."
With a chosen few He went from place to place,
preaching His Gospel, speaking- as never man spake ;
and yet, as one having authority, He commanded :
" Thou shalt not kill ; " " Put up thy sword into the
sheath ; " " Love your enemies, bless them that curse
you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you and persecute you."
Strange indeed to the Roman soldier who asked,
" What shall we do ? " was John's reply, " Do violence
to no man," The Jews were slow to comprehend the
law of their King, " I say unto you, resist not evil,"
The law of love was to take the place of the old-time
saying, " An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth."
Although our Saviour taught so plainly the duty of
non-resistance, few received his teaching; and even
now, while admitting the beauty of it, many, in their
worldly wisdom, question or deny its practicability.
To these He would say, " The wisdom of this world is
foolishness with God."
So fully has the war system been accepted as a
necessity, in some ages, that to be a minister of Jesus
Christ, and an officer or soldier in the army at the
same time, was not considered, by the church in gen-
eral, an inconsistency. Notwithstanding the slowness
of Christians to accept the doctrine of non-resistance,
" Rev, Col, Barton " would sound strange in the ears
of this generation, and the titles seem hardly fitting
to the same man ; yet Colonel Barton, of the seven-
teenth century, was a regularly ordained minister in
the church.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 3
Christian nations have so far seen the incompat-
ibility of war and Christianity, that ministers of the
gos^^el are now ahnost universally exempt from mili-
tary duty. Thomas Clarkson says : " In the first two
centuries, when Christianity was the purest, there are
no Christian soldiers on record. The war degeneracy
of the church began very early in the third century,
and went so far in the fourth, that under and after
Constantino the Great, Christians engaged in war, as
they generally have ever since." In all ages of the
Christian era, however, there have been those who,
accepting the teaching of our Saviour, have had the
boldness to declare, " I am a Christian, therefore I
cannot fight."
Charles V. of Germany, in his declining years, re-
signed his high office in favor of his son, and under-
took as a pastime to so regulate a number of watches
as to have them perfectly agree. After a great deal
of patient effort he is said to have remarked, as he
laid down his tools, " What a fool I have been to shed
so much innocent blood in trying to make men think
alike, when I cannot make a few watches agree in
keeping time."
More than two hundred years ago, during the time
of Charles I. of England, when all churches believed
in war and practiced it, there appeared in that coun-
try a youth who had spent much time in retirement,
studying his Bible, and prayerfully seeking to know
the truth of God as there revealed. During the days
of that iron-hearted puritan soldier, Oliver Cromwell,
he taught and preached with wonderful clearness and
4 SOUTHERN HEROES.
power a doctrine new to the people of that day, who
had almost lost sight of the spiritual teachings of the
Son of God. He taught that Jesus Christ not only
died to atone for our sins, but as a living Saviour de-
signs to keep us from sinning, and that those who
accept Him as their guide may be led into all the
truth. He taught that it is not lawful for a Christian
to fight, as our Saviour forbade it ; and he sought,
with remarkable success, to turn men to the light, and
from dependence upon forms and ceremonies to the
power of Christ, in which they might live free from
the power of Satan.
His teaching produced a remarkable effect upon the
age in which he lived, and great was the opposition
he aroused. Priests and stated ministers thought him
opposed to their systems of religion, as he called them
from their empty professions to a life of holiness.
They were sometimes angered, and stirred up the rude
people to abuse him, and the magistrates to imprison
him, — which they were not slow to do. Many
believed him to be opposed to the government, because
he would not swear allegiance to it. He woidd neither
take up arms in its defense, nor against it.
While in prison, the officials offered him a command
in the army, and the soldiers clamored for him as
their leader. Although he would have thus been re-
leased from a filthy prison, where he was confined
with thirty felons, he replied, " I know whence all
wars arise, even from lusts, according to James's doc-
trine ; but I live in the virtue of that life and power
that takes away the occasion for all war. I am in
love with all men, and cannot fight against any."
SOUTHERN HEROES. 5
He was often in prison on account of zealously pre-
senting the truth, yet Carlyle says of him, " There is
in broad Europe one free man, — George Fox, the
greatest of the moderns. He looks heavenward from
his earth and dwells in an element of mercy and wor-
ship." The " Pall Mall Gazette " says of him, " Of
the four great characters of the seventeenth century,
Cromwell, Milton, Bunyan and Fox, the last has had
the greatest influence upon the world, and been the
least recognized by the world."
At the time of his death his followers numbered
many tens of thousands, — in England alone nearly a
hundred thousand, — and were scattered over the
civilized world. With wonderful zeal and indomi-
table courage he visited the people, not only of Eng-
land, but of Ireland, France, Germany, Holland, Scot-
land, America, Barbadoes, Jamaica, and many other
parts, and pressed upon them the truth of God. He
planted churches in all these nations, as did his fol-
lowers in many others.
So clearly did he impress the doctrine and duty
of non-resistance, that wherever Friends have existed
they have been known as being opposed to all wars
and fightings. In this, with the exception of a few
Schwenkfeldians, Mennonites, and Dunkards, they
have stood alone as a Christian org-anization. Thousrh
small in numbers in comparison with others, their light
has been steadily shining. Individuals of other
churches have in many cases come to agree with them,
and upon many minds the light of this Gospel truth is
dawnins:.
6 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Whitefield wrote, " The Quakers have, I think, left
us an example of patient suffering ; and have done
more by their bold, unanimous, and persevering testi-
mony than if they had taken up arms in the king-
dom."
The disturbance of good feeling between Great
Britain and the United States of America in 1861, on
account of the taking of Mason and Slidell from the
English mail steamer Trent, by Commander Wilkes of
the United States war-shij) San Jacinto, at one time
assumed such serious proportions that a war between
the two countries seeined imminent. England loaded
the Great Eastern and sent ten thousand troops from
her shores to be landed in Canada. The Great East-
ern being unable to make harbor in Canadian waters,
the United States consented for her to enter Portland
harbor, Maine, and ship the soldiers by rail to Can-
ada. Nevertheless, such was the fear that war might
be declared, that Friends in England memorialized the
English Government in the interest of peace and arbi-
tration. This memorial was forwarded by Friends to
America, and presented to Abraham Lincoln by a
delegation from Baltimore. Francis T. King, one of
the delegation, has left us a very interesting account
of this matter, which we here quote :
MASON AXD SLIDELL.
On the 8th of 11th month, 1861, Captain Wilkes, of the
U. S. stearaer San Jacinto, intercepted the British steamer
Trent, and took from her Mason and Slidell and their sec-
retaries, who were on their way from Havana to England
as envoys of the Confederacy.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 1
On the 30th of the same month, Earl Russell wrote to
Lord Lyons, the British Minister at Washington, saying
that they presumed Captain Wilkes acted without instruc-
tions, as it was a violation of international law, and that
England could not allow such an affront to pass without full
reparation.
Through an accident, the Atlantic cable was not working
at the time, and everything was in susjDense. The Assistant
Secretary of State said afterwards, that had it been work-
ing we would have had war with England, as the excite-
ment was intense, and there would have been no time for
reflection on either side.
London Meeting for Sufferings, under date of 12th
month 9th, presented a memoi'ial to Lord Palmerston, First
Lord of the Treasury, and Earl Russell, Secretary of State
for Foreign Affaii-s, in which they plead for peace between
the two countries, in language that will always be appropri-
ate. "There are, perhaps," they said, " no two independent
nations on the face of the earth so closely united together
as England and America, by the combined ties of blood, of
language, of religion, of constitutional freedom, and of com-
mercial interest ; and no two nations between whom a war
would be a more open scandal to our common Christianity,
or a more serious injury to the welfare and progress of the
human race."
After earnestly pleading for arbitration, If correspondence
should not effect the happy and peaceful termination of the
dispute, they add : " We would further suggest that after
the vast sacrifices which England has made for the abolition
of the slave trade and slavery in our own possessions and
by other countries, which has been an object so consistently
prompted through life by the statesmen whom we are now
addressing, it would be deeply humiliating if, by being in-
8 SOUTHERN HEROES.
volved In this war, our country should ultimately find itself
in active cooperation with the South and slavery, against
the North and freedom."
In conclusion they say, " May He who still ruleth in the
earth grant that the impending scourge of war may be
averted from the kindred nations on each side of the Atlan-
tic, and from the waters of that ocean, which should unite
rather than divide them."
A copy of this memorial was sent by London Meeting for
Sufferings to Baltimore Representative Meeting, with the
request that it be handed to President Lincoln, with the as-
surance of their sincere desire and efPort to maintain peace
between the two countries. James Carey and mysellwere
appointed to take the memorial to Washington, which we
did just previous to Secretary Seward's reply to Earl Rus-
sell's letter.
When we arrived at the White House, we found the ante-
rooms crowded with senators, congressmen, and ofiicers of
the army and navy. It was a time of intense excitement
and anxiety, and these feelings were shown In the faces of
every one present. We waited about two hom-s, and had
almost despaired of an interview, when Senator Sherman
came out of the President's room. We told him that we
were very anxious to see the President, as we had a commu-
nication from Friends in England about the matter of the
Trent. He quickly said, " You have ? I will see the Pres-
ident," and In a few minutes, to the surprise of the officials
around us, who had been waiting longer than ourselves, we
were Invited In.
It was the first time I had ever seen President Lincoln.
He was sitting before an open wood fire. In a large easy
chair, with that sad, yet strong countenance, which, once
seen, was never forgotten. He rose and shook hands with
SOUTHERN HEROES. 9
us cordially, and readily assented to our reading the paper
from England, to which he listened attentively. In making
a few remarks, we stated that the appeal would have the
support of able Friends in Parliament, among whom was
John Bright. The President's countenance lighted up at
the mention of that name, and turning to the senator he
said, " Sherman, did you know that John Bright was a
Quaker ? " " Oh, yes ! " " Well, I did not before. I read
all his speeches, and he knows more of American politics
than most of the men at the other end of the avenue (point-
ing towards the Capitol). I appreciate liis great work for
us in our struggle at home." Turning again to us he said,
" Give me your address, and I will send you an acknow-
ledgment of the appeal. These are the first words of cheer
and encouragement we have had from across the water."
About two weeks elapsed, and we received the following
letter :
Executive Mansion, Washington.
January 7, 18G2.
Gentlemen, — It gives me great pleasure to acknow-
ledge the receipt, through you, of the memorial of the Eng-
lish Friends in relation to the matter in question between
the government of Great Britain and that of the United
States of America.
Although I trust that any fears entertained of serious de-
rangement of amicable relations have been without founda-
tion, I cannot but gratefully appreciate your prompt and
generous suggestions in the interests of peace and humanity.
I have the honor to be
With great respect.
Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
To Francis T. King and others.
10 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Secretary Seward happily and promptly settled the Trent
controversy in a long and able letter, at the close of which
he said, " If I decide this case (the right of search) in favor
of my own government, I must disavow its most cherished
principles and reverse and forever abandon its essential pol-
icy, and the countiy cannot afford the sacrifice. The pris-
oners will be cheerfully liberated."
Many of the forty-two speakers at the Peace Con-
gress at Chicago in 1893, representing different na-
tionalities, referred to the fact that Friends had been
the first to call the attention of their people to the
principles of peace and arbitration,
Hugh Price Hughes, the distinguished Methodist
of London, at the Ecumenical Council at Washing-
ton, in 1892, said, " The Society of Friends, small in
numbers though it is, by its teachings on the subject
of war, has done the world more good than all the sol-
diers that have ever been engaged in battle."
The Peace committees of the yearly meetings of
Friends, the American Peace Society, the Peace Soci-
ety of London, the Peace Association of Friends in
America, the Universal Peace Union, the Ecclesiasti-
cal Peace Conference, with kindred organizations, by
their publications, speakers, and various untiring
efforts, have done much for the education of public
sentiment on this subject. The Women's Christian
Temperance Union accepts this as a part of its work
" For God and Home and Every Land." With its
girdle of Christian influence around the world, it is
endeavoring to show all governments tliat there is a
better way than to sacrifice fathers, brothers, husbands,
SOUTHERN HEROES. 11
and sons, in attempts to settle national difficulties
by war.
Evidences of the growtli of public sentiment in
favor of peace is seen in tlie fact that the legislative
bodies of England, Sweden, Italy, Belgium, Holland,
Roumania, Switzerland, and the United States of
America, have severally passed resolutions in favor of
arbitration, as being the true policy of nations ; and
the day is dawning when "Nation shall not lift up
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any
more."
In the adjustment of the Behring Sea difficulty be-
tween the United States and England, there is posi-
tive proof that grave and serious questions may, by
submitting them to a court of arbitration, be most
satisfactorily settled, and the bonds between nations
strehsfthened rather than weakened. Other nations
may see by this, as well as by their settlement of the
Alabama Claims and other differences, that the two
leading nations of the world are learning that it is
wiser to settle differences by arbitration than by war.
Notwithstanding the fact that the five so-called
Christian nations, — England, France, Russia, Austria
and Prussia, — have been engaged in seventy-five or
more wars during the past eighty years, and the
United States in three, besides Indian skirmishes,
more than two hundred claims have been settled by
arbitration within the same time, — some of them of
so serious a natiu-e as would ordinarily have been con-
sidered justifiable grounds for war.
With Prince Albert originated the idea of a World's
12 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Fair, which was first held in the Crystal Palace, at
London. Pie is said to have had in mind the thought
that by thns bringing together men of different na-
tionalities, the feeling of brotherhood would be in-
creased, and thereby the day of universal peace would
be hastened.
General Grant, in an address to a Philadelphia so-
ciety, after his return from a voyage around the world,
said : " Though I have been trained as a soldier and
have partici})ated in many battles, there never was a
time when, in my opinion, some way could not have
been found of preventing the drawing of the sword.
I look forward to an epoch when a court recognized
by all nations will settle international differences, in-
stead of keeping large standing armies, as is done in
Europe."
Presidents Hayes and Garfield did not hesitate to
declare their concurrence in the same opinions, and
Gen. Robert E. Lee, on the occasion of his resigning
his position in the United States Army, at the time of
the outbreak of the war of 1861, in writing to his sis-
ter in Virginia, said, " I cannot draw the sword against
my native State, although I'see no need for this state
of things."
The world is gradually learning to recognize the
wisdom of Christ's teaching, and the sentiment of
Christian nations is much in advance of that of a
century ago ; far in advance of what it was on that
day when "To arms, to arms!" was heard all over
the United States of America, and the strength of
this country rushed to the conflict as a horse rushes
to battle.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 13
On the 27tli of April, 1861, two men of national
fame, wlio had long been personal friends, educated
to the same calling and to love the same flag, met in
the city of Washington. For two hours they were in
private consultation. Then General Scott and Gen-
eral Lee took their leave of each other and went forth
with sad hearts to the command of two armies, in
which were opposed brothers, fathers, and sons, in
deadly combat.
As we look upon America to-day, at peace with all
the world, we can hardly conceive it possible that
such a conflict could again take place, a conflict in
which it is estimated that on the Northern side alone
seven hundred thousand men were killed in battle,
maimed for life, or died from disease. Allowing the
Southern loss to have been equal, and some estimate
it to have been greater, we have one million four hun-
dred thousand men — the strength of our land — sac-
rificed to the god of war. It is estimated that one of
every ten men engaged was either killed or wounded,
and one of every sixty-five was killed on the field.
June 10, 1880, the Secretary of the Treasury of*the
United States presented to the Senate a statement of
the expenses gi-owing out of the war on account of the
Northern army, from July 1, 1861, to June 30, 1879,
and he gave the amount as $6,796,798,508, which
he said was sufficient to have purchased every slave
in the South at five times his market value ; and the
expense was still being continued. Allowing the
Soi fch an equal amount for expense and loss, we have
as a cost of the war over $13,500,000,000, without
14 SOUTHERN HEROES.
taking into account the value of wasted country, har-
vests destroyed, and homes, villages, and towns given
to the flames.
No estimate has been or can be made of the suffer-
ings and the anguish of anxious women bereft of
their loved ones, and of the struggle for bread by
those who were robbed of strong arms and the means
of support by the cruel hand of war. General Sher-
man well said, " War is cruel, and you cannot refine
it ! " It is the perfection of cruelty.
Many, who talk of the ground taken by the advo-
cates of peace as impolitic, say that the principle
cannot be maintained in the face of trial, whether it
be one of danger to property or to life. Many in-
stances given in these j)ages show that that principle
may be held dearer than life. We admit that the
opportunity for making money too often stands in
the way of obedience to conscientious convictions, yet
there are many cases of faithfulness to the dictates
of conscience in spite of apparent moneyed interest.
Two of these it may be well to record here, as the
decisions were made in the face of an apparent sacri-
fice of large gains.
In 177G, when America was struggling for inde-
pendence from British ride, France extended to her
such aid as to result in war between herself and Eng-
land. Dr. Joseph Fox, a Friend, was pai't owner of
the Greyhound and the Brilliant, two cutters used in
trading along the Cornish coast. Custom allowed the
owners of such cutters to arm them and prey upon
the enemy, taking prizes. Dr. Fox's partners pro-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 15
posed thus to fit out and use their vessels. Fox pro-
tested in vain, and the partners refused either to buy
or allow him to sell his interest. He was powerless
to prevent their iniquity, but not obliged to be par-
taker of its results, and declared that he would not*
The vessels were successful in cajjturing a number of
prizes, and Fox's partners, remembering his declara-
tion, tried to retain all the profits ; but he insisted
that they should pay over his share to him, which they
finally did. This he placed at interest in 1778. In
1783 peace was made, and the next year he sent his
son. Dr. Edward L. Fox, to Paris to advertise for the
owners of the plundered property. The proceeding
was so entirely new that the French authorities sus-
pected something wrong, and he had to secure liberty
from the French ministers to advertise the matter.
They required a formal declaration that his object
was in truth what he represented it to be, and threat-
ened him with severe punishment if he practiced any
deception. Applications were made for the greater
part of the funds, and all the claims were found to
be well founded. The recipients caused the facts to
be published in the " Gazette," wishing, they said,
" to give the publicity which it merits to this trait of
generosity and equity, which does honor to the So-
ciety of the Quakers, and proves their fidelity to the
principles of peace and unity by which they are dis-
tinguiohed." After thus disposing of $7350, there
remained 1600 which coidd not be refunded. This
amount could not be applied as desired, owing to the
recurrence of hostilities, and was put on interest until
16 SOUTHERN HEROES.
1818. The amount was then deposited in the treas-
ury of the Invalid Seaman's Society, for the relief of
non-combatants of the merchant service.
In confirmation of the above story we quote the
following- from " Lloyd's Evening Post," of Paris,
March 9, 1785 : " The principles of peace and quiet-
ness which characterize the Society of Quakers for-
bid them from taking any part in wars, ancf do not
even suffer them to partake of any profit that may
arise from such a source. One of these peaceable
peoj)le was inevitably concerned in some privateers
which his partners would fit out during the late wai',
notwithstanding all his remonstrances and opposition.
Having received his share of the profits, he has sent his
son to this city to endeavor to find out the owners of
the vessels taken, by the above ' Letters of Marque,'
and restore to them the part he has received of those
prizes. For this purpose he has published the names
of all the vessels taken by the privateers fitted out by
his father's house, and desires the owners or their
agents to apply to Dr. Edward Long Fox, Hotel
d'York, Rue Jacob, Paris."
Since the year 1861, a large iron company made
application to the Lukens Iron and Steel Co., of
Coatsville, Pa., for ten thousand tons of protective
armor plate for government war vessels. This order
was positively declined by the president of the com-
pany. Dr. Charles Huston, a Friend, on the ground of
his peace principles. Dr. Huston said, " War only
decides which of the combatants has the sui)erior
strength, and it is more expensive than arbitration,
as well as destructive to life and property."
SOUTHERN HEROES. 17
The work was declined with the full knowledge
that if accepted it would lead to heavy government
orders. Later on, an agent of the government called
on Dr. Huston to get a large amount of work done
for military purposes. This was the only mill east of
the Allegheny Mountains where it could be done.
The agent tried to persuade Dr. Huston to accept it,
telling him that he should name his own price and
have continued patronage. The reasons were kindly
given for not accepting the order, and the Lukens
Iron and Steel Co. neither roll iron plate nor do other
work for war purposes. They continue, however, to
have a good patronage, and during 1893 and 1894,
while the other mills were having little or no work,
and many of them were closed, the business of the
Lukens Iron and Steel Co. went steadily on.
How much the influence of Friends may have had
to do in bringing about the favorable showing of the
United States in the following comparison, we will
not undertake to say. A leading New York paper
published the following article, taken from the New
Orleans " Times-Democrat " : " There is no better
proof of the essential barbarism of even the most
civilized nations of the world than is afforded by a
comparison of the money they expend for the main-
tenance of physical supremacy as against the expendi-
ture for mental improvement. Though it be assumed
that ' brain is better than brawn,' there is no evi-
dence that statesmen so regard it. The amount per
capita expended by various goverments for military
and educational purposes is set down as follows :
18 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Military. Educational.
France §4.00 $0.70
England 3.72 63
HoUand 3.58 64
Saxony 2.38 36
Wiirtemberg 2.38 38
Bavaria ....... 2.38 40
Prussia 2.04 50
Denmark ...... 1.76 94
Italy 1.52 36
Belgium 1.38 46
Austria 1.36 32
Switzerland ...... 82 84
United States 39 1.35 "
The citizens of some of the European countries are
so burdened with taxation for war purposes that they
complain of the heavy draft upon their resources, and
in various ways express their dissatisfaction.
A recent minute of the Yorkshire Quarterly Meet-
ing of Friends, held at York, England, January, 1894,
says: "The meeting is deeply impressed with the
suffering caused to the nations of Europe by the bur-
densome weight of military expenditures. The reck-
less squandering of national resources has already
brought some European states to bankruptcy, and
others to' a condition of grave financial embarrass-
ment. In this country about fifty out of every sev-
enty-five pounds raised by parliamentary taxation is
already devoted to war-like expenditui'e, past or pres-
ent. (Signed) William Harvey, Clerk."
The following statements taken from an article in
the " Boston Post," of June 6, 1894, give us some idea
of the enormous expenditure in European countries
for war purposes:
SOUTHERN HEROES. 19
" To be In a state of preparation for war costs the
taxpayers of continental Europe $700,000,000 a year.
This is $60,000,000 more than it cost nine years ago,
and it takes no account of either the value of the time
of the men kept under arms, or the incidental cost to
the states of building or "acquiring railroads, mainly
for purposes of military defense. The magnitude of
the latter item is referred to by Dr. Mulhall in an
article in the " North American Review," in which he
shows that since 1885 the governments of continental
Europe have built or purchased more than 16,000
miles of railway, at an apparent cost of $1,680,000,-
000. That is to say, that in 1885 the mileage and
capital cost of state railways in Europe were 37,560
miles, and $3,755,000,000. They had risen in 1898
to 58,830 miles and $5,455,000,000. Add to this ex-
penditure $80,000,000 for state telegraph lines, and
$1,140,000,000 for armaments, and the enormous
increase in nine years of $2,900,000,000 in the pub-
lic debt of the states of continental Europe will be
accounted for.
" The armaments, for which large sums have been
used, cannot be said to be additions to the national
wealth, but it will be seen that since 1885 they have
entailed an expenditure, partly raised by taxation and
partly by borrowing, of $2,660,000,000. Even this
does not include the amount of the interest charge-
able to this portion of the public debt, and it provides
no guarantee that in the next nine years the cost of
military preparation may not be as much more."
The Krupp gun which was exhibited at the World's
20 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Fair at Chicago is 48 feet long, 17 inches bore, and
weighs 140 tons. The carriage weighs 150 tons. The
whole cost $195,000. It requires 904 pounds of pow-
der for one charge. At 33 cents a pound, the cost
of a charge would be $298.32. The armor-piercing
shell, weighing 2513 pounds, at 40 cents per pound,
costs $1005.20. This makes, according to the war
department estimate, $1303.52 for once firing the
gun. Sixty firings are its limit, or $78,211.20. Add
to this the original cost, $195,000, and you have the net
cost of $273,211.20, for sixty rounds ; or $4553.52
for each shot, without adding cost of handling or
equipments.
It throws a steel-pointed projectile five feet long,
weighing, as we have seen, over a ton, a distance of
twenty miles or more ; and at nine miles it has been
made to pass through a steel armor plate 24 inches
thick. Besides this projectile, this gun shoots steel
schrapnels, filled with small bullets, 3000 in each.
This shell, charged with an explosive substance, bursts
and the balls are hurled with great velocity in every
direction, so that besides the destructive power of the
steel fragments is that of 3000 bullets. Few regi-
ments contain 1000 effective men, so that in this one
shell you have the power of destroying a whole bri-
gade.
A quick-firing gun of that exhibit fires forty shots
a minute, using fuse-shell, cast-iron ring shell, steel
schrapnels, or case shot. There are 180 balls in each
schrapnel. Forty shots can be fired in a minute,
which would give 7200 bullets besides the fragments
SOUTHERN HEROES. 21
of forty shells, to be sent every minute among human
beings. To receive such a fire would soon destroy an
army.
Since the exhibition at Chicago of those wonderful
machines for the destruction of human life, showing
that the inventive genius of man is still at work on
this line, news has been received from London (Janu-
ary 6, 1894), that Arch Duke Salvator has perfected
an automatic mitrailleuse that will fire from 450 to
460 shots per minute. Smokeless powder can be
used in all weathers, and thus the presence of an am-
bushed enemy is not revealed. Forty thousand rounds
have been fired from the barrel of one of these new
guns without its showing any defect.
Those interested in naval warfare have been much
gratified with experiments made with a recently com-
pleted dynamite gun, weighing, with its carriage, fifty-
two tons, throwing a quarter of a ton of dynamite a
mile and a half with great accuracy, and so con-
structed that it will explode upon striking the water
or any other substance. It is operated by electricity,
and one projectile is said to be sufficient to destroy
three war ships at once. On one trial it is said to
have thrown an acre of the Atlantic Ocean into the
air.
Another recent invention is claiming the attention
of war men. One Mr. Turpin has produced an auto-
matic chariot, firing automatically 25,000 bullets at
one time. This invention renders the approach of an
enemy impossible. Liquefied gas may be used in the
machine. Projectiles are hurled with tremendous
22 SOUTHERN HEROES.
force to great distances, and from any height, the ap-
paratus being such as to afford buoyancy. The in-
ventor claims that his weapon will be so destructive
that war will cease for want of soldiers.
Add to these a machine recently perfected for pour-
ing burning petroleum from balloons upon cities and
towns, with such effect as to destroy them by fire, and
we may well conclude that war will cease because of
its utter destructiveness.
The United States has recently had a test made, at
the Sandy Hook proving station, of four of the big-
gest projectiles ever made by this government. The
first shot went through an obstruction of thirteen and
a half inches of steel armor plate, four feet of solid
oak plank, and thirty-seven feet of sand. These four
shots cost the government -$17,000.
The total cost to the United States Government dur-
ing the year 1893 on what may be called the war
power, including pensions, the army, and the navy,
was upwards of $239,000,000, far more than haK the
entire expenditures of the government.
The total number of persons furnished by the dif-
ferent Northern States to the various calls of Abra-
ham Lincoln was 2,759,049, Of these, President
Cleveland's proclamation in 1894 stated that 969,544
were still on the pension rolls, and the number had
increased 3552 since the year before. The amount
paid in pensions during the year 1893, nearly thirty
years after the close of the war, was 8139,804,401.05.
If our government does not soon call a halt in her
military expenditures, such groanings as those of the
SOUTHERN HEROES. 23
European nations may soon be heard on this side of
the Atlantic, by the people who now so proudly boast
of their freedom from conscription and taxation for
keeping up the war system.
We must believe that the advanced civilization of
the nineteenth century will forbid our going to much
greater lengths in this direction, notwithstanding the
efforts of military men to introduce army tactics into
our schools, and of preachers and Bible school teach-
ers to introduce boys' brigades into our churches and
Bible schools.
The engines of death have been brought to such
wonderful perfection and extensive capabilities that to
go to war means the utter destruction of one or both
armies. This is so fidly realized by the military men
themselves, that they hesitate as never before to de-
clare war and thus bring into action these machines
for the slaughter of men by thousands. They, too,
are coming to realize, from the very certainty of suc-
cess in the destruction of human life, that to go to war
is not Christ-like but barbarous.
CHAPTER II.
O Spirit of that early day,
So pure and strong and true,
Be with us in the narrow way
Our faithful fathers knew.
Give strength the evil to forsake.
The cross of Truth to bear,
And love and reverent fear to make
Our daily lives a prayer.
Whittier.
In 1656, twelve years after George Fox had begun
his ministry in England, a number of his followers
attempted to land in America ; but the New England
puritans were unwilling that the doctrines of Fox
should be taught in their midst. They therefore sent
the Friends back to England by the same ship in
which they had come. The Friends soon returned,
however, bringing others with them, this time to stay.
Notwithstanding severe persecution and the death
of four of their number, who were hung on Boston
Common on account of their religion, they made
many converts.
Churches were established from New England to
Georgia. Many of these have ever since been main-
tained, sometimes with ministers, sometimes without ;
but whether flourishing or waning, the Friends every-
where steadily upheld their distinctive views concern-
ing war. They were the first in America to teach
SOUTHERN HEROES. 25
the doctrine of religious liberty and o£ non-resistance.
They have had no small part in the education of
public sentiment and in the framing of laws which
place the United States among the foremost nations
of the world, respecting, as it does, liberty of con-
science, the sacredness of human life, and the equal
rights of all.
The colony of Rhode Island was settled largely
by Friends. Roger Williams welcomed them to his
" Providence Plantation," and the government of the
colony was, for many years, mostly under their con-
trol. They kept no standing army and had no mili-
tary displays. The Indians were treated justly, and,
having their confidence, the Friends were in no dan-
ger of massacre as were their military neighbors,
who constantly suffered loss of life and property on
account of warlike measures.
William Penn landed at Newcastle on the Dela-
ware on the 24th of October, 1682, and proceeded to
the site where now stands Philadelphia. Here he
made that famous treaty of peace and justice with
the Indians, the only treaty, says Voltaire, which
" was never sworn to and never broken." Pennsyl-
vania, while under the rule of Friends, from 1682 to
1754, presents a picture of what has well been called
" The Golden Age " of that State.
" During these seventy years," writes Clarkson, the
abolitionist, " while William Penn's principles pre-
vailed and the Quakers had the principal share in the
government, there was no spot on the globe where,
number for number, there was such virtue or so
26 SOUTHERN HEROES.
much happiness as among the people of Pennsyl-
vania." Taking into account the time and the extent
of territory, it is without parallel in the history of
mankind as an example of Christian government.
" Of all the colonies that every existed," says Pro-
fessor Ebeling, " none was ever founded on so philan-
thropic a plan ; none so deej)ly impressed with the
character of its founder ; none ever practiced in a
greater degree the principle of toleration, liberty, and
peace ; and none rose and flourished more rapidly."
The language on this subject of the eloquent Du-
ponceau, in his address before the Pennsylvania His-
torical Society, in 1821, is very striking. He says :
" Let it not be imagined that the annals of Pennsyl-
vania are not sufficiently interesting to call forth the
talents of an eloquent historian. It is true that they
exhibit none of those striking events which the vul-
gar mass of humanity considers alone worthy of being
transmitted to posterity.
" No ambitious rival warriors occupy the stage, nor
are strong emotions excited by the frequent descrip-
tions of blood, murder, and devastation. But what
country on earth ever presented such a spectacle as
this fortunate commonwealth held out to view for the
space of nearly one hundred years, — realizing all
that fable ever invented or poetry ever sang of an
imaginary golden age ? Happy country, whose un-
paralleled innocence already communicates to thy
history the interest of romance I
" Should Pennsylvanians hereafter degenerate, they
will not need, like the Greeks, a fabulous Arcadia to
SOUTHERN HEROES. 27
relieve the mind from the prospect of their crimes
and follies and to doom their own vices by the
fancied virtues of their forefathers. Pennsylvania
once realized what never existed before, except in
fabled story. Not that her citizens were entirely free
from the passions of human nature, for they were
men and not angels, but it is certain that no country
on earth ever exhibited such a scene of happiness,
innocence, and peace as was witnessed here during
the first century of her existence."
Friends were among the earliest settlers of North
Carolina. The first of whom we have any account
were Henry Phillips and his family, who settled on
the banks of Albemarle Sound, about 1665. They
went from New England, where he and his wife had
been convinced of the principles of Friends.
William Edmundson came from England with
George Fox in the early part of 1672. They landed
in Maryland, George Fox going to New England
and William Edmundson to Carolina, which was then
a wilderness. William Edmundson had much diffi-
culty in crossing swamps and fording or swimming
rivers. Often at night he found no shelter except
such as the forest afforded.
Upon reaching the home of Henry Phillips he was
received with tears of rejoicing. They had not seen
a Friend for seven years, and William Edmundson
was the first minister of the Gospel who had ever come
to Carolina.
Meetings were held at the home of Henry Phillips,
and many of the inhabitants attended. " These had
28 SOUTHERN HEROES.
little or no religion," says the preacher, " for they
came and sat down in meetings smoking their pipes ;
yet several of them were tendered and received the
testimony."
Tradition in that neighborhood says, " They sat
looking earnestly at the preacher, their elbows on
their knees, their faces in their hands, their pipes in
their months, and their hats on their heads."
The territory which now constitutes North and
South Carolina had at that time about three thousand
European settlers. These were very much scattered,
there being scarcely a hamlet to be seen in the whole
province. There were no roads. Paths from house
to house were marked by "blazed trees." There
seems to have been no religious sect in the country
before the coming of William Edmundson. No won-
der that Henry Phillips and his wife wept at the
coming of their brother in the Gospel.
Friends were the first to form a relipious or^ani-
zation in Carolina, and their numbers rapidly in-
creased by immigration and convincement.
The governor of the province became so obnoxious
to them and to the people in general, on account of
his attempts to force the constitutionals upon them,
that they deposed him, and John Archdale, a Friend,
was aj)pointed in his place.
So much power was given to Governor Archdale
that it was deemed best to make a record that no such
authority should be claimed by any of his successors.
He was deeply interested in the welfare of the people,
including the Indians.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 29
January 25, 1688, he wrote to George Fox, " We,
at present, have peace with all the nations of the In-
dians. The Tuscarora King seems to be a very wise
man, as to natural parts. Some of the Indians living
near me are so civilized as to come into English hab-
its and have cattle of their own. I look upon this
outward civilization as a good preparation for the
Gospel, which God, in His season, without doubt will
cause to dawn upon them."
The rule of Governor Archdale, like that of Wil-
liam Penn, was solely for the good of his people, and
under it they prospered. The rights ^^f the Indians
were considered, and the Gospel was preached to
them. There were no wars or massacres in Carolina,
as in the settlements of Jamestown, Va., and some
other parts of this country.
To this day the name of John Archdale is held in
loving remembrance by the descendants of the people
whom he so wisely governed, and one of the prettiest
villages in the " Old North State " is named " Arch-
dale " in memory of him. No liquor saloon is allowed
to exist in the town, and the people live in peace and
prosperity under the care of their Quaker mayor.
A spirit of discernment and prophecy seems to
have characterized the ministry of many preachers
among Friends, and Mahlon Hockett was noted for
speaking to that which was in the minds of others,
and telling them of their misdeeds. On one occasion
two ungodly men were discussing the manner in
which they should spend the Sabbath morning, when
one of them said, " Let 's go and hear what old Mah-
30 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Ion has to say to-day." Accordingiy they went to
Springfiekl meeting. Soon after they entered, Mah-
lon, fastening his eyes upon them, arose and said,
" AA^ell, let 's go and hear what okl Mahlon has to say
to-day." He thus gained their attention, and pro-
ceeded to preach a sermon which was blessed to the
good of their souls.
On another occasion a woman entered, while he was
preaching. He stopped a moment, looked at her, and
remarked, " Go and carry home that filling, and thou
shalt have peace of mind." He then proceeded with
his subject. The woman took home the filling, which
she had stolen from a neighbor for whom she had been
weaving, confessed her sin, and became a changed
character.
Two of the most remarkable prophecies concerning
the civil war in this country were made by Joseph
Hoag. He was born of Presbyterian parents, in New
York, in 1762. He became a Friend and minister,
and settled at Monkton, Vt. In 1820 he was trav-
eling with a companion, on horseback, visiting the
meetings of Friends in Pennsylvania. As they were
riding he suddenly stopped his horse ; looking around
him and then down to the ground, he said to his
friend, " My horse's feet are wading in blood, even to
the fetlocks." Upon this very ground, forty-three
years later, was fought the terrible battle of Gettys-
burg, July 1, 2, and 3, 1863.
Joseph Hoag's wonderful vision concerning the civil
war and the abolition of slavery was widely published
long before the war, but it should have a place here.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 31
VISION OF JOSEPH HOAG.
" In the year 1803, probably the eighth or ninth
month, I was alone in the fields and observed that the
sun shone clear, but that a mist eclipsed the bright-
ness of its shining. As I reflected upon the singu-
larity of the event, my mind was drawn into silence
the most solemn I ever remember to have witnessed,
for it seemed as if all my faculties were laid low and
unusually brought into deep solemnity. I said to my-
self, ' What can all this mean ? I do not recollect
ever before to have been sensible of such feelings,'
and I heard a voice from Heaven say, ' This that
thou seest which dims the brightness of the sim, is a
sign of the present and coming times. I took the
forefathers of this country from a land of oppression ;
I planted them here among the people of the forest ;
I sustained them ; and while they were humble I
blessed and fed them, and they became a numerous
people ; but they have now become proud and lifted
up, and have forgotten Me who nourished and pro-
tected them in the wilderness, and are running into
every abomination and evil practice of which the old
countries are guilty ; I have taken quietude from the
land, and suffered a dividing sjsirit to come among
them. Lift up thine eyes and behold.'
" And I saw them dividing in great heat. This
division began in the church upon points of doctrine.
It commenced in the Presbyterian Society and went
through the various denominations, and in its progress
and close its effect was nearly the same. Those who
32 SOUTHERN HEROES.
dissented went off with hiffli heads and tauntinof
language, and those who kept to the oi'iginal senti-
ment appeared exercised and sorrowful. And when
this dividing spirit entered the Society of Friends it
raged in as high a degree as any I had before discov-
ered ; and as before, those who separated went away
with lofty looks and taimting, censuring language,
while those who kept to the ancient principles retired
by themselves.
" It next api^eared in the lodges of Free Masons,
and it broke out like a volcano, insomuch that it set
the country in an uj^roar for a length of time. Then
it entered politics throughout the United States, and
it did not stop until it produced civil war, and an
abundance of human blood was shed in the combat.
The Southern States lost their power, and slavery was
annihilated from their borders.
" Then a monarchical power arose, took the govern-
ment of the States, established a national religion,
and made all societies tributary to its support. I saw
them take property from Friends to large account. I
was amazed at all this, and heard a voice proclaim,
'This power shall not always stand, but with this
power I will chasten My church until they return to
the f aithf idness of their forefathers. Thou seest wliat
is coming on thy native land for their iniquity and the
blood of Africa, the remembrance of which has come
up before Me. This vision is yet for many days.'
" I had no idea of writing it down, for many years,
until it became such a burden that for my own re-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 33
lief I have written it. — Joseph Hoag, Monkton, Vt.,
1843."
The clause relative to the monarchical form of gov-
ernment is thought by many not to be a part of the
vision as first related by him. His son, Lindley M.
Hoag, an eminent minister, told the writer that his
father believed that the present form of government
would not endure, and having failed to write the
vision until many years had passed by, he may have
confused in his mind the opinion with the vision. His
eldest son, Joseph D. Hoag, also gave this testimony.
William Dean, an aged Friend and former neighbor
of Joseph Hoag, who also heard him relate the vision,
has confirmed this statement, as have also many
others ; so it seems but just to give this explanation in
connection with this part of the vision.
This was indeed a remarkable prophecy, and there
is no other way to account for it but to acknowledge,
as the venerable minister expressed it, that he " heard
a voice from Heaven."
Joseph Hoag died long before the war of 1861, but
he fully believed that it was coming, and most mi-
nutely has the vision been fulfilled. Divisions have
occurred in the churches, and in the order he pre-
dicted. The Free Masons have partaken of a divid-
ing spirit, which did, indeed, enter into politics and
much human blood was shed. Slavery was abolished
and property in large amounts was taken from
Friends.
Truly we have been chastened for the blood of
34 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Africa and for the iniquity of slavery, which began in
America by the purchase of twenty negroes from a
Dutch trading ship, by the English settlers at James-
town, Virginia, in 1G20 ; and which was legally ended
January 1, 18G3, by the Emancipation Proclamation
of Abraham Lincoln.
An amusing as well as interesting story, which has
a bearing upon our subject, is told of a minister
among Friends of more recent date.
Owing to his popularity and activity in the temper-
ance work, Eli Jones was elected by a large majority
to the State Legislature of Maine, in 1854. The
election was very unexpected to him, as he had not
sought the place ; but having been chosen largely on
account of his temperance principles, he said he
would see what he could do " to help put new teeth
into the old law," and much credit is due to him for
the existence of the " Maine Liquor Law."
When the time came to be sworn in as a member of
the House, Eli Jones alone kept his seat while the
others swore to do their duty. Then he arose and
"affirmed" to the governor that he would faithfidly
perform the duties of his office.
Although he worked on important committees and
was diligent in other duties of his office, he never ad-
dressed the House. Some of the members who knew
his ability arranged a plan to call forth a speech from
him. In the course of the session it became necessary
to appoint a ]Major-General to the second division of
the Maine militia. In 1838, Maine had undertaken
by for('e of arms to assert her right to a region near
SOUTHERN HEROES. 35
her northern boundary, claimed by both her and Can-
ada. There was much mustering of troops at the
capital, and fully ten thousand soldiers marched
through the deep snow and fierce cold to drive the
enemy from Aroostook County. Though they were
brave and ready for battle, happily no blood was shed,
and peace was wisely made. But the " Aroostook
War " became famous as a subject of banter, and
many jokes were made at the expense of the officers.
The old nursery rhyme was quoted :
" The King of France, with twice ten thousand men,
Marched up the hill, and then — marched down again."
Primarily for these two reasons, — to urge Eli
Jones to his feet, and to joke the former officers by
appointing a Quaker, an avowed peace advocate, — he
was unanimously chosen to fill the vacancy of Major-
General.
The nomination was so entirely unexpected by Eli
Jones that he was at first perplexed by the situation.
He saw that much was at stake, and that wisdom and
caution were needed. Having his horse at Augusta,
he drove that night to his home at Dirigo, fifteen
miles away, chiefly, perhaps, to discuss the situation
with his beloved Sibyl and the Friends most suitable
for counsel. After talking far into the night with his
brother-in-law, James Van Blarcom, he walked the
floor alone until the new day was dawning.
Upon reaching Augusta again, he found the occa-
sion far more important than he had anticipated.
The news had spread that the Quaker was to speak in
regard to his appointment, and the Hall of the Repre-
36 SOUTHERN HEROES.
sentatives was crowded. Not only were most of the
members of the Senate present, but many other citi-
zens. The subject of the appointment was introduced,
and Eli Jones sj^oke in substance as follows :
" Whatever my ambitions may have been in times
past, my aspirations have never embraced such an
office as this as an object of desire. I can assure the
House that my election as Major-General was an
honor wholly unexpected. It is true that when the
governor announced to the House the existence of the
vacancy, a member privately remarked to me, ' I shall
vote for you ; ' but I replied, declining the honor, and
proposed to return the compliment.
" To my mind there is something ominous in this
occurrence. I regard it as one of the develojjments
of the times. AVho of us, when assembled ten years
ago, in quiet and retired places, to affix our signa-
tures to pledges of abstinence from intoxicating
drinks, would have believed that in 1855 we should
be elected to the seats we now occupy, amid the over-
whelming rejoicings of the people, and pledged to the
suj)port of the Maine Law? Who that at that time
had visited the plantations of the South and seen the
slave toiling under the lash of the taskmaster, would
have believed that in 1855 the people of the larger
portion of this great land would have roused with
stern determination to subdue the encroachments of
the slave power, and have pledged themselves never
to cease their labors until the wrongs of slavery should
be ameliorated, — nay, more^ until slavery itself should
be abolished ?
SOUTHERN HEROES. 37
" Still more wonderful ! Who would have believed
that the State of Maine, which a few years since glo-
ried in an Aroostook expedition, and was noisy with
military training and the noise of arms, would, in
1855, exhibit the spectacle of a peaceable member of
the Society of Friends being elected to the post of
Major-General of a division of the militia, and that,
too, by the representatives in their legislative capa-
city?
" But I have endeavored to regulate my own con-
duct by the principle that legislation should not go
very far in advance of public sentiment, and it seems
to me that this election may possibly be ahead of that
sentiment. I therefore submit this suggestion in all
candor.
" It is generally understood that I entertain peculiar
views in respect to the policy of war. If, however, I
am an exponent of the views of the Legislature on
that subject, I will cheerfully undertake to serve the
State in the capacity indicated. With much pleasure
I shall stand before the militia of the second division
and give such orders as I think best. The first would
be, ' Ground arms.' The second would be, ' Right
about face ; beat your swords into plowshares and
your spears into pruning-hooks, and learn war no
more.' I should then dismiss every man to his farm
and to his merchandise, with an admonition to read
daily at his fireside the New Testament, and ponder
upon its tidings of ' Peace on earth, good will toward
men.'
" If, on the other hand, it should be determined
38 SOUTHERN HEROES.
that my election is a little in advance of the times, I
am willing, as a ^ood citizen, to bow to the majesty of
the law, and, as a member of the Legislature, to con-
sult its dignity and decline the exalted position ten-
dered me by the House, — and I will now decline it.
With pleasure I now surrender to the House this
trust and the honor, and retire to private life."
This speech was delivered amid interruptions of
loud applause, and made a great sensation throughout
the State ; and not in Maine only, but it was com-
mented on by many of the newspapers, and appeared
in the columns of English journals.
Pictures of the fighting Quaker were made, with
the' orders to his troops printed below. It even came
put in an African journal, so that what seemed an un-
important jileasantry on the part of the members of
the Legislature of Maine, gave Eli Jones an opportu-
nity to preach peace to a very extended audience, and
to make his voice heard far beyond the little State
capital. From this time, Eli Jones was regarded
with much respect by all the members, and he received
encouragement and support in whatever he desired
to accomplish.
At the close of the legislative session he called upon
the governor to thank him for his kindness and his
help in different ways. He remarked to the governor
that he had been in rather a peculiar place during the
winter, and had felt somewhat like a " speckled bird."'
The governor said to him, " Mr. Jones, what you call
being a ' speckled bird ' has given you more influence
than anything else could possibly have done."
SOUTHERN HEROES. 39
Whatever he may have accomplished in other lines
during his term of office, Eli Jones gave a clear testi-
mony concerning the Christian teaching respecting
peace, temperance, and oaths, and returned to his
home m China, Maine, thoroughly resj^ected by all
with whom he had been associated.
CHAPTER III.
Up now, for freedom ; not in strife
Like that your sterner fathers saw, —
The awful waste of human life,
The glory and the guilt of war ;
But break the chain, the yoke remove.
And smite to earth oppression's rod
With those mild arms of Truth and Love
Made mighty through the living God.
Whittiee.
There is undoubted proof that, while recognizing
the right of States to enact their own laws, our fore-
fathers, in the founding of this government, fully-
expected that slavery would be abolished by all her
citizens. That the framers of the Declaration of In-
dependence so intended, is clear from its own state-
ments.
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and many
others of the founders of this Union, expressed them-
selves clearly upon this subject ; and George Wash-
ington, in a letter to John F. Mercer, September 9,
1786, said: "I never mean, unless some particular cir-
cumstance should compel me to it, to possess another
slave by purchase, — it being among my first wishes
to see some plan adopted by which slavery in this
country may be abolished by law." Again, he says,
in a letter to Sir John Sinclair : " There are, in Penn-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 41
sylvania, laws for the gradual abolition of slavery,
which neither Virginia nor Maryland have at present;
but nothing is more certain than that they must have
them, and at a period not remote." In a letter to
Charles Pinckney, at that time governor of South Car-
olina, he writes, March 17, 1792 : " I must say that I
lament the decision of your Legislature upon the sub-
ject of importing slaves after March, 1793. I was in
hopes that motives of policy as well as other good rea-
sons, supported by the direful effects of slavery which
at this moment are presented, would have operated to
produce a total prohibition of the importation of
slaves, wherever the question came to be agitated, in
any State that might be interested in the measure."
By will, General Washington freed all his slaves
except the dower negroes. His wife, on learning of
her husband's will, immediately gave up her dower,
and the slaves were all at once liberated.
Thomas Jefferson freed all his slaves by will, and
says : " The whole commerce between master and
slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous
passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one
part and degrading submission on the other. Our
children see this and learn to imitate it. The parent
storms, the child looks on, catches the lineaments of
wrath, puts on the same airs in the circle of smaller
slaves, gives a loose rein to the worst passions, and
thus nursed, educated, and daily exercised in tyranny,
cannot but be stamped by it with odious peculiarities.
The man must be a prodigy who can retain his mor-
als and manners undepraved by such circumstances.
42 SOUTHERN HEROES.
With the morals of the people their industry is also
destroyed ; for in a warm climate no man will labor
for himself who can make another labor for him.
This is so true that, of the proprietors of slaves, only
a very small proportion, indeed, are ever seen to labor.
And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure
when we have removed their only firm basis, — a con-
viction in the minds of the people that their liberties
are the gift of God, and that they are not to be vio-
lated except by His wrath ?
" Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect
that God is just ; that His justice cannot sleep for-
ever ; that, considering numbers, nature, and natural
means only, a revolution in the wheel of fortune or
exchange of the situation is among possible events ;
that it may become probable by a supernatural inter-
ference. The Almighty has no attribute which can
take sides with us in such a contest."
Again he says :
" We must wait with patience the workings of an
overruling Providence, and hope that this is jjreparing
the deliverance of these our brethren. When the
measure of their tears shall be full, when their groans
shall have involved Heaven itself in darkness, doubt-
less a God of justice will awaken to their distress.
Nothing is more certainly written in the book of Fate
than that this people shall be free."
The eloquent Patrick Henry said, in 1773: "It
would rejoice my very soul that every one of my
fellow beings was emancipated. We ought to lament
and deplore the necessity of holding our fellow men
SOUTHERN HEROES. 43
in bondage. Believe me, I shall honor the Quakers
for their noble efforts to abolish slavery."
Many more quotations from these and others of the
fathers of our country could be given, showing that
they hoped for and expected the freedom of all slaves
within the United States. We will add only one
more, and this from one of the fathers of the Con-
stitution.
James Madison, in the convention that drafted the
Constitution, said that he thought it " wrong to admit
into the Constitution the idea that there could be
property in man." He also stated that where slavery
existed, the republican theory became still more falla-
cious. " We have seen the mere distinction of color
made, in the more enlightened period of time, a
♦ ground for the most oppressive dominion ever exer-
cised by man over man."
The Southern States failed to meet the expectation
of their wisest statesmen, and reaped the bitter fruit
of their sowing. A few comparisons of the statistical
tables will show that slavery was not a profitable
institution.
Virginia contained a fifth of the population of the
whole country at the close of the last century. Ac-
cording to the first census, taken in 1790, New York
had 340,920 inhabitants; Virginia had 748,308, or
more than twice the population of New York State.
Sixty years afterwards, in 1850, New York had a
population of 3,097,394 ; and Virginia, only 1,421,661,
— less than half as many as New York.
Althouo'h Massachusetts had less than one sixth
44 SOUTHERN HEROES.
the area of North Carolina, in comj)aring their statis-
tics we find that Massachusetts had a decided advan-
tage. And so we might go on with the fifteen slave
States, showing by comparison with free States that
the jDCople who depended upon their own industries
were the most prosperous in every direction.
The goods of foreign manufacture purchased by
Philadelphia used to come largely from Charleston
merchants, who were large importers ; and the Quaker
dames of that now famous city watched for the fresh
importation of their fine silks, etc., by the merchants
of their Southei'n neighbor. Charleston is now so
far outstripped in the race, as to have been almost
unknown, for decades past, as a source of supply for
imported goods.
When the Southern States started in the race
with their Northern sisters, the advantages were al-
most wholly in their favor, — climate, water-power,
and mineral resources. Slavery has undoubtedly been
the cause of their falling so far behind in the race for
supremacy, in merchandise, in arts, in mechanics, in
manufactures, in shipping, in mining, and in agricul-
ture itself, which they finally boasted of as their spe-
cialty, claiming cotton as king. But as a fact, accord-
ing to the reports on agriculture for the year 1850, the
hay crop of the Northern States by itself exceeded in
value by three and a half million dollars the value
of all the cotton, tobacco, rice, hay, hemp, and cane
sugar produced by the fifteen slave States combined.
A small proportion only of the citizens of the South
were really slave-owners. In 1850, 347,525 are re-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 45
ported as nominal slaveholders, though this number
includes those who hired slaves. Those o\vning them
in more than one county were counted according to
the number of counties in which they owned them.
By carefully considered statistics it is estimated that
in the fifteen slave States, having an entire popula-
tion of 9,612,979, less than 200,000 were slave-own-
ers ; yet at this time they held 3,200,364 slaves. The
free negroes were not considered citizens nor allowed
to vote. There were 228,136 of them in the slave
States, — more in number than the slaveholders.
The slaveholders gave a great deal of attention to
politics, and it is evident that the South was wholly
under their control, and to a great extent the United
States was governed by them. Laws were made in
the special interest of this class, and no citizen not
in accord with this system could hold an office within
the gift of the Southern people. By far the majority
of the prominent offices in the United States were
given to Southern men. From the time of Washing-
ton's election until that of Abraham Lincoln, in
1861, seventy-two years, eighteen presidential elec-
tions took place. Of the candidates chosen, twelve
were Southern slaveholders. No Northern man had
ever been reelected to the presidency, but five South-
ern men had been. Southern men occupied the presi-
dential chair forty-eight and a quarter of the seventy-
two years, or more than two thirds of the time.
Upon examination of the records, we find that much
the larger proportion of the United States offices have
been held by Southern men, and thus legislation, not
46 SOUTHERN HEROES.
only in the Southern States, but also in the North,
was made largely in the interest of this very small
minority of her citizens.
Such was the effect upon the interests of the labor-
ing white man in the South that he could obtain as a
farm laborer only about seven or eight dollars per
month and food, while the slave hired out by his
master and for his master's benefit would be allowed
ten dollars or more, with food, lodging, clothing, and
medical attendance. In 1856 the North Carolina
Railroad Company paid white men twelve dollars a
month, while the slave-owners received for slave labor
sixteen dollars for every slave so employed, regardless
of efficiency. Tidy, industrious white girls had diffi-
culty in securing positions in private families at forty
dollars a year, board and lodging included, while
negro slave girls of corresponding ages but in every
way inferior were in brisk demand at sixty-five or
seventy dollars, including food, clothes, and medical
attendance.
As a result of all this even the negroes had come to
look down upon the poor whites, and the self-respect
of the latter was reduced to a low state. By the time
the war began, many of the poor white people had so
far lost their ambition as to look for or exj^ect little
more than an animal existence.
The free school, connnon in the Northern States,
had little place in the South at this time. The slave
holders had no interest in the education of the free
colored people or of the poor whites. A very large
proportion of the popidation could neither read nor
SOUTHERN HEROES. 47
write, and many of the poor white people possessed
but little money from one year's end to another.
So jealously was the system of slavery guarded that
it became dangerous to have anything to say against
it. For selling Hinton Rowen Helper's " Impending
Crisis," a book written by a North Carolinian, show-
ing from a financial standpoint the evil effects of
slavery, Jesse Whalon of Guilford County, N. C,
was banished, and Daniel Worth was imprisoned in
Greensboro, N. C. A company of men took him
from the jail and after getting out of the town it was
proposed to hang him. To this proposal all were
agreed except one John A. Gilmore, who, by his posi-
tive opposition and determination to save the life of
the preacher, prevailed upon them to desist. An
aged worthy citizen, remembering the facts, told the
writer that with one exception all of these men had
come to a violent death, and he was an outcast from
society and the writer knows not his end. John Gil-
more became an honorable Christian citizen, and died
respected by all who knew him and honored by his
country.
The evil effects of slavery became more and more
apparent to the American people as time advanced.
The corruptions and demoralizing effects upon white
as well as black grew with the practice. The hard-
ened condition and cruelty of many of the Southern-
ers, as manifested during the war, was the result of
havino; become accustomed to acts of "man's inhuman-
ity to man," in the treatment of the African negro.
"With a few exceptions the slaves were forbidden to
48 SOUTHERN HEROES.
read, and many preachers tauglit that they had no
soul. In sjiite of these facts the negroes acquired
some knowledge of the Scripture. Of this they made
good use, and there was much genuine piety among
them. The Lord condescended in marked manner to
teach them by His Holy Spirit. They believed that
He " talked with them by the way " and helj)ed them
to bear their heavy burdens.
The more determined the Southern peoj)le became
to extend the limits of the slave territory and shape
the laws of the government to protect this Southern
interest, the more rapidly grew the feeling of opj)osi-
tion and the more universal became the opinion that
slavery was a national sin and ought not to be toler-
ated.
* In 1851 the laws were so framed in the interest of
the slaveholders that anywhere in the United States
to harbor a fugitive slave, receive him into one's
house, feed him, or in any way aid him, was to subject
one's self to a heavy fine and imprisonment. No
wonder that Thomas Jefferson said, when speaking
of slavery, " I tremble for my country when I reflect
that God is just." John Wesley, who had lived in
Georgia, called it " the sum of all villainies."
Soon after the beginning of the war. Col. U. L.
Utely, of the United States Army, while encamped
with his regiment in Kentucky, was visited by Judge
Robertson of the United States Court, who demanded
of him a negro boy who had taken refuge within the
camp. Colonel Utely promptly refused to surrender
him, although ordered by his superior officer to do so.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 49
He denied the jurisdiction of liis superior in this case,
and told the judge to go and get his boy if he could,
but that he would not arrest or deliver him.
The Colonel was sued in the United States Court
in Kentucky ; judgment was obtained against him for
$1500 and costs, which judgment was transferred
from the court in Kentucky to the United States
Court in Wisconsin. Colonel Utely's home and
property were in Wisconsin, and a lieu was created
thereupon while he was serving the United States as
a colonel in her army. Eventually, by special act of
Congress, $1000 was appropriated to partially pay
this Southern slaveholder for a boy of color, worth
in the slave market not more than $500, for he had
been so abused and overworked that he was but a
dwarf. Colonel Utely paid the balance, about $700,
to be free from the judgment.
Such unrighteous laws many recognized as con-
flicting with the laws of God.
Long before the war, men and women whose hearts
were touched and their interest aroused as they
learned of the ill-treatment of this opjjressed people
began to agitate the question of liberty for the slaves.
As early as 1816, Charles Osborne, a Friend, pub-
lished the " Philanthropist," at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio.
This was the first anti-slavery paper printed in
America. From this office went Osborne's son and
a journeyman printer named Benjamin Lundy, also a
Friend, to East Tennessee, where they published the
" Genius of Universal Emancipation." It was after-
wards published by him in Baltimore.
50 SOUTHERN HEROES.
The Greensboro " Patriot," started by William
Swain in 1821, and still issued at Greensboro, N. C,
advocated the gradual emancipation of the slave. He
was greeted with a storm of abuse, but he boldly pub-
lished his sentiments, and often gave the threatening
letters which he received a conspicuous place in the
" Patriot."
The first society ever formed to work for the grad-
ual abolition of slavery, was organized in New York,
January, 1785, with John Jay as its president. The
next was in Pennsylvania, in 1787, with Franklin as
its president. They gradually midtiplied, and held
conventions. In 1827 one was held in Baltimore,
where ten different States were represented. North
, Carolina was represented by forty branch societies.
The convention petitioned Congress for the abolition
of slavery in the District of Columbia, and encouraged
the education of the people of color.
The first real anti-slavery society in the United
States was formed in Indiana, in 1833. Arnold Buf-
fum and other Friends were among the twelve organ-
izers. But seventeen yeai's previous to this, early in
the year 1816, a society was formed in North Caro-
lina for the gradual manumission of the slaves. Its
first meeting was held at Centre, a Friends' commu-
nity, ten miles from Greensboro. Several well known
slaveholders belonged to it. Meetings were held at
New Garden, Guilford County, and other neighbor-
hoods of Friends, where they could not have been held
a few years later. One was held in Randolph County,
at the home of General Gray, who was a large slave-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 51
holder. The minutes o£ the first society have lately
been discovered, and are now at Guilford College,
N. C.
At a meeting held in General Gray's barn, Ran-
dolph County, N. C, the question of changing the
name of the society from " Emancipation " to " Man-
umission and Colonization Society " v^^as discussed and
voted upon. The more pronounced abolitionists dis-
covered that this change was intended, not only to
send the manimiitted slaves to Liberia, but to make
that a condition of their freedom, and also to banish
all free colored people from their midst, as they " were
considered a dangerous class in a slaveholding dis-
trict." The Friends and many others strongly op-
posed this. While they had no objection to allowing
the freed people to go to Africa if they chose, they
were not willing to compel them to do so. The oppo-
nents of the change were, however, outvoted by a
small majority, and they withdrew from the society.
The Friends reorganized at New Garden, where they
continued to hold meetings until most of them re-
moved to non-slaveholding States.
In 1816, the Legislature of Virginia passed a reso-
lution requesting the governor to correspond with the
President of the United States " for the purpose of
obtaining a territory on the coast of Africa or at some
other place not within the United States or territorial
government of the United States, to serve as an asy-
lum for such persons of color as are now free and may
desire the same, and for those who may hereafter be
emancipated within the commonwealth."
52 SOUTHERN HEROES.
"Within a few days there was held at Washin^^on,
D. C, a meeting of Southern men to take this subject
into considei-ation. The " American Colonization So-
ciety " was organized, with Judge Washington as its
president. There were seventeen vice-presidents, only
five of whom were from free States ; and a board of
managers, every one of whom was a slaveholder.
The only articles of the constitution relating to its
object are I. and II. The first says : " This society
shall be called the American Society for Colonizing
the Free People of Color of the United States." Ar-
ticle II. : " The object to which its attention is to be
exclusively directed is to promote and execute a plan
for the colonizing, with their consent, the free people
. of color residing in our country, in Africa or such
other place as Congress shaU deem most expedient ;
and the Society shall act to effect this object in coop-
eration witli the general government and such of the
States as may adopt regulations on this subject."
"VVe will take note that it was earlier in this same
year (181G) that our Friends in North Carolina who
were interested in the manumission of slaves refused
to become incorporated with the " Manumission and
Colonization Society," because they discovered that
the intent was really to banish the free colored people
from the slaveholding States.
The organization grew rapidly in favor with the
slaveholders, but they did not see fit to free any of
their slaves. In fact, there were but few, if any, freed
by the leaders of the society. The i)resident of the
society did sell, to be taken to the New Orleans mar-
ket, fifty-four of his slaves at one time.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 53
The hold which the society secured upon the confi-
dence of the people, North and South, is a remarkable
example of the willingness of mankind to believe what
people tell them. Never, perhaps, has any voluntary
society received in an equal degree the applause and
patronage of both church and state. Men of all par-
ties, all religions, and of no religion, officers of the
government, without regard to politics, — all united
in this so-called " religious movement." Nor were its
advocates confined to the United States. Churchmen
and philanthopists of Europe joined with those of
America in aiding 200,000 slaveholders to remove
from their midst the free colored people, whom they
considered a dangerous class of citizens.
There was undoubtedly a deep-rooted conviction in
the minds of the people that slavery is a sin, and any
measure which gave ever so remote a promise of free-
dom from the system was gladly received by all, if it
did not arouse the opposition of the slaveholders
or conflict with their will. This scheme of the
American Colonization Society was acceptable to our
Southern slaveholders, and gave promise of remov-
ing the blacks, who were so troublesome an element
in America.
Few stopped to think of the magnitude of the un-
dertaking. First, the free colored people, numbering
nearly 320,000, must be made to consent to go ; then
about 2,500,000 slaves must be freed " by the consent
of their masters," and their consent must be obtained
to be transported to Liberia. We must also take into
account the rapid natural increase of these millions.
54 SOUTHERN HEROES.
and the immense number smuggled into this country
every year. According to a Mr. Middleton, on the
floor of Congress, in 1819, there were 13,000 Africans
smuf^gled into the United States annually ; and a Vir-
ginia gentleman, a Mr. Wright, estimated the number
at 15,000.
Our people had faith in the Colonization Society,
and whatever it proposed to do, the people in general
thought was to be accomplished at some time. To be
sure, they were not promised that all this should be
done at once ; the society even admitted that it would
probably be a generation, and it might be a century,
before America would be free.
In the " African Repository," the official organ of
the society, a Mr. Fitzhughes, a vice-president, states as
follows : " We have never supposed that the society's
plan could be accomplished in a few years ; on the
contrary, we have boasted that it will demand a cen-
tur}^ for its fulfillment." Yet the contributions of a
confiding people were continued to this " missionary
society," which reported a great work going on in Af-
rica, in the civilizing and christianizing of that dark
continent by these American-Africans, who in their
o\\ii land were considered "a dangerous element," and
not allowed to read the Bible ; and where it was a
crime for any one to furnish them with the Word,
"the entrance of which giveth light," punishable in
North Carolina by thirty-nine laslies, if the person
was colored, and a fine of $!200 if he was white. In
Georgia, if a white person taught a free negro or slave
to read or write, the crime was punishable by a fine
SOUTHERN HEROES. 55
of $500 and imprisonment, at the discretion of the
court. This law was enacted in 1829, during the
palmy days of the " missionary society." Any meet-
ing of the colored people, free or slave, was forbidden
by law ; yet it was claimed that they were doing a
great work in Africa toward christianizing the peo-
ple and abolishing the slave trade !
In an issue of the "African Repository," July, 1830,
we find the following : " In fact, the Colonization So-
ciety proposes the only means by which this accursed
trade can ever be stopped ; and indeed this colony of
Liberia, which this society has planted, has already
freed about 250 miles of the coast from the ravages of
these enemies of the human race."
Under date of September 10, 1830, a letter from
A. D. Willcome, their agent, states : " I hope the
board will adopt some more effectual measure for
suppressing the slave trade within the territory of Li-
beria. Since the death of Don Miguel of Bassa, Peter
Blanco, a Spanish slave-trader, for some years a resi-
dent in the Gallinas, has opened a slave-factoi-y at
Grand Cape Mount. Such a thing ought not to be,
as it is only forty-five miles from here. I am sorry to
remark that this abominable traffic is being carried
on with the utmost activity all along the coast. Cap-
tain Parker, during his trading at the Gallinas of
about three weeks, saw no less than nine hundred
shipped."
In 1832, the British Parliament published the fol-
lowing facts : Chief Justice Jeffcott of Sierra Leone,
in 1830, delivered a charge to the grand jury, in
56 SOUTHERN HEROES.
wliic'li he deelared that he had received creditable in-
fomuitiou that persons in the colony were engaged in
aiding and abetting the slave-trade. He asserted that
the colony, established for the express jiiirpose of sup-
pressing this vile traffic, was made the means for car-
rying it on. He also asserted that 22,000 Africans
had been located within that colony within ten years,
but now there could not be found more than 17,000 or
18,000 there.
The British government appointed a commission to
inquire into the truth of the statement, and it rej)orted
on the 26th of October of the same year that they
" could but conclude that the nefarious system of kid-
napping had prevailed in the colony to a much greater
extent than was even alluded to in the charge of the
chief justice. The records of the colony show that
eight, ten, or fifteen vessels have at the same time en-
gaged in the odious traffic, almost within reach of the
guns of Liberia ; and as late as 1825 there were exist-
ing contracts for 8000 slaves, to be furnished within
four months, within eight miles of Moravia."
In the English " Monthly Review " for May, 1833,
we find stated : " One of the schoolmasters in Sierra
Leone has been tried for selling some of his scholars.
There were lately upwards of one hundred liberated
Africans who were kidnapped from Sierra Leone and
conveyed to a place near the banks of the river Pan-
gos. Here they were detained until an opportunity
occurred for reshipping them as slaves."
We quote the following from a letter from Rev. J.
B. Pinucy, March 7, 1834 : " Let them, the friends of
SOUTHERN HEROES. 57
the society in America, know that to extol knowledge
and promote sound piety, a quire of paper is at pres-
ent worth more than a Bible. Bibles and tracts have
been sent here, and either used for waste paper or
made food for worms. Why ? Not because the peo-
ple despise either, but because we have not a reading
population."
Nine years before this, in 1825, the society states
in its eighth official report : " The colony is already to
the African tribes like a city set upon a hill, which
cannot be hid. A thousand barbarians who have long
made merchandise of their brethren and been regarded
themselves as the objects of a bloody and accursed
traffic, come within its gates and are taught the doc-
trines of immortality, — the religion of the Son of
God."
These statements were made to American citizens,
doubtless for the purpose of keeping up the " mission-
ary work " and deceiving many honest people, when in
fact they had then sent but 242 of their "mission-
aries," wretched as they were, to take care of the
" thousand barbarians." But such was the effect of these
publications and speeches, and the confidence of the
people in the American Colonization Society, that for
the accomplishment of its purpose the Congress of the
United States appropriated 8130,000 ; the State of
Maryland, $200,000 in 1832 ; and Virginia, 118,000
yearly for five years. From 1820 to 1834, 1266,000
was expended in this work, according to their re-
ports.
Auxiliary societies were formed in many of the
68 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Northern States, and newspapers throughout the land
advertised and praised its work. Many were the de-
vices for increasing the resources of the society.
When Maryland appropriated its 1200,000, it ap-
pealed to "the benevolence of the North." The
appeal was founded upon two solemn declarations :
first, that " it aimed at the extirpation of slavery in
Maryland, by colonization ; " and second, that it con-
templated "founding a nation on the principles of
temperance."
Yet Henry Clay, a vice-president of the society, de-
clared in the South : " From its origin and throughout
the whole period of its existence, it has constantly dis-
claimed all intention whatever of interfering in the
smallest degree with the rights of property or the ob-
ject of emancipation, gradual or immediate." It is
undoubtedly a fact that the society had for its object,
not the liberating of the slaves or the betterment of
their condition, but the removal from their midst of
what tliey called " a dangerous class of citizens."
While the law required that it must be with the
person's consent that he was removed, it was very easy
to find a way to muhe him consent if he objected, and
evidences of torture, whipping and coercion are not
wanting. Section XII. of the laws of Maryland pro-
vided as follows : " If any free negro or mulatto shall
be convicted of any crime, committed after the passage
of this act, which may not by the laws of this State
be punished by hanging by the neck, such free negro
or mulatto may, at the discretion of the court, be sen-
tenced to the penalties and punishments provided by
SOUTHERN HEROES. 59
law, or be banished from the State, or be transported
into some foreign country." This coidd be done at
the expense of the Colonization Society.
They confess to having sent 3162 persons of color
to their colony in sixteen years. At their estimate of
$30 each, this would have cost 89-4,860. TVe may note
also that if the estimate of their statesman, Mr.
Wright, is correct, during this time 240,000 slaves
had been brought to Southern ports from Africa,
More likely than not, many of the " dangerous class
of colored people " had been converted by their sea
voyage into first class slaves, worth a thousand dol-
lars each.
How long would it have taken for the American
Colonization Society to have removed from the shores
of the sunny Southland its colored population I
Surely no one need make an apology for believing
in the society, when Wdberforce could thus express
himself, which he did in a letter to Mr. Cresson, one
of their agents : " You have gladdened my heart by
convincing me that, sanguine as had been my hopes of
the happy effects to be produced by your institution,
all my anticipations are scanty and cold compared to
the reality."
But good men of America and England finally
awoke to the real truth. After ha%'ing avowed its
cause, upon seeing its true nature, AVilberf orce says :
" Our objections to it are chiefiy these : while we
believe its pretexts to be delusive, we are convinced
that its real effects are of the most dangerous nature.
It takes its root from a cruel prejudice and alienation
GO SOUTHERN HEROES.
in the whites of America against the colored people,
slave or free. This being its source, the effects are
what might be expected : that it fosters and increases
the spirit of caste already so unhappily predominant ;
that it widens the breach between the two races ; ex-
poses the colored people to practical persecution in
order to force them to emigrate ; and finally, is calcu-
lated to swallow up and divert that feeling which
America, as a Christian and free country, cannot but
entertain, — that slavery is alike incompatible with
the laws of God and man, whether of the enslaver
or the enslaved. We must be understood to utterly
repudiate the principles of the American Colonization
Society."
Having once lent its columns to this interest, the
editor of the " Christian Observer " finally expressed
himself thus : " The unchristian prejudice of color,
which alone has given birth to the Colonization
Society, though varnished over with other more plea-
surable pretenses and veiled under a profession of
Christian regard for the temporal interests of the
negro, which is belied by the whole course of its rea-
sonings and the spirit of its measures, is so detestable
in itself that I think it ought not to be tolerated, but
on the contrary ought to be denounced and opposed
by all humane and especially by all pious people in
this country."
The following is an extract from a letter written by
William Allen of London, known widely as a Quaker
philanthropist : " Having heard thy exposition of the
origin and main object of the American Colonization
SOUTHERN HEROES. 61
Society, at the meeting on the 13th inst., at Exeter
Hall, and having read their own printed documents, I
hardly know how adequately to express my surprise
and indignation that my correspondents in North
America should not have informed me of the real
principles of the society, and also that Elliott Cresson,
knowing, as he must have known, the abominable sen-
timents that it has printed and published, should have
condescended to become its agent."
In a latter dated 7/15, 1833, a Massachusetts
clergyman says : " It is a scheme in which I was once
deeply interested. I have spoken and written and
preached and taken contributions in its behalf. I did
not then understand the real nature of the scheme. I
meant well in espousing it, but I now see my error
and my sin ; and though it was a sin of ignorance, I
desire to repent of it."
The societies formed for the direct abolition of the
slaves were the objects of censure by the American
Colonization Society ; and with the powerful influence
it exerted both North and South, it was hard work
for the smaller organizations to get a start. But the
abominable work of this society was not to continue.
The selfish motives of its managers were finally dis-
covered, and the work of the society came to an end.
Abraham Lincoln was not the first to issue an
emancipation proclamation, liberating the Southern
slaves. Friends early began to see the sin of slavery.
In 1711, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting condemned
the importation of slaves. In 1740, North Carolina
Yearly Meeting began the agitation of the question of
62 SOUTHERN HEROES.
freeing them. In 1743, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
adopted a query asking if Friends were careful not to
encourage the importation of slaves or buy them after
they were imported, although in 1688 they had refused
to consider the subject of the unchristian nature of
slavery. In 1758, they appointed John Woolman and
others to labor witli Friends on this account, at the
request of Germanto^vn Friends under the leading of
Francis Daniel Pastorius, who, with other Germans,
had been induced by William Penn to con>c to Penn-
sylvania.
In 1776, the reports of one quarterly meeting show
that they had manumitted 125 slaves, and then the
yearly meeting concluded that those who refused to
take the advice of Friends in this matter should be
disowned.
In 1783, the minutes of the yearly meeting state :
" There are no slaves among us, except a few cases
difficultly circumstanced." The same year, at the re-
conunendation of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, Eng-
lish Friends presented to the House of Commons a
petition against the African slave-trade, which was
signed by 273 English Friends.
Southern Friends moved cautiously in this matter,
for much besides monetary interest was at stake.
Care was needed that their members should be edu-
cated in regard to the sin of slavery lest, as was the
case with most other churches, there might be a divi-
sion among themselves and a sejiaration from their
brethren in the North upon this question. Many did
not see with their leaders at once, but jjatience and
SOUTHERN HEROES. 63
perseverance were needed on tlie part of the more ad-
vanced. Before any decided action could be taken,
there must be a degree of unity.
In 1758, North Carolina Yearly Meeting issued a
minute making provisions for negroes to hold meet-
ings for worship, and in 1770 they issued another, in
which the importation of slaves from Africa was
declared iniquitous, and purchasing them from trad-
ers and dealers was disapproved, although they were
allowed to purchase them from neighbors to prevent
the separation of husbands from wives or children
from parents.
In 1786, Friends became so united as to the sin of
slavery that they adopted a clause of discipline for-
mally condemning the entire system. The Yearly
Meeting of Friends in Virginia had done this a few
months before.
For years committees were under appointment to
advise with Friends in relation to the subject of
manumitting their slaves, to aid in preparing needed
legal papers, and sometimes to furnish money for
their removal. Laws had been passed which forbade
the freeing of slaves within a slave State, so these
committees gave legally prepared receipts for the
blacks, and thus often became the masters of many
persons and families. When a suflScient number was
o-athered, they went with them to a free State, or to
Liberia. Friends Nicholson and White of Belvidere,
N. C, made several journeys with such companies.
As they were the legal owners, the law could not pre-
vent their taking the slaves ^way, and when they
64 SOUTHERN HEROES.
arrived at the place chosen, they did what they could
to put the negroes in a way for seK-suj)port.
Edmund Peele, a prominent Friend of Rich Square,
N. C, at one time liberated 125 of his own slaves,
took them to Liberia, Africa, at his own expense,
gave each $25 with which to start in his new home,
and began his changed life with such reduced resources
as proved his action to have been a sacrifice for prin-
ciple, which was really very great. Yet greater was
the inheritance of Christian character which he left
his worthy children. It was of far more value than
all the slaves he could have given them.
So successful was the labor of the Friends in the
education of their members on this subject, that very
few were disowned, and in 1818 we find on their
records this brief minute : " None held as slaves."
The Methodist and Moravian churches, who had
formerly been non-slaveholding, gradually yielded to
the influences around them, leaving the Friends alone
in all the South to bear witness against the sin of slav-
ery. This they did in various ways. The legislatures
of North Carolina and Tennessee were memorialized
almost yearly from 1787 until 1834. Their protest
was sometimes given a second reading, and, though
never acted upon, it could but have an influence which
was not wholly lost. At least it was well understood
that while ministers were pleading for slavery and
church members were so generally practising it, there
was one religious body in their midst which could not,
for conscience' sake, participate in what the law, com-
mon custom, and even religious opinion so fully
sanctioned.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 65
Aside from tlie pecuniary loss to Friends in liber-
ating so many slaves on whom tliey depended for
labor, we may note the fact that to labor with one's
own hands, through the blighting influence of slavery,
was considered degrading ; and he who thus labored
was looked upon as being " no better than a nigger."
So difficult was it to obtain free labor, either black or
white, that Friends had to content themselves with
less income, and also to take a lower social standing
than they would otherwise have had.
While the Friends were considering what to do and
how to act under their trying circumstances, the pro-
phetic voice of their preachers was heard, telling them
of the judgments of the Almighty that were coming
upon the Southland because of the cry of her bond-
men, and warning them to flee lest they be partakers
of the chastisement. One minister in particular
visited every meeting of Friends in Georgia, South
Carolina, and lower North Carolina, preaching a day
of vengeance and warning the Friends to escape.
The result was that the entire body of Friends in that
region, and many from the other parts of North Caro-
lina and from Virginia and Maryland emigrated to
Ohio, Indiana, and other Western States.
There were no vestibule trains for them then ; no
freight cars for their goods ; no cattle cars for their
stock. In the canvas-covered wagons, now so seldom
seen, except in some parts of North Carolina, were
closely packed the bedding, furniture, provisions, feed
for the horses, and the few other absolute necessities
for along journey, most of the way through a wilderness
66 SOUTHERN HEROES.
country. The pot for boiling the family food is tied
under the axle-tree ; the frying pan handle is thrust
between an outside strip and the wagon bed ; the axe
is in its place on the wagon hounds ; the feed box for
the horses is fastened to the hind end of the waaon
bed, where the canvas cover extends a little over the
heads of the horses while they eat their well-earned
grain, or stand during a storm, a little sheltered from
its fury.
The old homestead has been sold ; the hearthstone
around which the children for generations have
gathered is forsaken, and with a lingering look upon
the familiar scenes of what has been their home, the
women and children are helped into the wagon, the
horses hitched up and the journey begun.
They often moved in bodies ; whole meetings
gathered at a place and time previously agreed upon,
and then, as a caravan, together made their way west,
cutting through forests or bridging streams in their
wearisome journey from slavery's land to the land of
freedom.
On the First day of the week they and their horses
rested from their labors, and gathered within their
corral of wagons for protection from wild beasts.
Here they held their meetings to worship God, sitting
around their camp-fires in the midst of the primeval
forest ; and God was as willing to manifest his pres-
ence and grant his blessing to those who worshipped
Him, under the blue canopy of heaven, as when they
were in their now forsaken homes. Here the minister's
voice might be listened to, not only by his little flock,
SOUTHERN HEROES. 67
but by the wild beasts without the enclosure, whose
voices might in turn be heard during the silence of the
meeting. We can imagine them gathering about
their camp-j&res each evening, after the supper had
been cooked and eaten and the horses fed and curried,
sometimes talking with grave faces of the uncertainty
of the new life upon which they were entering, yet
steadfast in their belief that the same Lord who led
His people through the wilderness and gave them a
good land would bless them and multiply them in the
land to which they were going for conscience' sake.
Upon arrival at the neighborhood chosen for their
settlement, they would sometimes form almost the
same community of people, and name their town and
meeting the same as that which they had left in the
Southland, and with courageous heart begin the work
of restoring their lost fortunes, with a spirit of freedom
and happiness.
Many of the leading members of church and state
of the Western country to-day are descendants of this
worthy ancestry. The active membership of the
Yearly Meetings of Ohio, Indiana, Western Iowa,
Kansas, Wilmington, Oregon, and California is com-
posed largely of native Southerners or their de-
scendants.
At one time before the war it looked as though
there would be none left of the 25,000 Friends
in these Southern States ; and North Carolina Yearly
Meeting, considering the subject of the rapid diminu-
tion of her members, yet rejoicing in the prosperity
of her children in their new homes, said : " We grate-
68 SOUTHERN HEROES.
fully record our sense of the blessings which thus
rewarded the faithfulness of one generation in the
prosperity of the next, and overruled their straitened
position in their own land for the spreading abroad
of their tents, and we trust to the honor of Him
who setteth the poor on high from his affliction, and
maketh him families like a flock."
CHAPTER IV.
What gives the wheat-field blades of steel ?
What points the rebel cannon ?
What sets the roaring rabble's heel
On the old star-spangled pennon ?
What breaks the oath of the men o' the South ?
What whets the knife for the Union's life ?
Hark to the answer, — Slavery.
Whittier.
As we liave learned, many laws were enacted in
tlie United States to suit the supposed interests of
the slaveholders, and were framed with a special
view to keep the slave " in the eye of the law " as
property, with no more rights nor privileges than any
other animal, — hardly as many.
The laws of South Carolina provided that a slave
might be required to work fifteen hours per day. If
a slave were killed in a " sudden heat or passion," or
" by undue correction," the murderer had to pay a
fine or be imprisoned for six months ; but if a slave In
any way resisted a white man when under punishment
or otherwise, or should strike a white man, he must
suffer such punishment as the justice might see fit,
and in some States the second or third offense was
punishable by death.
In Mississippi there were thirty-eight offenses, the
violation of any one of which was punishable by
70 SOUTHERN HEROES.
death ; in Virginia there were seventy-one. It was
left for the magistrates to determine the penalty
without the trouble or cost of further trial. Some of
the States had more severe laws than others, but all
slave States and many Northern ones had laws very
prejudicial against the slave or free colored person.
Most of these laws were in operation in the District
of Columbia, under the direct control of the United
States government.
Such was the slaveholders' power in Congress that
the capital of this great nation was one of the greatest
slave marts in this or any other country. Here any
colored person might be cast into prison upon real or
feigned suspicion of being a slave, and unless claimed
by a white man as his slave, or able there to prove his
freedom, he was sold for life as a slave to pay his
jail fees. In many cases this law was carried into
effect, and the United States became a party to the
great sin of robbing an American citizen of his liberty
for no crime or offence against her laws, but because
in his ignorance and misfortune he was unable to
prove that his mother was a free woman when he was
born.
Within the ten miles square constituting the Dis-
trict of Columbia, there were six thousand human
beings held as slaves in the year 1835, and this num-
ber rapidly increased. According to law, any of the
jails in this district were to be opened to receive the
slaves of the trader while he was waiting to gather liis
proposed number for sale there or to be shijiped, and
be they few or many, they were fed and cared for
SOUTHERN HEROES. 71
until the owner called for them. County jails and
prisons generally were practically the free hotels for
lodging and feeding the slave as he was being moved
around the country, except it may have been a small
fee to the jailer. Thus the slaveholder was saved
much of the expense for their food and lodging while
he was in town, as well as the bother of keeping them
and the danger of their escape.
We find that, in the city of Washington, for four
hundred dollars men were licensed to deal in human
flesh, and under the shadow of the Capitol of this free
comitry, coffles were made up from her prisons and
started on their long march South. The daily papers
gave much space to such advertisements as this :
'"'■Cash for two hundred negroes. We will give
cash for two hundred likely young negroes of both
sexes, families included. Persons wishing to dis-
pose of their slaves will do well to give us a call,
as we will give higher prices in cash than any other
purchasers who are now in or may hereafter come to
this market. All communications will meet attention.
We can at all times be found at our residence on
Seventh Street, immediately south of the Centre
Market House. Joseph W. Neal & Co.
Washington, D. C, Sept. 13, 1834."
Other firms advertised for slaves by the hundred,
and if it is a question what they did with them,
we will remind the reader that he might find in the
same paper advertised as sailing regularly for New
Orleans the packets Brig and Tribune, and the brig
72 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Uncas, captains Smith and Bouse, leaving every thirty
days during the shipping- season. These were regular
slavers, as much as any that sailed from the shores
of Africa with their cargoes of human flesh. Per-
haps it was a less dangerous business, but it was
more expensive.
The following is from a letter written by a Mr.
Leavitt, January 23, 1834, published in a New York
newspaper : " I visited the slave-factory of Franklin
and Armfield at Alexandria, and was informed by
one of the principals of the firm that the number of
slaves carried from the District of Columbia last year
was about one thousand, but it would be much greater
this year. He expected that their house alone would
ship at least eleven or twelve hundred. They have
two vessels of their own constantly employed carrying
slaves to New Orleans."
Mr. Leavitt went on board the Tribune and was
shown over her by the captain. He saw the arrange-
ments for stowing away the slaves in the hold, which
was divided into two apartments. The after hold, he
says, would hold about eighty women ; the other,
about one hundred men. They were stowed away on
platforms as close as they could well be.
In 1831, the Big Comet, a brig belonging to this
company, was wrecked on Abaco, one of the Bahamas,
with one hundred and sixty slaves on board.
Every effort made by the anti-slavery societies to
rid the national capital of the sin of slavery and the
slave-trade was promptly met by the counter influence
of the American Colonization Society ; and the inter-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 73
ests of officers in the government were in so many
cases allied with the system, that it seemed as impos-
sible to accomplish what they wished to do, as it now
does to the temperance workers to rid the govern-
ment of its connection with the liquor interest, which
is so closely guarded by the legal cloak.
But as " nothing was more certainly written in the
book of fate than that tliis people should be free,"
as Jefferson said, so in some unlooked for manner, it
may be, the strength of the people's voice will be felt,
and we may have the bonds of another class of slaves
broken, and the sons of America may continue to rise
in the strength and grandeur of the nobler workman-
ship of God's hand, filling the place in the home, in
the nation, that belongs to an enlightened Christian
manhood.
Northern men were not all abolitionists before the
war. Many who really wished the slaves free were
unwilling to incur the displeasure of the slaveholders
and their friends.
As late as 1835, Boston sentiment was such that
George Thompson, an Englishman, was not permitted
to plead the cause of the slave in that city. An in-
cendiary hand-bill, offering a reward of one hundred
dollars for his seizure, with a view to tarring and
feathering him, was freely distributed, and but for
his absence from the city, his life would probably
have been taken by the violent mob which gathered
in consequence. He had many narrow escapes in
other places, being repeatedly mobbed, and was finally
obliged to leave the country.
74 SOUTHERN HEROES.
With great care he was secreted on board a British
ship and sent to England. Returning in 1850, he
did address large audiences in Boston and elsewhere,
but still encountered mobocratic violence.
William Lloyd Garrison was awakened to the sin
of slavery by Benjamin Lundy, and was inspired in
his crusade for immediate emancipation by Elizabeth
Heyrick, an English Friend who wrote a stirring-
pamphlet in favor of that doctrine. He was im-
prisoned in Baltimore, mobbed and dragged through
the streets of Boston, and five thousand dollars was
offered for his arrest and conviction by the State of
Georgia.
WendeU Phillips, the gifted orator, was mobbed,
pelted with rotten eggs, and threatened with hanging
for taking up the cause of the oppressed slave.
In April, 1834, an anti-slavery society was organ-
ized in Haverhill, Mass., with John Greenleaf Whit-
tier as its corresponding secretary. The opposition
was as strong here as in Boston or any other part
of New England. In 1835, John G. Whittier had
arranged for Rev. Samuel J. May to lecture in the
Chi'istian chapel in HaverhiU. Mr. May says : " I
had spoken about fifteen minutes when the most
hideous cries and yells from a crowd of men who had
surrounded the house, startled us, and then came
heavy missiles and stones against the doors and the
blinds of the windows. I persisted in speaking for a
few minutes, hoping that the blinds and doors were
strong enough to stand the siege ; but presently a
heavy stone broke through one of the blinds, shat-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 75 '
tered a pane of glass, and fell on the head of a lady
sitting- near the centre of the hall. She uttered a
shriek, and fell bleeding into the arms of her sister.
The panic-stricken audience arose en masse and made
a rush for the doors."
Mr. May escaped by walking through the crowd
between two ladies, one of them Mr. Whittier's sister.
A loaded cannon was being drawn to the place by an
infuriated mob, and would doubtless have been used
to slay the people who had gathered to consider the
question of freedom for the Southern slave.
This same evening, John G. Whittier was with
George Thompson of England holding an anti-slavery
meeting at Concord, N. H. They were mobbed and
beaten. Whittier was obliged to seek refuge in the
house of a friend named Kent, who, though not an
abolitionist, told the mob that they could have Whit-
tier only over his dead body. Whittier, becoming
anxious for his friend George Thompson, who had
sought refuge in another house, borrowed a hat and
went in search of him. Cannon were brought and it
looked as though they would be killed ; but with the
aid of a horse and buggy which were furnished them
at a back way, they escaped to a distant inn, where
they took breakfast. Little suspecting the identity of
his guests, the landlord talked freely of the disturb-
ance, and spoke of Whittier as " an ignorant sort of
fellow," using many other expressions not very com-
plimentary to either of them. He was much sur-
prised to hear Whittier say, just before stejiping into
the buggy, after George Thompson was seated, " Well,
76 SOUTHERN HEROES.
this is my friend George Thompson, and I am John
G. Whittier." Stepping quickly into the buggy, he
drove rapidly away, leaving the landlord to look and
wonder. For two weeks he kept his friend hidden
about the farm.
Durins: the excitement in Boston, when William
Lloyd Garrison was imprisoned in jail for a night, to
save him from the fury of the mob, John G. Whit-
tier went to see him. Such was the excitement and
antipathy aroused against him as an abolitionist, that
he said he would have felt safer that night in jail
with William Lloyd Garrison.
In 1831 an attempt was made to establisn a school
in New Haven, Conn., for the education of the colored
people; but it was promptly stopped by the mayor,
aldermen, and common council, upon their own re-
sponsibility.
In 1832 a refined Christian lady, a Miss Crandall
of Canterbury, Conn., as school teacher, was applied
to by a pious colored woman for admission to the
school, saying that she wanted to gain enough know-
ledge to teach the colored children. Miss Crandall
admitted her, but was soon informed that the woman
must be dismissed. She then determined to open a
school for colored children. She was ari'ested, and a
" town meeting " was held to consider the subject.
The clerk of the meeting made a speech in which he
said if the school went into operation their children
would be ruined forever, and property no longer safe.
He said that they had a law which should prevent that
school from going into operation. The civil authori-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 77
ties and selectmen of Canterbury appealed to the Col-
onization Society for their help, and Miss Crandall
was sent to jail. WiUiam Lloyd Garrison said that
this work was but one of the genuine flowers of the
Colonization Society's garden.
In 1838 the office of the " Philanthropist," an abo-
lition paper published by Achilles Pugh, a Friend, in
Cincinnati, was ransacked by a mob. Much valuable
property was destroyed. In 1844 another mob, stirred
up by slaveholders and their sympathizers, was suf-
fered by the authorities to enter the press rooms and
office and destroy the presses and office furniture, and
completely ruin his business, while the officials of the
city looked on with apparent approval.
Abigail and Lydia Mott, sisters, and members of
the Society of Friends, became interested in emanci-
pation. Their home in Albany, N. Y., was opened to
those engaged in active work. They made the sub-
ject a study and arranged for public speeches upon it,
bearing much of the expense. Their counsel was
often sought by William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell
Phillips, Edmund Quincy and many others. William
Lloyd Garrison speaks of these sisters as " abolition-
ists, vigilant, uncompromising, well-balanced, clear in
vision, sound in judgment, discerners of spirits, and
many-sided reformers."
Josephine Griffin, lifting her voice for freedom, in
Ohio and Michigan, faced mobs whose violent demon-
strations would have alarmed less fearless advocates.
At Ann Arbor, Michigan, on one occasion she stood
for more than an hour before a howling, angry, threat-
78 SOUTHERN HEROES.
eiiing mob, before she could get them sufficiently
quiet to listen to her appeal for the oppressed slave.
These facts show a little of the public sentiment
which reformers, even in the Northern States, were
obliged to face.
Laura Haviland, now a minister among Friends in
Chicago, rejoices in the distinction of having, with
her husband, formed in 1839 the first school in
America, except Oberlin, where colored and white
could be received as students, upon equal terms. This
school was situated at Raisin Valley, Michigan, where
a settlement of colored people had been formed. Some
of them were runaway slaves, who, after ha ring lived
there in peace and happiness for some time, were
aroused one night from their slumber by the demands
of a group of men from Kentucky, who had come to
claim as their jjroperty and to return to bondage these
citizens of a free State. Several of these poor colored
jjeople were captured after a hard fight, and taken
hm-riedly away ; but the citizens of Raisin Valley
were not ready to allow such a summary withdrawal
of any of their number by an armed force. Warrants
were quickly issued and a posse, led by an abolitionist
officer, were soon in pursuit, and all the invaders were
placed under arrest. Among them was a preacher
who claimed as his share a black man in the company
who had been wounded before his capture. At the
coming of the invaders, the wife of the latter had hur-
riedly left her bed to arouse the neighbors. In the
bed she had left her baby. The preacher, seeing the
baby, claimed it as his property, — worth two or three
SOUTHERN HEROES. 79
hundred dollars in the slave market, — and took it
away with him. The officer in charge of the rescuing
party made the preacher get off of the horse which he
was riding and allow the wounded man to ride. Not
satisfied with thus humiliating him, he aroused the
people by the way, calling them to " Come and see the
preacher negro-stealer," who still carried the baby in
his arms. So terribly did the officer taunt him and
stir up the people to ridicule him, that the preacher
actually cried in the street and begged to be relieved
of the baby.
By law the child followed the condition of the col-
ored mother, and as the mother of this child was un^'
questionably a free woman, it was a clear case of kid-
napping on the part of the negro hunters.
They were put in jail and allowed to send for coun-
sel, and while they were waiting for trial the colored
people were consigned to the care of the Underground
Railroad. The Kentuckians were very glad to be
allowed to go home after paying costs ; but they did
not depart without expressing their opinion of " that
woman abolitionist, Laura Haviland, the negro
stealer," whom they charged with being the cause of
all their troubles. The sum of $3000 was offered for
her head by slaveholders, yet she has outlived many
if not all of those who sought her life, and now, in
her eighty-sixth year, is actively engaged in holding
revival meetings and preaching the Gospel of Peace.
Thomas Garrett, a merchant of Wilmington, Dela-
ware, was another friend of the slave, whose interest
in and efforts for the freedom of the nesrro won for
80 SOUTHERN HEROES.
liiia tlic curses of the slaveholders and an offer of
$2500 for his body, dead or alive. lie was known
by some as the " Fighting Quaker," and while he was
not really a fighter, nor do we know of his ever hav-
ing in this respect departed from the " views of
Friends," yet fighting men had great respect for his
physical j^owers, and were often made to think it most
prudent to avoid an occasion for conflict.
On one occasion some slaveholders had secured a
fugitive. lie was in a room bound with ropes, and
several men were guarding him. On learning of the
case Thomas Garrett hastened to the room and started
directly for the captive. Knives and pistols were at
once drawn and his life was threatened ; but looking
calmly at the men he said, " Put these things away ;
none but cowards use such," and showing a little of
his muscular power by pushing aside those in his way,
he proceeded to cut the cords that bound the poor
man, and actually led him away and sent him to Can-
ada by the Underground Railroad.
Thomas Garrett's home was well known to be a
station on this road to freedom. One day a woman
closely pursued by policemen and slaveholders was
seen by an Irishman running towards him as he stood
in an alley near the gate of Thomas Garrett's back
yard. While he did not profess to be an abolitionist,
but rather the contrary, his warm Irish heart was
touched with sympathy for this fleeing woman. Open-
ing the gate he told her to enter, saying, " You find
Thomas Garrett and you are safe sure." She was
seen from the house and hurriedly taken upstairs, fed
SOUTHERN HEROES. 81
and comforted. The slaveholders thought her as
good as captured. Leaving a guard to watch the
place, they went for a warrant to search the house.
Thomas and his wife were entertaining a party of
guests in the parlors. In order that those outside
might see within, Thomas opened the blinds and stirred
the fire in the grate, making a bright light. Mrs.
Garrett then asked to be excused for a little while and
went upstaii's. Soon after Thomas also excused him-
self, and with hat in hand called loudly at the foot of
the stairway, " Is thee ready, wife ? " In answer to
this call a woman appeared, clad in plain bonnet and
cloak, veiled, and ready for a walk. She took his
arm and they passed the policeman standing guard
near the door. Thomas spoke pleasantly to him and
jocosely to the boy watching by the gate ; they walked
several blocks, passing a number of his acquaintances
and policemen who were looking for the slave. When
the house of a certain negro was reached, they en-
tered. Thomas soon after left by the back door, re-
turned home by another way, and entering the rear of
bis own home met his wife waiting for him in her
chamber, and together they returned to the parlor. In
speaking of the matter afterwards, Thomas said he
thought the police had a better night's sleep than if
they had caught the poor creature, and she would be
better off in Canada.
Finally Thomas Garrett was brought before the
court. When returning from a business trij) into
lower Delaware, he had overtaken two colored men,
who asked for a ride, and whose request was granted
82 SOUTHERN HEROES.
cheerfully. They got out at a crossing in the city,
but some one had seen them, and Thomas was indicted
before the grand jury for " aiding and abetting run-
away slaves." He was fined $3000, and when the
judge had finished his long charge. Friend Garrett
said, " Is thee done ? " The judge replied that he was,
and then Thomas said, " I mean no disrespect to thee,
for thee is doing the duty of thy office, according to
thy idea of it, but I must say that I shall feel in con-
science bound to do this same thing again when way
opens." Thomas Garrett lived to rejoice in the Eman-
cipation Proclamation, passing away in 1871, in the
seventy-fifth year of his age.
John Fairchild, who was brought up in Virginia
amid the evil influences and luxuries of slavery, not-
withstanding his personal interests, became firmly
convinced that slavery was a sin against the colored
man. As to sin against God, he seemed to think lit-
tle, for he was a wicked man ; but he boldly under-
took the cause of the oppressed slave, and worked for
many years with as little regard to sin against their
owners as against God.
When quite young he decided to find a home in
some place where there were no slaves, and accord-
ingly went to Ohio. Wishing to take with him one
of his uncle's colored boys, to whom he had become
much attached, he advised the slave to steal one of
his master's horses and start one night in advance of
him. This was done, and with Bill traveling as his
servant, he reached Ohio and went on to Canada.
There John found so many colored people whose
SOUTHERN HEROES. 83
wives, husbands, children, or friends were still in
bondage, and whom they wished him to aid in their
escape, that he listened to their pleading and agreed to
undertake the work, in full knowledge of its danger.
To effect his purpose he went to the homes of slave-
owners with a body-servant, sometimes as a dealer
looking for purchases, abusing niggers and denoun-
cing abolitionists in the presence of his host, but
secretly carrying on his mission with the blacks. If
horses were needed, the negroes took them ; if pistols
and knives were thought necessary, John furnished
them. He said that the negroes had earned the horses,
therefore it was no injustice to take them. Sometimes
he was arrested, but in some manner he always man-
aged to escape. At one time he suffered much from
exposure and abuse, during a cold winter, in a prison
in Kentucky, but by outside aid he escaped before his
trial, which would doubtless have sent him to the pen-
itentiary. He then went to Cincinnati, where he lay
ill for a long time as a result of his imprisonment and
exposure.
The president of the Underground Railroad, Levi
Coffin, visited him during his sickness and endeavored
to persuade him to give up his hazardous way of work-
ing, risking his life and the lives of others as he did,
advising him very strongly to go to his home in Can-
ada and never cross the Mason and Dixon line again.
But Fairchild swore most positively that he would
liberate a slave for every day he had lain in prison.
After resting a few weeks he disappeared. He was
soon afterwards heard of crossing^ the Ohio River with
84 SOUTHERN HEROES.
twenty-eight fugitives from Kentucky. Committing
them to the care of the Underground Raih-oad, he re-
turned to the South, and soon reported in Detroit,
Michigan, with thirty more from Mississippi. Hav-
ino" the names of some in Baltimore and Washington
whose friends were anxious to have him liberate them,
he finally consented to undertake it. He visited Phil-
adelphia and purchased wigs and powder, for which
he expended 880, and used them to convert the light
colored slaves of Baltimore and Washington into re-
spectable looking white citizens. One of them was so
dark as to make it too much of a risk for the whole
enterprise to take him along, and the man had to be
left. Without being suspected, John Fairchild suc-
ceeded in shipping two companies west as first-class
passengers. Some members of the third party which
he started were missed by their owners, and informa-
tion that they were on the train was somehow obtained.
They w^ere on a fast express to Pittsburg. An engine
was attached to a single coach and chase was given by
the owners. The express had a good start, however,
and though the slave-owners were determined to suc-
ceed, they could not overtake the train until just be-
fore it arrived at Pittsburg. Finding themselves
pursued, the passengers did not see fit to await the
stopping of the train in the station, but all jumped off
just before the train was stopped, and quickly scat-
tered through the city to safe hiding-places. They
were hotly pursued by their owners, but were not
taken, and in due time made their way to Canada.
One moonlight night, with a large company of fugi-
r
SOUTHERN HEROES. 85
tives, John Faircliild was crossing a bridge. Armed
men were lying in ambusli at each end of it, and to-
gether began firing at the negroes as they were about
midway of the bridge. Fairchild promptly gave the
order, " Charge to the front." And charge they did,
firing as they went. The men in ambush " scattered
like scared sheep." When asked by Levi Coffin, to
whom he related the incident, if any one was hurt, he
showed him several bullet holes in his clothing, a
slight flesh wound on his arm, and another on a ne-
gro's leg. He said : " You see, we were in close quar-
ters, but my men were plucky. We shot to kill, and
we made the devils rmi."
Upon hearing him give this account, our peace-lov-
ing Friend, Levi Coffin, remonstrated with him for
trying to kill people, telling him that it was better to
suffer wrong than to do wrong ; that we shoidd love
our enemies. " Love the devil ! " was the characteris-
tic reply ; " slaveholders are all devils, and it is no
harm to kill the devil. I do not intend to hurt people
if they keep out of my way, but if they step between
me and liberty, they must look out for the conse-
quences. When I undertake to conduct slaves out of
bondage, it is my duty to defend them, even to the
last drop of my blood."
Levi Coffin says : " It was useless to preach peace
to John Fairchild. He would fight for the fugitive as
long as life lasted."
Getting his men together before starting, Fairchild
would give them to understand that there was to
be no turning back. It was " liberty or death." If
86 SOUTHERN HEROES.
pursued, they must fight if needful. He exacted from
each one promises of positive obedience to himself.
No one must turn back, but be ready to fight till
death ; and if any one should turn coward, he would
shoot him down. Fairchild, in turn, would promise to
remain with them until they were free, or die in the
attempt to free them.
John Fairchild followed this work for more than
twelve years, liberating slaves from every slave State
in the Union, making many happy in being freed
from bondage and united with their loved ones, and
finding his reward in their happiness, for he was often
needy and in rags ; but the colored people had un-
bounded confidence in him and love for him, and
would readily do what they could to supply his neces-
sities when they knew of them.
The best of fighters sometimes find themselves un-
able to " fight their way out," and the career of John
Fairchild was undoubtedly ended by the bullet of
some Southerner. In 1861 he closed up his business
in Indiana, where he thought to settle down and give
up his hazardous work, according to the advice of
Levi Coffin, but the recollection of slaves under the
lash, and the pleading of their friends for his help to
release them, doubtless proved too much for him to
withstand. The people of the neighborhood thought
he had gone to Canada, until they saw printed in a
Tennessee paper, an account of an " insurrection " on
the Cumberland river. It was stated that a body of
armed slaves was about to rise and destroy the white
inhabitants. The neighborhood was alarmed, and
SOUTHERN HEROES. 87
great excitement prevailed. A small army of men
was gathered, and they went to hunting and hanging,
or shooting down all slaves whom they found with
weapons, or suspected of being in any way connected
with the insurrection. A small company was met who
undertook to defend themselves, but it was useless ;
they were shot down by the overwhehning majority of
whites. The paper stated that " among the slain was
found one white man, a stranger to all, name im-
known, but supposed to be the instigator of the insur-
rection, and leader of the negroes." John Fairchild
has never since been heard from. " They that take
the sword shall perish by the sword."
Some degree of respect was shown by slaveholders
for public sentiment, when in the North. The hor-
rors of the system were kept as mvich as possible out
of sight ; but " down South," where for many years the
absolute control of the slaves was unquestioned, and
public sentiment had become so hardened by the oft-
repeated tale and scene of suffering and death, there
was frequently no check to the cruelty of masters,
except their moneyed interest in the slaves, and this
was often sacrificed to gratify their angry passion.
The slave had no rights before the law, but was as
other chattels.
There was for years, before the civil war, constant
fear on the part of the whites lest the negroes should
attempt to free themselves. Slight reasons were
often made excuses for the cry, " Negro insurrection,"
and then, without trial, and sometimes without pro-
vocation, the helpless negroes were whipped to death,
88 SOUTHERN HEROES.
shot clown, sawn asunder, or hung, according to the
whim of the tyrant into whose hands they had fallen.
At Natchez, Mississippi, in 18G0 and 1861, the half-
grown colored lads, in imitation of the whites, amused
themselves by forming companies and marching, with
sticks for guns. This was not objected to, or much
noticed until two colored men were heard conversing
upon what their masters had said : " If Abraham
Lincoln was elected, he would free all the slaves."
They declared that if this was so, they would go to
the Yankees and help do it. This was reported by
the men who overheard it, and, coupled with the train-
ing of the boys, a story of insurrection was widely
circidated. Negroes were said to be armed and train-
ino- for the murdering of the whites. A meeting of
citizens was called, and speeches of the wildest char-
acter were made, calculated to excite the people to
enmity and fear of the blacks. A committee of one
hundred men was appointed, — men mostly known
for their recklessness and cruelty, — who eagerly
undertook to put down the insurrection by whipping
or hanging all those who exj)ressed in their prayers
or otherwise any desire for freedom, or any dissatis-
faction with their lot.
Men were chosen to watch by night and listen at
the cabins of the slaves for any word on this subject.
At their meetings these men woiild report, and any
slaves reported were seized, questioned as to any
expression they might have heard of this kind, and
freedom was promised them if they would give infor-
mation against any ; but after it was obtained, the
SOUTHERN HEROES. 89
promise, having been made " only to a nigger," was
never kept.
It was soon known that, once in the hands of the
vigilance committee, whipping and hanging was their
fate, if the whipjjing did not cause death before they
could be gotten to the gallows, which was sometimes
the case. For many weeks Saturday was hanging
day at Natchez, and truly it was a " reign of terror."
First, the culprit was taken to a small two-roomed
building. In each of these two rooms were two iron
rings, fastened to the heavy oak floor, to which the
slaves were securely bound. On each side stools were
placed, on which the white men sat, and in turn applied
the lash to the bare flesh. After this the victims
were taken to a wagon, and sometimes as many as
ten or a dozen were taken to the gallows and hung at
the same time. No trial was considered necessary, no
evidence required except the statement of the vigi-
lance committee, that they had in some way com-
plained of their lot. Valuable servants were some-
times arrested and large amounts of money offered for
their release. It is reliably stated that Joseph Rey-
nolds offered $100,000 for the release of two valuable
and favorite servants. Miss Mary Dunbar offered
'flO,000 for the release of one of her three slaves,
whom the committee had taken ; but the victims were
never released, and these servants were whipped and
hung, as was also a child twelve years old.
Mrs. Haviland, in her " Woman's Life Work," is
authority for the above, and she gives the names of
the owners of two hundred and nine slaves who were
90 SOUTHERN HEROES.
hung in Natchez during the " reign of terror," proof
of which she obtained in that city. More than four
hundred were said to have thus perished. Some of
the owners and better class of citizens protested and
tried to turn the tide, but the fear aroused was so
great, and the brutal element had gained such control,
that they seemed powerless to arrest the flow of blood
until Natchez was occupied by government troojis.
The full extent of the cruel practices of slavery is
little considered by the majority of those who think it
is an evil. The field hands, in their long, weary day's
work, followed by the overseers and pressed to their
utmost exertion by the fear of the terrible lash, have
called forth our utmost sympathy ; but there was a
class of slaves whose sufferings were of a different
and more acute character than that caused by the
sting of the whip. A white woman, with enough of
the colored blood in her veins to cause a tinge of the
eye, or to give a tell-tale shade to the nail, was a
slave to the passions of the most depraved, coarse,
and brutal owners. She was placed upon the block
for sale, her charms discussed by the vulgar, and her
person sold to the highest bidder. This was the most
costly class of slaves. They often brought from
$1500 to '13000, and sometimes more. The girl was
helpless to evade her doom, powerless to resist the
will of her master, yet often hoping, longing, praying
for a door of escape. What such a life was to many
of them may be faintly seen from the following story
of Margaret Garner.
In January, 1855, a company of slaves belonging to
SOUTHERN HEROES. 91
one neighborhood had escaped to Cincinnati. On
arrival there they separated, as a number of them
wished to see a colored man with whom they were
acquainted, and they made several inquiries for his
house. This led to their being easily traced by
their pursuers. Kite, the colored man, received them
kindly ; but the house was soon surrounded by a
company of United States troops and slaveholders.
Those within barred the doors and windows, and
refused to admit the hunters, resolving to fight till
death rather than be taken back to slavery.
The company was composed of an old man, his
wife, and four children. Robert's wife was about
half white, a bright, agreeable looking woman, twenty-
two or twenty-three years old. The two older children
were pretty, wooUy-headed mulatto boys. The two
younger were girls, — one a three-year-old, with fair
white skin, the other a rosy-cheeked baby. All were
now within this room, surrounded by men claiming
them as their property, notwithstanding the fact that
the claimant in the company outside was the reputed
father of some, if not all, of these children.
The two colored men were armed and fought
bravely for liberty. The window was battered down,
and a deputy marshal, attempting to enter, was met
with a pistol bullet that made a flesh wound in his
arm, causing his hasty retreat. Within this cabin
were represented several thousand dollars in human
flesh, and the owner is claiming it by the law of the
United States. What matters to him the wounding
of her officers ? He demands of the law, as slaves, his
92 SOUTHERN HEROES.
children. Tlie clooi' is battered down, the officers
rush in, and though several shots are fired and another
United States officer is wounded, the colored men are
soon overpowered and dragged out of the house.
Seeing her husband dragged away, and knowing
too well the fate in store for herself and these little
ones, should they be taken back to slavery, Margaret
seized a kitchen knife and quickly killed the little
daughter with one stroke, by cutting her tlu'oat. She
then seized the babe to take its life also, loving her
children too much to allow them to grow up, if by
any means she could prevent it, to what she well knew
would be their fate as white girl slaves. The men
prevented her from carrying out her design, which
was not only to kill the babe, but the other children
and herself.
The whole party was taken to jail, and suit entered
in the United States court for possession. The trial
lasted two weeks, and created much excitement. It
was proved that the fugitives had been allowed to
visit the city before at various times, and by law were
free. Margaret Garner had been there as nurse girl
before the children were born, and, being a free
woman, the children were also free ; but it was ruled
that, by returning to a slave State, they had become
slaves, and were such at the time of their escape.
An effort was made by John J. Joliff, their coun-
sel, to wrest them from the United States custody
upon the charge of murder, under the law of Ohio.
The warrants were issued, and the attorney for the
fugitives pressed the serving of them, saying that,
SOUTHERN HEROES. 93
strange as it might seem for him to be pressing such
a charge, every one of his clients said they would " go
sin^ins: to the gallows rather than to return to
slavery."
The United States law provided that no warrant
should in any event be served upon a fugitive when
remanded to the custody of his former owner. Not
even a warrant for murder could prevent his being
returned to bondage. The attorney, Joliff, said the
fugitive slave law was unconstitutional, and, as a part
and parcel of his argument, he wished to show the
effects of carrying it out. It had driven a frantic
mother to murder her own child rather than see it
carried back to the seething hell of American slavery.
This law was of such an order that its execution
required that human hearts should be wrung and
human blood spilled. " It is for the court to decide
whether the fugitive slave law overrides the law of
Ohio to such an extent that a fugitive slave cannot be
arrested, even for murder."
The fugitives were finally indicted for murder, but
by provision of the slave law they could not be tried,
and the United States court gave them back to their
owners and allowed them to be taken to Kentucky.
On board a steamer they started South ; but not all
of them returned, for the mother, still holding in her
arms the rosy-cheeked baby girl, which had attracted
much attention at the trial on account of its white
skin and unusual brightness, watched for a favorable
opportunity and sprang overboard. Immediate efforts
were made to save them, but what the mother had
94 SOUTHERN HEROES.
failed to do with the knife was accomplished other-
wise, and the babe was dead. The mother was rescued
from the longed-for death, and taken to that which
seemed to her so much worse.
It is but just to say that the slaveholders gener-
ally were not of that inhuman type which is depicted
in this recital of the horrors of slavery. There were
a great many kind-hearted ones who were the victims
of the system, who were born under its blighting in-
fluences, and knew no way to free themselves from it
without making a greater effort or sacrifice than
many of them were prepared to do. Many would
not allow their slaves to be whipped, and treated
them kindly. When this was the case, the slaves
wfere in many instances better provided for than when
obliged to care for themselves, and many preferred
to remain with such masters after the Emancipation
Proclamation was issued.
CHAPTER V.
Champion of those who groan beneath
Oppression's iron hand, —
In view of penury, hate, and death,
I see thee fearless stand.
Then onward with a martyr's zeal,
And wait thy sure reward
When man to man no more shall kneel,
And God alone be Lord.
Whittier.
We will here introduce to our readers Levi Coffin,
the President of the Underground Railroad.
He was born in Guilford County, N. C, of Quaker
parents and Nantucket ancestry. His father's farm
was on the Salisbury road, near the Friends' meeting-
house at New Garden, six miles from Greensboro.
In this vicinity was fought the battle of Guilford
Court House, between General Greene and Lord Corn-
wallis, near the close of the war of the Revolution.
Many of the soldiers slain in this battle were buried
in the Friends' buryiug-ground, near their meeting-
house, which was used as a hospital for the wounded.
The houses of two Friends in the neighborhood, whose
farms joined, were occupied by the officers of the
opposing armies.
The road passing this meeting-house was traveled
for many years by slave-traders going South with
96 SOUTHERN HEROES.
tlieir human merchandise. The slaves were driveu
in what were called " coffles," two slaves being fas-
tened on each side of a heavy chain, thus making- four
abreast. A little behind these were four more, and
so on until all were thus fastened together. They
were followed by a white man on horseback, carrying
a long whip, which he sometimes used with as little
mercy as a cruel driver might now show in driving
cattle. A wagon followed containing supplies. Day
after day in this manner the journey was continued,
until the destination was reached or a sale was made.
These coffles were never seen going North.
The owners of the rice swamps and cane and cotton
fields of the extreme Southern States required more
slaves than they could raise, and they depended
mostly upon Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
and Kentucky to supply the deficiency. The work
of the more Southern States and often the greater
cruelty in the treatment of the slaves shortened the
years of labor, " as they toiled 'mid the cotton and the
cane." Slaves from the upper States dreaded to be
sold South more than anything else that could happen
to them.
When about seven years of age, Levi Coffin was
with his father by the roadside and saw a coffle of
slaves pass. His father pleasantly addressed them
with the words, " Well, boys ! why do they chain
you ? " One of them replied : " They have taken us
away from our wives and children, and they chain
us lest we should make our escape and go back to
them." The boy was much impressed with the de-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 97
jected api^earance of the company, and with the sad
words that he heard, and asked his father many
questions concerning them. His father explained as
best he conld the sad meaning of slavery, and thus
Levi Coffin took his first lessons as an abolitionist,
A few years later he was at a corn husking, where
the neighbors, white and colored, were assembled to
" shuck the corn," which had been broken from the
stalk in the field and piled in the yard. At sev-
eral points surrounding the pile, posts were set in
the ground with flat stones placed on the top, and
here the resinous pine knots, or " light-wood," were
burned, shedding a bright light all around. The
white people began at one end of the pile, the colored
at the other ; and with much story-telling, song, joke,
and laughter they worked until the golden ears were
stowed away.
On this occasion, while the white people were at
supper, Levi remained with the colored folks. Among
them he found one named Stephen, who had been
free born and apprenticed to a Friend named Lloyd,
living near Philadelphia. He was engaged in helping
drive a flock of sheep to Baltimore, and while asleep
in the negro house of a tavern, he was seized, gagged,
bound, hurriedly placed in a covered carriage, and
taken to Virginia, where he was sold to a man named
Holland.
Holland, who was now on his way South, had
stopped over a few days at his home, which was in
this neighborhood. Levi reported the case to a trusty
negro, who agreed to take Stephen the next night to
98 SOUTHERN HEROES.
the home of Levi's father, and give him an oppor-
tunity to hear Stephen's story. After listening to it,
Friend Coffin wrote at once to Edward Lloyd con-
cerning the matter. In about two weeks' time Lloyd
arrived, having traveled many weary miles by stage-
coach, but he found that Stephen had been taken
further South.
The next day, Lloyd attended the meeting of
Friends at New Garden and informed them of the
circumstances. George Swain and Henry Macy
agreed to accompany him in pursuit of the boy.
Friends contributed money for the expenses, as well
as a horse and saddle and other necessary equip-
ments for the journey. They found Stephen in
Georgia, where he had been sold. The purchaser
gave bonds to deliver him when proof should be
given that his mother was a free woman at the time
of his birth, and in due time our friends returned
and Stephen was ready to testify against his kid-
napper, who had been arrested and given bonds to
appear for trial ; but rather than meet Stephen in
court and abide the judgment, he forfeited the bond.
This was Levi Coffin's first experience in the lib-
eration of slaves. In his father's woods he often met
the limited negro, and " many times," he says, " I sat
in the thicket while they devoui'ed my bounty, as I
listened to their tales about hard masters and cruel
treatment, or in language glowing with native elo-
quence, they spoke of the glorious hope of freedom
which had animated their spirits in darkest hours
and sustained them under the lash."
SOUTHERN HEROES. 99
During his young manhood he was often engaged
in some way for the benefit of the slaves. He organ-
ized a school for them, which was at first encouraged
by some of the slaveholders, but was afterwards
closed, as they considered it dangerous for the slaves
to be educated. He often examined, in person or by
proxy, coffles of slaves ; and it is surprising how
many he found among them who had been kidnapped,
although kidnapping was said to be strongly opposed
by slaveholders. Many were released as a result of
his efforts.
He married the daughter of a neighboring Friend,
and in September, 1826, moved to Indiana, where he
began business as a merchant and manufacturer of
linseed oil. There was quite a settlement of free
colored people at the place, whose parents, if not they
themselves, had been settled there by the committees
of North Carolina Yearly Meeting. These colored
people were often called upon to harbor and forward
those who had escaped from their masters, but on
account of their inability to manage properly, the
owners sometimes regained possession of the fugitives.
Levi Coffin tried to interest his neighbors in this
subject, but met with little encouragement at first.
Even if they wished to help, they were afraid of the
penalty of the law. Levi told them that when a boy
in North Carolina he had read in the Bible that it is
right to take in the stranger and administer to him
in distress, and he believed that it is always safe to
do right ; that the Bible, in bidding us to feed the
hungry and clothe the naked, said nothing about
100 SOUTHERN HEROES.
color, and that he should try to follow out its teach-
ings.
The colored people soon came to understand that
in him they had a friend, and that a stranger knock-
in c: at his door would be admitted. Without adver-
tising it in the newspapers, it soon became known by
those interested in aiding the fugitive, that if his
house could be reached safety was assured, and fugi-
tive slaves began arriving before he had lived a year
in his new home.
The Underground Railroad was not a deliberately
organized institution, with capital stock publicly sub-
scribed and officers annually elected at large salaries.
Trains did not run from certain public j^laces on
schedule time, yet they made good connections. The
collection of fares was no part of the conductor's busi-
ness. It was his duty to receive all who came to him
fleeing from the laud of bondage, in pursuit of " lib-
erty and happiness." If needful, they must be
warmed, fed or clothed, then conveyed to the next
most suitable station on the I'oad to Canada, without
charge. They were, with a degree of caution, passed
from one friendly hand to another. Sometimes they
were kept in schoolhouse lofts where, perhaps for
days, they were the unobserved listeners to the chil-
dren's recitations. Sometimes they were hidden in
hay mows, straw ricks, or between feather beds in
some good housewife's chamber, and in all sorts of
ways kept from the eager eyes of their pursuers.
Levi Coffin's house soon became a Union station
for those coming by various lines from the South, con-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 101
verging at Newjiort, Indiana. Some of his friends
became much concerned for him. They said that his
business interests would suffer, that his very life was
in danger, and that his duty toward his family and
friends demanded that he shoidd cease his connection
with so hazardous and disrepvitable a business. Levi
and " Aunt Kate " had long before counted the cost.
They knew all the dangers better than their advisers.
They had deliberately and intelligently reached the
conclusion that the pathway of duty was plain before
them, and they steadfastly pursued the right, leaving
business interests, personal safety, and all with Him
who, they believed, had called them to this special
work.
When his views and practices became generally
known, his business interests did suffer for a time, for
men declared that they would not patronize such a
man ; but others came to him, and his business pros-
pered. He needed an increased income. Horses and
wagons must be always at hand to convey guests ten,
twenty, thirty, or forty miles on short notice, as they
were likely to appear at any time for passage on the
Underground Railroad.
At this station it sometimes occurred that several
trains arrived in the course of one night. At no time
on retiring were Levi Coffin and his wife sure of an
uninterrupted rest. The gentle tap might be heard at
any hour of the night, and when heard, Levi would
silently open the door, give a whispered invitation to
come in, and, leaving the sitting room door open, re-
turn to his wife and tell her of the hungry company
102 SOUTHERN HEROES.
needing refreshments. After the passengers had
entered, the doors were closed and the wmdows cur-
tained, that no spy from the outside might see what
was going on within. Lamps were lighted, fires built,
and soon the smell of hot coffee and cooking would
indicate that a satisfying portion was in preparation
for the ragged, hungry, shivering travelers. When
warmed and fed they were put away to rest as cir-
cumstances would permit.
Levi Coffin was often threatened with hanging,
shooting, and the burning of his property, bi;t he
feared not, and often said, " Barking dogs never bite."
On one occasion a letter was received from Ken-
tucky which stated that on a certain night an armed
body of men was coming to Newport to burn the town.
Levi Coffin's store, porkhouse, and dwelling were to
be the first fired, and if they were successful in getting
him they intended that his life should pay for the
crimes he had committed against Southern slavehold-
ers. He was advised to leave town. Most of the in-
habitants were Friends and non-combatants ; they
raised no resisting force to meet the invaders, placed
no pickets outside the town, but retired to rest as
usual. None showed any fear except one poor labor-
ing man who had built a little cabin in the woods a
mile and a half from town. Upon hearing the spring-
time music of the frogs he thought that the Kentuck-
ians were coming, and hastened to towTi to give the
alarm.
Levi Coffin states that the largest company of fugi-
tives ever seated at his table at one time was com-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 103
posed of seventeen men, women and children, varying
in color from tlie light midatto to the coal black negro.
They were from Kentucky, and the next night after
reaching the Ohio side of the river, when near a road,
they heard the sound of horses' feet, and soon saw
their pursuers close upon them. Hurriedly entering
a large cornfield across the road, they ran for liberty
and life, closely jjursued by fifteen or twenty armed
men. The negroes scattered in the wilderness of tall,
full-bladed, bottom-land Indian corn, which afforded
a good shelter. The pursuers called to them to stop
or they would be shot. Some recognized the voices
of their master, but did not incline to obey. They
had a taste and a hope of liberty, and these were al-
ready giving them a spirit of independence. Several
shots were fired, which they heard cutting the friendly
maize around them. They ran several miles before
stopping to collect their company. All could not be
easily found, but it was very important for them to
leave the cornfield before day; it was now nearly
morning.
They entered the woods near by and secreted them-
selves in the bushes. Soon they heard the sound of
wood-chopping, which again alarmed them, but by
careful observation they discovered that the chopper
was a friendly negro. He conducted them to a safe
hiding-place and furnished them with food, as the
bundles of clothing and food with which they had
started had been lost during their hurried fliaht.
They were afterwards conducted to a station on the
Underground Railroad, where their lost companions
104 SOUTHERN HEROES.
soon appeared. Two of tliem were wounded, one with
shot in his back, the other with a bullet wound several
inches long, in his side. Two covered wagons were
appropriated to their use, and early one morning
" Aimt Kate," of " Uncle Tom's Cabin " fame, was
called to the door. Upon asking who was there, she
was told, " All Kentucky." " Well, bring all Ken-
tucky in," was the ready response. Breakfast was
soon ready and they were told to eat all they wanted,
for they were among friends and in no danger of
being captured in that neighborhood of abolitionists.
They were soon at their ease, and " did all eat and
were filled."
In this case Levi Coffin called some of the neigh-
bors in to see this valuable lot of property, the worth
of which he estimated to be at least .117,000. They
remained for two days. The shot were taken out of
the man's back, and the wounded side was dressed.
Needed clothing was furnished, and all wei'e sent on
their way rejoicing to the house of John Bond, twenty
miles away.
The next morning a messenger came from Rich-
mond, Indiana, with word that fifteen Kentuckians
were there hunting fugitives. Levi Coffin quickly
sent this message to John Bond with word that the
colored people better be scattered. Thinking it safe
to travel in that country by day, John had sent them
forward immediately upon their arrival, lie now
mounted a horse, pursued and overtook them, and had
them secreted with different Friends, where they re-
mained in hiding for several weeks, until the hunters
SOUTHERN HEROES. 105
had given up the chase. They were then forwarded
to Canada.
Meanwhile, the Kentuckians had hired a lot of
roughs to aid them in fuiding their property, who
formed parties and started out in different directions.
The i)arty searcliing the town of Newport entered one
or two at a time to avoid suspicion, and inquired of
the children in the streets if any fugitive slaves had
been in town lately. They were told that a lot of them
had been at Levi Coffin's, but had gone on to Canada.
This information was given at the meeting of the com-
pany shortly afterward, and two divisions were sent
to the lakes to watch for the crossing of the fleeing
slaves into Canada. The slaveholders hired more
men, with whom they proposed to search every
Friends' community in that region. All their efforts
proved futile, so that, discouraged and angry, they
swore they would burn Levi Coffin out, shoot him at
sight, or hang him to a limb, if it cost $10,000.
A friend of Levi Coffin's who overheard the
threats, and thought that they started for Newport,
mounted a horse, and with pistols in his pockets hur-
riedly rode to give Levi warning and help him to
fight. He called Levi out of bed and excitedly told
his story. Levi replied that if they had really in-
tended to do such a thing they would never have told
of it ; and added : " Now, thee put up thy pistols. We
have no vise for them here, as we do not depend upon
firearms for protection." The well-meaning visitor
was persuaded to retire, and Levi went to bed and to
sleep.
106 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Soon the hunters returned South, but before going
they conferred an honorable and lasting title upon
our friend. They said they could get no trace of their
slaves on top of the ground, after they reached Levi
Coffin's house ; and declared that there must be an
underground railroad of which he was president. This
story they took pleasure in repeating several times in
the city, as a good joke, and it became the talk about
town, so that when Levi went to Richmond he was
asked by his friends if he knew of his late promotion,
and was told of the title given him. Levi said this
was the first he had heard about an underground rail-
road, and it was doubtless the origin of the term.
Levi Coffin then expressed his willingness to act in
any capacity to further the interests of the road, and
by universal consent retained the title, often receiv-
ing letters so addressed. For thirty years he served
faithfully, and no one complained of him for embez-
zlement of funds or for neglecting in any way the
duties of his office.
But the Emancipation Proclamation ruined the
business of the road. At a called meeting of inter-
ested parties, held at Cincinnati, amid speech-making
and much rejoicing, the president resigned his high
office, and the company disbanded with much good
feeling, thinking the business of the road forever at
an end. Of this we shall learn more later.
Although the threats to shoot and hang our friend
and burn his property were never carried out, these
hunters made arrangements with their landlord and
sympathizer at Richmond to prosecute him, and he
SOUTHERN HEROES. 107
was summoned before the court, charged with " aiding
and abetting runaway slaves." He promptly con-
fessed that a party of seventeen colored people had
stopped at his home. They were hungry and he had
fed them, as his Master had bidden him do. They
said they were slaves fleeing from their masters, but
the word of a slave was not accepted as evidence in
that court. The testimony of other witnesses corre-
sponded with that of Levi Coffin. The judge said :
" Gentlemen, I think Mr. Coffin knows more about
the fugitive slave law than you do. The case is dis-
missed."
On one occasion slave-hunters passed Levi Coffin's
door, when fourteen slaves they were searching for
were secreted in the house. He sent a man to ascer-
tain which way they went, promptly forwarded his
guests in another direction, and they safely reached
Canada.
In this company was a man who had been over the
road before, but had returned to his master in the
South. One morning he appeared before him, hat in
hand, and addressed him with the following words :
" Good mornin', massa. I 'se ready to go to work
now; done had 'nough o' freedom. Th' ab'litionists
is an awful set o' folks. Works a nigger mos' to deaff
and never pays him nuffin. Canady 's a awful cold
country ; not fit for a nigger to live in, nohow." His
master was no less surprised than rejoiced to see Jim,
and told him he hoped he would now make a good
missionary among his people and the neighbors. This
Jim promised to be. He obtained the perfect confi-
108 SOUTHERN HEROES.
dence of his master, would amuse and gratify him by
telling the colored people, in his presence, of the ter-
rible things he met with while in the North ; and the
darkies appeared as though they woidd not for the
world undertake to live in such a country and among
such a people as Jim had described. Yet he did such
faithful " missionary work " that this company of thir-
teen was willing to leave the " Sunny South " and the
homes their masters had provided, and go with him to
the cold Northland and trust themselves to those
dreadful abolitionists. Jim said he hoped the dear
Lord would forgive him for telling so many lies to his
master.
Amherstburg, near the head of Lake Erie, in Can-
ada, was the principal landing-place of fugitives for
the western routes. It was estimated that as early as
1844 more than forty thousand of these refugees had
reached Her Majesty's dominions. This number in-
creased rapidly from that time until 1861. Many of
them arrived in a most deplorable condition, with
scarcely anything but the free air with which to begin
their new life. At this place there was formed a set-
tlement of colored people, but a home for new arrivals
was needed. Isaac J. Rice, a noble, self-sacrificing
Presbyterian minister, left the church of which he was
pastor, in Ohio, where he had fine prospects, to obey
what he believed to be the call of God ; and here he
fed, taught, and nursed those homeless, suffering peo-
ple until homes could be provided for them. The col-
ored people in Canada formed aid-societies, and did
much for the relief of the new-comers.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 109
The " Philanthropist," of Cincinnati, was the first
paper published in the United States that advocated
the propriety of abolitionists' using only free-labor
goods. Soon afterwards the " Free Labor Advocate "
appeared. It was published at Newport, Indiana, and
edited by Benjamin Stanton, a Friend minister.
John Woolman, of New Jersey, was doubtless the
first man to advocate the practice and carry it out.
He was a devoted servant of God, and a minister in
the Society of Friends. His Journal well repays care-
ful reading now, as we look back upon this pure man,
taught of God. In all his ways he was consistent with
the truth which he advocated. He was many years in
advance of his day, and held out the light for other
generations to see. He took up the cause of the op-
pressed slave when almost none of his brethren could
see with him. He visited the slaveholders in the
South, and lovingly pleaded for their bondmen.
Read the " Life of John Woolman," and you will
appreciate the remark of Spurgeon concerning it, —
" A rare gem in English literature ; " or that of
Charles Kingsley, — " Eead Woolman's Journal and
love the Quakers."
Our friend Levi Coffin read this work at the time
of the agitation of this subject, and became convinced
that he could no longer be consistent with his work
and words unless he, too, abstained from using and
dealing in the products of slave labor. Accordingly
he went to Philadelphia and New York to examine
the market for free-labor goods. In Philadelphia he
was satisfied by the character of such men as Enoch
110 SOUTHERN HEROES. ^
Lewis, Abraham Pennock, Samuel Rhoades, George
W. Taylor, and others, who were engaged in selling
this class of merchandise, that the movement was
founded upon principle. He found a cotton factory,
managed by G. W. Taylor, that was manufacturing
at a loss cotton grown by Friends in North Carolina.
He bought as good an assortment of these goods as
he could get, and then went to New York, where he
found a grocery business conducted by Robert Liud-
ley Murray, Lindley M. Hoag, and others. This was
the outgrowth of the Free Labor Association of
Friends of New York Yearly Meeting, which in 1851
had eighty-five members, who mostly belonged to that
meeting. He purchased groceries at higher prices
than the same grade of goods could be purchased for
elsewhere, but men sometimes pay for principle.
The subject grew in the minds of Friends, and in
184G a convention was held in Friends' meeting-house
at Salem, Indiana, for all interested in the subject of
free labor. For two days those in attendance dis-
cussed ways and means to carry out their conscien-
tious convictions, and, realizing the necessity of divid-
ing the burden, which would be too heavy for any one
person to bear, they made up a capital stock of three
thousand dollars, to be loaned to a suitable person for
five years, without interest, to enable him to open, at
Cincinnati, a wholesale depository of free-labor goods.
They appointed a committee to secure some one to
take charge of the business, and that committee
promptly agreed upon Levi Coffin. At first he de-
clined, but no other satisfactory person could be found
SOUTHERN HEROES. Ill
to take the place, and he finally yielded to the earnest
appeals of various persons interested in the cause,
sold out his business in Newport, Indiana, and moved
to Cincinnati, Ohio.
He very soon found, in response to circulars issued,
that orders were more abundant than were the goods
to fill them. His acquaintance in the South enabled
him to purchase free-labor cotton, which he arranged
to have manufactured, and for ten years this business
was kejDt up. He then retired from mercantile life.
As at Newport, so at Cincinnati, our Friend found
•that few white peoj^le were ready to harbor fugitives,
and the colored citizens were often lacking in ability
to evade the pursuing owners. Though he hoj3ed to
be relieved from this duty upon his removal to the
city, he found himself, on the contrary, more than
ever engaged in it. For more than twenty years in
Newport, Indiana, and for about ten years in Cincin-
nati, Ohio, his home was the refuge of tlie fleeing
slave. On an average for each of the twenty years,
one hundred and six fugitives were received, cared
for, and foi'warded from this station ; and more than
three thousand in all were fed at his table. Many of
them were clothed and shod, the sick were nursed,
medical attendance was provided, and sometimes the
stay of the slaves was prolonged to weeks and months.
In all this time he never lost a passenger. It was
generally known in the town in which he lived, as
well as by many of the slaveholders, that he enter-
tained the fugitives, and yet his house was never
searched. He boldly declared that if they did search
112 SOUTHERN HEROES.
it, the law must be strictly followed, or the penalty
would be vigorously enforced.
His business relations gave him influence, and kept
many in fear of his displeasure. For years a ladies'
sewing society met weekly at his house, and made and
repaired garments for men, women, and children.
Often the fugitives arrived, after weeks of travel and
exposure, while trying to make their way to freedom,
led by the north star from some extreme Southern
State, and losing their way on some dark nights when
the friendly star was hidden. They dare not take a
public highway, for fear of being seen by unfriendly -
white men, so that, with wornout shoes, — if, indeed,
they had any, — and with clothing torn and ragged
from contact with briers, perhaps wounded by shot or
bullets from their pursuers, or torn by the blood-
hounds, wretched, suffering, and miserable, they ar-
rived at the home of the " Good Samaritan."
The Southern slaveholders had become too agrjrres-
sive, in the pressure of their peculiar institution, upon
the United States. The requirements made of North-
ern citizens were more than they were willing to meet,
and the breach between the Northern and Southern
sections grew wider. John C. Calhoun and other
Southern politicians taught their people that secession
from the United States government was the right of
the individual States, and such was the influence
brought to bear, that when election came, it was al-
most a " Solid South." When Abraham Lincoln was
elected and the Southern candidate defeated, they were
disappointed, and unwilling to abide the result ; hence
SOUTHERN HEROES. 113
the firing upon the United States flag at Fort Sum-
ter.
Civil war and the Emancipation Proclamation of
Abraham Lincoln followed, freeing nearly four mil-
lion slaves, many of whom hardly knew their right
hand from the left. They were a vast company of
homeless children, for even ' the oldest were but chil-
dren in understanding. Yet now they were no longer
under the care of interested owners, who had at least
a pecuniary interest in them, and they became the ob-
jects of the world's charity.
Societies for their relief sprang up all over the
Northern States, and soon became organized for the
distribution of the gifts of a sympathetic people.
Everything that must be used by individuals, by
households, and by schools, was needed ; and it was
wonderful how these things were supplied, Levi Cof-
fin was a leader in this work, and visited the South a
number of times to arrange for the free transportation
of goods and the distribution of the gifts of the great
West.
He went to England in the interest of this labor of
love, bearing with him letters from many prominent
men in church and state, and readily gained access
to the wealthy and generous people of that dear old
country. A "London Freedmen's Relief Society"
was formed, with prominent men of England as its
officers. He worked under its auspices, and told to
many large congregations the story of the wrongs,
sufferings, and needs of this people.
He visited Scotland, France, and many other parts
114 SOUTHERN HEROES.
of Europe in the interest of this cause, and most
nobly did Europe respond to the appeal. Banks
charged no commission, railroads no tariff, steamships
no freight, and all seemed to do what they could to
atone for the common sin toward this helpless people,
who, no longer slaves, were in need of much training
and education to fit them to become intelligent citi-
zens, competent to cast a vote upon the affairs of the
nation.
Although the United States government gave
them the elective franchise long before they were
prepared for it, very many of them have set them-
selves to work and are fast becoming competent for
their new duties, notwithstanding adverse criticisms
and unfavorable comments upon them. Certain it is
that the colored schools and colleges of the Southern
States, the rapid advancement of many of the freed
people, the important positions some of them have
filled and do now fill so well, and the steady acqui-
sition of comparative wealth by many others, all go
to show a wonderful development in a people who
emerged from the barbarism of Africa, and then for
generations were kept in bondage and ignorance.
That they are capable of mastering much and are
worthy of a higher position than to be under the lash,
the following facts, gathered from different sources
(presumably correct) furnish abundant proof :
There is 13,500,000 taxable property now held by
them in the Southern States. Since their freedom a
former slave of Jefferson Davis has translated the
Bible into the Sweetzer tongue, which is spoken by
SOUTHERN HEROES. 115
250,000 Africans. It was stated recently that there
are 25,530 negro schools in the South, where 2,250,000
negroes have learned to read, and most of them to
write. In these colored schools there are 238,000
j)upils and 20,000 negro teachers. There are 150
schools for their advanced education, and seven col-
leges are administered by negro presidents and facul-
ties ; while of these jDresidents three were formerly
slaves. There are 154 negro editors, 250 lawyers,
740 physicians, and 247 negroes from the South who
have been and now are educating themselves in Euro-
pean universities. In addition to this, many churches
have been formed among them, and thousands of
colored men are engaged in the ministry.
Where in the history of mankind has such a rapid
development and advance been shown by any people
in the space of thirty years ?
Levi Coffin believed in the education of the colored
race, and spent nearly " threescore years and ten "
in their service, working in every way he could for
their freedom and enlightenment.
He has gone to his rest, having passed from works
to rewards in the seventy -ninth year of his age, with
his work well done. His funeral was attended by
many of Cincinnati's best people, and the tears of
both black and white indicated the place he held in
the hearts of all classes.
Rev. Dr. Rust, Secretary of the Freedmen's Aid
Society, said : " It would take less bravery to go up
to the cannon's mouth than to do the work he did.
He walked through the streets hooted at and threat-
116 SOUTHERN HEROES.
ened by mobs, and the battle-field has scarcely such
illustrations of heroism as he exhibited every day."
The amount of work he accomplished without gun,
pistol, or knife was much greater than that of John
Faircliild, and greater than any one person could have
done with weapons ; and the ultimate good to those
for whom he labored was far beyond that of any one
who trusted in his own wisdom for guidance and in
fire-arms for defense.
His life was the life of the righteous, his last days
peaceful and happy, and his end triumphant.
CHAPTER VI.
The Quaker of the olden time ! —
How calm and firm and true,
Unspotted by its wrong and crime,
He walked the dark earth through.
The lust of power, the love of gain.
The thousand lures of sin
Around him, had no power to stain
The purity within.
Whittieb.
At the beginning of the war, most of the Friends
in North Carolina were located in the central and
northwestern parts of the State, in Iredell, Yakdin,
Surrey, Davie, Guilford, Randolph, Alamance, and
Chatham counties. There were, however, six small
churches in Wayne, Northampton, and Perquimans
counties, in the eastern part of the State, but the
meetings were all so connected by sending reports
from one meeting to another, by the attendance of
delegates and members generally upon the services
of the superior meetings, that they were more or
less personally acquainted with each other all over
the State, and to a certain extent with Friends in
other States.
It may not be out of place here to give our readers
the order of church government of the Friends, that
a clearer understanding may be had of the reason
118 SOUTHERN HEROES.
why Friends from the South generally knew where
to o-o after crossin"- Mason and Dixon's line, and so
readily found homes, friends, and business in the
North and West.
The Friends' business meetings of primary charac-
ter are called " preparative meetings," and may be
composed of one or more congregations or meetings
for worship. These meetings are held on a week day,
once a month. The business that pertains to the
local meeting only may be settled here. Any busi-
ness that may require the attention of a superior
meeting is " prepared " and forwarded by the rep-
resentatives, or delegates, appointed to attend the
monthly meeting, which is usually held the following-
week.
This monthly meeting is composed of the members
of one or more preparative meeting's (usually of
more than one), and is a meeting of record. In some
cases, where the monthly meeting is composed of only
one meeting, the preparative is not held. If the busi-
ness of these meetings is of a nature to claim the
attention of a superior one, it is forwarded by dele-
gates or the clerk to the monthly or quarterly meet-
ing. The monthly meeting is a legally constituted
body, with power to hold property through trustees.
It appoints officers in the church, but forwards some
of its appointments to superior meetings for their
information and approval.
The principal officers of the Friends' churches are
elders and overseers, and both men and women are
appointed to these stations. Men and women are
DR. NEREUS MEXDENHALL
SOUTHERN HEROES. 119
acknowledged as ministers when they have given evi-
dence of having been called by the Great Head of
the Church to preach the Gospel.
The ministers, elders, and overseers have the gen-
eral oversight of the flock. Care is had that those
appointed as elders shall be persons gifted with a
discerning spirit and shall be so well versed in the
Scriptures as to be able to judge wisely of the minis-
try and exercise a degree of care over the ministers.
TJie quarterly meetings are composed of two or
more monthly meetings, and to it representatives are
appointed by the monthly meetings. Answers to
queries from the discipline of the society, pertaining
to the life and conduct of the members of the
monthly meetings represented, are read, and any
other business which may have come from the
monthly meetings, or has been otherwise properly
introduced, is here considered.
These quarterly meetings are of general interest,
and usually last two or three days. On the first day
there is a meeting for ministers, elders, and usually
for the overseers also ; the next day a meeting for
worship is held for all who wdll attend ; and follow-
ing this is the quarterly meeting for business.
All these meetings, except the first class, are open
to all the members alike, with equal privileges of
being heard upon any question. Instead of a presi-
dent or chairman, the clerk serves as the officer of
the meeting, and usually has an assistant to aid in
reading or writing. He or she obtains the judgment
of the meeting by the sentiment expressed ; not
120 SOUTHERN HEROES.
always by the majority of those who speak, but
sometimes by taking into consideration the qualifica-
tions of the speaker, his degree of experience and
ability to judge. Should there be a decided diver-
sity of ojDinion upon any subject, and any doubt in
the clerk's mind as to a satisfactory conclusion, the
matter is left over for consideration in a subsequent
meeting. It is not customary in Friends' meetings to
arrive at conclusions by vote, although it occasionally
is done in some parts of the country. Concessions
are often made in order to promote harmony.
Should there be business that affects interests
beyond those of the quarterly meeting, or of too
great importance to decide, it is forwarded by dele-
gates with minutes from the records to the yearly
meeting. The quartei-ly meeting also forwards to
the yearly meeting the j)reparative and monthly meet-
ings' answers to the queries, in order that the yearly
meeting may have an understanding of the general
condition of the subordinate meeting's.
These yearly meetings are of wide interest ; they
are usually composed of thousands of members, and
are held for about one week. Their decisions upon
all questions that come before them are final. Some
yearly meetings meet altogether in joint session of
men and women, the women being represented at the
clerk's table and having equal rights with the breth-
ren. Other yearly meetings have separate sessions
of men and women, and these send their conclusions
to each other by messengers ; but the tendency of all
the yearly meetings in America, except Philadelphia,
SOUTHERN HEROES. 121
is toward tlie plan of having one meeting of men and
women, in whicli there is no respect of sex.
Each yearly meeting has a standing representative
committee composed of some of its most experi-
enced members, to act for it during the recess of the
yearly meeting. This committee meets five times in
Philadelphia, twice a year at specified times in most
of the yearly meetings and in some but once, but is
subject to be called together by the clerk should any
" suffering case " arise. Hence the name, " Meeting
for Sufferings," applied to this meeting, though it is
now called by most yearly meetings "the Kepre-
sentative Meeting." To this meeting is referred the
care of real estate, trust funds, and other matters
which may be more fully discussed and easily settled
by the smaller body than in the large yearly meet-
ing. The proceedings are recorded and read in the
yearly meeting, whose approval, when given, con-
firms the acts of the representative meeting.
Occasionally conferences have been held, consist-
ing of representatives, including both men and
women, from every Orthodox yearly meeting in the
world. For days they meet and discuss questions of
importance to the church in general, and recommen-
dations are agreed upon to be submitted to the
different yearly meetings. The conclusions of this
conference, however, are not binding upon any of
the yearly meetings, except such as by their own
actions choose to make them so. The deliberations of
the conference are carefully recorded, and printed
volumes of them are sent to the meetings and to
122 SOUTHERN HEROES.
many of the active members, so that all may be
informed of the subjects considered, of the addresses
given, and the conclusions reached.
The yearly meetings (Orthodox) now number,
with Philadelphia, thirteen in the United States, one
in Canada, one in England, and one in Ireland, with
half-yearly and quarterly meetings in Australia and
many other parts of the world.
These meetings, except Philadeli)hia, are connected
by a chain of correspondence in the form of annual
epistles, addressed by each to all the others and to
London Yearly Meeting, We see by this digression
the relation of the members to each other, and also
that a Friend is in touch with his brethren the world
over. There has ever existed such a bond of union
and sympathy between them that a member of the
Friends' Church is at once recognized by his fellow-
members as a person worthy of credit and of assist-
ance if necessary.
Friends in the South were, during the Civil War,
only divided from their Northern brethren by geo-
graphical lines and military law. Having crossed
Mason and Dixon's line, they had only to find a com-
munity of Friends to find a home and all things need-
f id. Especially welcome were they in the West, for
many living there, or their ancestry, had moved from
the South on account of slavery. In many cases they
were related to those fleeing on account of war, and
cordially welcomed them to their homes. South Caro-
lina seceded from the Union December 20, 1860, and
Virginia promptly followed on April 18, 1861. North
SOUTHERN HEROES. 123
Carolina, tliougli geographically situated between the
two, was loyal to the Union by a large majority. One
county, Randolph, which had within it a strong Quaker
element, gave only forty-five votes for secession and
2570 against it.
At first the people freely expressed their opposition
to secession, but speakers from South Carolina and
elsewhere were sent through the State, from her
mountains to seaboard, appealing to the people, " in
view of their best interests," to secede. It was stated
that her sister States, Virginia and South Carolina,
had gone out, and that if North Carolina refused to
do so they would make her soil their fighting ground
and compel her to secede. In fact, they declared that
there was no alternative, she must secede. Taken at
so great a disadvantage, wifli uneasy slaveholders and
politicians urgently pressing their demands. Governor
Ellis finally declared North Carolina seceded from the
Union, May 20, 1861, and the " Old North State," the
first in a declaration of independence of British rule,
was now almost compelled to join in a secession from
the United States. .
Among all her citizens not a Friend was found to
vote for secession. They had already emancijDated
their slaves, they were loyal to the principles of peace,
and they most firmly believed in " Union forever."
In the twelfth month of this year, 1861, there was
presented to the legislature of North Carolina an act
called " an ordinance concerning test oaths and sedi-
tion," by which every free male person in the State,
above sixteen years of age, was required to appear
124 SOUTHERN HEROES.
publicly and renounce all allegiance to the government
of the United States, and also to agree to support,
maintain and defend the independent government of
the Confederate States. The alternative was ban-
ishment within thirty days.
The reader will at once see the peculiar bearing of
this statute upon Friends within the State. They
were opposed to slaveiy and war, they had been loyal
to the United States, and had voted against secession,
and they had no unity with a new government which
they believed would perpetuate slavery. Allen U.
Tomlinson and Isham Cox sjjent much time in labor-
ing with the members of this legislature, showing
them the effect of such a law upon their people.
When the bill finally came to a hearing, the Honor-
able William A. Graham of Orange County, N. C,
and Eugene Grissom of Raleigh, members of the
legislature, took up their cause. They were acquainted
with many Friends, and respected them, and they
were informed of the principles of Friends on these
subjects. When the bill came before the House,
they made able speeches opposing its passage, in
which Governor AYilliam Graham said : " It would
amount to a decree of wholesale expatriation of the
Quakers, and on the expulsion of such a people from
our midst the whole civilized world would cry
' shame.' "
North Carolina Yearly Meeting records say that
" The act fell to the ground, but not so the hostility
that was capable of suggesting it. In the excitement
that now prevailed throughout the State, in the effort
SOUTHERN HEROES. 125
to promote volunteering, Friends were in various ways
exposed to much anxiety. Many left the State,
though every means was now used to prevent this,
and several parties of emigrants were arrested and
brought back. A few Friends were occasionally
included in the military drafts, but obtained their
release upon various grounds without much difficulty.
It was not until the summer of 1862 that the great
and general trial came.
" By the passage of a conscription act in the Con-
federate Congress, in the seventh month of this year,
every man between eighteen and thirty-five years of
age was required to enter the army. This act was
amended as early as 1863, and made to include all
between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. In 1864,
all between seventeen and fifty were included. Finally
all males from sixteen to sixty were enrolled ; four-
teen-year-old boys and men over sixty were sometimes
used for home guards.
" In the fourth month, 1862, Friends petitioned
both the State assembly and the Confederate Con-
gress for relief. The State government first passed
an act of exemption, releasing them from State mili-
tary duty upon the payment of $100 each ; and on the
eleventh of tenth month a similar bill was passed by
the Congress at Richmond, which exempted all who
were members with Friends at that time, upon the
payment of $500.
" Unlike our Friends in the Northern States, it was
not on the few that the trial came, but on the many,
and in another more important respect our position
126 SOUTHERN HEROES.
differed widely from theirs. In our own case, the
existing government and the officers who executed its
will were far from having sympathy with us. We
were still loyal at heart to the government of the
United States, and though submitting passively to a
temporary usurpation, this was little merit in a com-
munity that called for the utmost zeal in the new
cause. We testified against slavery, and in the fresh
effort to establish it firmly, this was no small offense.
Above all, we could not fight, and with the spirit of
war so rampant in our midst that the preaching of
the Gospel of Peace gave way in almost every place
of worship to a call to arms, the hatred and malice
aroused fell with much violence upon us."
•The members of the committee of Friends ap-
pointed to visit the Confederate Congress were Isham
Cox, John B. Crenshaw, Nereus Mendenhall, John
Carter, and Allen U. Tomlinson, men of ability and
of good standing in their respective commimities, and
well known as Friends in all the country, John B.
Crenshaw, a minister, living in Richmond, Va., was
personally acquainted with many leading men of the
Confederate government. Nereus Mendenhall was
well known as one of the most learned men in North
Carolina, and was a prominent educator. Isham Cox,
a minister, and for many years a leader in the yearly
meeting, was well known and esteemed in the church
and country. John Carter was a prominent business
man, as was Allen U. Tomlinson.
These five proceeded to the Confederate Congress
as representatives of the Friends, to enter their protest
JOHN CARTER
ISHAM COX
JOHN H. ( RHXSIIAW
i^' *^.
ALLEN U. TOMLINSON
SOUTHERN HEROES. 127
against these unrighteous laws, and to plead for the
relief of their brethren.
Speaking of the occasion, John B. Crenshaw said :
" It being a warm summer night, the meeting was
arranged for the evening, and we were requested to
have seats out on the Capitol grounds to avoid the
heat from the lights inside the Capitol building. The
committee was comjDosed of some of the ablest men in
the Confederate Congress, most of them men who had
served in the Congress of the United States. Mr.
Miles, of South Carolina, was chairman. It was the
feelintr of the delegates that Nereus Mendenhall was
preeminently the man to present our case. It seemed
impossible, almost, to secure his consent, owing to his
natural reserve. Finally, Chairman Miles said :
V^ ' Gentlemen, the committee is ready. Please state
your case.' A dead silence followed. In a few min-
utes, fearing the committee would not understand
or appreciate our holding a silent Quaker meeting
then and there, I reached over and gently touched
Nereus. He arose slowly, and when fully aroused
and warmed up to his subject I thought I never heard
such an exposition of the doctrines of Friends on the
subject of war. Other members of the delegation
followed, but the ground had been covered so
thoroughly that there was little left for us to say."
This same delegation visited Jefferson Davis, and
while he received them with courtesy, he remarked
that he regretted to learn that there was within the
limits of the Southern Confederacy a body of people
unwilling not only to fight, but if needful to die in
defense of their country.
128 SOUTHERN HEROES.
The result of the labors of this delegation was the
passage of a law exempting Friends and Dunkards
from service in the Confederate army upon the pay-
ment of $500, or upon the performance of certain
services in connection with hospitals, etc. To Nereus
Mendenhall's argument, perhaps more than any other
one thing, was due the passage of this law.
One of the committee said to this delegation of
Friends : " Doubtless your peoj^le are in the Northern
army fighting us, and why should you not join us in
fighting them ? " To this Isham Cox replied : " I am
not afraid to agree to fight, single handed, every true
Friend in the Northern army." Such was his confi-
dence in the adherence of his Northern brethren to
the principles of non-resistance, that he had no idea
of a true Friend's being in the army, and he was care-
ful to use the word true. Some members there were,
however, whose education against slavery had been so
much more thorough than their education against
war, that they thought themselves justified in going
to war for the abolition of slavery. These, as a rule,
were promptly diso^vned by their meetings, in whose
judgment, however desirable it might be to abolish
slavery, war was contrary to the commands of Christ.
They judged that we should not do evil that good may
come, and that a man could not be a true Friend and
go to war.
It may be well in this connection to take a look at
the situation in which Friends in the Northern States
were placed. In the government were many who were
familiar with the views of Fi*iends, and who knew
SOUTHERN HEROES. 129
them to be unyielding in their testimony to the prin-
ciples of " peace on earth, good-will to men."
Abraham Lincoln, himself a descendant of Friends
and acquainted with their religious views, was always
ready to receive them when they came to him on any
account, saying : "I know they are not seeking an
office." Secretary Stanton's mother was a minister
among Friends, and lived in Ohio during the war.
Attorney-General Bates and Salmon P. Chase were
also said to have been connected with Friends ; and
H. W. Halleck, at one time General-in-chief of the
armies, remained a member of the meeting at New-
port, Rhode Island, during the war, by an oversight
caused by his removal to the West. Lincoln's cabinet
was called " the Quaker War Cabinet," and they were
very lenient to Friends who were opposed to fighting
on conscientious grounds.
Abraham Lincoln was visited by a delegation of
Friends in the early days of the war. He and many
members of the Cabinet so sympathized with them in
their trying position that they were exempted from
the first draft, but the Senate and House of Represent
tatives of the United States, judging it unjust to
others, would not permit this to be continued, al-
though memorialized on the subject by the Baltimore
Friends.
Secretary Stanton advised the Friends, in view of
the large draft of men anticipated, to hold a general
conference of all their yearly meeting committees to
consider a proposition from him which, he believed,
would satisfy them and relieve him and the govern-
130 SOUTHERN HEROES.
ment. He proposed to create a siDecial fund for the
benefit of the colored refugees, and to exempt drafted
Friends from military service upon the payment of
$300 into this fund, said payment not to be, as in
other cases, to the district provost-marshal, but to his
fiscal agent at Washington, to be credited to the col-
ored people, and that Friends should have the dis-
bursement of it through their own agents and labor-
ers, lie expressed deep interest in the matter, and
was willing to accept this as the only legal mode in
his power for their relief.
This conference of the committees of the yearly
meetings was held in Baltimore. They sent a delega-
tion to Washington during the session of Congress.
This delegation succeeded in having Congress engraft
in the enrollment bill a clause very much like the
proposition of Secretary Stanton, declaring Friends
to be non-combatants, and assigning those who might
be drafted to hospital or freedmen's service, or ex-
empting them from all active military service upon
the payment of t|300 into a fund for the relief of
the sick and wounded. In the June following, the
bill was materially amended and this clause was
stricken out, but it was restored before the final pas-
sage of the bill. The Friends felt confident of the
good feeling of Congress toward them, and that un-
conditional exemption would have been granted them,
but for the fear of serious embarrassment to the gov-
ernment. Among the papers of Francis T. King the
following accoimt of this matter has been found, and
is interesting in this connection :
SOUTHERN HEROES. 131
" At a meeting of tlie committees of the represen-
tative meetings of New York, New England, Ohio,
Indiana, Western, and Baltimore, in conference at
Baltimore 12th month 7 th, 1863, twenty-five persons
were present. After a time of waiting upon the Lord,
they organized and passed unanimously the following
minute :
" ' We believe it right for us first to record our
united sense and judgment that Friends continue to be
solemnly bound unswervingly to maintain our ancient
faith and belief that war is forbidden in the Gospel ;
and that as followers of the Prince of Peace we can-
not contribute to its support or in any way participate
in its spirit ; that to render other service as an equiva-
lent for, or in lieu of, requisitions for military pur-
poses is a compromise of a vital principle which we
feel conscientiously bound to support under all cir-
cumstances, and notwithstanding any trials to which
we may be subjected.
" ' We greatly appreciate the kindness evidenced at
all times by the President and the Secretary of War,
when we have applied to them for relief from suffer-
ing for conscience' sake, and honor them for their
clearly manifest regard for religious liberty.' "
After speaking of civil government as a divine ordi-
nance, they close their minutes by saying : " Friends
can discharge the duties of good citizenship without
infringing upon their principles of peace, and we de-
sire to impress upon them the duty of embracing
every right opportunity for the exercise of Christian
benevolence toward their sufferino- fellow-creatures."
132 SOUTHERN HEROES.
A committee of three Frientls, one each from New
England, Indiana, and Baltimore, was appointed to go
to Washington without delay and confer with the Sec-
retary of War upon his proposition to exempt Friends
from military service. The interview was readily ob-
tained, and the committee heard his proposition, to
grant relief by the payment of a sum which would go
to the aid of the freedmen. He stated his views ably
and cogently, and while he showed great courtesy and
kindness, he also manifested much firmness and
decision.
Eliza P. Gurney of Burlington, N. J., the widow of
Joseph John Gurney, was a Friend minister of deep
spirituality, refined tastes, and much ability. Her
sympathies were enlisted for Abraham Lincoln dur-
ing the dark days of the war, and she felt constrained
in the love of the Gosjiel to visit him. It was on a
rainy morning of the first day of the week in 1862,
that she and her friends were introduced into the pri-
vate apartments of the President, who received them
very cordially. John M. Whitall, of Philadelphia,
one of the party says : " It was a time not soon to
be forgotten. I cannot possibly describe the scene;
the solemnity of the silence, and the impressive
address of our friend, during which the tears ran
down tlie cheeks of our honored President. During
the earnest prayer for the nation and himself, he
seemed much affected, and as we arose to go he re-
tained the hand of Eliza P. Gurney and made a most
beautiful response to what had been said. This re-
sj^onse began and ended with the words, ' I am glad
of this interview.' "
SOUTHERN HEROES. 133
More tlian a year after, Abraham Lincoln sent
Eliza P. Gurney a request to write him a letter,
which she did, and so highly did he prize that letter,
that it was found in his breast pocket at the time of
the fatal shot of J. Wilkes Booth, nearly two years
afterwards. Below is a copy of the letter :
" Eaklham Lodge, S/IS, 1863,
"To THE President of the United States.
" Esteemed friend, Abraham Lincoln : Many
times, since I was privileged to have an interview with
thee nearly a year ago, my mind has turned toward
thee with feelings of sincere and Christian interest ;
and as our friend Isaac Newton offers to be the
bearer of a paper messenger, I feel inclined to give
thee the assurance of my continued hearty sympathy
in all thy heavy burthens and responsibilities, and to
express not only my own earnest prayer, but, I be-
lieve, the prayer of many thousands whose hearts
thou hast gladdened by thy praiseworthy and success-
ful efforts ' to burst the bands of wickedness, and let
the oppressed go free,' that the Almighty Ruler of the
universe may strengthen thee to accomplish all the
blessed purposes which in the unerring council of His
will and wisdom, I do assuredly believe He did de-
sign to make thee instrumental in accomplishing when
He appointed thee thy present post of vast responsi-
bility, as the Chief Magistrate of this great nation.
" Many ai-e the trials incident to such positions, and
I verily believe thy conflicts and anxieties have not
been few. May the Loi-d ' hear thee in this day of
trouble, the name of the God of J>acob defend thee, send
134 SOUTHERN HEROES.
thee help from liis sanctuary, and strengthen thee out
of Zion.' The Lord fulfil thy petitions that are put
up in the name of the Prince of Peace, of the increase
of whose government and peace there shall never be
an end.
" I can hardly refrain f I'om expressing my cordial
approval of thy late excellent proclamation appointing
a day of thanksgiving for the sparing and preserving
mercies, which in the tender loving-kindness of our
God and Saviour have been so bountifully showered
upon us ; for though, as a religious people, we do
not set apart especial seasons for returning thanks,
either for spiritual or temporal blessings, yet, as I
humbly trust, our hearts are filled with gratitude to
our Almighty Father that His delivering arm of love
and power has been so manifestly round about us ;
and I rejoice in the decided recognition of an all-wise
and sujierintcnding Providence, which is so marked a
feature in the aforesaid document, as well as the im-
mediate influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit,
which perhaps never in any previous state paper has
been so fully recognized before.
"Especially did my inmost heart respond to thy
desire ' that the angry feeling which has so long sus-
tained this needless and cruel war may be subdued,
and the hearts of the insurgents changed, and the
whole nation be led through paths of repentance and
submission to the divine will, back to the perfect en-
joyment of union and fraternal peace.' May the Lord
in his infinite compassion hasten the day.
" I will not occupy thy time unduly, but, in a feel-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 135
ing of true Christian sympathy aud Gospel love, com-
mend thee and thy wife and your two dear children
to the preserving care of the unslumbering Shepherd,
who, in his matchless mercy, gave his life for the
sheep, who is alone able to keep us from falling, and
finally, when done with the unsatisfying things of
mutability, to give us an everlasting inheritance
among all them that are sanctified through the Eter-
nal Spirit of God.
" Resj)ectfully and sincerely, thy assured friend,
"Eliza P. Gueney."
During the next year President Lincoln sent to
Eliza P. Gurney the following acknowledgment of
her visit and letter :
Executive Mansion,
" Washington, September 4, 1864.
"To Eliza P. Gurney.
" My Esteemed Friend : I have not forgotten —
probably never shall forget — the very impressive
occasion when yourself and friends visited me on a
Sabbath afternoon two years ago. Nor has your kind
letter, written nearly a year later, even been forgot-
ten. In all it has been your purpose to strengthen
my reliance upon God. I am much indebted to the
good Christian people of the country for their con-
stant prayers and consolations, and to no one of them
more than to yourself.
" The purposes of the Ahnighty are perfect and must
prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to accu-
rately perceive them in advance. We hoped for a
happy termination of this terrible war long before
136 SOUTHERN HEROES.
this, but God knows best and has ruled otherwise.
We shall yet acknowledge His wisdom and our own
error therein, and meanwhile we must work earnestly
in tlie best light He gives us, trusting that so working
still conduces to the great ends He ordains. Surely
He intends some great good to follow this mighty
convulsion, which no mortal could make and no mor-
tal could stay.
"Your people, the Friends, have had and are having
a very great trial. On principle and faith, opposed
to both war and oppression, they can only practically
oppose oppression by war. In this dilemma some
have chosen one horn of the dilemma, and some the
other. For those appealing to me on conscientious
grounds I have done, and shall do, what I could and
can, in my own conscience under my oath to the law.
That you believe this I doubt not, and believing it, I
shall stiU receive for our country and myself your
earnest prayers to our Father in Heaven.
"Your sincere friend,
" A. Lincoln."
This promise Abraham Lincoln faithfully kept,
and the Northern Friends had no just grounds for
complaint. The three hundred dollars was accepted
for hospital supplies, hospital service was furnished,
and where any conscience was not free to accept either
or it seemed inexpedient, they were "paroled until
called for, and^ were never called for." Many
Friends, however, volunteered to nurse the sick and
wounded, and some even went upon the battlefields
SOUTHERN HEROES. 137
in this mission, and ministered to those of both
armies, in Christ's name.
Many a poor soklier boy died the happier because
of these loving ministrations. One instance may be
inserted here, owing to the connection it has with
" him whom the workl deHghts to honor," showing as
it does his true Christian spirit. Elizabeth L. Corn-
stock, well known throughout this country and Eng-
land as a minister among Friends, spent much time in
the name of her Master in visiting the hospitals and
army prisons during the war. It was a loving ser-
vice, rendered without recompense from government,
state, or church. Much liberty was granted her by
the officers, as her visits were hailed by the suffering
boys with delight. Even Mosby, the guerrilla chief,
at one time gave her an escort of his men, when she
was on an errand of love.
Some army chaplains, of more seK-importance per-
haps than piety, had refused to admit her to pray
with the soldier boys in one of the army hospitals.
Elizabeth was not accustomed to being thwarted in
any mission she undertook in the name of her Lord,
so she immediately proceeded to the White House.
Abraham Lincoln was not a stranger to her, nor she
to him. He heard her story, and immediately, seat-
ing himself at the desk near at hand, he wrote :
" Give Mrs. Comstock access to all hospitals, and
to all inmates with whom she desires to hold religious
services.
"A. Lincoln."
138 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Handing it to her he said: " Now, Mrs. Comstock,
I want you to pray with me." They knelt together,
and as, with folded hands and closed eyes, she looked
up to the All-wise Father, she felt laid upon hers the
hand of one of the greatest, and yet one of the most
humble men who ever called God his Father.
As she fervently prayed for the country and its
President, pouring out her whole soul to God for him,
she felt his hand trembling like a leaf as it lay upon
her own. As they rose from their knees he thanked
her, saying : " I feel helped and strengthened by your
prayers." She went her way to pray with the sick
and dying soldiers.
Three days after, Abraham Lincoln's work for suf-
fering humanity was over.
CHAPTER VII.
The levelled gun, the battle brand,
We may not take ;
But, calmly loyal, we can stand
And suffer with our suffering land
For conscience' sake.
Whittier.
We have learned that the appeal to the Confederate
Congress was so far considered by that body as to re-
sult in the passage of an act exempting Friends from
military service, if they were at that time members
of the Friends' church, upon the payment of five
hundred dollars each. The following is a copy of the
act :
" LAWS EELATING TO NON-COMBATANTS."
" Orders from the Adjutant and Inspector General's
oface, 1862. Sec. VII. — Friends, Dunkards, Naza-
renes, and Mennonites. — All persons of the above
denominations, in regular membership therein on the
11th day of October, 1862, shall be exempt from en-
rollment on furnishing a substitute, or on presenting
to the enrolling officer a receipt from a bonded quar-
termaster for the tax of five hundred dollars imposed
by act of Congress, and an affidavit by the bishop,
presiding elder or other officer whose duty it is to pre-
serve the records of membership in the denomination
140 SOUTHERN HEROES.
to which the party belongs, setting forth distinctly the
fact that the party, on the 11th day of October, 1862,
was in regular membership with such denomination.
The affidavit must be taken and certified before a jus-
tice of the peace or other officer appointed by the law
of his State to administer oaths, and his authority to
administer oaths must be certified by the clerk of a
court of record, under the seal of the court.
" All assistant-quartermasters to whom the said tax
is tendered will receipt for it, and pay the same into
the treasury of the Confederate States without un-
reasonable delay. The enrolling officer will receive
the receipt and forward it to the commandant of con-
scripts, by whom it will be forwarded to the quarter-
masfer-general, who will charge the assistant - quar-
termaster with the amount received by him."
The first meeting of North Carolina Yearly Meet-
ing of Friends, following the passage of this bill, was
held at New Garden, Guilford County, in 1862. It
took this subject into consideration and made the fol-
lowing minute expressing its united judgment:
" We have had the subject under serious consider-
ation, and while in accordance with our last yearly
meeting we do pay all taxes imposed on us as citizens
and property-holders in common with other citizens,
remembering the injunction, 'tribute to whom tri-
bute is due, custom to whom custom,' yet we cannot
conscientiously pay the specified tax, it being imposed
upon us on account of our principles, as the price ex-
acted of us for religious liberty. Yet we do appre-
ciate the good intentions of those members of Con-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 141
gress who had it iu their hearts to do something for
our relief ; and we recommend that those parents who
have, moved by sympathy, or those young men who,
dreading the evils of a military camp, availed them-
selves of this law, shall be treated in a tender manner
by their monthly meetings."
Notwithstanding this declaration of the yearly meet-
ing, many of the members did, sooner or later, pay
the exemption tax ; and the yearly meeting, having
officially cleared itself of responsibility, was not dis-
posed to censure those who felt freedom of conscience
so to do.
We may recognize how great a temptation it was
thus to purchase freedom from prison and severe suf-
fering, when we consider that, on account of the de-
preciation in the value of Confederate money, the tax
demanded was finally not more than the price of a
barrel of flour or even of a pair of boots. There
were, however, many Friends who would not purchase
their liberty, even at so small a cost. Their con-
sciences were unyielding, and rather than disobey what
they understood to be God's command to them, they
chose to suffer persecution, yea, death itself.
Upon these, therefore, and upon those who joined
Friends' meetings after the exemption act was jjassed
the trial came most severely ; and the test to which
the principles of Friends were put in this particular
exceeded in severity any ever known, — even that of
the great Irish rebellion in 1684, during which the
lives of only two Friends were taken, and they had
sacrificed their principles and resorted to arms.
142 SOUTHERN HEROES.
When the news of the first conscription act passed
by the North Carolina legislature reached the Friends,
there was not a little anxiety among them, for they
knew that a trial of their faith was at hand, and it is
no wonder if there was much questioning as to what it
was really best to do. Many who coidd do so imme-
diately left their homes for the West. They crossed
the mountains in small parties, or in some instances
alone. But the authorities soon discovered this mi-
gration, and instead of banishing the Friends who
stood steadfast to their principles, as had before been
threatened, they took prompt measures to prevent
them from leaving home and sent soldiers in pursuit
of those who had already gone. Several parties were
thus arrested and brought back. Many hardships
were undergone by those who endeavored to make
their way westward across mountains and streams and
through forests. They avoided as much as possible
the sight of unfriendly man, and lived for days, weeks,
and even months in caves near some good Samaritan's,
who brought food for their sustenance and informed
them when it was safe to proceed on their way. The
writer has listened to many thrilling accounts of such
journeys, as he has sat by the large open fire in the
homes of some of these people, in days of peace, when
the dark war cloud had rolled away and there was no
more fear of the face of man. But the recollections
of those sad days are so unpleasant that it is with
difficulty that these people can be induced to write or
tell of their experiences. They say they wish to for-
get them, and it is an evidence of a Christian spirit
SOUTHERN HEROES. 143
that tliey never speak with feelings of bitterness or
hatred toward those who hunted and persecuted them.
As has been said, the Friends hardly knew at first
what to do. In its records, North Carolina Yearly
Meeting says : " There was naturally for a time some
unsettlement and much uncertainty ; but very soon,
we believe, there was experienced a deeper ' rooting
for the storm,' and those whose faith was really over-
thrown were few indeed."
It was not only Friends but many others who were
hiding in the woods and caves of the earth, who, from
loyalty to the United States government or other
causes, were unwilling to go into the Southern army.
This fact very soon led to the formation of companies
of " home guards," whose business it was to search
for, arrest and send to the army all men of legal age
who could not produce exemption papers ; so that
wherever such men went it was necessary to have the
papers with them, and Friends were often arrested
and caused much inconvenience by neglecting to se-
cure exemption papers and carry them with them.
Many very good people have said that the spirit of
the martyrs no longer exists in the Christian church ;
but the spirit of our early days and a willingness to
suffer for Christ's sake do still live and only need a
suitable occasion to be drawn out. The occasion was
offered in those days and the proof was abundant, not
only that men and women were willing to suffer even
unto death, for their principles, but that " Our God is
faithful." In the experience of those Friends, and of
others who were conscientious in their position in
144 SOUTHERN HEROES.
favor of peace, not only did He support them by his
presence and power, but not one of all those who
steadily refused to bear arms was permitted to come
to a violent death.
Before entering upon the record of individual cases
of suffering for the jsrinciples of peace, it is best to re-
mind the reader that the other Christian bodies re-
ferred to in the foregoing act of the Confederate Con-
gress were each very few in number. As we have
learned, the Friends had become much reduced in
numbers by emigration, and those who were left
were largely residents of rural districts, and took little
part in public affairs ; consequently the people in
general and the officers of the Government and of the
army knew very little of the grounds of their faith or
of the cause of their unwillingness to fight for their
country. Being ignorant of this, the people were im-
prepared to enter into sympathy with them, and often
misjudging their motives, were more severe in their
treatment of the Friends than they otherwise would
have been.
In recording these facts the writer wishes to be un-
derstood as doing simply the duty of a historian, with-
out prejudice or coloring of facts. He knows well
that there were many good men in the South who did
not approve of the severe treatment of non-combat-
ants, but were often powerless to prevent it. As an
instance of this, we gladly give place to the following
letter from the governor of North Carolina, wlio was
of Nantucket Quaker descent :
SOUTHERN HEROES. 145
" Raleigh, November 3, 1864.
"John B. Crenshaw, — Yours of the 29tli ult. was
received by yesterday's mail, but the numbers of the
' Southern Friend,' which you said you would mail to
me, containing the law touching such cases as those in
relation to which I wrote you, have not come to hand.
I regret it, as I would gladly excuse from war all
whom I may believe conscientious in their scruples
against bearing arms ; and my duties, public and pri-
vate, have been so pressing that I have neglected to
keep properly posted.
" I learn since I wrote you that Ahijah Macon died
in or near Richmond, and that his body was sent
home for interment a few days ago. From what I
know of his father and mother, I do not doubt that
the young man was sincere in his religious professions,
and that he died adhering to them. I pray that harsh
treatment may not have accelerated his death.
" Since I wrote you, I accidentally saw the report
of the county enrolling officer, recommending the rev-
ocation of Charles Macon's certificate. I have no
doubt it has been forwarded ere this to the Secretary
of War, or arbitrarily revoked by some unfeeling sub-
ordinate. I believe him to be a good young man,
and hope, from the fact stated in your letter (that
there is no power to revoke certificates granted prior
to the law of 1864), that he may be relieved. He has
other brothers in the same situation. I would will-
ingly aid him if I knew how to act ; and in this or in
any other meritorious case will gladly cooperate with
you in what I believe to be your truly Christian efforts
14G SOUTHERN HEROES.
to relieve tlie oppressed. Those from whom you have
derived your information in rehitiou to my views and
feelings on this subject, have not misconceived them.
"• The rejiort of the enrolling officer to which I re-
fer rests entirely upon hearsay from persons enter-
taining malignant feelings ; and not even this hearsay
imputes to the young man any conduct, since the date
of his certificate, inconsistent with his religious pro-
fession. It rests solely upon the ground that he left
the county, or concealed himself, to evade the draft,
before he joined the Quakers, and the general decla-
ration that his whole family is ' disloyal.'
" Yours very respectfully,
"Jonathan Worth."
Jesse Buckner, of Chatham County, N. C, is said
by Ilimelius Ilockctt to have been " a man of zeal and
earnest, good motives." At the beginning of the war
he was a Baptist, and a colonel in the militia. He
had never given the principles of peace much consid-
eration, and, like many others, thoughtlessly partook
of the spirit around him. The position which he
occupied was one of prominence, and gave him an
opportunity to do miich for the promotion of the war.
He began very early to raise volunteer companies, and
was surprised to find that no Friends would volunteer
or join in any military parade. Their refusal to do
so led him to examine tlie doctrines which they held,
and he was brought to sympathize with them so far as
to hesitate to order the captains of his different com-
panies to enroll Friends. This doubtless stirred up a
SOUTHERN HEROES. 147
feeling of dissatisfaction on the part of others, and in
the fall of 1861 he was superseded in office by an am-
bitious and less scrupulous neighbor. The conviction
grew upon him that war is contrary to the Gospel, and
that to slay one's fellowman is a sin.
One dark night as he was going to attend a politi-
cal meeting, he lost his way, for that district of the
country is heavily covered with forests, and in some
parts the road passes for miles through woods, with
no house in sight. The position of the Friends, and
the unrighteousness of war, were the subjects of his
thoughts, and much of the time pressed upon him.
He came to a " big road," and crossed it to the steps
of a building, which he soon discovered was the
Friends' meeting-house at Spring. He seated himself
to rest, and he states that there, alone in the darkness
of the night, meditating upon Friends' principles, the
serious condition of the country, and the awfulness of
war, he became satisfied that it was his duty to unite
himself with the people who worshiped in that house.
This he resolved to do, but delayed for a time.
On the 6th of March, 1862, he was drafted, but re-
solved that he would not fight ; he " bushwhacked,"
that is, he left his home and lived as best he could in
caves, woods, and bushes. After " lying out " in this
manner for five months, principally in an adjoining
county, longing for knowledge of home and the loved
ones there, he ventured to return, and was for some
time unmolested. He applied to be admitted into
membership with Spring meeting. He was received,
and, as the law had been passed exempting Friends
148 SOUTHERN HEROES.
from service upon payment of $500, he thouglit that
by paying this sum he would be relieved from any
further demands for military service. The money was
accepted, and he received his exemption papers ; but
his decided course had aroused the enmity of some of
his neighbors, who thought that he should no more be
excused than they. His presence in their midst was
a continual cause of jealousy, and it resulted in a
strong determination to have him conscripted.
Early in the next year his exemption papers were
declared void by a sub-officer, he was arrested and
sent to Camp Holmes, near Kaleigh, and then on to
Wilmington, where he suffered much abuse. But the
spirit of the Lord Jesus had been given him, and he
had learned to obey the injmiction, " I say unto you,
resist not evil." Meeldy he endured persecution, and
as on one occasion a man struck him, he actually
turned the other cheek to be struck also ; but the sol-
dier's heart was not equal to giving a second blow.
Friends did all they could to have him released.
Petitions were sent to the authorities on his behalf,
but without avail, and when he found that this course
was hopeless he concluded that if an opportunity
occurred he would avail himself of it and make his
escape. This he soon did, and started on a journey of
a hundred and seventy-five miles to his home, which,
after much suffering from exposure, hunger, weari-
ness and anxiety, he finally reached, foot-sore and ex-
hausted. He was welcomed by his family, but with
fear and trembling. He was allowed only one night
of rest and rejoicing with them, for the vigilant eye
SOUTHERN HEROES. 149
of the " home guard " had seen him, and early in the
morning he was captured and taken back to Wil-
mington, where his treatment was more severe than
before.
Under the conviction that he had made a mistake
in endeavoring to escape, he became even more hum-
ble and resigned to his fate, whatever it might be, and
submitted with wonderful meekness to the indignities
and abuse of the soldiers. Before long he was taken
very sick, and the officer, fearing he would not live,
and wishing to be rid of him, procured his discharge
and sent him home.
But Jesse Buckner was not to be freed, either by
sickness or death, from bearing his testimony to the
Prince of Peace. Others were watching for his recov-
ery besides the anxious Friends around his bedside.
A deep-seated enmity and determination to let nothing
but death rob them of their full satisfaction seemed
to have possessed the minds of some of his neighbors,
who had resolved that he shoidd be kejDt in the army.
As soon as he was able to walk, he was again con-
scripted and taken to jail, where he was kept a week,
and then taken from camp to camp as a prisoner. At
each new place the trying experiences were repeated,
from the attempt to force him to bear arms; but amid
sneers and taunts and cruel treatment, he persevered.
When the officers and men came to understand the
grounds of his objections, many treated him kindly.
For nearly three long years, — the last the most
severe, — Jesse Buckner endured privations, peril and
hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, being
150 SOUTHERN HEROES.
driven from place to place, from camp to camp, often
at the point of the bayonet, because he had acknow-
ledged liimseK to be a soldier whose weapons were not
carnal. Putting his trust in the Captain of his Sal-
vation, he held out faithfully until Sherman demanded
the surrender of Johnston's army and he was no
longer under the command of Johnston's subordinates.
J. G. of County, N. C, was a Methodist, who
was much afraid of being taken to the army. He
concluded to escape by crossing the mountains, and if
possible to make his way to the West. After nearly
two months he reached Tennessee on his way to In-
diana, but he felt that his course was not the right one
as it did not bring peace of mind. He therefore
returned home to await whatever might befall him.
He had not long to wait, for in about two weeks the
officers arrested him and took him to Camp Holmes,
near Raleigh.
In a few days, with other conscripts, he was sum-
moned before the officers, and all were ofPered bounty
money if they would volunteer. All but three of the
company accepted the money. These three now became
the objects of the officers' attention. They were pre-
sented with a paper which they were asked to sign, and
were assured that they could have no money or
clothing unless they signed it. This they refused to
do, and were adroitly told that they would soon have
need of both, and that if they did not come to want
they could do much good by giving to those who did.
They refused all these offers and met all arguments
with the assertion that " AU war is opposed to tbe
SOUTHERN HEROES. 151
spirit and teachings of the Gospel and to the mission
of the Christian." They said that his weapons were
not carnal but spiritual.
After a time, bundles of clothing were tossed to
them, with many offensive epithets. They were now
plainly told that they must either fight or be shot, and
that the men behind them were ordered to shoot them
if they did not fire in battle. J. G. replied : " You
have me in your power, and may inflict on me any
punishment you will. I cannot do more than submit
to what you inflict. My hands are clean of the blood
of all men, and I intend to keep them so, cost what it
may."
In vain the officers attempted to force the bounty
money upon them ; but failing, one of them came for-
ward and said : " Boys, I want to give you some good
advice. Take your clothing and money and go along ;
obey your officers and do right ; or else you will be
put under the sharp officers of Colonel S , who
will have you shot into strings if you do not obey.
Just put away your Quaker notions and do right.
What regiment will you be sent to ? " They refused
to make any choice, and J. G. was ordered to Rich-
mond, Virginia.
But Friends' attention had been called to this
Quaker-Methodist, whose loyalty to his Master's com-
mands had been so conspicuously manifested. A
committee from the meeting for sufferings proceeded
to Richmond to see what they could do for his release,
and before his arrival at that city he was met with the
good news that he was a free man. The efforts of the
152 SOUTHERN HEROES.
committee had in some way induced the officials to
recognize him as a Friend, " within the meaning of
the law," and he proceeded to make it so in fact by
soon after attaching himself to that church.
In this connection it may be well to insert an extract
from a pamphlet published by North Carolina Yearly
Meeting in 1868.
" It was in the midst of such commotions that many
were led to very serious thoughts upon the incon-
sistency of war and fighting with the loving and quiet
spirit of a disciple of Jesus. Decided first upon this
point and then led on to the consideration of others,
many sought admission to our Society. The whole
number of these, including those members of their
families who were often received with them, was about
six hundred.
" There were many other grounds upon which the
more quiet citizens of our State were opposed to the
war, but such motives could rai-ely have been the
inducement for them to unite with us, nor did such
a step allow of much hope of escape from suffering.
Only those who were actually members at the time the
exemption act was passed were allowed the benefit of
it. It is, however, true that through the leniency of
some officers in the Confedei'ate War Deiiartmcnt,
this act was sometimes so construed as to cover other
cases. But for this, special application had to be made,
and such influences brought to bear as few could hope
to secure, while the release was actually obtained only
after a lengthened period of trial had tested the reality
of their convictions.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 153
"Thus it fell out that the storm burst with the
greatest violence upon some who were in many ways
the least prepared to meet it. By their old associates
those who adopted such views were regarded as lacking
the excuse of early training, and in their family circles
the suffering they endured had often to be shared
more or less by those who did not partake of the con-
victions that occasioned it. But He whose streno-th
is given according to our need prepared many of these
faithful men to suffer cheerfully for his name's sake
and to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus
Christ.
" In the great multitude that swelled the two vast
armies arrayed against each other, there could not
have been found instances of more lofty heroism, of
calmer courage, and of more fearless, unshrinking
endurance of death, and of agonies beyond those of
death, than were exhibited by that little band who
made up another army and followed, as their only
captain, the Prince of Peace.
" No hope of higher honors lured them on, no exult-
ing nation gave them its gratitude. Reviled and
persecuted, their Heavenly Leader sustained them
with one sure promise, ' Great is your reward in
Heaven.' "
CHAPTER VIII.
" O wild birds flying from the South,
What saw and heard ye, gazing down ? "
" We saw the mortar's up-turned mouth,
The sickened camp, the blazing town I
We heard the starving prisoner's sighs.
And saw, from line and trench, your sons
Follow our flight with homesick eyes
Beyond the battery's smoking guns."
Whittier.
Many of the peace-loving people who were unwill-
ing to bear arms were thrust into Southern prisons
prepared for United States soldiers, and there treated
as prisoners of war by the Confederate officials. As
we shall have occasion to follow a number of our
Friends to these prisons, it will be well to give our
readers some account of the management and condi-
tion of them, — not with any feeling of prejudice
against the Southern people, among whom the writer
has lived for about twenty years, identified with them
and interested in the rapid development of the re-
sources of the South and in her recovery from the
terrible devastation of the war. Those who were di-
rectly responsible for the condition of things in con-
nection with these prisons have nearly all passed
away, and most if not all of the managers of them
came to a violent death. We have no wish to reflect
SOUTHERN HEROES. 155
unkindly upon any, but honestly to record tlie facts
pertaining to the subject before us, and in some degree
to give the reader an impartial account of the work
and results of the war.
The principal prisons for the Yankee soldiers dur-
ing the war were Libby and Danville in Virginia,
Salisbury in North Carolina, Florence in South Caro-
lina, Millen and Andersonville in Georgia. The last
named was the farthest from the seat of war and usu-
ally had the largest number of prisoners.
T. H. Mann, the author of " That Yankee in An-
dersonville," states in a private letter to the writer
that " Brigadier-General J. H. Winder, as Commis-
sary-General of the Confederacy, had full charge and
control of all prisoners of war. The lack of provi-
sions, shelter, medicine, and all was believed to be
the direct result of orders from him. There is no
evidence that he acted under the orders or advice, or
even sought the advice, of any authority higher than
his own ; nor was he ever made to answer for his
treatment of prisoners until he was suddenly called
to judgment. The hundreds of complaints of General
Winder's inhumanity that were made on all sides to
the Confederate authorities at Richmond were simply
referred to Winder without comment or advice from
them. Wirz and Barret were his willing tools, who
even added to Winder's orders cruelties of their own
invention. The commanders of other stockades were
under the necessity of doing badly, if they were not
in full sympathy with Winder's policy ; but the fact
remains that to Winder belongs the disgrace of Belle
156 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Isle, Andersonville, Florence, and Salisbury, with all
their horrors."
J. II. Winder is said to have declared that he
killed more Yankees in prisons than the army killed
in battle. On January 1, 1865, he dropped dead at
Florence, S. C, as he was about to enter a tent for a
dinner prepared with great care for himself and offi-
cers. He was " struck dead by the hand of God," as
the soldier boys in blue believed, because of his inhu-
man treatment of those under his care. Davis was
sentenced to be himg, but died in prison. Barret is
said to have been shot by a cavahyman who had been
his prisoner. Captain Wirz was tried by a United
States military commission and executed in August,
1865.
On the 27th of November, 1863, W. S. Winder, the
son of J. II. Winder, selected the site for Anderson-
ville "prison pen." On February 15, 1864, the first
company of prisoners was sent there, and he took
charge of them in April. He had been in charge of
the prisons at Richmond, Va., and his treatment of
the jioor unfortunates at that place had been so cruel
that Burroughs, the editor of the " Richmond Exami-
ner," upon noticing in the paper that he had gone to
Andersonville, said : " Thank God that Richmond is at
last rid of old Winder. May God have mercy upon
those to whom he has been sent."
Captain Henry Wirz commanded the stockade.
He was a native of Switzerland, a physician, and a
resident of Louisiana before the war. He was a des-
perate character and seemed to study to increase
SOUTHERN HEROES. 157
ratlier than to relieve the sufferings of those under his
charge. So recldess was he of human life that he
hesitated not to kill prisoners outright upon the
slightest provocation, sometimes without provocation.
T. H. Mann, who was an eye-witness, says : " On
one occasion he rode into the stockade accompanied
by two or three attendants, who were also on horse-
back. The object of his visit was to demand that the
chief of the ' Union League ' be delivered up to him.
Of the crowd that collected about him probably not
one in fifty knew that such a league existed, and of
the actual members of the league but few knew who
the chief was. Wirz was very soon informed to this
effect, and the statement seemed to arose the demon
in him, for he swore fearfully at the crowd that
gathered about him. He soon turned to retire from
the prison yard, and when nearly within the gateway
drew his heavy revolver and fired the contents, six
bidlets, into the crowd of emaciated, starving men
who had collected about him. Without stopping to
discover the effect of his shooting he put spurs to
his horse, sprang through the gate and galloped
away. Two men were killed outright by his shots,
and several others were wounded."
G. M. Gidney of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., states that
he was imprisoned in Salisbury for two months ; in
Florence, S. C, for many weeks ; and he spent four
months in Andersonville prison, Georgia, under Cap-
tain Wirz. He says that the descriptions and state-
ments given in this chapter in regard to these prisons,
the prisoners, and their keepers, are correct ; that the
158 SOUTHERN HEROES.
condition was past description, and that in no par-
ticular is this account exaggerated. Mr. Gidney
states that it was not only once but many times that
AVirz came within the stockade and deliberately shot
the prisoners. Sometimes, if they were too weak to
get from before his horse, he would shoot them, tell-
ing them he would " help them to move on."
Mr. Gidney asserts that fresh beef was issued to
the prisoners only once during the four months that
he was there. He escaped from the prison three
times by different means, and each time he was over-
taken by the bloodhounds sent after him and obliged
to climb trees for safety, as the hounds would have
torn him to pieces could they have reached him. The
third time he made his escape with his companions,
after two months' hard work tunneling their way
beyond the pickets, and they found themselves breath-
ing tlie air of freedom ; but the next day a cow,
attempting to cross the line of the tunnel, broke
through the thin crust of earth above it and fell in,
thus revealing to the authorities the escape of the
prisoners. The dogs were at once sent in pursuit,
followed by men as eager as for a fox-chase. For
four days Gidney was hidden under a dead hollow
tree, where he was fed b}^ the colored people, who
passed food through an opening in the trunk.
On the eleventh day after his escape he heard the
cry of the bloodhounds near him, and was obliged to
climb a tree for preservation. lie was captured and
returned to Wirz, who said he was glad to see him,
— would rather see him than any other prisoner who
SOUTHERN HEROES. 159
had escaped. " Well ! I am here," was the reply.
" You cannot treat me any worse than you have done,
unless you starve or shoot me." " Oh, no ! " said
Wirz, " I '11 not shoot you ; I '11 punish you."
Calling his aids, he ordered them to put Gidney and
two other men in close confinement and allow them
no food until he said so. After Gidney had been left
in the small enclosure with his fellow-prisoners, he
told them that it was doubtless Wirz's intention to
starve them to death, but still it was their duty to live
as long as they could. " There are signs of rats here,
and we must catch them to eat." This his compan-
ions said they could not do.
On the fifth day of their confinement, one of his
companions died. On the seventh day, the other was
so weak as to be unable to turn himself or to speak,
and was almost gone, when Gidney was unexpectedly
called out of his prison. He had been exchanged for
some Confederate prisoner of war, and an officer out-
ranking Wirz was to be obeyed by him. Weighing
only sixty-two pounds of the usual one hundred and
forty, Gidney staggered to the light and thus escaped
the death Wirz had intended for him. He had eaten
raw five rats during the seven days of his confinement,
which his companions were unwilling to do and there-
fore perished.
As the writer listened to this tale of horror he
could not but notice that tears filled the eye of the
narrator as he recalled those days of suffering, though
thirty long years had intervened.
Lest we be charged with partiality in presenting
160 SOUTHERN HEROES.
from one side only witnesses as to the condition of
these military prisons, — the side of the sufferers, —
we will quote from a report of one of the officials
of the Southern Confederacy whose duty it was to in-
spect the state of affairs at Anderson ville. He was
Lieut.-Col. D. T. Chandler, and his report was made
August 5, 1864. When we have read this report we
have not only the case of Andersonville before us,
but of all the others. The writer mingled for nearly
twenty years with the people of Virginia, North Caro-
lina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, and Ken-
tucky, and this intercourse has given him a knowledge
of the general facts concerning these prisons, as they
were narrated to him by citizens and by the prisoners
themselves ; and the stories concerning those impris-
oned in different places all agree.
Captain Bennett, in immediate charge at Florence,
George Clark in charge at Salisbury, and Wirz at
Andersonville, were all under the inhuman orders of
Winder, and were his aids in the terrible purpose to
reduce, by exposure and starvation, the number of
their prisoners.
In the summer of 1864, Lieut.-Col. D. T. Chandler
officially inspected Andersonville prison, and in his
report to the Confederate Government he says : " Send
no more prisoners to that i)en. Remove all prisoners
above 15,000, — that is, 20,000 to 25,000 prisoners
ought to be provided for elsewhere." He further
says : " There is lU) medical attendance provided within
the stockade. Small quantities of medicine are placed
in the hands of certain prisoners of each squad or
SOUTHERN HEROES. 161
division, and the sick are brought out by sergeants at
' sick call,' to the medical officers who attend at the
gate. The crowd at these times is so great that only
the strongest can get access to the doctors, the weaker
ones being unable to force their way through the
press ; and the hospital accommodations are so limited
that the beds (so-called) have all, or nearly all, two
occupants each. Large numbers who would other-
wise be received are necessarily sent back to the stock-
ade. Many (twenty yesterday) are carted out daily
who have died from unknown causes, and whom the
medical officers have never seen. The dead are
hauled out daily by tjie wagon load, and are buried
without coffins, their hands in many instances being
first mutilated with an axe in the removal of any
finger rings they may have.
" The sanitary condition of the prisoners is as
wretched as can be, the principal causes of mortality
being scurvy and chronic diarrhoea. Nothing seems
to have been done and but little effort made, if any,
to arrest it by procuring proper food. The ration is
one third of a pound of bacon and one and one fourth
pounds of unbolted corn meal, with fresh beef at rare
intervals and occasionally rice. When to be ob-
tained (very seldom), a small quantity of molasses is
substituted for the meat ration. A little weak vine-
gar, unfit for use, has sometimes been issued.
" The arrangements for cooking and baking have
been wholly inadequate, and though additions are now
being completed, it will still be impossible to cook for
the whole number of prisoners. Raw rations have to
162 SOUTHERN HEROES.
be issued to a very large proportion, who are entirely
unprovided with proper utensils and furnished with so
limited a supply of fuel that they are compelled to dig
with their hands in the filthy marsh before-mentioned
for roots, etc. No soap or clothing has ever been
issued.
" The present hospital arrangements are only in-
tended for the accommodation of the sick of ten thou-
sand men, and are totally insufficient both in character
and extent for the present needs, — the number of
prisoners being now more than three times as great.
The number of cases requiring treatment is in an in-
creased ratio.
" My duty requires me to recommend a change in
the officer in command of the post, Brigadier-General
J. H. Winder, and the substitution in his place of
some one who unites both energy and good judgment
with some feeling of humanity and consideration for
the welfare and comfort (so far as is consistent with
their safe-keeping) of the vast number of unfortu-
nates placed under his control ; some one who at least
will not advocate deliberately and in cold blood
the propriety of leaving them in their present condi-
tion until their number has been sufficiently reduced
by death to make the present arrangement sufficient
for their accommodation ; who will not consider it
a matter of self-laudation and boasting that he has
never been inside the stockade, — a place the horror
of which it is difficult to describe and which is a dis-
grace to civilization, the condition of which might, by
the exercise of a little energy and judgment, even with
SOUTHERN HEROES. 163
the limited means at his command, be considerably
improved."
As in the mouth of two or tliree witnesses every
word shall be confirmed, we will venture to introduce
one other report, also on file at Washington.
There was in the South a volume called "A Keport
on the Treatment of Prisoners of War." In this
were recorded several reports of Confederate surgeons
and inspectors to the Confederate authorities, on the
condition of hospitals and prisons. It is impossible
on account of the horrible nature of the details
to quote generally from them. The following, which
is the report of J. Crews Pelot, Assistant-Surgeon,
C. S. A., September 5, 1864, inasmuch as it does not
refer to the appearance and sufferings of the prisoners
nor to the worst features of their surroundings, may
properly be quoted without omission. It gives an idea
of the destitution in the hospital, where it would be
supposed special efforts would have been made to
alleviate hunger and distress.
u giR^ _ As officer of the day, for the past twenty-
four hours I have inspected the hospital and found it
in as good condition as the nature of the circum-
stances will allow. A majority of the bunks are still
unsupplied with bedding, while in a portion of the
division the tents are entirely destitute of either
bunks, bedding, or straw, the patients being com-
pelled to lie upon the bare ground.
" I would earnestly call attention to the article of
diet. The cornbread from the bakery, being made
164 SOUTHERN HEROES.
up witliont sifting, is wholly unfit for the sick, and
often (in the last twenty-four hours) upon examination
the inner part is found to be perfectly raw. The
meat (beef) received by the patients does not amount
to over two ounces a day, and for the past three or
four days no flour has been issued. The cornbread
cannot be eaten by many, for to do so would be to in-
crease the disease of the bowels from which a large
majority are suffering, and it is therefore thrown
away. All the rations received by way of sustenance
is two ounces of beef and half a pint of rice soup per
day. Under these circumstances all the skill that can
be brought to bear upon their cases by the medical
officer will avail nothing.
" Another point to which I feel it my duty to call
your attention is the deficiency of medicines. We
have little more than indigenous barks and roots with
which to treat the numerous forms of disease to which
our attention is called. For the treatment of wounds,
ulcers, etc., we have literally nothing except water.
Our wards, some of them, are filled with gangrene,
and we are compelled to fold our arms and look
quietly upon its ravages, not even having stimulants
to support the system under its depressing influences,
— this article being so limited in supply that it can
be issued only for cases under the knife.
" I would respectfully call your attention to the
above facts, hoping that something may be done to
alleviate the sufferings of the sick.
J. Crew^s Pelot,
Assistant-Surgeon, C. S. A."
SOUTHERN HEROES. 165
No wonder that T. H. Mann, who has been quoted
above, states that " between February, 18G4, and No-
vember of the same year nearly every other man who
entered the gates of Andersonville left his bones
there." And reliable authority states that between
July 1st and November 1st, 1864, 12,000 men died
there. Of one company of sixty men captured to-
gether, thirteen only lived to escape the prison. The
ordinary men averaged only three months of this
terrible treatment. Three out of every four taken to
hospital died. In September, 1861, one man of every
three in the prison died.
Salisbury, N. C, is situated in Roanoke County, on
the line of the North Carolina Railroad from Rich-
mond to Charlotte, where the Western North Caro-
lina Railway, from Tennessee and Asheville, connects
with the former. We may be more explicit in our
description of the prison at this place, as here more of
the Friends were confined than at the other prisons.
A number of native Southern men, property holders,
intelligent citizens, whose only offense was their testi-
mony to the principles of " Peace on earth and good-
will toward men," were confined as prisoners of war in
these military prisons, and treated in such an inhviman
manner as has caused the civilized world to cry
" Shame I " Perhaps so-called civilized warfare has
never produced an exposition of greater disregard for
the life and bodily necessities of helpless prisoners,
unless it was when Napoleon ordered all his own sick
and wounded soldiers at Acre to be killed with opium.
War is indeed cruel, and you cannot refine it ; de-
166 SOUTHERN HEROES.
moralizing man until the better nature is crushed, and
he, becoming hardened by contact with suffering and
death, pays little heed to the means he might use for
the relief and life of his fellowmen.
The reader should again be reminded that, in re-
cording these sorrowful facts, it is with no party or
sectional spirit that it is done, and with no wish to
stir up ill feeling in any on account of those things
which so many wish to forget. These things are the
outgrowth of slavery and war, which bring the bad
passions of men, and too often bad men, to the front,
without reference to nationality or section. With no
wish to cast unjust reflections upon any, but for truth's
sake, and to present from the standpoint of one op-
posed to all war the truth as it is revealed in the
light of history, the writer ventures to recite that
only for which he has luidoubted authority. This is
done with the hope that many readers may be con-
vinced, if they are not already so, that wars and fight-
ings are contrary to the precepts and spirit of the
GosjDel, and that the day may be hastened when
" nations shall not learn war any more." Were the
young men of our day to learn more of the horrors of
war and its results, and had they less before them of
its tinsel and so-called glory, they would be less ready
to undertake the fearful calling.
In 1861 Salisbury had about two thousand inhabi-
tants, — colored and white, — six churches, one bank,
two newspapers, two iron foundries, a gas-works, and
several cotton mills. Here is now located the famous
colored college, the fruit of the work of Dr. Price, the
SOUTHERN HEROES. 107
" colored orator ; " and largely owing to his labors, no
town of its size has more colored schools or better
facilities for the education of the colored people than
has the Salisbury of to-day.
Just a little southwest of the railway station once
stood a large brick building designed for a cotton fac-
tory. Near by it were three smaller ones, and sur-
rounding the group were about three acres of clear
ground. Here the Confederate authorities placed
what has since been known as Salisbury prison for
Union prisoners of war. The grounds around the
buildings were enclosed by a stockade of pine logs
twenty feet long, hewn flat on two sides and placed
endwise in the earth ten feet deep close against one
another. It was needful to sink them deep, not only
to insure firmness to the wall thus made but also to
prevent the prisoners from digging under them.
Planks two and a half inches thick were fastened
against the stockade on the outside, so as to form a
smooth surface seven feet high. Here the rampart
for the guards was built, three feet wide, with sheltered
stands at intervals of about one hundred feet. Thirty
men at once were required to stand guard over these
walls, night and day.
About three feet from the inside of this wall there
was a ditch three or four feet deep and four feet wide,
except where the wagons crossed it at the two gates.
Connected with this ditch was one from the outside,
and these served to carry off the filth from the prison
yard ; but very insufficient indeed they were for that
purpose.
168 SOUTHERN HEROES.
The lower part of this ditch was often lined with
starving men, who sifted through their fingers the
filth coming from above, seeking in it some bit of
food that might possibly be found. Pieces of wood
that were sometimes obtained by digging in the earth
were often chewed by the prisoners for the nourish-
ment they contained, and were then carefully saved
for fuel to aid in cooking the raw rations that might
be issued.
This ditch also served as a dead-line. In some
other prisons a rope was used for this purpose, and in
some a slight rail or a ploughed furrow was employed.
The prisoner who laid his hand on the rope, at-
tempted to cross the line, or in any way encroached
upon the dead-line, was immediately shot ; and many
a poor prisoner, tired of life under such circum-
stances, sick, suffering and discouraged, seeing no
other hope of relief from his terrible situation, de-
liberately went to his death by this means. It was
well understood by the guards that if they shot a
prisoner they would be given a month's furlough,
and the circumstances of the shooting would not be
inquired into. They were under positive orders to
shoot those who in any way encroached upon the
dead-line.
The guard was composed largely of boys from
twelve to sixteen years of age, with a few men too
old for field service. The prisoners complained
mostly of these boys, who seemed very careless of
human life, and often shot prisoners ten or fifteen
feet from the dead-line.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 169
General Winder issued orders to keep cannon
trained upon tlie prison yards, ready for instant use.
On the 27th of July, before the fall of Atlanta, he
issued the following order: "The officers on duty
and in charge of the battery of Florida artillery at
the time, will, upon receiving notice that the enemy
have approached within seven miles of this post, open
fire upon the stockade with grape-shot, without refer-
ence to the situation beyond their lines of defense.
It is better that the last Federal be exterminated
than be permitted to burn and plunder the property
of loyal citizens, as they will do, if allowed to escape
from prison." There were at this time 34,000 help-
less prisoners at Andersonville, whom Wirz would
have thus deliberately murdered.
The old cotton factory at Salisbury was used as a
hospital and cook-house, two of the smaller buildings
as lodging rooms for some special cases, and the third as
a dead-house. In the latter the poor men were often
placed before they were dead. Reduced as they were
by starvation and exposure, they were sometimes
easily overcome by the cold nights, and, in the morn-
ing, because motionless and helpless, were taken for
dead. Their clothing was taken off, though some-
times the under garments were left, any vahiables
about them were appropriated, and the body was put
in the dead-house, to be taken away when the dead-
wao'on shoidd come for its load of corpses, — which
was every morning.
One case in which a man was thus placed in the
dead-house, while still alive, has come to the know-
170 SOUTHERN HEROES.
ledge of the writer through the account of an eye-
witness of undoubted reliability, and, shocking as it
is, it is only one evidence of the many barbarities of
war, which degrades mankind and causes men to
forget that they all are brethren.
On one occasion a gentleman of fine appearance
and well dressed was brought to Salisbury prison.
He was evidently used to the comforts of life, and
unaccustomed to exposure and hardship. He was
soon overcome by the treatment he received. One
morning, soon after his arrival, he was taken for dead,
stripped of most of his clothing, the buttons were
cut from the remainder, and he was placed in the
dead-house. As they put him into the wagon a Yan-
kee doctor, who was among the prisoners, discerned
signs of life in him, and requested the men in charge
to put him back, which they refused to do. The doc-
tor explained the matter to the guard, and called
upon him to leave the still living prisoner. They
then rudely threw him upon the ground, but were
finally compelled by the guards to put him in the
house. The Yankee doctor gave him such attend-
ance as he could, and called upon a prison physician
for assistance. The man finally recovered and lived
to escape from the prison.
The custom of handling the bodies was rude in
the extreme, and is only another illustration of
the demoralizing and brutalizing effects of the war
system. As the dead-wagon was driven into the
yard each morning, the driver called loudly : " Bring
out your dead." Two men grasped each a hand and
SOUTHERN HEROES. Ill
a foot of tlie supposed corpse, often swinging it, to
obtain united force, and then threw it, as we have seen
dressed hogs thrown into a wagon ; and precisely as
we have seen men handle these with a hook, if occa-
sion required, the driver or assistant would hook the
body under the jaw and drag it into place in the
wagon. The load was taken to the trench, a quarter
of a mile away on the hillside. Here a ditch had
been dug, six to seven feet wide, and the emaciated
bodies, with no tender hands, no casket or winding
sheet, were placed crosswise in the ditch side by side.
Others were placed upon top of these, and thus tier
upon tier was formed until the ditch was nearly filled,
and then they were rudely covered from the sight
of men.
On his arrival at the prison camp the prisoner was
searched for any valuables he might have, and unless
he managed to secrete them in some way from the
eager eyes of the searchers, they were taken from
him. Any extra blanket or clothing he might have
was taken away, and he was turned loose within the
stockade, as cattle might be, to find shelter and make
his bed as best he could. Few of the nine thou-
sand men in the prison could do better than lie
upon the bare ground, of which there was only about
three acres. Some did dig caves and cover them-
selves with sticks and the earth which they dug out.
Some made bricks of the dirt and built what they
thought were quite comfortable houses ; but the bricks
were only sun-dried, and when the rains came the
houses fell, in some instances burying the inmates.
172 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Sometimes two, three, or four prisoners would join
their blankets and coats, and make of these a shelter
from the chilling dews and rains. Frequent attempts
to dig a way out of the prison-pen were made by the
men, but they were seldom successfid.
The food of the prisoners was usually Indian corn-
bread and soup. The meal was made of maize,
ground with the cob and unsifted. The soup some-
times contained vegetables, and the beef, if any was
issued, was of the poorest possible kind. On some
occasions the prisoners were not given a particle of
food for three or four days together. At other times
one pint of this meal and two ounces of bacon (if
there was any) per man were dispensed daily. The
men had no means of cooking it. Occasionally a pint
of unground corn was given to each man. The
younger men could grind it in small quantities with
their teeth, but some whose teeth were poor were
hardly bestead. Those whose teeth were loosened by
scurvy would often swallow them with the bread,
and their gums would frequently be broken and
bleeding. A small amount of poor water could be
obtained from wells in the prison yard, and some was
also secured by the prisoners being allowed to go out-
side the yard and carry it within in barrels.
Meat was an object of importance, and became the
subject of many bitter disputes and sometimes of (uiar-
rels. Often after the death of a man, those in the
squad would keep him secreted for several days before
notifying the officials, in order to draw his rations,
whif'h would then be divided among those in the
SOUTHERN HEROES. 173
secret. When meat was issued, it became the custom
for one in each squad to place the pieces in a row,
and then one of the men woukl place his finger upon
a piece, and another man, standing with his back to
the man who touched the meat, would call the num-
ber of the man who was to receive it ; thus a difficult
question of choice was settled. There was plenty of
meat in the vicinity. At Anderson ville, it is stated
by a prisoner, that, for three months, no meat what-
ever was issued, and the last six months it was issued
not more than six times.
The opportunities for cleanliness were so insufficient
that many became reckless of the care of their own
persons. Vermin were so numerous as actually to
cover the ground, and anywhere within the prison
they could be seen crawling, if one stood and looked
for them.
In his testimony before the Congressional com-
mittee, Thomas A. Pillsbury, of the 16th Connec-
ticut, stated that rations were withheld for three
days because Lieut. Bennett of Florence was unable
to find out which one of the prisoners had been dig-
ffing- a certain tunnel. " The man who dug the tun-
nel," T. A. Pillsbury says, "went out and told
him, and then we received our rations." At all these
prisons some excuse was often found for neglecting
to issue any rations for two or three days at a time,
and this was always followed by a largely increased
mortality.
Eestless and suffering, it is no wonder that many of
the prisoners tried to escape. Patiently, night after
174 SOUTHERN HEROES.
night, would some of them work, with perhaps the
remains of a ease knife, a part of a tin canteen or any
such article, digging, digging, little by little, the small
number in the secret taking turns, in the almost hope-
less task of tunneling a way to freedom. Sometimes
they succeeded in keeping their secret from the spies
that were sent among them and from the prisoners
outside the circle, and by this or other means effected
their escape from the confines of the prison. With
silent step and silent rejoicings they would start for
the land of freedom. But Southern men had learned
that bloodhounds could track the colored man in his
attempts to escape to the land of the free, and so
if successful in passing the guards the escaped prison-
ers generally found themselves pursued by tlie ter-
rible beasts, were often caught and taken back to the
prison.
In an official report of Wirz, of Andersonville, for
the month of August, 1864, he says : " The prison-
ers numbered 31,678, of whom 1699 were in hospital
during the month, 2993 died, 23 were sent to other
places, 21 were exchanged, 30 escaped, four of whom
were recaptured ; but the depletion from death and
other causes was more than made good by the receipt
of 3078 new prisoners, so that on August 30 tliere
were 31,693 in the prison, 2220 of whom were in the
hospital." lie further says: "Perhaps twenty-five
more prisoners escaped during the month, but were
taken by the dogs before the daily return was made
up, and for that reason were not in the list of escaped
or recaptured."
SOUTHERN HEROES. 175
It would appear from this report that fifty-five
men escaped from Audersonville during that mouth,
twenty-nine of whom were captured by the dogs.
Seven men were placed in stocks within sight of the
prisoners, and never released from their painful posi-
tion until relieved by death, and it was nearly two
weeks before the last one died.
As there were so many men in so small a space
— the average was 33 2-10 square feet per man in
August, 1864, including swamp and entire yard,
much of which could not be used, — many of them
the most depraved and wicked, it was necessary to
organize a police force and a court within the prison,
for the officials gave themselves no concern as to what
rascality went on among the prisoners. A man known
to have a few dollars was the object of the envious
wicked men, and human life was actually so cheap in
their eyes as to tempt some to murder for a dollar or
two. Two men were known to have been murdered
and thrown into a well, that the murderers might
secure about three dollars that had belonged to their
victims. This police and detective force arrested a
large number of culprits, who were tried before a
court, and six men were convicted of their crimes
and hung within the prison yard. One of the con-
demned meu escaped from his captors as they were
about to mount the scaffold, causing some commotion,
and being afraid of an assault upon the stockade,
Wirz, through fear and lack of judgment, ordered
the cannon, which were already charged with grape
and canister, fired upon the thronging prisoners.
176 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Had the captain in charge, who coukl see the cause
of the commotion, been obedient to the order, thou-
sands must have been killed. As it was, Wirz's
command caused such a stampede that the arms and
legs of many were broken, and some were said to have
been killed.
The visitor now finds at the entrance of the United
States cemetery at Salisbury a neat brick cottage,
where once lived, and may yet live, a one-armed vet-
eran, employed by the United States government to
care for this city of the dead ; and faithfully did he
care for the graves of those who suffered in the Salis-
bury prison. Long rows of white-painted head-
boards, upon which, in black lettering, are the words
"unknown," "unknown," "unknown," with a little
slab opposite, now mark the ditch where were rudely
laid away forever the bodies of the soldiers from
Northern homes. There are besides many stones
with names and dates ; and on the hill the United
States has placed a monument to the memory of
her sons.
Never will the writer forget one clear spring morn-
ing, a few years after the surrender, when he had
traveled much in the South without a sight of the
dear old Stars and Stripes. Weeks and months he
had passed without seeing the " red, white, and blue ; "
but this morning on looking out of a hotel window in
Salisbury, he saw waving in the moi-ning sunliglit a
large United States flag, the sight of which filled his
soul with feelings of patriotism such as a peace-loving
Friend might safely indulge. There, in the heart of
SOUTHERN HEROES. Ill
the land which had been so recently under the Con-
federate government and so long the land of slavery,
the writer bowed before the God of all grace and
thanked Him that the terrible struggle was ended ;
that slavery, the curse of the South and of all our
land, was a thing of the past ; and that the dear old
flag could once more be unfurled in the balmy breezes
of the Southland, and be recognized as the flag of
" Our Country."
CHAPTER IX.
God'3 ways seem dark, but soon or late
They touch the shining hills of day ;
The evil cannot brook delay ;
The good can well afford to wait.
Give ermined knaves their hour of crime ;
Ye have the future, grand and great,
The safe appeal of Truth to time.
Whittier.
*' He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide
under the shadow of the Almighty."
" A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right
hand, but it shall not come uigh thee." — Psalm xci. 1 and 7.
Ten miles east of Ashboro, the county seat of
Randolph County, N. C, there is a settlement known
in all that region as " Holly Spring neighborhood."
The name " Holly Spring " was given to the Friends'
meeting there which was established in the early his-
tory of the country. The name was suggested by
the remarkably fine spring, now near the meeting-
house, where all comers have found a generous pool
of excellent water, under the shadow of evergreen,
prickly-leaved holly - bushes. The residents were
mostly Friends, — farmers from generation to genera-
tion, living their quiet lives with little to interfere
with the daily routine of duty.
At the time of which we write, the Friends' meeting-
house was the only place of worship for miles around.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 179
It was built with a low ceiling, and with raised seats
along the front of the room for the ministers and
elders. Through the centre of the building were
shutters, which, when closed, formed a partition, sep-
arating the men's and women's meetings. A plain
meeting-house it was, with no cushioned seats or easy
chairs. Ancient as it was (for a new one has now
taken its place), it was the successor of one built of
logs within the same " clearing."
Near by, directly in front of the house, is a large
burial-ground, where the whole community for genera-
tions past has been permitted to bury its dead. In
the old i)art only the mound shows the place where
some loved one was laid away a century and more ago.
Other graves are marked by the never-decaying jjine-
knot, standing upright in the red earth, washed by the
rains of decades past, but still marking the head of
the grave of some former resident of Holly Spring
neighborhood. Of later time (and some of them
dated a century ago), we find the low slate, perhaps
from Wales, or the common field stone, with initial
and date rudely cut upon it. Some of the graves are
covered by shingled roofs large enough to prevent the
rain from falling upon them. Near the meeting-house
the graves are marked by the modern marble slab.
Many of those whose bodies had been laid away in
this silent resting place had, by their faithful lives
and teaching, done much toward moulding the charac-
ter of those who were living in this neighborhood when
the war broke out. Generation after generation had
been taught that the Prince of Peace was their law-
180 SOUTHERN HEROES.
giver. Not only did the members of tliis little church
partake of the views of Friends, but many in the
community around, having all their lives attended this
meeting- and mingled with them, were Friends except
in membership.
Soon after Governor Early declared that North
Carolina was seceded from the Union, orders w^ere sent
here for every man between the ages of eighteen and
thirty-five to appear before the officers at Ashboro
and be enrolled. Many of these people did not feel
willing to appear ; some went the other way ; some
answered the call and explained to the officers the
grounds of their objections to war. One officer told
them that the army was no place for religion ; that
the military authorities had nothing to do with that
question. They wanted men to fight the Yankees, and
men they must have.
The first draft in North Carolina was made in 1861.
The Friends generally kept about their usual occupa-
tions, although expecting to be called for, and when
the soldiers came, many of them were pursuing their
peaceful callings.
Levi Cox, Thomas Hinshaw, Amos Hinshaw, Calvin
Cox, Michael Cox, J. J. Allen, Hezekiah Allen, and
his three brothers, William, Clarkson, and Franklin,
were drafted.
Levi Cox and his father owned a grist-mill. Levi
was miller, and on this account he was liberated. The
difficulty of procuring supplies of various kinds, on
accoimt of the early blockade of the Southern ports,
made it needful for the Confederate government to
SOUTHERN HEROES. 181
manufacture many articles. Among these was salt,
and for this purpose works were established near Wil-
mington, N. C. Here Michael Cox, Thomas and
Amos Hinshaw and Clarkson Allen were assigned to
duty. This they recognized as a legitimate business,
but, claiming that their time was of more value at
home, they each paid fifteen dollars for others to take
their places for one month, and were allowed to return
home.
Clarkson Allen and Amos Hinshaw immediately
started for the West, and after eighty-five days of
privation, exposure and danger they succeeded in
crossing the mountains and reaching Indiana. On
one occasion their colored guide was captured and shot.
Amos Hinshaw saw it done from his hiding-place, but
knowing that any attempt to save his noble guide
would result in the loss of two more lives, he could
do nothing better than to remain quiet.
Calvin Cox's father was not a Friend, but as he
was unwilling to have his son taken to the war, if
there was any way to prevent it, he hired a substitute
for him. Allen was released on account of his poor
health.
In 1862 this quiet neighborhood was again invaded
by soldiers searching for men. The conscript act was
being rigorously enforced, and they took away Isaac
and Enoch Cox ; Thomas Hinshaw the second time :
his other brother, Jacob ; also their cousins, Cyrus
and Nathaniel Barker, who were brothers ; Nathaniel
Cox, Jeremiah Pickett and his brother Simon ; John
and Milton Cox; three brothers, Charles J., Adonijah
182 SOUTHERN HEROES.
aud William Stout ; Anson and Solomon Cox ; J.
Allen the second time ; John Allen, Jeremiah Littler,
John Barker and Nathan Allen.
In March, 1863, the homes of this jieaceful people
were again visited by the home guard, seeking for
more men to go to the front. William and John C.
Willis, Charles and Ahijah Macon, Newton J. Silar
and three brothers, Gideon, Isaiah and A. M. Ma-
con, were taken.
The age limit for enrollment having been again ex-
tended, the soldiers once more came to Holly Spring
in June, 1863, and at this time Eli Macon, Neri and
Seth Cox, Eli Cox and his brother Harmon, Yancey
Cox, and others whose names have not been seciu*ed,
were arrested and taken to the army.
We have now given the names of forty-three men
from this neighborhood, and mostly members of this
little country church. It would involve too much re-
petition to follow each of them through their varied
experiences, but they were all of one mind. They
had long lived in peace at their homes, endeavoring
with humility to serve the Prince of Peace, and they
were forbidden by religious conviction to serve a cause
that seemed to them unrighteous, or to quarrel with
a people against whom they had no grievance. Two
of the brothers Stout and John Allen secreted them-
selves for a time, then made their escape, and went
West. Calvin Cox, we may remember, had been re-
presented in the army for some months by a substi-
tute, and according to the usual laws of nations could
not be taken meanwhile as a soldier. But, as we have
SOUTHERN HEROES. 183
learned, the Confederate government wanted men,
and decided to have them, to fight the Yankees ; so
they were not scrupulous as to the laws of other
nations, or their own, if men could be obtained by vio-
lating them. Hence, after vainly pressing his claim,
Calvin Cox paid the tax and received his exemption
pajjers the second time. This was not an isolated
case. About thirty of these Friends paid the tax at
one time or another.
Yancey Cox, who was only seventeen years old and
weighed but eighty-four pounds, was taken from his
widowed mother, but the officers tried in vain to make
a soldier of this boy. He refused to take a gun or to
wear military clothing. To bring him to subordina-
tion he was made to march until the blood ran from
his feet through the toes of his wornout shoes. He
was pierced in the thigh with a bayonet, and to this
day carries the scar of the wound thus made. An
opportunity having occurred for him to escape in com-
pany with twenty-seven others, Yancey seized it.
When approaching their old homes this group of
neighbors waded the Haw river and entered the dense
forest for a hiding-place. Wet and shivering with
the cold, they buried themselves in the leaves for
warmth. Yancey aided the others to cover themselves
until he alone was left, and then he too buried himself
in a leafy mound. For a year these men remained in
hiding, getting food as best they could, and many
were the friendly hands extended for their relief.
Knowing that there were men in the neighboi'hood
who were " lying out," the home guard undertook in
184 SOUTHERN HEROES.
vain to extort from their friends a confession of their
■ hiding-place.
Just across Deep river from the settlement, and not
far from the Friends' meeting-house, was what the
people of the neighborhood called the " Bull-Pen,"
a rendezvous for the home guard. An old school-
house was used as a prison for the parents of these
men of legal age, whom the guards could not find.
By confinement, punishment and torture they en-
deavored to extort from these aged people information
as to the hiding-places of their sons. Oftentimes the
poor father and mother were as ignorant of this as the
soldiers were, but the sons, after learning of the pun-
iskment of their parents, would sometimes voluntarily
come forward to relieve them from imprisonment and
suffering, and allow themselves to be taken to the
front, where they would escape at the first oppor-
tunity.
Levi Cox, who lives near there, says the soldiers
placed the hands or fingers of the aged men and
women between the lower rails of the fence, and with
its crushing weight upon them would wait to be told
what they wished. In order to increase the pressure
upon the fingers or hands, the cruel soldiers would
climb upon the fence and seat themselves. Failing
thus to secure the desired information, they would
sometimes tie a rope aroimd the waist of the women
and hang them to a tree. One mother who would ere-
long have given birth to another child was so hung
in order to make her reveal the hiding-place of her
boy, and she died as a result of this cruelty.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 185
Tlie mother and sister o£ Yancey Cox were taken
to this place and severely punished in order to induce
them to tell where he was, but in vain, and the boy
kept himself secreted until after the surrender of
Richmond.
Men able to work were so scarce that many crops
of wheat were lost for want of hands to save them.
Levi Cox worked thirty-two days cutting grain and
securing food for women whose husbands were in the
army or were " lying out," though he was warned re-
peatedly that he would be shot as a deserter for leav-
ing his post at the mill ; and he was finally compelled
to remain there.
At the breaking out of the civil war, Levi Cox was
a United States postmaster, and had about three dol-
lars of United States money in his possession. On
going one day to pay his taxes he was asked if he had
said, as reported, that he would not pay that money
into the Confederate treasury. He replied that he
had not said so. " Well, if you had, I would shoot
you right here," was the reply.
Gideon Macon was taken from home as a conscript
by the soldiers. He was passed from one guard-house
to another as a prisoner, was scoffed at and jeered on
the way, and told of the dreadful things that woidd
happen to him if he would not fight. He was finally
sent to Lee's army, and was immediately called upon
to take a gun, which was handed to him ; but he de-
clined to do so. Upon ascertaining his determination
not to receive the weapon, he was ordered to the rear
to take a soldier's place as cook. He explained that
186 SOUTHERN HEROES.
he could not for conscience' sake take a soklier's
place; that cooking of itself was needful, and he
would not object to doing his own ; hut to take this
man's place w^ould be doing a soldier's work, and he
might as well do the fighting as the cooking. He
could take no part in any duties of a soldier.
The law of force is the law of war, and the officers,
knowing perhaps no better way, thought that by pun-
ishing him they could compel this man of peace to do
their bidding ; but sometimes human power fails, and
although they punished him all they knew how with-
out killing him, he was, through silent suffering, the
heroic conquerer.
A severe punishment called " bucking-down " was
practiced in the army, and in Gideon's case this was
first resorted to. As we shall have occasion to use
this term repeatedly, it is best here to describe the
manner of doing it, that the reader may form some
idea of the terrible punishment thus meted to innocent
men. The man who is condemned to this trying
ordeal is made to sit down on the ground ; his wrists
are firmly bound together by strong cord or withes ;
drawing up the knees his arms are pressed over them
until a stout stick can be thrust over the elbows, un-
der the linees, and thus the man's feet and hands are
rendered useless for the time being. He can neither
crawl nor creep. For hours Gideon Macon thus suf-
fered, enduring not only the i)ain of body but the
taunts of men who thought to ridicide and shame him
into a surrender of his principles.
The next day General Lee was so closely pressed by
SOUTHERN HEROES. 187
the Northern army that he was obliged to fall back.
As they were retreating, the officers tried to make
Gideon take a gun, but he was no more willing to
take it when retreating than when advancing, and re-
fused to touch it, at which the general in command of
the division was very angry. His orders were not
only disregarded, but openly disobeyed before his sub-
ordinates, and this must not be permitted in an army
whose success depends upon complete obedience.
With fearful oaths the officer informed him that he
would be immediately hung if he did not take the
gun.
Gideon could not be frightened. Death had no
terror for him then, and fearing to disobey God more
than men, he chose to keep a good conscience, and
looking calmly at the general, he told him that he was
in his power so far as God permitted that power to be
exercised. He was not afraid to die, but would not
disobey God's command. The general then peremp-
torily ordered men to hang him to a certain tree. He
was not aware of the close proximity of the Northern
army, and before the order could be obeyed the men
detailed were compelled to rush on for their own
safety, and Gideon was hurried along with them.
Refusing to accept any occupation of a military
character, even to carry the officers' baggage, they
abused him, kicked and beat him cruelly, but the
man of peace could no more retaliate than he could
fight the Yankees, and he meekly endured all for
Jesus' sake. Having arrived at Petersburg he was
put in the jail, where he underwent great hardships.
188 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Not only was personal abuse inflicted upon liim, but
the necessities of comfort and cleanliness were refused
him. Even water to wash with he was deprived of
for three weeks.
Upon the disbanding of General Lee's army, after
the surrender at Appomattox, our suffering prisoner
was liberated, having endured months of cruel torture
and imprisonment. He returned to the quiet of his
home at Holly Spring to enjoy its blessings and a
conscience void of offense toward God and man.
J. J, Allen was first drafted and then conscripted,
but he managed to evade his captors, and for twenty-
two months hid in the woods. Much of this time
Levi Cox placed a pan with provisions in it by a cer-
tain post in his fence each night at a certain hour. It
was emptied and another man was fed in the same way
at another hour ; and for over a year these two men
came regularly to the same place at different hours
of the night, ignorant of each other's coming. They
were finally much surprised upon seeing each other
accidentally, as they were going the same way, one
having been delayed owing to fear of detection.
The father and mother of our friend Allen were
arrested by the home guard, taken to the "Bull-
Pen," and severely punished to make them reveal the
whereabouts of their son. He finally surrendered in
order to secure their release, was taken to Ashboro
and required to stand guard as a soldier. This he
refused to do, and was sent to Raleigh with Gideon
Macon. He there refused any military employment,
money, or equipments. At length, seeing a way to
SOUTHERN HEROES. 189
escape, he succeeded in doing so and made his way
to Indiana.
William Stout paid the tax, but securing his re-
lease on the ground of his profession as a practising
physician, he claimed that the five hundred dollars
that he had paid as a tax should be returned, and
entered suit for the same against the Confederate
government. After much litigation, his lawyer suc-
ceeded in obtaining the money, saying that it was the
most difficult case he had ever had to prosecute, and
that his share, one half the amount, paid him but
poorly for his trouble. This is the only case of which
we have ever heard in which the Confederate States
of America was sued at law.
During the exciting times incident to the beginning
of the war. Southern ministers used their pulpits to
fire the hearts of their hearers with the spirit of war.
They encouraged the men to enter the army at once,
and to drive from the Southern homes and country
the invading Yankee. Many speakers declared that
the Yankee could not fight ; that one Southern man
was well known to be worth ten Northern ones, and
could easily whip that many ; that the Northerners
would not stand before them ; and that the blood
spilled in gaining Southern independence could easily
be wiped up with a pocket-handkerchief.
Ahijah Macon, a young man of Holly Spring
neighborhood, and a brother of Gideon Macon, was
conscripted, and by these arguments was persuaded
to accept a gun as a volunteer. He had not then
become a member of the Friends' church, and really
190 SOUTHERN HEROES.
knew no way of escaping military service ; but he
soon saw his mistake. Serving out the time for which
he had enlisted, he obtained an honorable discharge,
as ho supposed, for the war. While in the army he
had improved the opportunity to consider the teach-
ings of the Friends and compare them with the New
Testament, so that he had become fully convinced by
careful study and the scenes through which he had
passed that they were right. On his return home he
sought admission to the meeting at Holly Spring and
became a member, thinking that now, without fear of
draft or conscription, he would be permitted to enjoy
the privilege of living peaceably \\^th all men and
worshiijing God according to the dictates of his own
conscience. But the Confederate government needed
men to take the place of those who had fallen in
battle, and he was available. His discharge from the
army was disregai'ded, also his exemption papers,
which he had received by paying the tax of five hun-
dred dollars, and a sergeant was ordered to arrest
him. This sergeant had been his schoolmate and life-
long friend, and loved Macon so much that he would
gladly have been relieved from this service or have
done something to aid him to escape the army. But
the laws of war take no notice of personal friendships
when in conflict with the stern commands of superior
officers, and the sergeant must obey, or the penalty
sure and dreadful be suffered. So he took his friend
prisoner, and then set to work at once to secure his
release. His efforts were futile, but if not able to
secure his freedom, he was in a position to protect
SOUTHERN HEROES. 191
him from abuse, and faithfully did, so long as they
were together.
Soon after his arrest, our friend became convinced
that he would be released by death. He had a strong-
impression that his days were now numbered, and
while in good health he told his father of his convic-
tions and fully informed him of his wishes. He gave
his last messages to his brothers and sisters, and also
directions as to his own burial. He was hurried on
to Richmond and immediately required to take a gun
and fight. But he was in no mood for fighting, so
they put him under guard, and for food gave him
only cane-seed meal. This was followed by severe
illness, and he was removed to a hospital in Rich-
mond, where he soon passed away, having laid down
his life for the Gospel of Peace. He was a good sol-
dier of Jesus Christ, and was early permitted a dis-
charge and a reward more glorious than ever comes
on account of victories won in battle.
The third of the Macon brothers, Isaiah, had been
a remarkably sensitive lad. Surrounded always by
the peaceful and quiet influences of this rural district,
he was very much shocked by any tale of horror, and
the sight of blood so affected him that he would rather
be excused from killing the fowls needed for his din-
ner. Averse by nature as well as by principle to the
barbarities of war, he had entertained hopes that he
would be exempted, because he was engaged in the
manufacture of iron. He was received into member-
ship with Holly Spring Friends soon after the war
began, but after the passage of the exemption law,
192 SOUTHERN HEROES.
and the government officials wonld not overlook such
a cliance to make a soldier. One day, when away
from home, he was arrested. The tender feelings of
the home guard had long since been seared as with
a hot iron, or entirely crushed by the many sad scenes
incident to this cruel and soul-destroying business.
They paid no heed to his earnest pleas to be allowed
to go once more and see his wife and little ones, to
bid them farewell before he should be taken from
them forever. The loved ones at home were left to
learn what had become of him as best they could, and
he was hurried to Raleigh, N. C, and thence in a few
days to the army in the Valley of Virginia. The
battle of Winchester occurred immediately after his
arrival, and the officers said : " If Macon will not
fight, put him in the front to stop bullets for those
who will."
Taken almost directly from his quiet country home,
this soldier of Jesus Christ, without sword or gun,
was compelled to move immediately into that dreadful
scene of carnage from which his sensitive nature so
recoiled, and to listen to the fierce shouts and fearful
oaths of the combatants around him ; then to the
dreadful groans of wounded men and horses ; to see
the gaping wounds made by shell, shot and sword ;
to see the flowing blood and paling cheek. The neces-
sity of seeing and hearing all this, while taking no
part in it, made him the more impressible. Hemmed
in by the soldiers of his regiment, he could not escaj^e
if he would. His comrades were falling all around
him from the leaden hail poured into their ranks by
SOUTHERN HEROES. 193
the Northern soldiers. He moved about as best he
could, and others fell in the places which he had just
left. But he stopped no bullets. He had nothing to
do but to trust in God and await the end of the terri-
ble scene. He seemed to possess a charmed life. His
comrades fell all around him, their places being filled
by others, who wondered at the strange sight, — a
man with plain citizen's dress, having neither pistol,
sword, nor gun, and no military cap nor coat, calmly
filling his place in battle line, but taking no part in
battle.
There was no time for questioning or consideration.
Action was required of every man. The enemy was
j)ressing too closely ; the line wavered at the terrible
onslaught ; they could not hold their ground ; the
order was given, " Ketreat."
Our friend Macon knew no enemies, nor was he
disposed to run from the Yankees ; and as his com-
pany turned to flee, he calmly lay down upon the
ground, preferring, doubtless, to fall in the hands
of the Northern men rather than continue his con-
nections with those who had so harshly treated him.
He had not long to wait. The Northern soldiers
soon discovered him, and were surprised indeed to
find a man attired like a citizen under such circum-
stances.
Peaceful amid it all, no shot had he fired, no part
had he taken. He was not an enemy, and yet the
laws of war required that he should be captured as
a prisoner, and he was soon in Point Lookout prison,
where in a few days he died, doubtless from mental
194 SOUTHERN HEROES.
suffering caused by his being taken from his loved
ones, and by the terrible scenes of battle.
No violent death was his ; but a calm, peaceful
passing away from scenes of strife and the noise of
battle to the place prepared for him by the Prince of
Peace in " His Father's House."
CHAPTER X.
Let us not weakly weep
Nor rashly threaten. Give us grace to keep
Our faith and patience ; wherefore should we leap
On one hand into fratricidal fight,
Or, on the other, 3rield eternal right ?
Whittieb.
Two brothers, Thomas and Amos Hinshaw, and two
Barker brothers, Cyrus and Nathan, their cousins,
were conscripted at the same time and together taken
to High Point, N. C, then the nearest railroad station
to their home, thirty-two miles away. These men
were obliged to make a hurried march before the gun
and bayonet. Thomas Hinshaw's wife knew that he
would need food and clothing, so she quickly prepared
them and started on foot to overtake the company,
which she did near her father's home, two miles dis-
tant, where she took leave of her husband and returned
to her home and little ones, who were now dependent
on her efforts for support. Faithfully she ploughed
the fields, hoed the crops, and cared for the home.
Our Friends with many other conscrij)ts were hur-
ried away to Camp French, near Black Water, Va.
At Weldon more men were taken on board, and they
were so packed, like cattle in freight cars, that they
could only rest themselves by sitting on one another's
knees. They were not furnished with food or water
196 SOUTHERN HEROES.
for nearly twenty-four hours. The food which was
brought by Thomas Hinshaw's wife was generously
shared with his friends, and was a great help to them.
Our four Friends refused to make choice of any
part of the service, and were consigned to the 5 2d
North Carolina regiment, General Pettigrew's brigade.
They were at once offered equipments and required to
drill, but were unanimous in declaring their peaceful
principles. The officers, really desirous of favoring
them, entreated them to pay the commutation tax, and
told them their money should be used for civil j)urposes
only ; but they plead that religious liberty was one of
the principles of their forefathers, that freedom of
conscience was the inherent right of men, that war
and fighting are contrary to the commands of Christ,
and that liberty of conscience and freedom to obey
Christ should not be purchased with money. Thoy
would therefore suffer cheerfully the penalty of the
law, which they could not, for conscience' sake, obey.
The colonel, knowing that ai-gument with such men
was useless, turned them over to Captain James M.
Kincade, who hardly knew what to do with them, and
for some time did nothing. Their quiet and consistent
course won his esteem, and many of the men also
learned to love them and respect their scruples. But
the lieutenant under whose immediate charge they
were placed was determined that they should obey his
orders, and he thought he could " break them in." It
became necessary to clear a space of ground for camp-
ing, and the lieutenant ordered his men to compel
these men to assist in the work. They were accustomed
SOUTHERN HEROES. 197
to clearing ground, and had done much of it for them-
selves and neighbors, but it was for growing corn and
wheat and not for military purposes ; and while the
work itself would have been a relief, they could not
conscientiously do it ; and, besides, it was on a Sab-
bath morning.
The lieutenant was very harsh and ordered his men
to compel them with guns and bayonets to assist in
the work, and to run their bayonets through them if
they did not obey. The men really respected the
Friends and were slow to move. Some said that they
had no guns, others that they had no bayonets. Finally
the lieutenant called two men out and sharply ordered
them to place their bayonets against the Friends and
press steadily until they moved ; but these men did
not have the heart to thrust a bayonet into unarmed,
peaceable men, so they evaded the order, though they
made a show of obedience, and wounded the Friends,
though slightly.
The captain then appeared, took the lieutenant
aside and reproached him for such cruelty, and told
the Friends that they might remain quiet for a time.
These Friends said that as they trusted in the Lord
He often turned the hearts of their commanders, and
even this lieutenant became very kind and considerate
of their feelings.
All sorts of work were offered them, and although
they had no objection to doing work of almost any
kind, they would not do it as military service. On
one occasion they were ordered to help bring in some
corn fodder. There were two objections to this ; it
198 SOUTHERN HEROES.
was not only military work, but they had to steal the
fodder, and of course they declined to obey. They
were first tied together and then tied to the back of a
cart, to force them to run or be dragged three or four
miles on a very cold day. Orders were given to
" pitch them into the river " if they would not assist
in loading the fodder. Such orders were more easily
Sfiven than executed.
The wagon-master was at first very fierce and angry,
but as he watched them meekly following the cart
through mud and water, he relented, sympathized with
and admired them. He was heard to remark : " I
declare I cannot help respecting men who stand up
f»r their principles in that way." No one attempted
to " pitch them into the river," although they had no
hand in loading the fodder, but walked back as they
had come, behind the cart.
They found upon returning to camp that they had
a warm welcome by the men of their company, who
refused to have any further hand in their punishment ;
and such a feeling was apparent among the men that
no further attempt was ever made to punish them, nor
to make them do any military service. They were
required to accompany the regiment for eight months,
but were not required to drill.
Their presence in the army was a continual testi-
mony against war ; their Christian spirit a wonderful
evidence of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ ; their
meekness and gentleness under the most trying cir-
cumstances a practical illustration of the grace of
God ; and their evident readiness to die in keeping
SOUTHERN HEROES. 199
his conirnandments was an evidence of the highest
possible faith and obedience.
It became more and more a question what to do
with the Quakers, and the wish was repeatedly
expressed in their hearing, that they would run away.
They were given to understand that no one would
pursue them ; but they would not run away from home
tfj. evade the officers of the army, neither would they
run away from the army to go home. They were not
of the runaway kind.
After four months, they received furloughs for
fifteen days, and on the back of these was written:
" These men ai-e of no manner of use in the army."
While at home the attempt was made to persuade
them to pay the tax, but it was unavailing. Thomas
Ilinshaw says : " It was a great temptation for us,
dreading as we did to return to the camp. On the
second of third month, 1863, we again took leave of
our dear families and friends at home, which, I think,
was as hard a trial as we have ever had to experience.
The officers and men all seemed glad to see us and
gave us a cordial welcome. No military duty was
required of us, not even to answer to roll-call."
Wearied by the continued inactivity of camp life,
they longed for some honoral^le relief. The battle of
Gettysburg, which saved Philadelphia and perhaps
the Union, bringing though it did suffering and death
to so many, brought release to our little army of peace
men.
Thomas Hinshaw says : " In the beginning of the
engagement we were ordered to the front, but we had
200 SOUTHERN HEROES.
no business there. The second morning orders came
for all who could walk to go to the battle-field. So
many had been killed the day before that they needed
every man. The colonel, lieutenant-colonel, major,
sergeant-major and all the captains of the regiment
having been either killed, or wounded, our lieutenant
was in command, and we were taken before him. He
said he knew we would not fight, but he thought we
would have to go to the regiment, which was then in
line of battle. He said he could not blame us so much
for not fighting, and that we might go just where we
pleased, so far as he was concerned ; but afterwards
said that part of the company was wounded and we
might go to the hospital and stay with them until the
fight was over. The wounded had been moved and
he told, us to follow them. We came to a bridge, but
were not allowed to cross without passes." While at
the bridge the guards came to take every man to the
front, and they were taken among several hundred
others that were trying to cross the bridge and get
farther from the line of battle. Having concluded
not to go to the front unless under guard, our Friends
dropped back and the guard closed up just in front of
them. They were arrested again, but the second time
they escaped. Again orders were given that all men,
except cooks and those detailed, should be taken to
the front. The officer commanded them to move on
at once, but privately told the guard that they need
not take them. Adhering to their resolution not to
go unless guarded, they were again spared.
As the end of this day approached, our Friends
SOUTHERN HEROES. 201
began to look about for a place to spend the night.
They sought the camping-place of the night before,
and on reaching it tliey found a number of soldiers
who, like themselves, thought to spend the night
there. News soon came that the regiment to which
they belonged was retreating. The men they found
at the camp hurriedly departed to follow, " but we
did not feel bound to follow them," says Thomas, " or
think it our duty to do so. We therefore turned to
the right and traveled some distance. The next
morning, which was the Sabbath, we went to a house
and inquired if any of the Society of Friends lived
in that neighborhood ; and being informed that there
were some, we went to a house, as directed, and found
a family of Friends, who were very kind to us. We
found that we were between the two picket lines,
and not feeling very well satisfied to run to or from
either of them, we stayed at the Friend's house nearly
a week. The Union cavalry then took us as prison-
ers of war. We were taken to Harrisburg on the
11th, to Philadelphia on the 13th, and on the 15th
of ninth month we were placed in Fort Delaware."
Here we will leave them until we take up the story of
William Hockett, with whom they were released.
Solomon Frazier lived in Randolph County, N. C.
His farm was on Deep river, a little beyond Col-
traine's mill, from Centre meeting-house. All his
life he had been associated with the Friends and
accepted their views concerning war. He did not,
however, become a member until after the passage
of the exemption act. He had paid #100 to be ex-
202 SOUTHERN HEROES.
empted from the duty of home guard, yet when the
call came to enroll all men between forty- five and fifty
years of age, he received several written orders to
appear at the court-house, but laid them aside and
went on with his work. One evening in December,
1864, ten armed men came to his house, arrested him,
and marched him to Archdale (then Bush Hill),
where they left him under guard to spend the night
with his brother. He was then taken to Salisbui-y
and required to act as guard for the prisoners ; but
he would not serve, so he was made prisoner in Salis-
bury prison.
He was a large, strong man, and they thought he
might do effective work fighting the Yankees, but
how to get him to do it was the question. First, the
bucking-down was resorted to for two hours ; then
they made him carry a heavy pole for three hours ; at
night they tied him up as they would a horse or a mule.
Next morning he was suspended by his hands, instead
of his thumbs, whether on account of his weight or
not we cannot say. In this painful position he was
kept for three hours. They tied a gun to his right
arm and a heavy piece of wood to his neck. Unable
to stand longer under the weight of the wood, he sat
down, resting one end of it upon the ground. A
soldier immediately pierced him with a bayonet. They
then bucked him down again, and while in this pain-
ful position, he says that they proceeded to gag him
with a bayonet. This was done by throwing his head
back and putting the bayonet in his mouth, the sharp
edge pressing the lips as it was tied tightly to the
SOUTHERN HEROES. 203
back of liis head. In this doubly trying position,
bucked and gagged, they kept him for the remainder
of the day.
As if determined to exhaust every means of j)un-
ishment, they tied his arms to a beam fastened, to a
post, like a cross, and raised him upon it in imitation
of the Christ for whom he suffered. They then put
upon him what they called a barrel-shirt. They put
a barrel over his head, and the barrel, not being large
enough to slip down to the ground, rested in such a
way as to fasten both arms and legs ; and there he
was left to stand for hours.
Solomon Frazier was so meek, and endured all
their persecutions with such patience, that the captain
under whose charge he was, got very angry, swore at
him with most terrible oaths, and told him it was use-
less to contend further ; he must now take a gun or
die. While the officer was tying a gun to his arm,
Solomon remarked to him : " If it is thy duty to
inflict this punishment upon me, do it cheerfully ;
don't get angry about it." The captain then left
him, saying to his men : " If any of you can make
him fight, do it ; I cannot."
Two young men now volunteered to make a soldier
of this Quaker, little knowing the nature of the ma-
terial which they had to work upon. Coming up to
him with their guns, they told him that they were
going to take him off and shoot him. He replied :
" It is the Sabbath and as good, a day to die as any."
They took him before Colonel Brooks, who inclined
to be merciful, and was also disposed to get clear of
204 SOUTHERN HEROES.
so troublesome a case. He advised him to consult a
lawyer, and if possible to procure exemption ; but
assured him positively that he must take a gun or die.
Two days' respite from persecution were given him,
when he was called up and required to take a gun.
Upon refusing, the gun was tied to his arm and a
strap fastened around his neck, by which he was
drao-o-ed around all day. He was made to run around
in a circle, much as we have seen horsemen train
horses. The next day they again resorted to the
bucking, with no better success.
Isham Cox, a prominent minister among the
Friends, visited the prison at this time, remonstrated
with the officials for practicing such cruelty, and ex-
plained more fully to their understanding the grounds
of Solomon's faith. Hearing this they concluded that
it was useless to try to make a soldier of him, and
ceased to persecute him, though he was retained as a
prisoner until the surrender of Salisbury, four months
afterwards. He was then restored to his family, and
he still lives on the same farm from which he went
at the time of his conscription, on the banks of Deep
river, where he rejoices in the peaceful condition of
the Sunny Southland, and in the fact that he did
what he could to hasten the day when the sword shall
be beaten into the plowshare and the spear into the
pruning-hook.
Jesse Milton Blair lived not far from Solomon
Frazier's home. He was arrested about Christmas,
1864, and taken to Richmond, Va. ; thence to the
army near Petersburg. He was put in an old tobacco-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 205
factory, where were many rude men, boisterously
drinkins: and carousing. For food he was furnished
with coarse corn bread and molasses, made from
sorghum grown in the neighborhood.
The next morning he was told that he must take a
gun and drill. This he declined to do. Upon ascer-
taining his position, the officer sternly ordered the men
to knock him down with the gun. As the soldier
moved to obey, the officer said : " Hold ; you might
kill him the first blow. Knock him down with your
fist." This the soldier did. When he got up the
soldier said : " Now I reckon you are willing to take
a gun." He replied : " No ; I have conscientious
scruples against bearing arms."
A gun was strapped to his wrists and he was or-
dered to march, and on refusing to do so was cruelly
pierced with a bayonet. They then took the straps
with which the gun had been tied to his arms and
fastened his thumbs so that he could move his hands
about two feet apart. They then cut off the limb of
a tree near by and, lifting him up, put the strap over
the stump of this limb, thus hanging 'him by the
thumbs. He was suspended so that his feet just
touched the ground. It was a cold day in December ;
it was snowing and sleeting ; yet for two hours they
allowed this man to suffer in this way. Meantime
the officer walked around smoking a cigar, occasion-
ally asking Jesse Blair if he would fight. Finally a
stone was placed under his feet and he was allowed
to stand upon it long enough to answer whether or
not he would now obey orders. But Jesse was still
206 SOUTHERN HEROES.
faithful, so the officer said to the men around him :
" Well, we will give him a whipping." With the gun
still tied to him, he was led to the place chosen for
the terrible castigation. The officer ordered away all
the men but one, and then commanded Jesse to re-
move his clothes. He says : " I was slow about taking
off my clothes ; I reckon you would have been." The
officer hurriedly and rudely bared his back to the
waist and then said : " Now you must take one hun-
dred lashes on your bare back or fight." " I reckon
I shall have to take them," was the reply. One hun-
dred good-sized hickory switches were gathered and
laid in bundles of ten each. Jesse was made to reach
around a tree and his hands were fastened too-ether,
thus tightening the muscles of the shoulders ; and the
cruel work of trying to whip him into a soldier began.
One switch was used for each stroke and then tossed
aside, another being handed the officer, who paused
frequently to ask if Jesse would obey his captain.
But our Friend replied that he recognized the author-
ity of no other captain save Jesus Christ, and his
orders were, " Thou shalt not kill ; " and that he
should do nothing to advance the interests of the war.
Jesse tried to keep account of the strokes as they fell
heavily on his back ; but the suffering became so
severe that he was unable to do so. All the switches
were used, and as he was untied Jesse reached his
hand behind him, finding the flesh badly cut and the
blood flowing freely down his body. Still our heroic,
suffering Friend refused to take the gun offered him.
The enraged officer said : " I am just going to hang
SOUTHERN HEROES. 207
you and be done with it, and then they will not send
any more of the d — d Quakers here unless they mean
to fight."
Jesse had enlisted under the banner of the Prince
of Peace, and would not turn traitor nor renounce his
Master's cause, — no, not for his life ; and so he
meekly went with his persecutor to the tree selected
upon which to hang him. One end of that same
leather strap was now fastened around the neck of
our unresisting soldier of the Cross, and the other
end thrown over a large limb, which was bent down
and the strap fastened to it. As the limb was re-
leased it gradually resumed nearly its normal posi-
tion, raising Jesse with it clear of the ground. He
was now suspended by the neck, his body turning in
the air and the strap twisting, reminding him, as he
afterwards said, of the twisting of strings he had seen
cats hung by when he was a boy.
He soon became too weak to answer their questions,
and could only respond to their demands to take a
gun by a slight negative movement of the head.
Finally the officer and his men j)ulled down the limb,
unfastened the strap, and Jesse fell helpless upon the
ground. When the officer found that he could not
stand he called for camphor, and Jesse heard him
say : " He may die and we cannot get to punish him
any more." He was carried to the barracks and laid
upon some straw. A doctor was called, who on the
second day told him that he was about to be very
sick. He was soon taken in an ambulance to the
camp near Petersburg, then by steamer to Richmond,
208 SOUTHERN HEROES.
where he was for a long time unable to turn himself
in bed or help himself in any way.
One day he thought he heard a familiar voice, and
upon listening heard his own name called. Then he
heard clearly the words : " Is there any one here by
the name of J. M. Blair?" Summoning all his
strength he succeeded in turning himself enough to
see across the room the familiar face of his friend
Joseph Hockett, a Friend minister from his own
meeting at Springfield. He feebly answered the call
and the eager searcher was soon by the side of his
rude hospital couch. Touched as only loving hearts
can be by the bond of suffering and sympath}^ the
tvip brothers, so united in Christian faith and love,
wept together.
Thirty years and more have passed since their
tears mingled upon that couch of suffering. The min-
ister's fountain of tears is forever dried, and only
rejoicing is known by him, for he has been gathered
from the earthly to the heavenly home ; yet at the
memory of that visit and expression of Christian love
under such circumstances of trial and suffering, when
there had been " no eye to pity and no hand to save,"
— except the Omnipotent One, — Jesse's heart was
moved with deep emotion as he told the story of that
manifestation of brotherly love, and his eye was filled
with tears and his heart with gratitude.
Three long months he lay in that liospital, and was
then sent, in March, 1865, to the camp. But the
Confederacy was weakening ; the army was moving
southward ; and Jesse, emaciated, weak and feeble.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 209
walked with it toward his home. For three days and
nights he was entirely without food. On arriving at
a farmhouse they found a quantity of corn locked in
a crib. Wliile the soldiers rested on their arms, the
farmer was asked for the key. He knew that he
would receive nothing for his corn, and was naturally
slow to give it to them. He was told that they would
have the corn if they had to tear down the building
to get it, and finally he threw the key to them. Three
ears of corn were given to each man. Jesse M. Blair
picked off a few kernels and ate them raw. He said
afterwards that they " tasted mighty sweet." As the
men were parching their corn, the Yankee soldiers
rushed upon them, and all who could rushed away.
Jesse saved his corn and ate it as he went. The next
day Lee surrendered to Grant, but Jesse kept on his
way homeward, wearily tramping day after day, living
as best he could from the scanty provisions kindly
furnished him by those along the way.
Finally the long journey was completed, and he
rested with the loved ones whom he had not seen for
so long, recounting to them his experiences and the
trials he had undei'gone for the testimony of peace.
Now, more than threescore and ten years of age,
he sits in the chimney-corner of his Southern home,
and with the buffetings and trials of his life in the
background and the bright rays of the setting sun
already lighting the pathway to the land beyond, he
is able to say, as he rests in the blessed hope of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ : " The hand of my God is
good upon me."
210 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Marlboro meeting of Friends is in the western part
of Randoli)h County, N. C. It was organized many
years ago, a church in the wilderness, but the princi-
ples of peace had been firmly planted and carefully
cultivated. The people listened regularly to the
query from their discipline, from quarter to quarter,
from year to year, generation after generation : " Are
Friends clear of bearing arms or other military
matters ? " It was important to have this, as well
as other subjects queried after, answered " clear."
When the time came that many of the members were
taken to the army by force of arms, these queries
were still read, and the overseers were expected to
produce answers for absent members as well as for
those at home.
Jesse Hill, William Hill, D. W. Milliken, Clark
Milliken, William F. Ball, John R. Beckerdike, Seth
W. Loflin, and others of their members were taken
for soldiers ; but they could not in duty to their Lord
be soldiers in this sense. As soldiers of Jesus Christ
they expected to be loyal, and had accepted the Bible
teaching, " Ye cannot serve two masters." The fol-
lowing letter, written to their meeting at home, is
of interest :
" 0th month, Gth day, 1864.
"To THE Society of Friends of Marlboro
AND Springfield Meetings: You are no doubt
wondering where we are and what we are doing. We
are in the intrenchments near Petersburg, in Com-
pany F, 27th regiment. Wc have thus far refused
to take any part in military duty, for which we are
SOUTHERN HEROES. 211
receiving severe punishment; such as being tied up
by the thumbs, deprived of sleep, etc. They say we
must suffer until we drill. We still expect, by the
grace of God and the help of your prayers, to be faith-
ful to our profession.
" We are sorry to have to ask Friends to be at so
much trouble for us, but our condition is a sad one.
We think that if some one could come and give a
little more explanation, something could be done for
us. We want the authorities of the meeting or some
one to write to the Secretary of War immediately.
" We still have our certificates and other papers
that we brought from home.
" Yours in bonds of love,
S. W. LOFLIN,
J. A. Hill."
Others of the members of this meeting suffered
severely for their principles, but we will now follow
our friend Seth W. Loflin in his time of trial.
He had been a member with the Friends but a
short time, when he was arrested as a conscript and
sent to camp near Petersburg, Va. He was at once
ordered to take up arms, which he refused to do, say-
ing that the weapons of the Christian were not carnal,
and that he was a Christian and forbidden to fio-ht.
The officers evidently thought that by prompt and
severe measures he could be made to yield his con-
scientious scruples, but they knew not of what spirit
he was.
First they kept him without sleep for thirty-six
212 SOUTHERN HEROES.
hours, a soldier standing by with a bayonet to pierce
him, should he fall asleep. Finding that this did
not overcome his scruples, they proceeded for three
hours each day to buck him down. He was then sus-
pended by his thumbs for an hour and a half. This
terrible ordeal was passed through with each day for
a week. Then, thinking him conquered, they offered
him a gun ; but he was unwilling to use the weapon.
Threats, abuse and persecution were alike unavailing,
and in desperate anger the Colonel ordered him court-
martialed. After being tried for insubordination he
was ordered shot. Preparations were accordingly
made for the execution of this terrible sentence. The
army was summoned to witness the scene, and soldiers
were detailed. Guns, six loaded with bullets and six
without, were handed to twelve chosen men. Seth
Loflin, as calm as any man of the immense number
surrounding him, asked time for prayer, which, of
course, could not be denied him. The supposition
was natural that he wished to pray for himself. But
he was ready to meet his Lord ; and so he prayed not
for himself but for them : " Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do."
Strange was the effect of this familiar prayer upon
men used to taking human life and under strict mili-
tary orders. Each man, however, lowered his gun,
and they resolutely declared that they would not shoot
such a man, thereby braving the result of disobeying
military orders. But the chosen twelve were not the
only ones whose hearts were touched. He who hold-
eth our lives in his hand melted the hearts of the
SOUTHERN HEROES. 213
officers as well, and the sentence was revoked. He
was led away to j^rison, where for weeks he suffered
uncomplainingly from his severe punishments.
He was finally sent to Windsor Hospital at Rich-
mond, Va., where he was taken very sick, and after a
long", severe illness, during which his Christian spirit
and patience won the hearts of all around him, he
quietly passed away, leaving a wife and seven children.
A letter was written to his wife by one of the officers,
an extract from which may be a fitting close to the
account of this worthy man's suffering.
" It is my painful duty to inform you that Seth W.
Loflin died at Windsor Hospital, at Richmond, on
the 8th of December, 1864. He died as he had lived,
a true, humble and devoted Christian ; true to his
faith and religion. . . . We pitied and sympathized with
him. . . . He is rewarded for his fidelity, and is at
rest."
CHAPTER XI.
For who that leans on His right arm
Was ever yet forsaken ?
What righteous cause can suffer harm
If He its part has taken ?
Though wild and loud
And dark the cloud,
Behind its folds
His hand upholds
The calm sky of to-morrow !
Whittier.
•
Men are so constituted that those of similar tastes,
habits, callings antl religious beliefs are very sure, as
a rule, to form themselves into lodges, leagues, guilds,
societies and even communities. The Friends are apt
to gather into rather distinctive neighborhoods ; not
absolutely so, as do the Shakers, neither do they have
all things in common as does that body, but for privi-
leges of fellowship and convenience of meeting to
worship God, they natiu^ally gather in neighborhoods.
The Friends make it the habit of their lives to
go up to the house of the Lord at least twice a
week. They care for the education of their children,
and in the South, where the public school system
had been very deficient and general education much
neglected, they had a schoolhouse near every meeting-
house.
"We have already learned of Holly Spring and
W -5
= :^
SOUTHERN HEROES. 215
Marlboro neighborhoods. West of Ashboro and south
of Marlboro is a community called Back Creek neioh-
borhood. The zealous home guard, anxious for
others to go to the front, were hunting here for con-
scripts and endeavoring to secure every man who
could possibly be made to serve the Confederacy.
We have the names of twenty-nine of the Friends
gathered by these hunters at different times, from this
little country church. For one of them a relative sent
a substitute ; some were assigned to the salt-works ;
some paid for substitutes to work there ; but sooner or
later twenty-two paid the tax. Much suffering was
experienced by exposure from " lying out " and per-
secutions of various kinds, before relief could be ob-
tained. Much property was taken from William Low
and other Friends, — horses, cattle and provisions,
without recompense.
Deep River neighborhood is situated about thirty-
five miles north of Back Creek, and here, since about
1695, the Friends have met regularly twice a week.
First there was a log house ; then a frame building
with ^veather-boards fastened on with wrought nails,
each hammered out by the blacksmith's hand. The
floor was fastened down with oak pins. This house
was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers durino-
the Revolution, and blood-marks were said to have
been visible on its walls when it gave place to a more
modern brick structure.
The large house had at one time been too small for
the congregation assembling there, and wing-like
sheds had been added to each end of the buildino-.
216 SOUTHERN HEROES.
with doors from the outside. Three logs were cut
from the end walls of the main building to make an
opening and connection with the large audience room.
When not needed, these openings were closed by
board shutters hung from the top with large wooden
hinges. The seats were so arranged that the congre-
gation would be mainly at the preacher's right and
left.
There had been no provision made for heating, as
it was thought at that time to be unnecessary ; but of
later times the more aggressive Friends wanted a fire
"during meeting-time." The objections of the con-
servative Friends were so far overcome that a stove
was placed in the main meeting-room. Stovepipe was
not abundant in those early days, and as little as pos-
sible must be used ; so a hole was cut through the thin
wooden ceiling and the pipe extended through that
into the loft. At each end of the gable a clapboard
was removed, and a draft thus created. There seemed
to be no fear of sparks igniting the roof. This was
the only means ever provided for heating the house.
An amusing story is told of the experience of one
person on the first meeting-day after the objectionable
stove had been introduced. An elderly Friend who
had been opposed to the innovation was manifestly
uncomfortable during; meetinof-time. So warm was he
that he perspired freely. When meeting was over he
complained of the heat from that stove having been
so oppressive, and said that he had never suffered so
much from the cold in meeting as he had that day
from the heat. He was much surprised when told
SOUTHERN HEROES. 217
that there had been no fire in the stove. No further
complaint was heard concerning the innovation.
But, primitive or progressive, they were of one
mind concerning war, and the teachings of Mahlon
Hockett, Jeremiah Hubbard and many others there
had ever been that the friends of Jesus must keep
his commandments, and that He told them to love
their enemies.
At the time of which we write there was no need
of the wooden shutters being opened into the added
wings of the meeting-house, for by death and emigra-
tion most of the members had been removed. Still
there were too many left to be overlooked by the Con-
federate authorities. Thirteen men were arrested,
seven of whom were exempted upon payment of the
five hundred dollar tax, and three for other reasons.
There were three brothers named Jones who had been
all their lives under the Friends' teaching, but had not
been received into membership until after the passage
of the exemption act. In 1863 they were all con-
scripted. Still they remained quietly at home, not
even hiding In the woods. Their protest against
bearing arms was of course unheeded, and they were
sent to Orange Court House, Va., where they were
ordered Into the ranks, but refused to obey. The
officer, thinking to make short work of it, immedi-
ately clubbed the gun offered to J. M. Jones, and
knocked him down, cutting a long gash in his head,
from which the blood flowed freely. Upon attempt-
ing to rise he was struck again, a terrible blow cut-
ting his ear nearly off. But still friend Jones had no
218 SOUTHERN HEROES.
inclination to fight, nor would he take the gun in his
hand. Persisting in his refusal, he was again knocked
down, and for some time lay bleeding. Becoming
convinced that he would sooner be killed than bear
arms, the officer sent him to prison and began to try
to conquer the second hero, A. Jones, who had wit-
nessed the abuse and the blood of his brother. They
took the bayonet in his case, and pressing it into the
flesh an inch or more, concluded that though they run
it through him he would never surrender ; so they
sent him to prison also and tried the third. Their
success with the other two had not been very flatter-
ing, and they began less resolutely, evidently with less
hope of conquering. Although they punished him
severely, they did not wound him as they had his
brothers.
Soon after this the three brothers were sent to the
Rapidan, under General Scales's command, where
new trials awaited them. Here the American officers
exhausted their means of punishment and turned their
victims over to a cruel German, who made his boast
that he "could make soldiers of them Quakers."
Various kinds of abuse and threats of death were
alike unavailing, and the scruples of our soldiers of
the Army of Peace could not be overcome. They
could suffer or die, but by no means be conquered.
The starving process was then begun, and they
were ordered to be kept in close confinement for
three days and nights, without food or water. It
was made a court-martial offense for any one to give
them relief. There was a Kentucky soldier, how-
• SOUTHERN HEROES. 219
ever, whose sympathy for them was so great that he
nobly risked punishment in order to furnish them
with water. The three days being ended, they were
of the same opinion still, and the bucking-down was
resorted to. Weakened by starvation and other trials,
they were in no condition, physically, to endnre the
terrible ordeal of this, and the added strain of three
to four hours in the heat of the Southern sun. The
mind of the youngest gave way, and he became quite
delirious. He was sent to the hospital for treatment,
and on recovering was sent again to camp.
The committee from the meeting for sufferings,
being informed of the arrest of these brothers, under-
took to secure their release ; but the wheels of official
authority revolve slowly. Sometimes, however, they
can be made to move, and after a long time the com-
mittee succeeded in obtaining an ordbr for their dis-
charge. The following are copies of the original
papers issued :
CONFEDEBATE StATES OF AmERICA,
War Department,
Richmond, Va., January 19, 1864.
Mr. John B. Crenshaw, Richmond, Va.
Sir, — You are respectfully informed that the Ad-
jutant and Inspector-General has been directed to
authorize the discharge of J. M., A. W., & D. H.
Jones, members of the " Society of Friends," as
recommended, and on the conditions prescribed.
Your obedient servant,
James A. Seddon,
Secretary of War.
220 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Adjutant and Inspector-General's Office,
Richmond, January 22, 1864.
(Extract)
Special Orders, \
No. 18. )
XXVII. The following - named privates being
members of the Society of Friends, and each having
paid into the treasury the sum of five hundred dol-
lars as required by law, will be discharged the service
of the Confederate States.
Jackson M. Jones, Co. — , 13th N. C. Vols.
By command of the Secretary of War,
Jno. Withers,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
Private Jackson M. Jones,
Through Mr. Crenshaw.
Adjutant and Inspector-General's Office,
Richmond, January 22, 1864.
(Extract)
Special Orders, I
No. 18. J
XXVII. The following - named privates being
members of the Society of Friends, and each having
paid into the treasury the sum of five hundred dol-
lars as required by law, will be discharged the ser-
vice of the Confederate States.
Anderson W. Jones, Co. — , 13th N. C. Vols.
By command of the Secretary of W^ar,
Jno. Withers,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
Private Anderson W. Jones,
Through Mr. Crenshaw.
/
SOUTHERN HEROES. 221
About forW miles west of the Deep River neigh-
borhood is Deep Creek meeting-house, in Yadkin
County, N. C. The Friends here coidd more easily
cross the lines tlian those who lived in the lower
counties, and maite their way west over the moun-
tains. Many did so, and there were few left who
were liable to be conscripted. By diligent searching
the officers found sixteen members of these three
little churches, — Forbush and Deep Creek in Yadkin
County and Hunting Creek in Iredell County, — who
were liable to mil-tary duty.
Stephen Hobsun was in the iron business. The
supply from Pen^isylvania and other places was cut
off from the South, and home production must be
encouraged ; so nine of the Friends were detailed to
work in the minos. James Hutchinson paid the tax
without leaving' home. Thomas A. Benbow was
taken to Raleigii and kept in camp for about three
months. Refusir. ^ to do any military duty, he was
allowed to pay the tax and go home, Enoch Crisco,
who had been received after the passage of the law,
was released upoi^ the payment of the tax. In a letter
to John B. Crer i;liaw, dated 6th month 23d, 1864,
Isham Cox says :
" I went to States villa some time ago to see the
enrolling officer in behalf of fourteen young men who
had, since |",he passage of the exemption act, joined
our society at Deep Creek, in Yadkin County, but
failed to get his approval, though he referred them to
Colonel Mallett, who refused to notice them until the
local officers had passed upon them. I anticipate
\
222 SOUTHERN HEROES.
going up next week to give the enrolMng officer an-
other trial, and if I fail again, the pr^rties are anxious
that I should appeal to the BureOcU of Conscription,
if, by it, there would be any hope of success. Please
give me thy views relating thereto.
^ ISHAM Cox."
These young men were taken from home and en-
dured much suffering. One of them, Lewis Caudle,
was taken to the front, terribly pe^fsecuted, and with
a gun tied to him, he was made to enter battle and
stand amid the contending forces ; but he would take
no part in the terrible conflict. No bullet reached
him, although many around him were slain. The
Southern forces were oblig-ed to retrciat, but Lewis did
not care to go with them, so he lay down upon the
battlefield, with the wounded, dying ■ and dead around
him. Falling asleep, he lay thei-e until morning.
His comrades being gone, he saw fto reason why he
should remain in the army, and so l|)egan his long and
lonesome march to his mountain home. He reached
it in due time, and was not obliged t;o return ; nor was
he further molested. Isham Cox j^ad John B. Cren-
shaw induced the officers to accept the $500 tax
foi' him.
At New Garden, six miles west of Greensboro,
Guilford County, a Friends' meeting had been held,
and for more than a century the yearly meeting an-
nually held its seven days' session there. The mem-
bership of the local church had become much reduced
by emigration, and there were really very few Friends
SOUTHERN HEROES. 223
to claim the attention of the home guard or any-
body else. Nine men of legal age for the war were
found amons: them. For two of them substitutes
were furnished by their friends, who were not mem-
bers ; but, notwithstanding this, they were required
to pay the tax or go to war, so they paid the tax.
One, Isaac Harvey, after having been for some weeks
in camp, enduring the hardships and trial of his faith
and loyally bearing his testimony, became discouraged
and began to doubt his Lord's care and faithfulness.
He yielded to the demands made by the authorities,
accepted the bovmty money and military equipments,
and, trusting in carnal weapons rather than in the
mighty weapons of the soldier of Jesus Christ, he
entered the ranks of the Confederate army. He was
promptly disowned by his meeting at home as soon as
it became known. Soon afterwards he entered a
battle. He was one of the first, if not the first, to be
killed.
This was the only instance that has come to our
knowledge of a Southern Friend abandoning his
principles, and we believe there was no other. The
result of this one case makes even more striking the
remarkable preservation from violent death of all
those who, under such trying circumstances, main-
tained their allegiance to the Prince of Peace, and for
whom He so remarkably cared.
In Chatham County, N. C, there were a number
of Friends' meetings. Spring meeting we have
already alluded to, in giving the experiences of Jesse
Buckner. The neighbors at whom he wondered,
224 SOUTHERN HEROES.
when lie was a military colonel, because they would
not train in the company, did not entirely escape per-
secution. Nathaniel Woody, an elder, sitting at the
head of Spring meeting, was drafted early in the war.
When ordered to appear at Graham, the county seat
of Chatham County, he answered to his name, and
then told the officer that he could not bear arms, giv-
ing his reasons. Being very near the age limit, he
was released.
James Lindley, of South Fork meeting, was drafted,
and his friends, not members, hired a substitute for
him. Jesse Osborn was conscripted and taken to the
army, but he would take no part in the military ser-
vice. He became sick and was taken to the hos-
pital in Kichmond, where he soon died.
John Newlin was a cotton manufacturer, owning
factories at Saxapahaw. As he had six sons of legal
age for conscription, he paid the government |3000 for
their exemption. It was soon discovered that the law
exempted Friends between the ages of seventeen and
eighteen and forty-five and fifty, and not as Friends
had petitioned, and understood the War Department
to grant, from seventeen to fifty. Friends were very
sure that they had made the matter clear, and that
the Secretary of War understood it; but however
that may have been, the army officers claimed as
soldiers all between the ages of eighteen and forty-
five, and Friends were put to much trouble on that
account. Many were taken into the army and abused
severely after they had paid the tax in good faith,
and had received exemption papers from the War
Department.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 225
Two sons of our friend Newlln were taken. He
entered his protest, and with the assistance of John
B. Crenshaw and others the department was finally
induced to correct the papers. Thus the original
agreement was carried out, much to the relief of many
who had been conscripted and were suffering for
their testimony.
Zeno Woody was conscripted, but was taken very
sick, and was sent to the hospital at Raleigh. He
was kept here for several weeks and then sent home
on sick furlough. James and Mahlon Woody were
conscripted and taken to Richmond, where they were
required to choose what part of the Confederate ser-
vice they would enter. They did not choose any
part, and were imprisoned. Prison fare did not agree
with these men, accustomed as they were to outdoor
life and plenty to eat, and they were taken sick.
They were sent to the hospital, and their father went
there to wait upon them. After some weeks they
were also given a furlough.
William Woody was taken to the army, where he
promptly accepted the gun offered him, and went
with it to the Yankees. He gave the gun to them
and went on to Indiana, without performing any mili-
tary service. James Newlin went to the salt-works.
Zeno and James Woody were again arrested, but their
father paid the tax for them and his two other sons,
amounting to $2000.
Three brothers from this county. Miles, William
and Stephen Hobson, concluded, soon after the begin-
ning of the war, to make their way, with their fam-
226 SOUTHERN HEROES.
ilies, by wagon, to Indiana. They had disposed of
their effects, and one bright morning they left their
homes, sacred to them from lifetime associations, but
where they could no longer live in undisturbed pos-
session. At night they had made a goood day's jour-
ney toward the West ; preparations had been made to
sleep in the wagon by the roadside ; suj^per had been
cooked, and they were enjoying it as only wagoners
can, when the sheriff of the county and a posse of
men surrounded them, claiming to have orders for the
arrest of the whole party on account of some remarks
Stephen had made against the Southern Confederacy.
They were all taken back and Stephen was bound
over to appear at court when called to answer the
charge ; but we do not learn that he was ever called
for. Joseph John Hobson and James Woody, who
were of the party, were also bound to appear at court
on a certain day, but not being summoned, Joseph
started west again, with other Friends, and they all
succeeded in reaching their destination.
Stephen Hobson, who had been arrested while on
his way west, was conscripted and sent to the army,
although he had jjald his $500 for exemption. He
was sent to camp near Drury's Bluff, Va., from which
place he was released, after months of trial, pre-
sumably on account of having had a broken arm
and thigh.
Mahlon Thompson and Joshua Kemp thought to
make their way across the mountains, and after avoid-
ing as much as possible contact with mankind and
enduring much from exposure, they were just about
SOUTHERN HEROES. 227
crossing tlie Tennessee line, where they thought they
would be safe, when they were surprised by the ap-
pearance of army officers. They were arrested and
sent directly to the army, and marched at once into
the battle of Fredericksburg. They would not take
guns or do any military work, but seeing the need of
helping the wounded, they voluntarily engaged in
carrying them from the battlefield, risking their own
lives ; but neither of them was wounded. Being
found " of no manner of use " as soldiers, they were
finally released upon the payment of $500 each.
In the neighborhood of Cane Creek, Chatham
County, lived Joseph Dixon, a man too old to be
conscripted, well known in the county, and of good
estate. He owned a grist mill, and one day while he
was at work there about forty mounted men came
up who professed to be searching for disloyal men.
The miller, Alexander Russell, had two sons who were
fearing conscription, and " lying out." The men at
once seized Russell, tied a rope round his neck and
rode off to the woods, pulling him after them. Hearing
the screams of the miller's wife and children, Joseph
Dixon walked out of the mill to remonstrate with the
men. They immediately put him under guard and
marched him to an old barn about a mile away.
They asked him if he knew where Russell's boys
were, and, upon receiving a negative reply, they swore
they would make him know. Four of the men took
him inside the barn, tied a rope around his neck, made
him step on a box, threw the rope over a beam and
proceeded to draw him up, saying : " You are a d — d
228 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Quaker anyway, and by your people refusing to fight
and keeping so many out of the war you are the cause
of the defeat of the South." As they tightened the
rope they said to him : " Now, you have only five
minutes to live ; if you have any prayers to offer, be
quick about it." The good old man told them that
he was innocent and could adopt the language of his
Saviour : " Father, forgive them ; they know not what
they do." They then searched his pockets and found
about thirty dollars in bank bills, which they took
away. They told him they would not hang him just
then, but they compelled him to get under the horse-
trough in the stable, and threatened to shoot him if
he looked up. They then brought in the miller and
hung him three times. Joseph could plainly hear
him strangling the third time. He then promised to
try to get his boys to come from their hiding-place,
and was released.
After the miller was gone Joseph Dixon was told
that they were going to bring some more " Tories "
and hang them, and declared that they would shoot
him if he left the stable. They went directly to
Micajah McPherson's, a good Methodist man, and
hung him by the neck until he was unconscious. They
left him for dead, but some one cut him down in time
to save his life. The next night, having found one of
the miller's sons, John Burgess, they hung him and
remained near until they were sure he was dead, and
then told his friends that they might take the body to
bury it.
Such was the condition of things in many parts of
SOUTHERN HEROES. 229
the South near the close of the war. Human life was
easily taken because men had become accustomed and
hardened to bloodshed. Many such instances as the
above could be cited, but care is needed not to multiply
cases of the same nature, lest we become monotonous
and the reader wearied of the recital.
AVe will consider the last days of our friend Joseph
Dixon, as the closing scene of this chapter. He lived
not far from the creek before named, near the Friends'
meeting-house of the same name, Cane Creek. His
children settled aroimd him, taking their share of
church and public responsibilities, while he and his
lovino- wife, Rebecca, looked after their own home and
needs and did what they could for the interests of the
church. Their house was the home of the ministers
visiting the neighborhood. Many Friends from the
North were led to visit their brethren in the South,
bearing not only good tidings of peace but " metallic
sympathy " for the building up of the ruined homes
and schools, and aiding the unfortunate in various
ways.
None welcomed more cordially those who came in
the name of the Lord than did Joseph and Eel:)ecca
Dixon, and none aided them in their mission of love
more readily than they did. For several years Joseph
was permitted to see prosperity attending the once
persecuted and impoverished company of Friends at
Cane Creek. But he was growing old ; his work was
done, and well done. The time had come for him to
go to the Father whom he had served in his day and
generation, for whom he had not refused to die, and
230 SOUTHERN HEROES.
whom he was now ready to meet face to face. One
morning he arose, stirred the coals in the okl firephxce,
removed the ashes, and putting on dry wood soon had
a cheerful fire for Rebecca to dress by. She soon
came and sat down beside him, and turning calmly
and lovingly to her he said: "Rebecca, my time has
come to go home. My work on earth is done, and the
Lord has called for me. To-night I shall be with
him in glory."
In telling the writer of it afterwards, Rebecca said :
" That day was the happiest we ever spent, and it was
spent in the full belief that it was our last on earth
together."
During the day he performed his regular tasks, and
in the afternoon he shaved, dressed, and lay down to
die. His two sons soon came in, but he had calmly
resigned his spirit to God who gave it.
At the funeral a large concourse of people gathered,
and many were ready to tell of the Christian character
and good works of Uncle Joseph, whom God loved
and took unto himself, as a shock of corn fully ripe.
CHAPTER XII.
" O brother ! if thine eye can see,
Tell how and when the end shall be,
What hope remains for thee and me."
Then Freedom sternly said : " I shun
No strife nor pang beneath the sun,
When human rights are staked and won."
Whittier.
" Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth
him out of them all."
About twelve miles from Greensboro, Guilford
County, N. C, on liis farm near the Friends' meeting-
house, lived, with his wife and little ones, a man
named William B. Hockett. He had never known
any other dwelling-place but this and his boyhood
home, almost in sight, where his father then lived.
His devoted wife and their two children were the joy
of his heart. He was at peace with God and man,
and had made it the rule of his life to meet with his
friends twice each week for public worship, crossing
for this purpose the little stream between his home
and the old log meeting-house upon the hill. He was
thirty-six years old at the time of which we write, and
on the 28th day of 2d month, 1863, he wrote in his
Journal kept at that time, and now by his kindness in
the hands of the writer : " This is my birthday. May
this day be spent more to the glory of God and the
232 SOUTHERN HEROES.
spreading of His truth than my former years have
been, is the jjrayer of my heart."
The condition of the country was a cause of sorrow
to him. In one place he has written : " When I
review the past year and see that the rulers of the land
have plunged us into a war with all its horrors, my
heart is troubled and my prayers are i)ut up for the
deliverance of my people. The rulers have turned
aside and set a stumbling-block in the way of the in-
nocent. Our opposers mock and scoff at us, but
we look to Thee, O Lord, and to Thee alone for help !
Thou art our shepherd and shield, our comfort and
stay!"
AVilliam Hockett was first conscripted 9th month
27th, 1862, and taken to Greensboro, the county-seat
of his county. He was furloughed home until the
first of the next month, when he presented himself to
the authorities, according to promise. A second
time he was allowed to return home, and then he went
as'ain to Greensboro, and from there was sent to Ea-
leis'li. Through the influence of Colonel Coble he
was furloujrhed home from here until called for.
As we have seen, he was concerned for the welfare
of his country. He was trusting in God, and although
he was as yet permitted to remain at home, he was
aware of his liability to be arrested upon any day.
Several times he had answered the summons of the
military authorities to appear at Greensboro and Ra-
leigh, but was allowed to return home, probably on
account of his being hard of hearing. He has re-
corded in his journal that some time before the time
WILLIAM B. HOCKETT
SOUTHERN HEROES. 233
came for him to go to the army " I was shown a vision
that I would be carried off to the war and have to
suffer many things. The thought of leaving my wife
with a bahe in her arms and family unprovided for
distressed me very much, and I plead that the way
might be made for me to stay with them." But he
adds : "I was clearly shown that it was the will of the
Lord that I should leave all, and that he would be a
husband to my wife and a father to my children, and
that they should lack nothing in my absence ; that if
I was obedient to manifest duty, I should return with
the reward of peace and find all well. This made
me cry : ' Not my will, but Thine, O Lord, be done ! '
My dear partner strengthened me, saying : ' Be faith-
ful, William, for I would rather hear of thy dying
a martyr for Christ's sake than that thou shoidd sin
against him by staying with me.' So on the eighth
day of sixth month, 1863, we bade each other fare-
well."
Before he was taken away a neighbor said to him :
" You have no hope now of escajaing the war unless
you pay out. You have a young horse there for which
I will give you iSOO. I will turn the horse over to
the government and get my money back, and you can
give the money to the officers and remain quietly at
home." But William's conscience would not allow
him to do this.
On the 30th of May he was conscripted by the
Raleigh guard and taken to a Methodist meeting-
house called the " Tabernacle," which was used as a
rendezvous for conscripted men. Here he was fur-
234 SOUTHERN HEROES.
loughed until June 8th, 1863, when he reported at
Greensboro according to orders. lie was offered the
i)rivilege of " paying out," which he told the officers
he could not conscientiously do, as the money was to
be used to carry on war, and the servant of God
should not fight nor uphold fighting. He said : " I
believe true Christianity and war as far apart as
Heaven and Hell."
He was promptly sent to Camp Holmes, Kaleigh,
where he was offered clothing, which he refused. He
was assigned to the 21st N. C. regiment, supposed to
be stationed then in the northern part of Virginia.
Starting the next morning he arrived at Petersburg
'the following day just before daylight and was hurried
on to Richmond. In company with thirty other con-
scripts he was marched over to the North Carolina
Soldiers' Home. " Here," he says, " I found time to
write to my wife," and he makes this record in his
diary : " I have been closely tried to-day, but the Lord
has spoken peace to my soul this evening, which fills
my heart with joy unspeakable. Praise to His ex-
cellent name, henceforth and forever ! "
AYilliam Hockett and his companions, none of whom
he knew except A. C. Swain, were now hurried on to
join the great division of the Southern army that had
invaded Pennsylvania under General Lee. They had
left Culpepper Court House on their way to join their
regiment, and in his diary is the brief entry : " My
companion, A. C. Swain, and some others left us,
stepped into the bushes, and I have not seen them
since." Long afterwards he learned that they escaped
to Indiana, and there they remained.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 285
On Second-da;^, the fifteenth, he wrote : " On the
march before sunrise. We are conducted by Major
Wharton. Arrived at Springville. Here I gave a
watch for a pint of milk."
" Third-day, the 16th of 6th month. Went about
six or eight miles and met some wounded soldiers,
who said the Southern troops had taken Winchester
and the Yankees were fleeing."
" Fourth-day, the 17th. I ate the last bread I
brought from home and bought three small loaves for
15 cents. Afternoon. Went on to Winchester and
camped in an orchard. It is said that last First-
day was a terrible time here, as the fight began at
seven o'clock and lasted all day. The Federalists
were overpowered and the South holds the place. Our
regiment is said to be five or six miles from here."
" 6th month 18th. They took us before the
authorities and assigned us to companies. Mine is
company M, 21st North Carolina regiment, Early's
division, Ewell's corps. Here they armed all the rest
of the men and attempted to arm me, but I steadily
refused to take any weapons ; so after threatening
me to no purpose they let me off, only requiring me
to go with them."
" Sixth month 19th. My company is mostly made
up of men from Guilford County, N. C. Eli Coble
is in my squad. He and I tent together and he is
very obliging to me. The army is a very trying place
for a Christian to be in, because there are so many
things that we cannot for conscience' sake do that
must be done if the war goes on. So we are con-
236 SOUTHERN HEROES.
stantly beset on every side. Nothing but the all-sup-
porting arm of God can hold us or save us from fall-
ing by temptation. My company is very kind to me.
I spent the day in reading my Bible, mostly. There
were others that had their Testaments out to-day. I
hope the Lord has a remnant even here that may be
saved. O the love I have for these poor conscript
soldiers ! Many of them would give all they have in
the world to get out of the war, but the fear of man
is greater than the fear of God. It seems as though
they cannot believe that God will protect them."
" Second-day, the 23d of 6th month. This evening
I was before Colonel Kirkland. He asked me what
I wanted. I told him that I desired a discharge or
release t^om the army that I might go home. He
wanted to know how much money I would give him
to let me off. I told him I could not give him any,
but if he saw proper to release me I would give him
goodwill. He asked me if I was not worth f 500. I
told him that my property was worth that or more.
He said the authorities of North Carolina had sent
me out there as a man capable of making a soldier,
and that I would have to comply with orders or he
would order me shot, and said I might take a gun
and go into the ranks, or he would order me shot that
evening or the next morning, and I might take my
choice. I told him that I would not take a gun nor
march in the drill, so he said : ' Which will you
choose, to be shot evening or morning ? ' I told him
I should choose neither, but if my God whom I served
permitted him to take my life I would submit to it ; I
SOUTHERN HEROES. 237
would die a martyr for Christ's sake. He said lie liad
full power, without permission, to kill nie if I did not
comply. I told him I did not deny that he had, so
far as the power of man extended, but there was a
power above man's, and he could not remove a hair of
my head without my Heavenly Father's notice, etc.
He wanted to know if I was a good workman. I told
him that I was counted a passable hand. He said I
was the very man for him and he had the very place
to put me ; it was to go to the wagon-yard and work
there. It would not be hard work, and he wanted to
hear a good report from Captain Vogler. I told him
that I would receive no appointment to work at any-
thing that was to carry on war. He ordered me to
say no more but to go to the wagons, and sent a man
to take me to Captain Vogler of the wagon train. He
told me to go and mow grass for the horses, but I
refused on conscientious grounds. They said that I
should be shot. I said that my God told me not to
do so, and that I feared Him more than what they
could do. So when they found that I would not com-
ply they sent me back to camp, saying that they had
no use for such a fellow. They then reported me to
the colonel, who said that he would have me shot that
night or the next morning."
Kecorded in the journal on the eve of the 23d is
the following prayer, which evinces his resignation to
God's will even under the most trying circumstances,
and when it looked to hiin that he was likely to lay
down his life for his testimony to the Prince of
Peace :
238 SOUTHERN HEROES.
" O Lord, my Heavenly Father, my prayer is that
Thy name may be glorified and not my will be done.
But if it be Thy will that I should lay down my life,
be Thou pleased to pardon all my sins, for Thy dear
Son's sake, and take away the fear of man, and leave
me not in the hour of trial, but support me by Thy
arm of power ; for my hope is in Thee, that Thou wilt
control the raging of men as Thou didst in the days of
old when Thou protectedst Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego in the midst of the fiery furnace, or the
prophet Daniel in the lion's den. If it be Thy will,
O Lord, Thou canst deliver me from those who seek
my life, and enable me to proclaim thy wonderful
works to the sons and daughters of men. All praise
is due to Thee and to Thee alone !
" Be pleased to be near and comfort and protect my
dear wife and children in their lonely condition, that
they may bo enabled to press forward and not faint by
the way, but put their trust in Thee, who alone can
save. O Lord, comfort my aged father, whose heart
yearns for his dear son.
" O God, here am L My heart is resigned. Come
life, come death. Thy will be done, not mine."
Here the journal states : " I requested my tent-
mate that if my life was taken from me he would let
my dear wife know what had become of me. He
agreed to do so."
" Gth month 24th. I was ordered out and recpiired
to fall in line with the company and drill, but I
refused. They tried to make me, and I sat down on
the ground. They reminded me of the orders to shoot
SOUTHERN HEROES. 239
me, but I told them my God said to fear not them
that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul ;
but rather to fear Him that is able to destroy both
soul and body in Hell. The company was then or-
dered to fall back eight paces, leaving- me in front of
them. They were then ordered by Colonel Kirkland
to ' Load ; Present arms ; Aim,' and their guns were
pointed directly at my breast. I raised my arms and
prayed : ' Father, forgive them ; they know not what
they do.' Not a gun was fired. They lowered them
without orders, and some of the men were heard to
say that they 'could, not shoot such a man.' The
order was then given, ' Ground arms.'
" The officers having consulted together, the cap-
tain soon came to me with two men, brinoins: a g^un
and a cartridge-box with thirty rounds of ammu-
nition. The captain said : ' Now take these and join
ranks.' Refusing to do so, the soldiers tied them on
me and strapped the gun to my back, and the captain
ordered me to rise and walk in drill ; but I refused.
" An officer then swore he would ride over me, and
made many efforts to do so, but failed, for his horse
coidd not be. made to step on me. At one time he
carefully placed his foot between my arm and my
side, without in the least injuring me. The captain
struck me on the back of the head with the heavy end
of a gun, and although I was stunned by the blow I
soon got over it and never felt it afterwards. The
captain ordered two men to take me to the ranks forty
or fifty yards away, but I did not feel free to walk in
that direction."
240 SOUTHERN HEROES.
They dragged him to the end of the line and let
him go, and he sat down again. The captain called
two men and declared that he must walk in the drill
or they wonld kill him. Then William Hockett
kneeled and prayed that the Lord would not lay this
sin to their charge, but grant him strength to bear all
these afflictions for His Name's sake. The captain
ordered the men to fix bayonets. One replied that he
had no bayonet. The other obej^ed and was ordered
to run him through if he would not get up and
go into the drill. This man put the bayonet against
William Hockett's back and began to push. Others
took his arms and tried to persuade him to go for-
ward. They said they did not wish to hurt him but
they must obey orders or be shot themselves.
The captain then ordered the man with a gun to
" blow a ball through him." The muzzle of the gun
was placed against him, and the soldier pressed but
did not shoot. Finally the man with a bayonet
pretended to run it through him, but the bayonet
only passed through his clothing and by his side with-
out injuring him.
The captain then left, saying he was not yet done
with him, and the men took him half a mile to
Waynesboro, where he was left. The army and
wagon trains all passed him, but the rear guards
were under orders to pass none, and upon coming to
our friend told him that they' did not wish to hurt
him, but they were under orders to take all on to
camp and were obliged to do so. Considering that he
had been faithful in bearing his testimony, and that
SOUTHERN HEROES. 241
he was not required to walk in the drill, he walked on
to camp with the gun still tied upon his back. When
the irun was removed he would not take care of it,
whereupon the soldiers made some threats, but did not
punish him. They tried instead to induce him to run
away. He told them to give him papers to show that
he had his liberty and he would willingly leave them.
The second morning the soldiers again attempted to
make him carry the gun. He told them he would not
do it, and they threw it into a wagon. When they
camped at noon the captain of the wagon train found
out that William had not been carrying it and told the
man who threw it into the wagon to go and make him
carry it ; that he would not have it in the wagon. The
man attempted to compel William to carry the weapon,
but he said he would not walk one step with it on ;
that the soldier knew it was wrong to try to make him
carry it. The soldier said yes, he knew it was wrong,
and then added : " Well, come along then : I will
carry it." William was never again asked to carry
a gun.
On the 28th of 6th month he wrote : " Oh ! how I
wish I was at home to go with my dear wife to Centre
meeting to-day to worship the Lord in spirit and in
truth. But the Lord's will, not mine, be done." In
the evening he writes : " I have spent the day in
reading my Bible, and in silent waiting upon the
Lord. My heart is sick, seeing the roguery our men
are up to ; taking horses, cattle and provisions of all
kinds. Nothing that they see escapes their grasp.
An abundance of things is taken, and they are thrown
242 SOUTHERN HEROES.
away because the men cannot carry them. I have
nothing- to do but cook my own rations and keep up
with the wagon train."
On the second of July orders were given that he
shoukl go to cooking. The battle of Gettysburg was
being fought, and the captain told him he would buck
him down if he did not help. William Hockett was
reading his Bible, and paid no attention to the orders.
The captain then left him, but sent orders that he
must carry water or he would have him sent to the
front ranks in the battle where the fighting was being
done. But William declined this service also, as it
would release a man to fight. The captain now told
him he would release him from both services if he
woidd carry two buckets of water, but William would
do no military service.
A short time after he had refused to obey the order
to cook, a wagon arrived in which was a sick man,
whom the captain referred to William for care, as he
sat on his blanket reading his Bible. The poor, suf-
fering, emaciated passenger said he was from For-
sythe County, N. C, and was kejit with the wagon
train because he refused to fight, on conscientious
grounds. He was probably a Dunkard. His health
was broken down, and he was hungry and thirsty. ;
he was in a pitiable condition, and William at once
made way for him to lie down on his blanket.
The captain was watching him as he so kindly re-
ceived and provided for the stranger. The man asked
him to go to the camp and get him some water.
William declined to go thither for it, but took his
SOUTHERN HEROES. 243
canteen and cup, went to the spring and filled them.
The stranger then ask(;d him to go to the camp and
get him some food ; hut William declined to do this
also, giving as a reason that he had refused to cook
for the camp, and the soldiers might not be willing to
allow him cooked food. lie willingly gave him what
food he had, however, and after some hesitation the
hungry man ate it, upon being told that more rations
would be issued that night. AVhen the wagon moved
on he went with it, cheered and refreshed, and Wil-
liam never saw him again.
Rations were issued that night, ])ut not to William.
They told him that as he would not cook he should
not eat. He replied : " Well, I shall be fed in some
way." The soldiers were under orders to be ready to
march at a moment's notice. The order came just as
one man had his cake spread on the pan over the
coals to bake for his supper, and he was unable to
wait for it to be baked. William got the cake as he
passed, and though it was a little too well baked on
one side it served very well for his supper.
In the morning, as the troops were marching to
another camp, they passed a small house near the
road. It was getting well along in the day and Wil-
liam was beginning to feel the need of his breakfast
and to wonder where it would come from, when he
came opposite this house. Suddenly the window was
opened and a woman threw a large loaf of bread
directly at him. He caught it in his hands. She hur-
riedly closed the window and neither of them spoke.
Was it an accident that he, the only one of all that
244 SOUTHERN HEROES.
marching host that needed bread, should be provided
for in this strange manner? William thought of the
Lord feeding Elijah by the use of a raven, and con-
cluded that He had used this woman, jjerhaps uncon-
sciously to her, as a means of supj)lying his need.
This bread lasted him until he was captured and fed
by the Union soldiers.
On the second of July he writes : " We have heard
the roaring of cannon all day. They have been fight-
ing two days at Gettysburg. I have not heard the
particulars." Next day he says : " The cannon are
still to be heard. About noon they began fighting in
earnest. There is a constant roaring of cannon al-
most like thunder. What an awful thing it is ! Lord,
have mercy on me ; my mind is stayed on Thee.
The fight continued until about midnight, and it is
said to have been the hardest fight they have yet
had." William Hockett seems to have been on some
account at the hospital, and concerning what he saw
he says :
" July 3d. It is a sight I never wish to behold
again. Hundreds of people wounded in nearly every
part of the body ; calling for friends to come and
soothe their afflictions. Some dying, some already
dead and lying out in the yard until holes can be dug
to put them in. This is only one of the many horri-
ble pictures of war. There were cases of whom hojjcs
of recovery were entertained. Those of whom there
were no hopes were left on the battlefield to pine
away and die. There has been a heavy loss on both
sides in killed and wounded."
SOUTHERN HEROES. 245
How lieavy it was our friend then had no know-
ledge. Much as he saw, he had no idea that on the
Northern side the loss was 23,216 men, and on the
Southern side 36,000, making, during this terrible
three days' battle, a loss of over 59,000 men, bleed-
ing and dying because " the rulers of the land had
plunged us into a war with all its horrors."
" Seventh month 4th. Orders came for the wag-on
train to start for Virginia. Got to within six and a
half miles of Hagerstown, and I told the captain that
I was not able to walk ; that he could draw me or
leave me as he chose. He chose the latter, so I went
to a man's house and stayed all night and was kindly
treated."
" Seventh month 5th. Packed up to start, and the
Union cavalry came along and took me prisoner."
He was marched around with others all day and
most of the night, and then on to a camp at Boons-
boro, and the next day to Frederick City, where about
two thousand prisoners were gathered. In the even-
ing they were put into cars and taken to Baltimore,
where they were placed in Fort McHenry.
Here he writes on the eighth of July : " This is
a trying j)lace for a civil man. Both Northern and
Southern men contend that they are right, when, in
my opinion, they are both wrong. The bitter oaths
that are continually sounding in my ears are disgust-
ing to me."
From Baltimore, William Hockett was taken to
Fort Delaware, of which he says : " It is a solid-
looking place, but has too much the appearance of
246 SOUTHERN HEROES.
war to be attractive to me. Here there are some ten
thousand prisoners from all parts of the Southern
Confederacy, and the place is anj^thing but desirable.
0 Lord, be Thou pleased to keep me from the evils
they are plunging into. I have not seen a man here
whom I know."
" Seventh-day, 11th. I have been very sick for a
day or two. I have read the New Testament through
since I left home about a month since."
"Thirteenth. My health seems to be improving.
1 met to-day Carney BoUen, who told me that the
four Holly Spring boys were in his regiment and com-
pany, and were well when he left."
" Fifteenth. Have been quite sick, but walked out
in the open ground to get fresh air. While there an-
other company of prisoners was brought in. The four
Holly Spring boys were among them. I stepped up
and spoke to them, which surprised them very much,
as they thought I was at home. We were glad to
see each other."
We can imagine these five men meeting so far
fi'om home and under such strange circumstances, as
lifetime acquaintances and personal friends, of the
same faith and having had similar experiences in
bearing their testimony. As they recounted to each
other their trials and sufferings, they must have re-
joiced and praised the Lord together for His marvel-
ous care of them, and the grace given them to hold
out faithful.
The next day they were visited by two Friends
from Wilmington, Delaware, Samuel Hilles and AVil-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 247
liam Corse. These Friends brought them presents of
oranges, lemons and bread, which were gladly re-
ceived. These had only a few hours before heard
that some of their Southern brethren were " sick and
in prison," and they visited them as soon as possible.
The day following, Robert Pearsall Smith, of Phila-
deli)hia, who was connected with the Christian Com-
mission, heard of them at the hospital, and at once
went to see if he could do anything for them. The
journal refers to these visits. According to 11. P.
Smith's advice, they prepared a paper to be laid
before the authorities, in which they set forth the
circumstances and their convictions, and asked to be
discharged from the place. William Ilockett had
just had his pocket book and all his money stolen.
He says : " Robert Pearsall Smith gave us some
money and blankets furnished by Friends at the city.
He said his mother was a Friend, and that he ' held
somewhat that way,' and could sympathize with us."
" Seventh month 21st. Had just sent out and
bought some bread and molasses when a basket of
provisions and medicine was sent in from our friend,
T. W. Beasley, who was not allowed to come in to
see us. We now have something to eat and to dis-
tribute among the needy."
" Seventh month 23d. My companions and I have
all things in common as one family. Have bought
some butter, bread and molasses to-day."
" Seventh month 24th. Last night we were robbed
of nearly everything except what we had on."
" Seventh month 25th. My companions are very
248 SOUTHERN HEROES.
much out of heart. Some of them are sick. We are
told that the general at the fort says we shall not be
discharged unless we will join some Union company ;
that we can't send for any money from our friends,
neither shall they come to see us ; so our case does
look gloomy.
" I told my comrades that I was reminded of what
David Frazier said in his preaching at Centre meeting
just before I left home. When speaking of trials
that some one there woidd soon have to undergo, he
said : ' Then recollect that the darkest time of night
is just before the break of day.' I told them for all
we knew this was the time, and just then an officer
, came walking along inquiring for the Quakers. Being
pointed out to him, he read from a paper in his hand :
' Thomas Hinshaw, Jacob Hinshaw, Nathan Barker,
Cyrus Barker, William B. Hockett. Are you here ? '
' All here except Thomas Hinshaw.' ' Where is he ? '
' Gone to the boat after water.' lie turned around
and said : ' Follow me.' Immediately we obeyed, and
as we came to the gate Thomas was there, and or-
dered through with us. Our guide stepped in the
office and got the order from the quartermaster to
the general at the fort to discharge us and send us
to Philadelphia. He then brought us in before the
general, who read the order and then took down five
' oaths of allegiance to the Union,' and presented
each with one to sign ; but for conscience' sake we
could not take them in their full form. The gen-
eral told us we might take them as they were or
remain there until the war ended, for we woidd not
SOUTHERN HEROES. 249
be discharged. He said we professed to be a law-
abiding people. We told liiiii that we were, and
when we, for conscience' sake, could not comply with
the law, we submitted to the penalty, and that we
were willing to be bound in that respect ; but if the
law reqviired things of us that came into conflict with
our religious feelings, we peaceably submitted to the
penalty, if it was death, rather than wound our con-
science.
" After consulting some officers he altered the
oaths to ' affirmations,' striking out such jDarts as we
objected to, but leaving us bound not to go into or
correspond with the disloyal States without liberty
from the Secretary of War. We then signed and
qualified to them. He then gave us a passj)ort to the
boat at Newcastle and a transport to Philadelphia
on the cars. Tenderly bidding us farewell, he said :
' Don't be too late for the cars.' We were on time."
Ascertaining that these papers permitted it, our
friends accepted an invitation to stop at Samuel
Hilles's home in Wilmington, Delaware, who, with
other Friends, was gone to Washington on their behalf,
but returned next day.
These released prisoners made no small stir in the
city of Wilmington as they appeared on the streets
the day after their arrival. It was the day when the
Friends held their mid-week meeting, and the North
Carolina conscripts went joyfully to the worship of
God in company with them. After the meeting was
over, numbers of Friends were anxious to entertain
the strangers and to listen to their remarkable stories.
250 SOUTHERN HEROES.
The visitors finally separated, and as guests went to
different houses.
For a few days they continued their visits among
Friends, and the journal of William Hockett says :
" Went to Joseph Tatnall's. He gave me five dollars,
which I divided with my companions. Then we went
to Samuel and Margaret Hilles's, who are like a
father and mother to us."
They were taken by Samuel Hilles to Philadelphia,
where they were entertained by Thomas Evans. Here
they learned that the Philadelphia Meeting for Suf-
ferings had appointed Thomas Evans, Samuel Hilles,
and James R. Graves to visit the President and Sec-
• retary of War on their account. The journal con-
tinues : " They, under God's help, have effected our
release, for which we feel truly thankful. We praise
and adore Almighty God for His mercies so bounti-
fully bestowed upon us poor unworthy creatures. Let
all honor and praise be ascribed to the Lord, and none
to us, for we are unprofitable servants ; we have only
done our duty, and it was through and by the ability
which God gave that we were enabled to do this."
The Philadelphia Friends kindly furnished each of
these five men with a trunk full of clothing and fifty
dollars in cash, and with a ticket to their friends in
Indiana. The wives and children of Thomas and
Jacob Hinshaw made their way to them, in the course
of the year, and the account of their journeyings in
those troublesome times was an interesting story, as
recently given to the writer by Thomas Hinshaw's
wife. After the surrender, William Hockett and his
SOUTHERN HEROES. 251
friends returned to their Southern homes, and on the
farm where his wife so faithfully toiled for herself
and the little ones, in his absence, they still live, en-
joying the goodness and mercy of the Lord and the
blessed hope of that eternal rest, into which some of
their companions in trial, and their little ones, so
faithfully cared for, have already entered.
On the fifth of June, 1865, under the shade of a
big oak tree, in front of his house, where he had
bidden his wife and children good-by two years
before, to answer the call of the Raleigh guards,
William B. Hockett was privileged again to clasp in
his arms his wife and little ones. With joyful hearts
thanksgiving was offered to Almighty God for His
faithfulness in keeping them amid the scenes and pri-
vations of those years of separation ; for William was
not the only one to suffer trial. To his wife those
years had been a time of earnest toil, care and
anxiety. Not only had she labored for the support of
herself and her little children, but solicitude for her
husband had daily weighed upon her heart. Tidings
came from him but seldom, and she could only leave
him in the hands of her Heavenly Father while she
carried on the farm, spun and wove, working by day
and night, anxiously waiting and wondering how and
when the end would come.
Johnston's army had spent many weeks in the
neighborhood of her home, and had on two occasions
filled her yard from morning until evening ; but not
a chicken had been taken without leave. Whilst the
wagons and cattle of the army were passing, her own
252 SOUTHERN HEROES.
cattle got loose and started away with the army herds.
The colored boy whom she employed went after them,
and when the captain of the train was told the cir-
cumstances, he ordered his men to help turn the
straying- cattle. A neighbor told the trusting wife
that her horse was in too good condition ; that the
army was needing horses, and hers would surely be
taken. The army was all day passing her house, and
the excited horse was racing back and forth between
the barn and the road in full view, but he was not
taken. Although the neighborhood had been ran-
sacked for miles around for horses, and scarcely one
of any value had been left, this fine young horse,
for which William Hockett had refused the five hun-
dred dollars to purchase his freedom, had been spared
through the providence of God and the care of the
neighbors, who on some occasions had hid it in the
woods and bushes. Says the journal : " The Lord
laiew the corn that was planted would have to be
ploughed, or it would not grow, and the promise was
that my wife should not want during my absence."
William Hockett quietly took up once more the
duties of home life, and happily have he and his wife
lived on the old home-j)lace. Their little children of
the war time, and others whom God has given them,
are grown to manhood and womanhood, and some of
them are settled in homes of their own. The baby
who was so tenderly cared for in those trying years
has gone on to the home above, leaving three of her
own children to battle with life.
In their declining years, William and his wife,
SOUTHERN HEROES. 253
under the shade of the ohl oak tree that casts a little
longer shadow now, often recount the memories of
those times and the blessings they have received from
God. As regularly as in those earlier days before the
war, they cross the stream still flowing between their
home and the new meeting-house on the hill, to " wor-
ship God in spirit and in truth."
William has been recorded a minister of the gospel
among the Friends, and in the evening of life is doing
what his hands find to do, to hasten the day when
righteousness shall reign in the earth, and the sound
of battle shall no more be heard in any land.
CHAPTER XIII.
God bless ye, brothers ! — in the fight
Ye' re waging now, ye cannot fail.
For better is your sense of right
Than kingcraft's triple mail.
Whittier.
HiMELius and Jesse Hockett were brothers of
William B. Hockett. They were settled near the old
homestead at Centre, always attended the same meet-
ing, and had accepted the doctrines of Friends. On
the fourth of April, 18G2, they were drafted, sent to
Raleigh, and tlience to Woldon, N. C. They were
assigned to Capt. Kirkman\s comjiany, hut for some
days were not required to perform any military duty.
Himelius Hockett says : " The captain well under-
stood our principles. He was a very kind man, dis-
posed to favor us, and it was by his kindness that we
were thus far excused from service." The conduct of
the brothers excited the curiosity of the soldiers, and
they had opportunity to explain their religious prin-
ciples, which were well received by many. The colonel
soon sent orders, however, that every man able for
duty should be drilled. This brought the brothers be-
fore him, and he gave them the choice of one of three
things, to take a gun, accept work, or be shot. But
they said they must upon conscientious grounds decline
>.
^
h*m ^-
If. M. IIOCKETT
SOUTHERN HEROES: 255
to do any work that aided in carrying on war. The
colonel replied that it was no time for religions scru-
ples ; that they were in the war and must fight out o£
it ; that it was the duty of every man alike to aid in
the defense of his country and property ; that it would
be time enough for people to embrace such a religion
as they pleased when the war was over. He told them
that they were liable to be shot for disobedience, and
if they did not obey him he would report them to the
highest authority. They replied that they were com-
manded to fear God, who is able to destroy both soul
and body, rather than man who, when he hath de-
stroyed the body, hath no more that he can do.
They were then taken to prison and told to make up
their minds what part of the service they would enter.
Much interest, from various motives, was shown by
the men concerning the grounds of their objections
and as to what would be the fate of the Christian
prisoners. After coming to understand their position,
many of the soldiers spoke words of encouragement
to the Friends. One Baptist brother took up their
defense, and argued that the Friends were right and
where his own church ought to be upon the subject.
The colonel was informed by the brothers that they
could not accept any of his propositions, and that, as
was their Christian privilege, they would sufPer the
penalty, whatever it might be. They were then kept
in prison for several days, expecting hourly to be
called out for trial ; but with others they were dis-
charged, it having been proved that the number of
men required from their township had been made up
256 SOUTHERN HEROES.
by volunteers. They were accordingly sent home,
only to be conscripted soon after. We will now let
Himelius M. Hockett tell their story in his own words,
as he has kindly sent it to the writer.
" We were notified of our conscription and ordered
to camp, but we did not choose to go, and remained
quietly about our own affairs. Soon, however, the
militia colonel appeared and took us from our work
in the fields to the camp at Raleigh. We stated our
reasons for not answering the summons, and told the
officers we went as prisoners and not as soldiers.
" Arriving in Raleigh April 4th, 1863, we, with a
neighbor named Reynolds, were ordered to go at once
to get wood for the use of the camp. This we declined
to do, for we considered that by so doing we would
commit ourselves to further military requirements.
The officers then ordered soldiers to drive us into the
service with bayonets, swearing that they would make
examples of such men before they woidd have their
orders disobeyed. We told them we meant no disre-
spect to them as men or officers, but that it was in
obedience to a higher authority that we felt that we
must refuse to obey orders that conflicted with the
laws of God.
" We were left in camp over night, and the next
morning were ordered to similar work, but declining,
were told that they would soon bring us out of our
religious notions. Tlae enrolling officer of the com-
pany told us that over f 20,000 had been paid to him
for Quaker taxes by Orthodox Quakers, and they
would subdue us before they had done with us.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 257
" I then told my brother that they were in no con-
dition to hear truth, and it woukl be like castins;
pearls before swine to rejjly to them. We meekly let
them go on with their tirades of abuse until they pretty
well exhausted themselves. Noticing our composure,
one said : ' I reckon you think you are persecuted for
righteousness' sake, don't you ? ' Every man was then
ordered into line to march to the adjutant-general's
office to be assigned to his jjlace in the army. We
declined to march in line, and for this the soldiers
were ordered to run us through with their bayonets.
They ran the glittering steel through our clothing
without inflicting the least damage to our persons, in
a way that seemed strange to us. We told them we
would go to the office as prisoners, but not in military
drill. This we were allowed to do, and we did it with
such coolness that one of the officers was heard to
remark : ' That fellow is no coward and might make
a splendid field officer if he only had the right dispo-
sition in him.'
"We were assigned with Wenlock Eeynolds and
another Friend to a battery of artillery. Military
clothing was given us but we declined it. We were
sent at once to Kinston and placed in a battery of
horse-artillery. Next day we were all three ordered
to drill with the rest, but refusing to take arms, we
were told by the lieutenant to consider ourselves under
arrest for disobeying orders. Much curiosity was
aroused among the men, many of whom could not
seem to realize that religion had anything in it to jus-
tify exemption from military duty, in a case of neces-
258 SOUTHERN HEROES.
sity like this ; and one said : ' He that protecteth not
his house hath denied the faith and is worse than an
infideh' To this I replied that the Scripture did not
read in that way. He insisted that he had quoted
it correctly, but, taking a New Testament from my
pocket, I soon proved him wrong. He said that
' provide ' meant the same as ' protect,' anyway. I
told him to apply to the dictionary and he would find
the meaning very different ; that we believed it our
duty to 'provide things honest in the sight of all
men,' but when called upon to protect, in the sense in
which he used the word, it was contrary to the pre-
cepts of Christ, who with his disciples taught that we
should ' resist not evil,' ' do violence to no man,'
' they that take the sword shall perish with the sword,'
'be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with
good,' etc. One man called out : ' That man is right ;
it is as he says,' and thereupon they grew divided
among themselves, and the officers became angry and
ordered us up to the general's headquarters.
" General Ransom had been informed of our po-
sition, and meeting us at the gate of his office said
that he was a man of decision and would have 'no
equivocations nor prevarications ' from us ; as to our
religion, we should not bring that up, for he knew as
much about that as he cared to know. His decision
was already made. We could go on duty under arms,
pay the tax settled upon, or go to the salt-works, and
he would give us as much time as we wanted to make
our decision, but under the following circmnstances :
to be shut up in prison under guard, without one mor-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 259
sel of anything to eat or drink, or any communication
with any one until we complied with his orders.
" We were then taken to the provost-marshal's office
to receive the execution of our sentence. He advised
us to pay the tax, as it was a great privilege which
thousands would gladly avail themselves of. We told
him that to us it was not a matter of dollars and cents ;
that this had no bearing with us ; it was a matter of
principle, in which our religious liberty was interfered
with. Wenlock Reynolds concluded, however, to pay
the tax and was discharged. But my brother and I
could not feel free to do so and went to the prison to
share alike our fate.
" The captain of the guard seemed at first harsh
and rough in his manner, but a little incident, small
though it may seem, took hold of his feelings. After
committing us to the room and charging the guard in
our presence to keep us with all diligence, he told
them not to allow any communication between us and
any one else, nor to allow us to have a morsel of any-
thing to eat or drink, as the general had ordered. We
were impressed that it would be right to make a full
sm-render and to trust wholly to a kind Providence, so
we told him we had some cakes and cheese in our
valises, that had been fvirnished us by our wives at
home. We then opened the valises and showed him
before the giiards what we had, and told him if it was
right to execute such a sentence, he could take them.
' O ! ' he said, ' I guess you might keep that,' and he
seemed very tender, but looking at the guards who
were looking at him, there seemed no way for him to
260 SOUTHERN HEROES.
evade the command he had received and given, and so
they took the food away. This circumstance undoubt-
edly had its effect in opening the way for future
results.
" The captain did all he could for us, and thought
we had better yield a little, even at some compromise
of principle. He said that Ransom was a hard gen-
eral and would see us perish before he would reverse
his decision.
"Numbers became interested, and Walter Dunn,
the provost-marshal, came in to see us ; he labored
hard to persuade us that we were in error in trying to
keep to principles that our own ^jhurch did not contend
for : that he had taken pains to inform himself and
we were about all who were giving the authorities
trouble because of religion ; he said Wenlock Rey-
nolds had paid the tax, and why couldn 't we ; that we
were not subordinate to the decisions of our church at
large. I then took from my pocket a copy of the last
yearly meeting's minutes and showed him the recorded
decisions of that body. He paused for a while, and
then said that we could not see alike, and it was better
to compromise these little prejudices, or opinions,
especially when calamities were upon us. I told him
we had no right to compromise with wrong ; we ought
to obey God rather than man ; and we should not do
violence to an enlightened conscience. All his argu-
ments were, answered in a way that was interesting, if
not satisfactory to him, and he then began to inquire
into our condition as prisoners, concerning which he
manifestly felt anxious. He asked if we had not
SOUTHERN HEROES. 261
partaken of food or drink since we were put in jail,
and we were able to answer him that we had not,
which he seemed to wonder at, asking over and over
particularly. It may be that he suspected the guards
had been feeding us, for we had now been over four
days without food or water, and there was a growing
feeling of anxiety concerning us.
" The evening before the visit of the marshal,
while we were feeling somewhat thirsty, cojiious show-
ers of rain fell, and we could have caught water from
the windows as it fell from the eaves of the building.
My first thought was, * that water is providentially
sent,' but I felt restraitied from taking any of it.
Arousing my brother, who had fallen asleep, I asked
him about it, and he said he thought we had better
not. So we went to sleep again. Had we kept the
cakes and cheese or caught the water, we could not
have given the answers we did to the officer's ques-
tions, and this fact seemed more to impress him in
our favor than anything else.
" One day a sergeant came in, saying we were the
worst men on earth ; that we were committing suicide
by willfully starving ourselves to death, and we would
go to hell for it. I told him that he could make no
such thing appear unless he could make it appear that
we refused to eat, and that it was martyrdom we were
sufferinfj instead of committins; suicide. At this he
hung his head and went away.
" The chaplains and others were admitted to con-
vince us of our supposed error and induce us to
change our position. We seldom, if ever, had the
262 SOUTHERN HEROES.
second disagreeable interview witli the same person.
Their abuse was received with meekness, and they
afterwards rewarded us with kindness.
" We felt remarkably preserved during this isola-
tion from human aid, and felt but little the need of
any earthly thing.
" The night before our release, Colonel Eaton came
to our prison with half a pint of water and one spoon-
ful of sugar in it, saying : ' I have come to relieve
you from this punishment. I have a little water and
sugar which I am happy to furnish you.' I told him
if given in a Christian spirit he would be blessed in
the deed. He seemed much affected and very tender,
and said he hoped ever to live in the spirit of doing
to others as he would be done by.
" The next morning, fully five days after our con-
finement, a small amount of food was given us with
the statement that the doctors said they must allow
us but little, as much food would endanger our lives.
It seemed singular that after passing such a sentence
they should be so anxious to save our lives, but we
soon ascertained that there was more anxiety than we
supposed, and while we were favored to possess our
souls in patience, the officers were much troubled on
our account. We found, too, that the citizens were
becoming so aroused that a plot was on foot to release
us by a mob if we were not soon relieved.
" A Baptist minister by the name of Thorne was
admitted to our room soon after the sentence of star-
vation had been revoked. He seemed to be in the
last stages of consumption, and said he did not expect
SOUTHERN HEROES. 263
to live long, but wanted to encourage us to be faith-
ful ; that he had sympathized with us during our
harsh treatment, and appreciated and endorsed our
peace principles ; that their church originally advo-
cated peace princijiles and ought to to-day, but by
giving away gradually to some disaffected members,
they had drifted into a form of discipline which left
their members at liberty. (Cabot Powell, the Baptist
before alluded to, corroborated this statement, and so
did Charles Spurgeon in his lecture on George Fox.)
Our friend then told us that he had become so inter-
ested in our case that he had sent a letter by private
messenger to Governor Vance, and had instructed
the messenger to wait in person for a reply and return
with it the same night. The governor, by executive
authority, had revoked and set aside the sentence of
General Ransom."
The following letter written by Himelius M. Hock-
ett at the time of his imprisonment has been found
by the writer among a package of papers, and will
doubtless interest the reader :
KiNSTON, N. C, 4/10, 1863.
" Deae wife and children : Having the chance
to send home a few lines, rather unexpectedly, I have
concluded to write, though under circumstances which
I fear will prove tr3dng to you. I am in good health
and have been quite well, for me, nearly ever since I
left home. Jesse is not quite so well. He has taken
cold and has a troublesome cough, though we hope it
will prove nothing serious.
264 SOUTHERN HEROES.
" We are assigned to Captain Bunting's Wilming-
ton horse-artillery company, stationed at Kinston.
We were brought here last Fourth-day and remained
in camj) until this morning. On being required to
drill we refused, and were sent up to the town one
mile this side of the battery to appear before General
Kansom. He told us he would hear no plea about
religion, as the laws had made provisions and he was
bound to execute them ; that he shovdd put us in a
room upstairs and we should not have one drop of
water nor one morsel of food ; neither should we com-
municate with any one except authorities until we
agreed to go on duty or pay the five hundred dollar
tax.
"Second-day, the 13th. We missed the opportu-
nity of sending letters home and are still in prison,
having been three days and nights without one mor-
sel of sustenance, either bread or water, and the cap-
tain, who visits us daily, says that we will find General
Ransom's orders carried out, for he will see us dead
and buried before he will give way one particle. We,
however, do not think it safe to give way to his
demands, having a Master, even Christ, to whom it
is our duty to yield ourselves servants to obey.
" Now read the tenth, eleventh and twelfth chaj)-
ters of Hebrews, and they will set forth our faith and
whereunto we must come, to become servants of the
living and eternal God, who has bought us with a
price aud is able to redeem us from all suffering and
bondage in his own time and pleasure, when he is
pleased to say it is enough.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 265
" Whatever may be our fate, we feel perfectly re-
signed to God's blessed will, which is a duty all Chris-
tians must come unto, and we have felt that we coidd
give up all things in the earth for His sake, near and
dear as they seem to us. Such has been our comfort
after three days of starving that we have rested many
times, perfectly at ease, not knowing the need of any-
thing ; yea, have felt that the bread from heaven
had not been withheld from us. We sometimes feel
the River of Life to be flowing so near that we can
hardly desire to return to such freedom as the world
can give.
" Third - day, the 21st. Having been prevented
from sending you a letter by the last mail, we now
embrace the opportunity. We went four and a half
days without a morsel of food or drink. By this time
it pleased the Lord to touch the hearts of the people,
and we were given one half pint of sugar and water
the first night, and the next morning we received
bread and other victuals, as we were able to bear it,
it having been five days since we had eaten anything
at all. We are now recruited and feel quite well.
We have been quite well with very little exception
ever since we left home. We were placed in the care
of Captain Baxter of the ninth regiment, Company
H, who is detailed at this place with his company
to keep the prisoners, and who merits our grateful
thanks for his kindness to us. He kept us under
guard for some days and then told us he should take
the guard away only when we had occasion to walk
out of doors, also that we might walk where we
266 SOUTHERN HEROES.
pleased over the house. In short, we are treated with
a great deal of sympathy by all the soldiers in Bax-
ter's comj)any.
" Do not be discouraged, but look forward with an
eye of faith, my dearest ones, and I humbly trust that
better days will soon arise. Bless and kiss the chil-
dren for me, and tell them, — oh, how much I love
them !
" Direct your letter to Kinston, Lenoir Co., N. C.
"H. M. HOCKETT."
To Rachel Hockett.
Following their release from starvation, General
Ransom on recovering from his illness returned to his
command, and our Friends were again severely tried
as the following letter, written to their father, will
show :
Kinston, N. C, Fifth mo., 25th, 1863.
" Dp:ar Father : We have not received any ac-
count from you since we wrote you last, which we
expected to have done this evening ; neither have we
received any account of the box which you pro])osed
to send us. We suggest that you send no such thing
without a pilot, which, perhaps, would not pay at pres-
ent, as you could afford us but little relief in all
probability by coming.
" We must inform you tliat our sufferings have been
greatly increased since we last addressed you. Gen-
eral Ransom has returned. Last Fifth-day we were
taken out with the other prisoners and required to
clean up the streets about his quarters, which we re-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 267
fused to do ; and we were harassed about the streets
with logs of wood tied on our shoulders for about two
hours, and then ordered to the guard-house with about
forty others in the same house. Next day we were
taken out and required to do some service, which we
declined, and we were treated in the same way again
amid the scoffs of many spectatoi-s. Then they ordered
us separated. Jesse was taken down to tlie old jail
and I to the guard-house, which is a large old store-
room, full of vermin and almost every offensive thing,
with one open door and two windows in the east.
Owing to the crowded and filthy condition of the room
it is a noisome and unhealthy place. The weather
being diy and hot it is difficult to breathe in here of
an evening. The prisoners are all falling away owing
to the scant fare and confinement.
" I have not seen Jesse since Sixth-day morning,
nor heard from him since Seventh-day morning. The
jail is said to be a worse room for hot weather than
this, and desperate for filth.
" I do not think it is so much the general's orders
as the ambitions of a few young officers under him
that cause us to be used as we are. They all insist
that we should pay out. We are told that the two
generals, Hill and Ransom, declare their intention of
keeping us till the war ends, at all events, and we
have little hope of getting off short of that. We can
only rely upon the mercy and power of God to sustain
us, though I do not see that we can do much for the
credit of our Society in such a place of confusion as
this, as there is continual rioting, fiddling, dancing,
268 SOUTHERN HEROES.
swearing and drinking, — frequently among the offi-
cers.
" But enougli of this ! I have written in great con-
fusion, but hope to be able to write to better satisfac-
tion next time.
" H. M. HOCKETT."
Returning to the journal we find the following :
" While we were enjoying comparative quiet within
our prison, horrible tragedies were going on without.
Two men were sentenced by court-martial to be shot
for desertion. As we sat by the window we saw the
doomed men march down the street to the place of
execution, surrounded by a seemingly thoughtless
multitude. The infantry and cavalry were there to
witness the awful spectacle, that the lesson of obedi-
ence to military authority might be impressed upon
the soldiers.
"On the fifteenth of Fifth month our old guard
was removed and we were placed under the care of
General Daniel, who ordered us before him and sternly
demanded whether we were ready to comply with his
requisitions. We answered in the negative, and told
him if it was wrong at first it was wrong now. He
said he was a man of few words and wished to know
no more about our creed than he already knew, but as
we were so conscientious he would respect our scru-
ples thus far ; he would not arm us nor require us to
take any one's life, but woidd put us in a position to
save the lives of those who were loyal to our cause by
placing us in the front of the next battle, where we
SOUTHERN HEROES. 269
would serve as breastworks to stop bullets. We told
him that we would prefer to suffer wrong rather
than to do wrong and the responsibility would not be
on us, after which he thoughtfully replied : ' No, I
suppose the responsibility will not be on you.'
" At this moment I looked upon him with pity
rather than with feelings of resentment for any treat-
ment we had received, realizing that the time for ' an
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth ' was passed
away.
" General Daniel was soon ordered to assist Gen-
eral Lee, and before the time came for us to act
as ' breastworks to stop bullets ' he was killed in
battle.
" On the 21st we were ordered to clear up the yard
and cultivate flowers for the preservation of health,
as the officers told us, and they said that this coidd in
no way interfere with our scruples. We at once saw
their motive, which was to have us commit ourselves
to their authority. We told them that they had no
right to demand of us, who were prisoners, such ser-
vice as would lead directly to military requirements.
The under-officer was much enraged, and after a time
told us that he had reported us to headquarters, and
that we were ordered to be shot that day at two
o'clock ; that until that time we were to ' pack logs.'
The soldiers then brought some logs and required us
to take them up and carry them, which was a punish-
ment frequently imposed for various offenses. We
told them that we felt under no obligations to impose
self-punishment, and could not do so. The soldiers
270 SOUTHERN HEROES.
tied tliem to us and marched us up and down the
street.
" There was with us at that time a man named
Blackmore, a Baptist, who refused to bear arms for
the same reason as ourselves. He was soon after re-
moved, and we understood that he died in camp.
" As we were marched up and down the street an
army-officer stepped up to us and asked why our con-
sciences did not extend into our legs, saying : ' I see
you carry the logs, and it would be much easier to
carry a musket.' I replied that we compromised no
principle ; that we went up and down the street as
prisoners, not as soldiers ; that there was no example
in Scripture where the apostles or disciples of Christ
refused to go when taken as prisoners by the ruling-
authorities ; on all occasions they endured the penalty
where they could not conscientiously submit to the
laws, but that they always asserted the duty and right
to obey God rather than men. His countenance
changed and he walked away, and I never saw him
again.
"At our first appearance many wicked expressions
were heard, such as ' wearing the yoke ', ' bearing the
cross of Christ,' etc., but this was soon changed, and
when the logs were removed it was done with tender
hands. Our pardon was asked by some who had been
the most unkind. So these punishments intended as
scourges seemed more like jewels. No more was said
of the shooting, which was to have taken place at two
o'clock.
" Amid all, the Lord favored us to possess our souls
SOUTHERN HEROES. 271
in patience, and our feeling of kindness caused every
one to wonder, and we believe was the means of con-
vincing many, both soldiers and citizens.
" Soon after this, the officers separated us. My
brother, Jesse D. Hockett, was sent to the old city jail,
where he was kept for some time in the dungeon, a
dark and doleful place for a man. I was kept among
other prisoners. On one occasion I was allowed to
visit Jesse, after which he was returned to the guard-
house. Our health was now very j^oor.
" On the eleventh of Sixth month, 1863, I was
summoned to appear for trial by court-martial. I
appeared on the thirteenth. The charges read were :
' Positive disobedience to orders when required to take
arms and dinll.'
" The judge-advocate asked me if I wished a law^-
yer to plead my case. I told hini I did not wish it.
He said my case was a grave one, and I had better
have a lawyer. One could be had for f 100. I told
him if allowed to speak for myself that was all the de-
fense I asked. He said I could have that privilege.
I then asked if that was the only charge there was
against me. They said it was. I then asked if I
gave no reason for refusing to drill. The lieutenant
had been called to prove tliat I refused to drill. He
was now called again to answer my cpiestion, and he
said that I did ; that it was on account of religious
scruples. I then told them that was no more than I
had a constitutional right to do. They replied that
the military code made no such provision. I said that
was very likely, but the constitution was jjotent over
272 SOUTHERN HEROES.
all laws of government, and no law could be rightfully
enacted inconsistent therewith. The constitution as
it then was secured to every man the right to liberty
of conscience. I then asked if it was not known that
I came into camp as a prisoner on account of religious
scruples ; if ever there was a charge against me for
not answering at roll-call except when reported on the
sick list, or if I had ever attempted in any way to es-
cape the custody of the authorities that held me. To
this he replied : ' I never knew of any cause of com-
plaint outside of the charges preferred against you.'
" Among the many intriguing, ironical questions
asked me was this : ' How was it that William Penn,
one of the most distinguished men of your sect, so
successfully fought the Indians in defense of his rights,
if you cannot fight on the defensive ? ' It had been
his understanding that Penn won great victories over
the Indians. I told him if such was the case, he had
been grossly misinformed ; that neither William Penn
nor any of his religious adherents had ever been re-
sponsible for one drop of Indian blood ; that he
resorted to no carnal weapons, but overcame his ene-
mies by the spirit that overcomes evil with good. I
further told them that the State of North Carolina
was first largely settled by Friends ; that the Indians
regarded them as the peaceable sons of Penn and
there was no war with them. After an extended in-
terview, which seemed to interest all parties, I was
returned to my prison-quarters to await the decision
of the court-martial. This tribunal was composed of
officers selected from a Georgia brigade who were very
SOUTHERN HEROES. 273
little acquainted with Friends or tlieir principles. But
they seemed more ready to hear and learn than many
of larger acquaintance with them, but whose jealousy
and prejudice in war times ran higher. During the
trial I felt that there was much sympathy on their
part with me, and all the courtesy was extended to me
that could be shown toward a prisoner, although fre-
quent allusions were made by the members of the
court to the stringency of the laws they were under
and the oath they had taken,
" On the 22d inst. we were kindly visited by our
dear friends, William Cox (a Friend minister) and
Lazarus Pearson, by whom we sent letters home.
Hitherto we had been denied the privilege of receiv-
ing or sending letters unless they were examined by
military officers.
" On the 2Gth our dear friend, Needham Perkins
(a Friend minister), also visited us and furnished us
with a good supply of tracts, which we distributed
among the soldiers. They seemed to appreciate them
and gladly read them, while those sent from Charles-
ton teaching that war was right were carelessly
thrown away or used in lighting their pipes.
" On the 3d of Seventh month, 1863, we fell into the
hands of a new provost-guard, and had a repetition of
former experiences. We received this day an accept-
able and cheering letter from W. T. Cox. I was
taken sick on the 7th, and for several days remained
very ill, during which time my brother was badly
abused and punished severely for refusing to do mili-
tary service.
274 SOUTHERN HEROES.
" Ou the 3d of Eighth month I was called out on
dress-parade to receive with others the sentence of
the court-martial. For desertion some were to have
the letter D branded indelibly on their bodies, three
inches broad. This was done in my presence with a
hot iron, accompanied by the screams of the unhappy
victims. There were similar jiunishments for other
offenses. At last my turn came. I was sentenced to
six months' hard labor in one of the military forts,
bound with heavy ball and chain. Some of the sol-
diers who had a high regard for and deep sympathy
with me said they believed the sentence of the court-
martial was in my case grossly perverted. They had
overheard a conversation of the officers, from which
tliey gathered that no sentence had been jjassed on
me, and that clemency had been recommended. I was
informed that all the officers accorded with this until
it reached Jefferson Davis, who refused to sign the
decision and recommended that examples be made of
all offenders, by adequate punishment.
" A prisoner who was tried by the same court-
martial, the next day after my trial, told me on his
return to prison that they were going to clear me. I
asked why, and he replied : ' The first question they
asked me was, " Are you a Quaker ? " I told them
I was not, to which one of them said : " I am glad of
that, for I never want anything more to do with them
on this account." '
" They claimed to have charges against my brother,
but he was never summoned before this tribunal.
" On the 6th of Eighth month a new guard was
SOUTHERN HEROES. 275
appointed, and on the 7th we were ordered to assist
in unloading- ordnance ears for the government, and
the officers ordered that we shoukl be pierced four
inches deep with bayonets if we refused. On declin-
ing to do this service my brother was pierced cruelly
with bayonets, while I was hung up by the thumbs
almost clear of the ground. After I had remained
in this suffering position for some time, the corporal
was told that he had no orders to tie up either of us,
but to pierce us with bayonets, and that he had better
obey orders. So I was untied and pierced with a
bayonet, though slightly, perhaj)s on account of having
already suffered unauthorized punishment.
" On the 9th I took leave of my brother in the
prison at Kinston, N. C, where we had together en-
dured much suffering, and was taken to Fort Caswell
to receive the sentence of the court-martial. That
night we were lodged in prison at Wilmington, and the
next day took a boat to Fort Caswell. On the morn-
ing after my arrival I felt that it would be right to
ask an interview with the commanding colonel, from
a conviction of duty. My request was kindly granted
and we had a pleasant interview, and I have always
thought it a beneficial one. Colonel Jones seemed to
be a man of more reason and discretion than many
of his class, and his memory I shall ever cherish.
" I told him I sought the interview in order to ex-
plain to him the reasons why I could not comply with
the demands upon me. He said that he had received
a long communication from headquarters concerning
my case, and thought he well understood the situa-
276 SOUTHERN HEROES.
tion, but was instructed to carry out tlie sentence.
He asked why we Friends could not furnish substi-
tutes or do other government work if we were con-
scientious about bearing arms. I answered : ' Sup-
jjose I had an antipathy against thee and it was in
my heart to take thy life, but not being desperate
enough to do it myself, I, for one hundred or one
thousand dollars, hired some ruffian to do it. Who
would be responsible for thy blood ? ' To this he
replied that I would be, of course, if I were the sole
instigator of his death.
" I then told him it was for this reason that we
coukl not hire substitutes, who pledged themselves to
shed blood, as the common duty of a soldier. Again,
as fortifications are needful in time of war, should
we take the place of soldiers to build them ? They
would be placed in the ranks in our stead and sent to
kill men. We, knowing these results, do not feel free
to do a soldier's work.
" We had much discussion following this, upon the
subject of war, and admirably different was the colo-
nel's conduct toward me from that of most of the offi-
cers before whom I had been, who refused to hear any
excuses on account of religion, saying they knew as
much as they wanted to know on that subject.
" Colonel Jones said the reasons I gave were sin-
cere, and he felt disposed to favor me all he could.
But he was not there to make laws, but to execute
such orders as he received from higher authority, and
he had taken an oath to that effect.
" I tokl him I was not requiring him to take any
SOUTHERN HEROES. 211
undue responsibility on himself. If it was right for
him to take his high office and to perform the attend-
ant acts of office, with any of which I could not com-
ply, I was there to suffer the penalty ; but it was the
privilege and duty of Christians to give a reason for
their faith and the hope that is within them.
" To all this he listened meditatively, but said he
would have to send me to the prison. After a few
hours the police came to take me to the smith-shop
outside the fort, with orders to have me manacled
with a chain to my leg, attached to a heavy ball.
This was done with more apparent emotion on the
part of the workman than on mine. The interview
with the colonel had baen overheard by outsiders, and
word seemed to have run through the entire camp
that there was a Christian prisoner brought in on
account of his religion.
" At first the place seemed to me to be the worst I
had ever seen, and the colonel had told me at the first
of our interview that they had outlaws from the army
and others of the worst class of men, yet I found
more sympathy and kind treatment than at any other
place. For several days I was not called for by the
officer of the day, whose business it was to assign men
work.
" Plenty of opportunity was offered me for the dis-
cussion of the war question. One man asked what
would become of a nation if it should be invaded by
another and none were ready to defend it. I an-
swered that if the people were right on both sides
there would be no need of defense, and if one side
278 SOUTHERN HEROES.
were wrong the Lord would protect tlie right, if they
trusted in Him, for ' Vengeance is mine ; I will re-
pay, saith the Lord.' But when we sought to defend
ourselves, we had no right to depend upon Divine pro-
tection. The Hebrews under Pharaoh were not re-
sponsible for one drop of blood that was shed in the
exit from Egypt. The Lord delivered them, for they
trusted in Him.
" He rej)lied that we coidd not get nations to think
alike, so we must take things as we find them. I told
him the question should be whether the thing were
right or wrong ; if wrong, we should not do evil, that
good might come, but overcome evil with good. He
replied that these arguments would do in time of
peace, but the nations would have to be wonderfully
reformed before these plans would work ; it would be
an imjiossibility to change the minds of the peo]3le at
once. I replied that individuals must begin the work
of enlightening the people on the impolicies, injustice,
and folly of war, as well as upon the conflict between
its spirit and the precepts of the gospel. Being a
little stirred, he said that the Bible sanctions war ;
that David was a man after God's own heart, and he
was a great warrior, for while Saul slew his thousands,
David slew his tens of thousands, and destroyed his
enemies by force of arms. I told him that the Bible
was full of prophecies pointing to the advent of Christ
as the Prince of Peace, upon whose shoulders should
be the government ; that we were now in the gospel
days when swords are to be beaten into ploughshares,
and sj^ears into pruninghooks ; that Christ in his
SOUTHERN HEROES. 279
teaching- clearly corroborated the proi^hecies, saying :
' It was said by them of old time, " an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth," but I say unto you, resist not
evil.' Saint Paul, the chiefest of the apostles, with
truly inspired knowledge of the Gospel, testifies :
'The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God to the pulling down of the
strongholds,' while the effects of carnal warfare are
continually demoralizing instead of christianizing men.
" These and similar interviews were repeated for
days, as new officers came in, and I seemed favored
with ready answers, sometimes to my own astonish-
ment, for it was not of me, but of Him in whom I
trusted, and to Him be all the glory.
" After the arguments of the people about me for
war were exhausted, they manifested an increased in-
terest to learn more of the history and views of the
Friends from the Christian prisoner, as I was called.
There seemed manifest on the ])a.vt of the guards a
desire to have the opportunity of guarding me in and
out of the fort, and no o2:>portunity was lost for ear-
nest inquiry after truth.
" The orderly-sergeant seemed to be a man of ten-
der regard, who treated me with resjject, and often
went with me instead of sending a man. When I
was released from the fort and sent back to Wilming-
ton, he went with me to the boat instead of sending
a police guard, and remained with me several hours
in pleasant conversation until the boat started. He
then bade me an affectionate adieu, with best wishes
for my welfare and safety.
280 SOUTHERN HEROES.
" The fort was surrounded by a wall of sand and
turf, perhaps thirty feet high or more, with huge can-
non mounted on its parapets. Within were gloomy
prisons filled with guilty culprits behind ponderous
iron doors, and an array of soldiers without. Yet, not-
withstanding its gloomy appearance, it seemed to me
as a secret hiding-place, and my chains as jewels, for
they were taken as an evidence of my suffering for
Christ's sake.
" After having remained here about a week, which
was spent in writing letters for the soldiers and con-
versing about religion with many inquirers, I was
informed by the sergeant that if I had awy prepara-
tions to make before leaving the fort, I had better be
doing it, as the colonel had decided to send me back
to Wihnington. I was soon called for and taken to
the shop. As the smith was absent at roll-call, a
crowd soon gathered, anxiously questioning as to what
the results would be. Only words of kindness and
sympathy were heard. When told of the order to
remove my chain, the smith said : ' In the first place,
it ought never to have been put on such a man, and
I consider it a burning shame to humanity.' He has-
tily cut the chain and dashed it away with seeming
contempt. His words and actions caused me to feel
some anxiety on his account, for at Kinston, where I
had been so long, they would have been regarded as
treasonable.
" I was satisfied that I had the sympathy of the
colonel, and that he had the chain put on me as the
lightest form of punishment to which he could resort
SOUTHERN HEROES. 281
under the circumstances, and no work was at any time
required of me. I had been sent to Fort Caswell
under the custody of three armed soldiers, but Colonel
Jones sent me back to Wilmington in care of a single
guard.
"On arriving in Wilmington, at ten o'clock at
night. Major Sparrow, the provost-marshal at that
time, refused to admit me that night, saying there was
so much sickness, and so many were off duty in con-
sequence, he could not furnish a guard. So my
escort said we would have to return to the boat,
which was fastened to the wharf. He remarked that
he would have to guard me all night, not that he had
any fear of me, but that it might not be well for him
to be found off duty or asleep. I answered that I
was aware of his responsibility as a soldier, and did
not wish in any way to subject him to punishment,
but I had a couple of blankets with me and felt like
sleeping, so if he cared to sleep with me all would be
well. He replied that he thought he would risk it, so
placing his gun in one corner, he slept with me, more
like friend with friend than prisoner and guard. In
the morning I procured water and shaved and washed.
I asked him if he would like to shave, and he gladly
accepted the invitation, saying it was not often that
the opportunity was offered him.
" He asked me many questions concerning the prin-
ciples and doctrines of Friends, and I answered them
as best I could. He inquired why they were not
more generally known, and said he had only heard of
the Quakers or Friends in rather a disparaging way.
282 SOUTHERN HEROES.
and knew but little about them. He said he would
like to learn more about them, and asked me to send
him some books setting forth their doctrine, if we
ever got through this war. I had with me a good
supply of tracts, expressing their views and Christian
doctrines, and he received them gladly. At the
proper time he delivered me to Major Sparrow and
bade me an affectionate farewell.
*' Major Sparrow was one of the pleasantest men
I ever met, I conversed with him concerning the
troubles of the times, and he said many things that
surprised me. He placed me behind the iron doors,
as I felt, not from his own choice, but from the neces-
sity of the occasion.
•■'The next day, 8/17, 1863, my brother Jesse was
very unexpectedly brought to my prison. I had left
him at Kinston. He knew of no reason for his being
sent to Major Spari'ow. He was received kindly, the
guards were dismissed, and Major Sparrow told him
to sit down and wait until he had time to talk to him.
He had many questions to ask concerning our history,
and said : ' I think it would have been best if we had
all been Quakers, so far as to have averted these
calamities that are upon us.'
" Behind the ponderous iron doors we heai'd little
of the disturbances without, except from prisoners of
either army who were brought into the prison,
" For some unknown reason we were next sent
to Goldsboro and placed in the guard-house there,
but in a few days we were called out to the camp
of the artillery company, in which we weie placed
SOUTHERN HEROES. 283
at Kinston, it having' been removed to a place near
Goldsboro.
" The first lieutenant required us to take arms and
drill at once, and if we refused, he said we should be
transferred to another general who had expressed a
desire to have some Quakers to ' show that he could
bring us into subjugation,' and who ' would tie a rock
to our necks and pitch us into the river the first
time his orders were disobeyed.' We kindly dis-
sented from his orders, and he sent us back to the
guard-house, after which we were kindly treated as
prisoners by all with whom we had to do. Colonel
Pool was even more kind than the duties of his office
strictly allowed.
" When my wife and little son came to the city to
visit me, he, without any solicitation, sent for me to
report at his office, and kindly offered me a furlough,
good for twenty -four hours, to pass anywhere in the
city of Goldsboro to procure comfortable quarters for
them, the furlough to be renewed each evening at
nine o'clock, as long as my wife had a mind to stay in
the city. On thanking him for his courtesy and kind-
ness to me, only a Christian prisoner, he replied :
' No occasion. It is my duty to do as I would be
done by, and your captain has told me that you were
a man worthy of full confidence.'
" From time to time during our stay here we were
visited by our friend William Cox, the minister before
alluded to, who lived sixteen miles away, and by
numbers of other Friends. They brought us pro-
visions, etc.
284 SOUTHERN HEROES.
" Such was the opportunity for discourse with
prisoners of both armies, as they were being passed
back and forth, tliat it seemed more hke opening a
mission-iield tlaan being in a military prison. Our
time was often occupied with such interesting reli-
gious service as to leave us the assurance that it had
not all been spent for naught."
" On the tenth of Eleventh month, 1863, we were
discharged by the authorities, having remained in this
prison since the twenty -first of Eighth month. As we
were now set at full liberty, we repaired to our homes,
where we found our families well, thankful for the
protection and many favors we had received from
the Father of all our sure mercies during the many
trying ordeals through which we had passed."
Himelius and Jesse Hockett had been kept from
their homes one year, seven months and six days.
During this time their wives had ploughed the fields
and raised crops to support their families, and had
manufactured their clothing from cotton and wool
grown upon their little farms. H. M. Hockett's
wife's health was impaired, and she has never been
as well as before, but still these sisters speak with
pride of their husbands' loyalty to their principles,
and rejoice that they were enabled to do that which
fell to their lot, though hardship and trial w^ere theirs.
They have since been favored to see their children
grow up around them, have families of their own and
become successful citizens, while upon their old home-
stead they quietly enjoy their declining years, rejoicing
in the peaceful days that have come to their South-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 285
land. They know that the day will soon come when
they will be summoned to a higher tribunal than that
of any military court. As they continue to put their
trust in the same Almighty Friend who sustained them
in the dark days of privation and suffering, they
humbly believe that by grace, through faith in the
Prince of Peace, they will be presented faultless
before the Father with exceeding great joy.
CHAPTER XIV.
Prayer-strengthened for the trial, come together,
Put on the harness for the moral fight,
And with the blessing of your Heavenly Father
Maintain the right.
Whittier.
We have now followed tlie three Ilockett brothers
of Centre meeting through their trying experiences.
There were other members of that meeting, who had
been with them at school and had met with them from
week to week since boyhood in the old log meeting-
house on the hill. They were of the same blood and
faith, and were as willing as the brothers to sacri-
fice their lives for their faith. They were genuine
disciples of George Fox, of whom the soldiers said :
" He is as pure as a bell ; as stiff as a tree." Many
were pressed into the army, but none of them could
be made to fight.
Simon Kemp was taken to Drury's Bluff and at-
tached to the 5th North Carolina regiment. As he
refused to receive the bounty money, equipments or
clothing, after weeks of trial and imjarisonment, he
was allowed to pay the tax.
Solomon and Kelby Hodgin hid in the woods for a
long time, but finally paid the <f500. Job Leonard,
Lewis and Joshua Reynolds paid the tax. Abner
Lamb went to the salt-works.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 287
Eliliu and Isaiah Cox, David Chamness, Nathan
Watkins, Simeon Barker and David Wilson were
sent to cut wood for the railroad. The State, owning
the road, had given out a large contract for wood to
be prepared for the engines, and men needed to do
the work were detailed under State authority.
Springfield meeting was about eight miles from
Centi'e, and this neighborhood, too, was visited by the
soldiers, searclihig for those who did not intend to go
to war unless compelled to do so.
The first Bible school ever held in the State of
North Carolina was held here in 1822 by Allen U.
Tomlinson. He was a prominent Friend when the
war began, interested in every good word and work.
He had been the superintendent of this school since
its beginning, and it was said to have been the only
one held in that part of the country during the war.
After the war closed he held a Bible school celebra-
tion. It was attended by Governor Worth, who made
an address, during which, in contrasting the influences
of peace and war, he said : " This is the only green
spot in North Carolina."
The school enrolled three hundred, and was very
largely attended. Many persons, both old and young,
here learned to read and study the Bible. "Uncle
Allen," as all the country about called him, was be-
coming too old to act as superintendent. After more
than forty years' service he was succeeded by his son
Sidne}'', but so long as he was able to go he attended
the school. For about sixty successive years this
father and son served the school, the son dying at his
::SS SOVTHERy HEROES.
jKvst just as ho had finishoil a blaoklnvvnl oxenMso
illiistRitiug the day's lossoii. Stoppiiiii' baok to Un^k
at it, he was taken with seveiv heart tivuble. He
seateil himself on a form near by and jvvsstnl away
befort^ any one eowld ivali/e his eonditioii or do any-
thing for hhii. " I'nek AUeii " had gone to his home
above some years Ivfoxv.
Paring the N\"^\r Allen U. Tou\linson and sons ear-
rieil on a lai-go tannery and sluH^faetory, and by this
means kept a groat many out of the war by having
them detaiknl to ilo their work.
This shoe-faotory workevl np their own mannfaeture
of leather into shoos, and also most of the Lwther
lu-onght into the port of Wihningtou, N. (.\. by the
steamer Advanee, whieh sneeessftdly ran the bloeknile
below Wilmington for a long time. Some FritMuls
belonging to Springfield meeting iU\ lined to pay the
tax. and were earriod to the army or taken to guard
prisoners at Salisbnry, bnt they stood tirm to their
faith, and beeame a bnrden to the otbeers ami the
army rather than a help. Pining the last f\vi> years
of the war. Allen T. Tomliiison spent most o( his time
in visiting the authorities anil in sei'uriug tho reU>ase
of Friends.
Enos A. Blair, a nuMuber o( Springli(>ld nn^et-
ing, was arrested, but tinally sueeeinled iu obtaining
exemption ]Kipers. His son, Frank S. Blair, t^nly
seventeen years old, was eonserijUed while at school,
and his father paid the tax fi>r him alst).
One day while Sidney Tomlinson ami other Friends
were riding home from meeting on hi>rseba«'k, a
SOII'lllh.ltN IllJtOlCS. 2H0
niMiilicr ol iiHii l)(Ioii;.'i)iM to WIi<<I<i'h 'r<;x;i.H <;;i,v;i.lry
ro<l<! II)) ;ui<l (•()iii))<ll(;(| lliciii to (li;-;i/ioiiiil.. TIm; \wm
took l,li(;Ir lior,H(;H, wlii<;Ji W(;c<; (;xl,r;i. p;oo(| on<;;i, ;i,U(| l(;ft
our IVifMidH l,o w;i,ll{ lioin*;. (ji<;ii«;i;il .ioliii;-iio)i'H ;i,riny
w;i,H <'iic;i,irij)(:(| loc <l;i,ys in Uiin n<'i;^lil)orlioo<l, ;iti(|
IJiicIf Allfii 'I'o)iiliii;<oii';i liou.ic w;i,H li<;ul'ju;ut(;r;s loi'
(/III! of'lic,«;rM ;i.ll I,Im; i\uu: tiic uruiy w;iH ili<;r«;.
Not only vvcji! tli«; (»iov(;in(;ntH of ni<;ri <;loH(;ly
w;i,t<li(<|, Ijiit tlific vvord.H wen; ;i,h cMH-.UiWy noti<;<;(l.
()n(! waH liij,l)I(; to arrcnt and j»uniHlini<;nt lor uny un
f^ijar(l<t(l ntt(;i'an(;(! aj^ainst tJi<! (.'onf<;»Jr;r;w,y. It may
Ix', well to iiiHcrt lien; .'in inHtanf,*; of tluH kind, an an
illn:sti;ilion ol IIjc |)iiiii;-ilifn';nt iiict<;d out to those wlio
w<!r(! not HiiffiriiMitly <;andiil in tliin n;;i)j(;(;t to watinfy
tli<! military aiitlioriticH.
A yoiin^' man who had onf;<! I>(;(;n a l''ri<;nd waH
forc<;d into the artriy and cnt'-i-cfj ii|)on inilit.'uy diitieH,
thouj^li r(!lu<;tantly, for Ik; waH at lurart not only op-
[)OH<;d to th(! war hut aJHO loyal to tin; Union. ()i\ on<;
occianion, amid his HiippoHc;*! fricndH, he remarked that
he wi-ilied ;i,ll the men, North ;i,nd South, would ^r>
home :ind leiive the luhtrH who hroij;4ht on tlx; wai' to
fi;^ht it out. TImh H|)(;eeh, jjoHHihly in an exaj:jgcrated
foi'm, was re|)ort<-d to the ofliefirH ; the man was tried
hy eouit-m:irti;il ;ind senteneed to he shot ;it noon th;it
d;iy. lie wrote a, few words of farewell to his wife
and mf<th(!r, wliieh were, <;ndorse<l l»y the ehiiphiin of
tlu! I'ej^iment, ;ind aeeordin^- to the, sentenee of the
eoiirt martini he w;is shot. lint he w;is not the only
one who sullered ; thr; sad tidings eause.d the death of
his mothei- and the overthrow of his wifc'H rcUHon.
290 SOUTHERN HEROES.
In this connection we will give the account of Rufus
P. King, a man now well known among Friends
throughout the world, but who was not in those days
aware o£ such a people as the Friends or known by
them. He was taught of God the principles of peace,
and has been teaching them so faithfully since the
dark days of_his youth, in different lands, that those
who know him would be disappointed if these pages
contained no account of the Lord's gracious care of
and dealings with him. The facts here given were
obtained from him for publication in this work,
though he gave them reluctantly, and consented only
with the thought that some good might be done by
way of encouraging Cthers to faithfulness.
He was born near Chapel Hill, N. C, April 15,
1843. Early in life he was obliged to earn his own
living and had poor opportmiities.
He was one of the first to be drafted early in the
year 1862, before he was nineteen years old. He was
thus called to fight a people of whom he knew nothing,
and against whom he had no complaint ; and to battle
for the continuation of a system with which he had
no unity. Indeed, he says, he had often noticed that
the slaves produced the wealth of the whites, yet while
they lived in luxury, the slave was obliged to put up
with the coarsest of food, and oftentimes with miser-
able accommodations.
He was attached to the eleventh North Carolina
regiment, then stationed on the coast near Wilming-
ton, with Pettigrew's brigade. In the early autumn
his captain was taken sick, and as Euf us was of a
RUFUS I'. KING
SOUTHERN HEROES. 291
sympathetic nature, ever ready to help in sickness, the
captain chose him to serve as his nurse. It was soon
discovered that the captain had the yellow fever, and
he was sent to the hospital. From there he was taken
to his home at Chapel Hill, N. C, and Rufus accom-
panied him thither. At Goldsboro it became known
that the captain had the dreaded disease, and it was
with difficulty that they could get on the train for
Durham. The car which they finally entered was
given up to them entirely, except by an old colored
man who crouched in the far corner.
On the journey Captain Jennings died with all the
horrors of a death by yellow fever. Arriving at Dur-
ham early in the day, the trainmen were obliged to
assist Rufus in removing the heavy body of the cap-
tain from the car to the warehouse. There Rufus
proceeded to prepare the body for burial. The cause
of the officer's death soon became known in Durham
also, and Rufus was left alone in the prosecution of
his solemn duties. He succeeded in securing a wagon
to convey the remains to the home of the widow and
her daughter, about twelve miles away, and remained
with them until after the burial.
His captain being dead, Rufus seems to have known
no other authority and went home. The death of
Captain Jennings under such circumstances had made
a very serious impression upon him. His own deliver-
ance from taking the fever seemed a Divine favor,
and he was in a condition to listen to the " old, old
story." A Methodist protracted meeting was being
held near his home, and he attended it. He was
292 SOUTHERN HEROES.
deeply convicted on account of his past sins, and for
three days and nights he wept over them. Then
"casting himseK at the foot of the cross," through
faith in the precious blood of Jesus, which was shed
for the remission of sins, he was favored to accept
Christ as his personal Saviour. He was soon after
received into the Methodist church.
Nearly three months passed away before the officers
of his regiment sent for him, and then his position as
a soldier, whose business it was to slay his fellow-men,
became a serious thing to him. He was deeply
troubled on account of it, and from Thursday night
until Saturday morning for successive weeks he fasted,
and prayed that the dear Lord would preserve him
from taking the life of another. So convinced did he
sometimes become of the sinfulness of such an act that
he would have chosen that his own life should be taken
rather than that he should take the life of any one
else. After these seasons of prayer and fasting his
heart was filled with gratitude to God and joys un-
speakable. The fifth chapter of Matthew was read
to him by the third lieutenant of his company, who
was his friend, and so clearly did it answer the con-
victions of right in his own heart that it comforted
him greatly.
We must bear in mind that Rufus was surrounded
by a military regime ; that his whole life had been
spent among those who believed in war and who
practiced slavery ; that he had never known such a
people as the Friends, and that before his conversion
he had no teaching upon the principles of peace.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 293
After giving his heart to Jesus, his teaching had been
by the Spirit of the Lord and what he had heard read
from the Bible.
Having thus seen the wrong of both war and slavery
he had little faith in secession, and frequently told the
soldiers that the Northern army would be victorious.
When the army started for Gettysburg, he was much
rejoiced at the direct answer to his prayers by being
released from military duty and assigned to the ambu-
lance corps. The officers had discovered his qualifi-
cations as a nurse and concluded that he would be of
more use in that capacity than with a gun. His duty
was to care for the wounded, and on the first day of
the terrible fight at Gettysburg he followed the line of
battle until men began to fall around him. He then
assisted them to the rear, constantly returning for
more.
At the time the Union line gave way and the South-
ern men charged on through Gettysburg, his regiment
was nine hundred strong ; when the three days were
ended, only three hundred all told could be found.
Nearly all the officers had been killed. The third
lieutenant, Rufus's friend, was mortally wounded. As
Ruf us stood by him on the battle-field wishing to know
what he could do for him, the lieutenant said : " O
Rufus, pray for me ! " Kneeling by his side, with the
bullets still flying around them, for only the second
time in his life in the hearing of men, he raised his
voice in prayer for his much loved friend who was
bleeding and dying by his side. There were other
poor soldier boys lying about, wounded and dying, to
294 SOUTHERN HEROES.
whom the voice of prayer was much more sweet than
the sound of battle, and many of them crept up where
they could hear. Rufus was surprised upon conclud-
ing his prayer to find so many around him. He took
up his friend and bore him to Willowby's Run, a
brook near by, and laid him down in the shade of a
tree. Rufus did all he could for his wounded friend,
but death soon ended his suffering.
The shades of night fell upon the field of Gettys-
burg, and a dreadful night it was to him as well as to
many others. He busied himself all night, carrying
water to the sufferers around him.
The next day his regiment was not engaged, but
General Longstreet's force which was near them was
in battle, and as he heard the bands playing "My
Maryland," "Dixie," and other merry tunes, he
thought it sadly out of harmony with other scenes and
sounds of the battle-field. There was the roaring of
cannon as they sent iron balls and bombs on their
errand of death ; the noise of musketry, as men were
engaged in pouring leaden hail into the ranks of other
men ; the clashing of small arms in the more close and
deadly combat of men who fought each other as wild
beasts, although they had no real cause of enmity
against each other.
The effect upon Rufus was such that he has never
liked to hear a band since that time. Though he knew
little then of the prophets or their utterances, he
realized the truth of the prophet's saying: "Every
))attle of the warrior is with confused noise and gar-
ments rolled in blood." Much more agreeable to him
SOUTHERN HEROES. 295
than the noise of battle or the playing o£ bands is the
recitation of poeti-y like this :
" Hasten, great Father, the bless'd consiimraation
When nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
When war is no longer the Christian's vocation,
When the spear shall be shivered, and broken the bow ; "
or like this from Longfellow :
" Down the dark future, tlirongh long generations,
The echoing sounds grow fainter and then cease ;
And like a bell, with solemn, sweet vibrations,
I hear once more the voice of Christ say, ' Peace ! '
Peace ! and no longer from its brazen portals
The blast of War's great organ shakes the skies ;
But beautifid as the songs of the immortals,
The holy melodies of love arise."
In the third day's fight his regiment was engaged,
and he describes the scene as being terrible indeed ;
but other pens have described the battle of Gettys-
burg, and we will not undertake it. It is stated that
for a mile upon that field one could have walked upon
the bodies of the slain. As Lee's army retreated, the
road was for a mile strewn on each side with wounded
and dying Southern men. Toucliing indeed were
their appeals for help, and that some message might
be sent to their loved ones at home. But the retreat-
ing soldiers had no time to hear the message, or to
soothe and comfort the dying, as they rushed past
seeking their own safety.
Little do we realize, as we listen to or read the ac-
counts of " the glories of war," of that hidden picture,
that terrible scene of carnage, suffering and death so
largely kept in the background, where, overlooked
296 SOUTHERN HEROES.
and unrecorded, are the details of individual suffering
and death. One sentence, giving the number of
" killed and wounded," indicates more than can be
compensated for by all the glories that can be gained
by any military achievements. Too few think of the
dying soldier, suffering from wounds and thirst, with
no hand to give even the cup of cold water so much
needed ; no pillow upon which to rest his aching head ;
only the ground to lie upon, in dew or rain or scorch-
ing sun ; no ear into which he may pour his dying
message.
Young men, think of this side of the picture and
consider well before entering upon the life of a soldier !
The uniform soon becomes soiled ; the street parade
changed to long, weary marches ; instead of the
smiling faces of friends are the stern ones of an
enemy. May the rising generation so consider and
act as to hasten the day when war with all its horrors
may be forever done away from this land, wherein
shall dwell righteousness and peace.
Rufus was cajjtured by the Union troops at Falling
Water, Gettysburg, and taken to Point Lookout,
where he remained for more than a year, nursing the
sick prisoners, and here he closed the eyes of many a
dying Southern boy.
In 1864 he was taken with a shipload of exchanged
prisoners to Savannah, Georgia, from which place he
soon found his way home, where he thought he might
remain, but was not allowed to do so. He said he
felt that he would not take human life for the world,
and he prayed earnestly that a way might be made for
his escape.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 297
Soon after his return to camp, the pickets near him
acquainted him with their intention to cross over that
night to the Union army. The pickets being gone
and all obstructions removed, he concluded that this
was the door opened for his escape, and he too walked
over and reported to the Union officers. They were
favorably impressed with his simplicity and candor,
but required him to take the oath of allegiance to the
United States. He told them that, while he was not
afraid to call on God to witness to the truth of what
he might say, yet he could not take an oath on ac-
count of what James said in the Bible. They kindly
accepted his statements and passed him outside the
army.
He now traveled with a companion to Indianapolis,
where for three days he sought unsuccessfully for
work. He then started on West, seeking employ-
ment on the way. At night he crept into a straw
rick for shelter and sleep. There he sought the guid-
ing hand of the Lord, and prayed for a home, that he
might find a place in the hearts of the people, none of
whom he knew.
He says that that night was one of blessed commu-
nion with the Lord. In the morning he traveled ten
miles, and then called at a house for food and work.
Here he found a home, where for two years he was
kindly cared for as an own son. The good woman, he
says, was a mother to him. Here he first became
acquainted with the people called Quakers, and at
Mill Creek, Ind., for the first time in his life he
attended a Friends' meeting.
298 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Such kindness and sympathy were manifested to-
ward him that his heart was quite won. The young
people became interested in him and took him into
the Bible school, and there he learned to read. From
the fullness of his heart he soon began to speak in
their meeting for worship. In broken sentences and
in much simplicity of manner he told of the wondrous
love of God as he had experienced it in his own soul,
through faith in the blood of Jesus. He applied for
membership with the Friends, and was received by
Mill Creek meeting in 1856.
He then removed to Walnut Ridge, Ind., where he
attended school for a short time. From there he
moved to Farmers' Institute, where he was recorded
as a minister. Since then he has devoted his time
almost wholly to the preaching of the gospel, and
has visited, in the service of the Master, not only
the Friends of America, but those in Great Britain,
Ireland, Germany, France, Denmark, Norway, Aus-
tralia, New Zealand, Syria, and Palestine, — every-
where preaching the simple gospel of salvation to lost
sinners, through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ
shed for the remission of sins.
He is now making his home with his wife and little
ones in the Old North State, at Archedale, before
mentioned.
CHAPTER XV.
So let it be. In God's own might
We gii'd us for the coming fight,
And, strong in Him whose cause is ours
In conflict with unholy powers,
We grasp the weapons He has given, —
The Light, and Truth, and Love of Heaven.
Whittier.
At the beginning of tlie war there were but few
Friends left in Tennessee. It was easier for them to
go to the Western States than for those who lived
over the mountains in North Carolina, and most of
them did go before hostilities began.
The few remaining were favored to escape any spe-
cial notice from the government until the passage of
the conscription act, November 1st, 1862, whereby
all male citizens in the State between the aoes of eiffht-
een and forty-five were oi'dered to appear at their re-
spective courthouses and be enrolled. The order was
given by the State authorities, and made it the duty
of militia officers to arrest as deserters all who failed
to ajjpear, and to treat them as such after they were
captured. East Tennessee as a whole was loyal to the
United States. The appeals of Andrew Johnson,
Thomas A. R. Nelson, John Baxter and Parson
Brownlow had been heeded by these honest-hearted
300 SOUTHERN HEROES.
mountaineers, and with small exception they main-
tained their loyalty.
In Blount County, Tenn., where many Friends
had lived, the people were not in sympathy with
secession, and were not willing to be enrolled. As an
evidence of their loyalty, notwithstanding the terrible
penalty for failing to present themselves for enroll-
ment, only about twenty of the one thousand men in
that county who were required to appear did so.
Our informer tells us that the others " stampeded to
Kentucky."
In Green County was New Hope meeting, eighty-
five miles east of Knoxville. About twenty Friends
were left here who were liable to conscription. These
were not ready to leave their homes. They could not
fight, and therefore tarried about home until the sol-
diers began the search for deserters. Five of these
Friends met the officers with gold, and these five men
each gave three hundred dollars in place of the five
hundred dollars in Confederate money, required by
law, and thus secured exemption papers.
One of these twenty Friends was James F. Beals,
a young schoolteacher, who, when a student at
Friendsville, had been converted to the principles of
the Gospel as held by the Friends. As the work of
secession progressed, he watched anxiously the move-
ments of those around him, and the neighboring seces-
sionists watched him. He was of leo-al ag-e for a sol-
dier, and in these days no man coidd long escape being
counted either for or against the cause of the Con-
federacy ; there was no neutral ground. Our school-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 301
teacher was soon " reckoned against them." He was
enrolled as a member of one of the companies of
conscripts, and was ordered to ajjpear and muster.
Instead of complying, he accepted the challenge of a
graduate from a Virginia college to discuss publicly
the question, " Resolved, that a Christian shoidd not
engage in war." Instead of mustering as a soldier,
he made a speech for " The King." For this he was
court-martialed and fined. Soon after, while occu-
pied in his school-room, he was visited by a company
of soldiers, who ordered him to appear at their head-
quarters. He was detained but a short time, and
then allowed to return to his duties. The law at first
exempted schoolteachers and ministers of the Gospel,
and under this law they had no right to detain him.
It was not long, however, before the schoolhouse was
again visited and surrounded by soldiers. Officers
entered and arrested the unresisting teacher, and
all day they kept him with them as they marched
from house to house, searching for men who might be
conscripted. Out-builclings, cellars, lofts, and every
other conceivable place, were searched, as they sought
for men to take up arms in support of their cause.
At night the prisoners were kept in camp under
guard, and in the morning they were taken to the
enrolling officer, to be assigned to their companies.
When James F. Beals was presented, he found pres-
ent the wife of the officer, who was the daughter of a
prominent Union man, and slie interceded with her
husband for the release of the schoolteacher, and was
successful in her plea for him. But he had become a
302 SOUTHERN HEROES.
marked man, and was looked upon as an enemy in
their midst. He had heard of others similarly situ-
ated being shot, hmig, sent to prison, or forced to the
front. Knowing that he could not much longer teach
school at New Hope, he determined to cross the bor-
ders of the Confederacy the first opportunity.
A large company of Union men were collected near
by at the foot of Bay's Mountain, and he, with a num-
ber of other young men, decided to join them in their
march westward. The company numbered fifteen
hundred men, and they hoped by night-marching to
reach Cumberland Gap, which was then held by the
Union forces. One morning they were informed that
a regiment of Confederate cavalry was in pursuit of
them. They were in no condition to fight, though the
will of many of them was good for it ; so they took
the wiser course. Entering the forest they hurried
on, weary, footsore and hungry, for thirty consecutive
hours without stopping for rest or food. Wading
streams, climbing heights, forcing their way through
thickets, they evaded their pursuers, and reached the
Federal camp at Cumberland Gap. Here they rested,
received all necessary attention, and nearly the entire
company enlisted as United States soldiers. They
offered to elect James Beals a captain if he would join
them, but he was not aspiring to militaiy honors, and
with two other young men he obtained a Federal pass
and started on his way to Indiana. But Federal
passes were not recognized by Confederate soldiers,
and meeting with Eeynolds's brigade, trying to make
its way to Knoxville, Tenn., they were captured as
southehn heroes. 303
spies and taken to headquarters. Being unable to
prove the charges, they kept them as prisoners, after
having most rigidly searched them, and then started
them back to Tennessee.
Our friend was in no condition for this return
march, but there was no help for it. Day after day
he accompanied the soldiers, enduring much suffer-
ing from their persecution. One drunken officer fre-
quently threatened to kill him, and would approach
him with a bayonet, thrusting it as near his throat or
breast as possible without wounding him, and seeming
to care but little if he killed him.
Their food was mainly green corn, gathered by the
way and roasted in the shuck. This he could not eat,
and for three days and nights he ate nothing. One
of these days he was denied any water. Their water
was taken from muddy streams or ponds. Sometimes
there were dead bodies of mules half concealed in
the water from which their supply was taken. The
weather was very hot (August, 1862), and the roads
were dry and dusty. They traveled continually in
a cloud of dust, a part of which would settle in an
uncomfortable coating upon them. For eight hundred
miles our friend was made to march, the last three
hundred miles of the way barefooted, with blistered
and wounded feet, his shoes having been utterly worn
out.
Arriving in KnoxviUe, he was liberated, but was
soon prostrated with fever. Upon his recovery he
was granted a permit to go on with his teaching
for another year. General Burnside reached East
304 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Tennessee about the time the year expired, and as
the Southern soldiers were fleeing before him, they
sent for the teacher ; but he escaped and made his
way to General Burnside's headquarters at Knoxville.
He then went to Blount County, where he was com-
missioned by the Friends to visit Philadelphia and
other cities to solicit aid, in order that they might
make a crop, as their food and grain had been so
entirely consumed that they had no seed.
Armed with proper credentials from church and
state, he went to the North and West. The meet-
ing for sufferings of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting at
once ordered a check for 11500 to be given him. In
Cincinnati and other places he procured carloads of
corn, hominy, beans, meat, etc., which, with the aid
of the Christian Commission, was transported free of
charge to Tennessee, and from there distributed in
season to serve the people in making their crops.
Our friend Beals became active in the service of
church and State, serving in various offices his church,
county. State, and the United States government in
Washington, D. C. He still lives among his native
hills, doing the work which comes to him as a Chris-
tian citizen.
John Beals, a leading Friend of New Hope meet-
ing, in Green County, was much troubled concerning
the situation of the members of his little church.
He fully realized the danger they were in, and was
desirous of finding some way to relieve them. While
walking in his orcbard one day, wondering what could
be done, and praying for wisdom and guidance, he
SOUTHERN HEROES. 305
discovered in the bushes an opening in the ground
amid the rocks. Upon investigation, he found it to
be the entrance to a cave, the existence of which
neither he nor any of his people had ever known.
Vines so covered its entrance and a tree had fallen
before it in such a way as to completely hide it from
the view of a passer-by. The passage was so low and
narrow that one could only creep along it, and it ab-
ruptly opened into a large cave, the floor of which
was slightly lower than the passage. In one corner
was a spring of excellent water, and quite surprising
was the fact that the air was remarkably dry and
pure for such a place.
Our friend at once began preparations to make the
cave a place of abode. It served also as a hiding-
place for provisions, which would otherwise have
been taken by the soldiers. There were fourteen
Friends in this neighboi-hood, any one of whom was
liable to be shot if found by the men who were search-
ing for them. Soon all of these were hidden in
" Providence Cave." One of them said : " I do be-
lieve it was the Lord who guided John Beals to it
just when it was needed." Hence the name.
In a recess of the cave the men built rough bed-
steads, and bedding was furnished by the good house-
wives. When able to work, the men made shoes and
did many other such things as could be done under
the trying circumstances. When it was too cold to
work, they betook themselves to bed.
John Beals and the women watched constantly for
the approach of strangers, and every precaution was
306 SOUTHERN HEROES.
taken to keep the hiding-j)lace a secret. Those who
were hidden never ventured out without approving
messages from their faithful guardians. Whenever
strangers or soldiers approached, John Beals was
usually found hewing a gate-post from the tree which
had fallen near the cave. He would leave his work
and come to greet the strangers, who could easily see
the nature of his occupation from the fallen tree and
the chips he had made. The noise made by the little
hewing he had done served to inform the hunted men
of the approach of the strangers. It took friend
Beals many months to hew out those gate-posts, but
he was getting along in years, was too old for con-
scription into the army, and he was not in urgent need
of the gate-posts.
For nearly a year these men lived in this way. At
last, becoming wearied of voluntary imprisonment and
such a confined life, they determined to make an effort
to escape by crossing the woods, hills and streams
between them and the free West. When an oppor-
tunity occurred, they accordingly left their home in
the cave and the friends who had ministered to their
needs so long, and at great risk attempted to leave
the land where they coidd not breathe the air of free-
dom. Some of this company passed the picket lines
and reached Iowa in safety. Others were not so suc-
cessful, but were captured after reaching Kentucky
and sent to the front, where they suffered much per-
secution and trial before their liberty was secured,
A boy of nineteen years, the son of a widowed
mother, whose father had been conscripted and had
SOUTHERN HEROES. 307
died in prison from starvation and cruelty, determined
that lie would not aid in the war. He had been re-
ceived into membership with the Friends after the
exemption law was passed.
There was a heavy growth of forest near his home,
into which he entered and began secretly to dig for
himself an under-ground home. The earth he re-
moved was carefully carried to a pond near by, where
it was hidden from sight by the friendly waters. The
entrance to his proposed home he covered with planks,
and over these he spread earth and leaves, and thus
nicely arranged a mode of entrance and egress. Here
he took up his abode and quietly remained through
the day. At night he came out for exercise and to
get from a place agreed upon the food supplied by
his mother. For eight long months this was his
home.
The widow had been left with thirteen children,
the youngest a year and a half old. This eldest son
was the only one really able to do farm work, yet he
was obliged to hide away and leave the girls to plough
and do all the field work. Of the scanty crops which
they succeeded in raising, the tithing-men took one-
tenth for the support of the cause which had cost the
family the life of the father and husband.
Of these twenty Friends who were liable to con-
scription, five paid the tax, fourteen were at one time
hidden in the cave discovered by John Beals, and the
other one in the cave of his own making ; so that the
Confederate government got no soldiers from the
ranks of this little peace-army. Not a Friend was
308 SOUTHERN HEROES.
found in Tennessee who sympathized with slavery or
secession.
Providence Cave was not the only one in which
men who would not answer the call to war were
secreted. About one hundred and fifty miles east
of Chatham is the beautiful valley of East Tennessee,
in Blount County. In this valley is the village of
Friendsville, twenty-one miles southwest of Knox-
ville, and here is a Friends' meeting of the same
name. At this place the celebrated philanthropist,
William Forster of England, died January 27, 1854.
He had been engaged for some time in the South as
a minister, visiting the slaveholders and pleading with
them in the name of his Master for the slaves, as
well as holding meetings and preaching the gospel of
peace to white and colored, as opportunity offered.
In the well-kept graveyard here, surrounded by a
neat iron fence, erected by his son, William Edward
Forster, a member of Parliament, who visited the
spot since the war, is the grave of William Forster.
At the time of which we write, William J. Hackney
was one of the leading Friends of Friendsville. He
was a Friend not only in his church relations, but to
humanity and to the United States. He did not be-
lieve in secession ; neither did he believe that men,
whether Friends or not, should be forced into the
army to fight against their will and for a cause which
they disapproved. As he was too old to be a con-
script, he freely moved about among men, though he
was fully aware that freedom of speech was not at
all times as wise as was taking observations without
, comment.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 309
Near where he dwelt, and just across the creek from
the meeting-house, is a large cave, the existence of
which few then knew. Into this cave William J.
Hackney cari-ied provisions and bedding, and made
necessary preparations to secrete men for days or
months as might become needfid.
The entrance of the cave was by the side of a road
not very much traveled, among boulders and sur-
rounded by a thicket, and it was so small that a passer-
by would not notice it. A man could barely crawl
into it, and a tree had been felled or blown down so
that the branches covered the spot and hid it entirely
from view. This cave would comfortably accommo-
date fifty men at one time, and that number were soon
hidden in it. The echo of their footsteps could be
heard to its remotest depths, and the smallest sound
produced a startling effect within the cave. When-
ever a light was made, the glistening stalactites pro-
duced a picture of marvelous beauty.
William Hackney's wife was in full sympathy with
her husband in his loyalty to the Union and in the
work which he proposed to do for the relief of those
who did not wish to enter the army. She assisted
him by cooking and otherwise jjroviding for the wants
of those who came to them in need. He did not at
first intend to extend his care beyond his brethren in
the church, but others sought his assistance and pressed
their need upon him, so that he soon found the work
to require much of his time. He became so interested
in its prosecution that upon one pretext or another he
visited the soldiers when camped near, and in some
310 SOUTHERN HEROES.
way be would learn who among them were anxious to
escape from the Southern army. To these he would
give directions, and soon they were secreted with
others in " Cudjo's Cave."
When the provisions grown upon friend Hackney's
farm were exhausted, the family bought more, and
actually impoverished themselves by feeding the hun-
gry, clothing the naked and caring for the stranger,
very few of whom were able to recompense them in
any way. William Hackney did not require that a
man should be of his opinion in all things in order to
receive any assistance in his power to give. If a man
was in need of help to get away from the South, and
was able to satisfy William that he was not in sym-
pathy with the Confederacy and wished to quit her
borders, William considered it his duty and privilege
to do what he could to aid the man on his way. When
a company had been gathered and there seemed no
obstruction, on a favorable night he would lead his
willing prisoners out of their prison, get some of them
on his own beasts and silently take up the line of
march westward. He acted as conductor to the next
station on the Underground Railroad, where he con-
signed them to the care of some friend, " tried and
true." Here they rested in the woods, a barn, or an
outhouse during the day, and at night were conducted
farther on their way. William Hackney would then
return to his home, again fill his cave and feed the
hungry refugees.
He was under suspicion, and the Confederate offi-
cers as well as his neighbors believed that he was in
SOUTHERN HEROES. 311
some way working against them, but just Low and
to what extent they were unable to find out ; nor did
they see the way to complain against him, for he had
always been a peaceable and industrious farmer.
Some suspected a secret hiding-place, but could not
find it, although in their search they sometimes came
so near the cave that the men inside heard their mut-
tered oaths as they talked at the very entrance, and
with feelings of relief listened to the sound of their
horses' feet as they rode away over the stones.
On several occasions William Hackney came near
being discovered during his work, but native shrewd-
ness and a kind Providence favored him throughout
the war, so that more than two thousand people were
received in that cave and helped on their way. Many
of them entered at once into the Northern army.
William did not consider this any of his affair. The
men came to him as strangers, and he took them in
and fed them as his Master bade him do.
When the Northern troops entered East Tennessee,
and the faithfid service rendered by William Hackney
in various ways was reported to General Burnside, he
sent for him and wished in some way to recompense
him for his services, for besides assisting the refugees
he had given valuable information to the Northern
officers. But our friend was not working for money,
and he declined all offers of reward. In his eager-
ness to do something for him. General Burnside offered
him a position as one of his staff-officers, and pressed
him to accept ; but being a Friend, William did not
aspire to military honors. He had a comfortable
312 SOUTHERN HEROES.
home and some land left, and by tilling the soil he
coidd manage to live and support his family. He
did, however, spend considerable time in camp at
Knoxville, Tenn., the army-headquarters, as the guest
of General Burnside, and while there he furnished Mr.
J. T. Trowbridge with the material from which he
wrote the interesting book, " Cudjo's Cave," connect-
ing in his story the two caves here mentioned, which
are really one hundred miles apart.
When the troublesome times were over, our friend
took up the old-time work of ploughing and sowing
his fields. He was obliged to live simply, but his
tastes and habits of life were not such as to demand
large expenditures. He and his true helpmeet lacked
no good thing, and have since gone down to their
graves in a good old age, loved by all who knew them.
This part of Tennessee was for many months the
scene of almost continual fighting. The armies drove
each other back and forth across the country, in which
had stood the peaceful homes of prosperous farmers.
The fences were entirely destroyed; every rail was
burned. There was scarcely a house that was not
searched by soldiers of one or both armies, and nearly
everything was carried away or destroyed. Pro-
visions especially were required, and the soldiers
seemed not to think of or care for the wants of the
citizens, many of whom were left destitute of food for
themselves and helpless little ones.
It was " legal " to confiscate the property of men
who had left their homes on account of Union senti-
ments. Suspected persons were sometimes compelled
SOUTHERN HEROES. 313
to leave their homes to save their lives, and occasion
was thus afforded for the confiscation of property,
either for the government or for personal advantage.
One William Morgan, a Friend minister of this region,
was in danger of his life, and was obliged to make his
way on the Underground Railroad to the West. His
property at New Market was immediately confiscated
and sold at auction for $14,365 in gold.
The man to whom William Morgan had entrusted
the keeping of his household goods, and who had
promised to send them to him as soon as he could, was
the auctioneer. The daughter Catherine's personal
effects were included in this sale, and no returns were
ever made of the property or proceeds to the owners,
except the Family Bible and the walking-stick of Wil-
liam Morgan, purchased by kind neighbors and sent
West.
One day T. Riley Lee of Friendsville, a nephew of
William Hackney, was with other men passing the
house of a Friend, when the woman of the family
called them. They went in and found her in great
distress. A squad of cavalry had just been searching
for her husband, and not finding him, had shot her
only cow, a fine animal then lying dead in the yard.
The soldiers had broken up her furniture, clock and
crockery, destroyed the cooking utensils, opened the
beds and scattered the straw and feathers all around.
The poor woman was in great trouble. As they talked
with her a horseman appeared, evidently looking for
something. He rode immediately up to T. Riley Lee
and drawing his revolver told him he was a d — d
314 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Quaker and they intended to clean them all out. Riley
told him he had not harmed him or any one else and
he would go with him to any Confederate neighbor
and let him decide ; but the soldier said he had no
time to lose and would finish his work then and there.
Just then one of Riley's companions called out that
he had found a riding-glove. This attracted the atten-
tion of the man, and he at once claimed it. The
woman then charged him with shooting her cow, and
Riley thought it time for him to move away, which
he did. The woman pressed her charge, but the man
hurriedly rode after his companions.
There were many scenes like this. Human life and
the rights of property were very little respected by
many who went about the country with absolutely
no law to govern them save that of the might of a
superior armed force.
Lost Creek meeting was a few miles from Frlends-
ville, but had been much reduced by emigration to
the West, so that only five men subject to military
requirements could be found there. These paid the
tax and were exempted. When the soldiers came to
the neighborhood for men, they were angered and dis-
appointed. They went to the little church-building
of the Friends, destroyed the library, broke up the
seats and the floor and made the house wholly un-
suitable for use. So few of the members were left
that they were unable to repair it, and the meeting
was discontinued until the war was over.
From the few remaining Friends the soldiers took
much money and property. They compelled the
SOUTHERN HEROES. 315
women to cook for tliem. Oftimes from early morn-
ing until night they had to cook for the hungry sol-
diers their own poultry, pigs and cattle, which the
soldiers killed. Thousands were thus fed, and $3000
in gold, -S15,000 worth of provisions, 63 horses, 17
cattle, 21 sheep and 33 hogs were taken from this
little company of defenseless citizens, without recom-
pense. "While we had any to spare," said one of
the Friends, " we were willing to share it, for we re-
membered that it is written, ' if thine enemy hunger,
feed him,' but it was hard when they tried to take
everything from us."
The little church at Friendsville lost by confisca-
tion $165,000 in gold value ; 76 out of the 96 horses
they had owned were taken, besides 2853 bushels of
corn, 1586 of oats, etc., etc.
After the war, numbers of Friends who had left
returned to their homes in the South, and beaan the
work of restoring the fences and buildings and re-
stocking their plantations. Many who had despised
and persecuted them learned to love them and joined
in church-fellowship with them. A good new meet-
ing-house was built at Lost Creek and the meeting
has since been maintained. East Tennessee has
learned more of the principles of peace, and many of
her citizens have joined this army.
CHAPTER XVI.
" Nay, I do not need thy sword,
Comrade mine," said Ury's lord ;
" Put it up, I pray thee ;
Passive to his holy will,
Trust I in my Master still.
Even though he slay me."
Whittier.
Living near Columbia, Teim., was one Tilghman
Ross Vestal, who had been educated by Friends and
had accepted their principles concerning the peace-
able reign of the Lord Jesus. Southern rulers were
anxious to swell the number of men who were
required to " drive the invading Yankees from
Southern soil " and establish the Confederate States
as an independent government.
Tilghman Vestal had no sympathy with this move-
ment, and was unwilling either to shed blood or to aid
in having it done. But as he was of legal age he
must meet the requirements of the law or suffer its
penalties. He was conscripted and sent first to Gen-
eral Bragg's army, but as he could not be made to
fight, he was sent home again. A second time he was
conscripted and sent to the conscript camp at Knox-
ville, Tenn. From thence he was ordered to Orange
Court House, Va., and assigned to the 14th Ten-
nessee regiment, Company I.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 317
Among his relatives were prominent Friends in
North Carolina, who were interested for him and en-
listed John B. Crenshaw's influence on his behalf ; so
that every effort was made to obtain his release with-
out the payment of the 1500 tax, which he was im-
willing to pay or to have paid for him. A letter was
written by Nereus Mendenhall to C. S. Venable in
behalf of Tilghman Vestal, who was the nephew of the
former, and in response C. S. Venable wrote :
Headquarters of the Army, Virginia,
September 24th, 18G3.
Nereus Mendenhall, New Garden, Guilford
County, N. C. :
Your letter of September 15, in behalf of your
nephew, Tilghman Vestal, a private in the 14th Ten-
nessee regiment, has been received. The general
commanding has caused an investigation in his case
to be made by the proper officer. This officer reports
that on his refusal to do any duty whatever or to make
arrangements to pay the fine imjjosed under the law
for a discharge, compulsory means were used on the
occasion referred to in your letter, and he was pricked
with bayonets, but not to an extent to unfit him for
duty. This proceeding was probably irregular, and as
such not approved by the commanding general. But
he knows but one proper mode of proceeding under the
law, and that is to bring private Vestal before a court-
martial for conduct prejudicial to good order and
military discipline, in refusing to do duty as a soldier.
The law makes but one distinction in the case of
318 SOUTHERN HEROES.
the Friends, wliicli allows tliem all to escape military
service by the payment of the fine imposed. This not
being comjilied with by Tilghman Vestal, and he being
sent by the authorities as a soldier to the army, the
general commanding is compelled to act in this case
as he would in that of any other delinquent soldier.
I am, very respectfully.
Your obedient servant,
C. S. Venable, Major and Acting Colonel.
A letter from T. R. Vestal to J. B. Crenshaw,
dated Orange Court House, 16th of Eleventh month,
'63, says : " I have been ordered to do duty again, but
have refused. Charges were then preferred against
me, and I have been court-martialed. I sujjpose some-
thing definite will be done now. I have not heard
what it is to be, neither do I have any idea. When I
was court-martialed, I had three men by whom my
character was attested, or at least that part of it that
the men have seen since I have been in the regiment.
They also stated that I had been punished, etc. My
papers from the West came with a letter from Gen-
eral Maney or his adjutant, stating that I had been
assigned to a regiment in that brigade, that he had
become satisfied that I ought to be discharged, and
had written to the Secretary of War about me, but did
not receive any answer, and that I had been sent from
that place to the conscript camp at Knoxville. These
papers were filed with the charges.
Affectionately,
T. R. Vestal.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 319
At Orange Court House, before the above court-
martial, he was sentenced to be punished until he
would bear arms. The officer began promptly to use
severe means, but Tilghman calmly told him that he
was a Christian and could not fight. The officer
knocked him down repeatedly and otherwise abused
him, but as he utterly failed to induce Vestal to obey
orders, he gave up and turned him over to his second
officer, telling him perhaps he could make him fight.
After unsuccessful attempts to overcome Vestal by
knocking him down, the second officer pierced him
with a bayonet, and threatened to run him through if
he would not take a gun. He ran the murderous steel
into Vestal's side, and then stopped to ask if he would
consent to serve as a soldier. Meetins' with a calm
but positive refusal, he continued to wound him in
other places. Seventeen times the resolute soldiers
of the army pierced the unresisting soldier of Jesus
Christ, and each time they met with a refusal to ac-
cede to their demands. Some of the wounds were
deep, but the heroic sufferer was the victor.
Finding it impossible to make a soldier of him, they
sent Vestal to Richmond, Va., where he was placed in
Castle Thunder. Little attention was at first paid
to his suffering condition, but some of the prisoners,
having learned of his sad state and the cause of it,
were touched with sympathy for him, and did what
their limited means would allow for his relief. They
sent petitions one after another to the authorities im-
ploring clemency in his case. But the relief of unfor-
tunate and sviffering prisoners seemed to be no part
320 SOUTHERN HEROES.
of the business of the keepers of Southern military-
prisons, and they paid no heed to these petitions. In-
stead, they decided to be rid of Vestal by sending him
farther south to Salisbury prison in North Carolina,
where the prospect was that he would be speedily re-
lieved from his suffering by death.
Tilghman Vestal, with the marks of eighteen
wounds upon him, weakened and suffering by a wea-
risome journey, was introduced into Salisbury prison.
As he was naturally a tidy person, the filthiness of
the place was shocking to him. No opportunity
to preserve cleanliness was allowed to the prisoners,
and the more filthy and covered with vermin a pris-
oner became, the sooner could he be taken away to
help fill the long trenches dug one after another on
the hillside.
On one occasion, as Vestal was endeavoring to re-
move the vermin from his person, which, as we have
learned, it would be impossible to prevent from crawl-
ing upon him, the inhuman keeper of the prison dis-
covered him thus employed, and with fearful oaths
began to abuse him. Growing angry as he talked,
the officer beat Vestal over the head until the blood
ran down his shoulders upon his already wounded and
sore body.
After having been confined for six weeks in this
terrible place, T. R, Vestal was liberated through the
instrumentality of Friends, whose strenuous efforts
had hitherto been unsuccessful, and he was placed in
the Friends' school at New Garden, N. C.
An account of T. R. Vestal's experiences was given
SOUTHERN HEROES. 321
in the " Banner " of Nashville, Tenn., and copied in
the " Informer " of Elgin, 111., for May, 1876. It
throws some further light upon his case, and may be
of interest, coming as it does from a Southern officer,
who was an acquaintance and an eye-witness of at
least a part of his experiences. The article is headed
" Vestal's Grit ; the Tennessee Quaker who refused
to fight in the late war."
" The following account of a young Quaker who
could not be induced to fight in the late war, although
he was conscripted, is from the pen of a prominent
citizen of Tennessee. It is a faithful narration of
one of the most interesting and curious events of the
war. I have just read in the Nashville ' Banner,' of
the 16th inst., a fragment of Governor Foote's remi-
niscences, headed, ' How a Quaker refused to fight.'
As I am familiar with the facts and circumstances
alluded to, and as the case greatly interested me at
the time, I have thought it might be of some interest
to your readers to go into details more than is done
in Governor Foote's brief allusion to the case.
"The young Quaker alluded to is Tilghman R.
Vestal, who lived near Columbia, Tenn. When Gen-
eral Bragg's army was at Shelbyville, Tenn., young
Vestal was conscripted and sent to that place. He
was assigned to duty in the Fourth Tennessee regi-
ment, commanded by Colonel Murray of Nashville.
He reported to the regiment as required to do, but
utterly refused to perform military duty of any charac-
ter or description. Neither by threats nor persuasions
could he be induced to alter his determination. The
322 SOrTHEliX HKIiOKS.
oflioers of the logiiuont woro as humano as tliov wore
true and gallant, and aftoi- evovv etVovt had failed to
iudueo Vestal to perform the duties of a soldier, they
gave the matter up in despair and told him to leave
and go home, whieh he did. But shortly thereafter
another eonseript otHeer eanie along, and ^'estal was
ag"ain duly enrolled as a eoiiseri])t, and ordered to
report at Bragg's headquarters. All alone and on
foot Vestal went to C^'hattanooga and reported. By
a most singular eoiueidenee he was ag-ain assigned to
the Fourth Tennessee regiment. Colonel Murray
knew from his Shelbyville experienee that he had a
tough eustomer to deal with, lie eoneluded to try
the power of moral suasion, so one day he sent for
Vestal to eome to his ipiarters, and undertook to eon-
vince him from the iSeriptures that he was wholly
wrong in his ideas and position. But the young
Quaker was rather too mueh for the gallant eolonel
in the Serii>ture argument, and the eolonel sent for
his ehajdain to talk to him and eonvinee him that he
was altogether wrong in his refusal to tight or per-
form military duty. The ehaplain eame and opened
the argument after this wise : • 1 would n't i^ive a eeut
for a religion that is opposed to my eountry.' Said
Vestal : ' 1 would n't give a eent for a eountry that is
opposed to my religion.' The argument lastetl for
some time, but left the young Quaker uneonviueed
and determined to do no military duty of any kind.
" lie refused to poliee the eamp or to do the least
tiling that eould be tortured or eoustrned into military
duty. At last Colonel Murrav, wliollv unable to do
SOUTHERN HEROES. 323
anything with Vestal, sent him to brigade headquar-
ters. Here he was reasoned with, and every effort
was made to induce him to go and perform the duties
of a soklier, but he was firm and as inflexible as the
everlasting hills. He was told that if he persisted in
his course he would be subjected to severe punish-
ment, and would finally be shot for disobedience to
orders. He replied that they had power to kill him,
but neither the Federal nor the Confederate army
possessed tlie power to force him to abandon his prin-
ciples or prove false to his religion.
" Everything that coidd be construed either directly
or indirectly into military duty he refused most em-
phatically to engage in. He was only about eighteen
years old. I soon became satisfied that he acted from
principle, and would go to the stake or meet death in
any shape it could assume, rather than swerve one
particle from what he conceived to be his duty. It
was the sublimest exhibition of moral courage I had
ever witnessed, and it was all the more remarkable
from being found in a boy of only eighteen, away from
his family and friends.
" I asked him one day if he had no sympathy with
the contest ; if he had no preference as to which side
should be successful. ' Oh, yes,' he said, ' I would
prefer to see the South victorious, as I live in the
South and among Southern people.'
" I heard a gentleman say to him : ' Vestal, did you
ever exhibit any emotion in your life ? Did you ever
cry in your life ? ' ' Oh, yes,' he said, ' I have cried
in my life.' ' Well,' said the gentlemen, ' I would
324 SOUTHERN HEROES.
like to know what were the circumstances that caused
you to cry.' ' Well, sir,' he said, ' when I left home
to come here my mother cried when she told me good-
by, and I cried then.' ' Yes,' said the gentleman,
' and if your mother were here now and could see how
you are situated, she would tell you to take your gun
and go out and do your duty as a soldier.' ' No, sir,'
he quickly replied, ' the last thing my mother said
to me was to be true to my religion, and I mean to
do it.'
" It was during his stay at Colonel Murray's head-
quarters that Vestal had his interview with Governor
Foote. Governor Foote was at that time a member
of the Confederate Congress, representing the Nash-
ville district, and was a candidate for reelection. The
soldiers from Tennessee in the army were allowed
to vote, and he was out electioneering among the
soldiers. While at Colonel Murray's headquarters
some one pointed out Vestal to Mr. Foote, or intro-
duced Vestal to him as a Quaker who would not fight,
when the following conversation took place between
them:
" Foote : ' What ! young man, won't you fight ?
You are a stout, good-looking young man. Is it true
that you refuse to fight ? ' Vestal : ' Yes, sir.' Foote :
' Why ! you are all wrong about that. Suppose you
were to marry a beautiful and accomplished young
lady, and some ruffian were to come into your house
and grossly insult her. Wouldn't you kill him?'
Vestal : ' No, sir.' Foote, jumping from his seat in
a very excited manner : ' Why ! I 'd kill him in a
SOUTHERN HEROES. 325
minute.' He then resumed his seat, and after survey-
ing him a few minutes again commenced the conver-
sation. Foote: 'Young man, you are all wrong
about this matter, even from a Scriptural standpoint.
When Christ was upon the earth he directed his dis-
ciples to pay tribute to Caesar. The money thus paid
went into the Roman treasury and was used to carry
on the wars of the Roman people.' Vestal: 'No,
sir, you are mistaken about that. The temple of
Janus was closed at that time, and there were no wars
going on.' Foote : ' I believe he knows more about
that than I do. I don't know whether the temple of
Janus was closed then or not.'
" Such was substantially the interview between this
remarkable boy and this remarkable man. Perhaps
two more opposite characters, in many particulars,
never came into contact.
" Vestal was ordered to Knoxville, and from there
he found his way to the Virginia army, and was as-
signed to one of the Tennessee regiments. Here he
was ordered to military duty, but firmly refused as
he had done before. The brigadier in command,
knowing his history, or incidents of it, ordered him
to be bayonetted for disobedience to orders, and the
bayonet was applied to him repeatedly. He bore it
with the spirit of a martyr, and the soldiers, seeing
that he would willingly die in preference to sacrificing
his principles, refused to punish him further. No
punishments or threats could shake the settled pur-
pose of his soul for a moment. He was under arrest
all the while. Frequently on retreats his guard would
326 SOUTHERN HEROES.
lose sight of liim, but in a day or two Vestal would
march up alone into camp.
" He was afterwards detained in Castle Thunder
for awhile, at Richmond, but was finally permitted by
the Secretary of War to go down to North Carolina to
school, and was there when the war closed."
The writer of the above, Brigadier-General Maney,
of Nashville, Tenn., was doubtless unacquainted with
the imprisonment of our friend at Salisbury. Through
all his trying experiences he maintained his allegiance
to Christ and his principles of peace on earth and
good-will to men. Soon after the war closed. Vestal
took up his abode in Fall River, Mass., where he still
lives in the enjoyment of his family and his religion.
CHAPTER XVII.
Fierce may be the conflict,
Strong may be the foe,
But the King's own army
None can overthrow.
Round His standard ranging.
Victory is secure,
For His truth imchanging
Makes the triumph sure.
Whittier.
Virginia was first settled by the English, May 13,
1607. Under the preaching of an English woman,
Elizabeth Harris, in 1656, the first Friends' meetings
were established. Friends were no more welcome
here than among their brother Englishmen in Mas-
sachusetts. The current extravagant stories concern-
ing them were believed, and they were evidently
thought to be a very dangerous class of people. In
1660, Virginia enacted the following law concerning
them : " Whereas, there is an unreasonable and tur-
bulent sort of people commonly called Quakers, who,
contrary to law, daily gather unto themselves unlaw-
ful assemblies and congregations of the people. . . .
It is enacted that no master or commander of a ship
or other vessel do bring into this colony any person
or persons called Quakers, under the penalty of one
hundred pounds sterling, to be levied upon him and
328 SOUTHERN HEROES.
his estates by order of the governor and council or
the commissions in the several comities where such
ships shall arrive ; that all such Quakers as have been
questioned, or shall hereafter arrive, shall be appre-
hended wherever they shall be found, and they be
imprisoned, without bail or mainprise, till they do ab-
jure this country, or put in security with all speed to
depart this colony and not return again. And if any
should dare to presume to return hither after such
departure, to be proceeded against as contemners of
the laws and magistracy, and punished accordingly
and caused again to depart the comitry, and if they
should the third time be so audacious and impudent,
they are to be proceeded against as follows : That no
person shall entertain any of the Quakers who have
heretofore been questioned by the governor and coun-
cil, or which shall hereafter be questioned, nor permit
in or near his house any assembly of the Quakers,
under penalty of one hundred pounds sterling ; that
commissioners and officers are hereby required and
authorized, as they will answer the contrary at their
peril, to take notice of this act, to see it fully effected
and executed, and that no person do presume on
their peril to dispose of or publish their books, pam-
phlets, or libels bearing the title of their tenets and
opinions."
But neither the laws of Virginia nor the hangings
in Massachusetts could prevent a Quaker English-
man from coming to this country when he believed
it was the will of the Lord tliat he should do so.
The enemies of the Friends were many, but by
SOUTHERN HEROES. 329
patient suffering and perseverance they conquered
these unrighteous laws, and their principles, having
become better understood, have in a good degree been
adopted by many of their opposers. The churches
are generally accepting, to a greater or less extent,
the spiritual teachings of this once-despised peoj^le.
The sect itself is no longer despised by any, but
is respected and accorded an honorable position
among her sister churches, and is still endeavoring to
do her little part in spreading abroad the truth of
God. The present similarity of Friends to other
churches is not so much on account of their depar-
ture from their "ancient principles" as because
others have embraced these.
In the early settlement of Virginia, Friends as well
as others took up large tracts of land, and many of
them settled near where Richmond, Winchester and
Norfolk now are. Tradition tells us of one who took
up 40,000 acres of land, another 4000. We hear of
one Pleasants, who owned many slaves, and was de-
termined to have one thousand. At one time he held
nine hundred and ninety-nine, but he failed to reach
the full thousand before the Friends of Virginia de-
cided that it was unrighteous to hold their fellow-men
in bondage. By this decision he was very much an-
noyed. A committee went to visit him on account of
his slave-owning, but he would not leave his field to
meet them, so they waited patiently until he came
to dinner. He then had their horses put in the
stable and invited them to dine with him with true
Friendly hospitality. But when dinner was over, he
330 SOUTHERN HEROES.
wished to hasten back to the field with his sable farm
hands. The committee finally induced him to tarry
for a season of waiting before the Lord. For some time
they sat in silence, and then arose, saying if he would
have their horses brought they would now proceed
on their way. They departed without once mention-
ing the object of their visit ; but he knew for what
they came and was obliged to think about it. When
upon his bed that night he said he dreamed that he
died and was about to pass through the gateway of
heaven, when a little darkey lad closed the gate, and
he was not allowed to enter. He said he did not
intend to be kept out of heaven by the darkeys, so
the next morning he summoned the blacks and told
them they were all free from that day. He arranged
for those who wished to remain with him to work for
waoes, and said that with about half the number of
servants his business was more profitable than before.
By the year 1817, all Friends in Virginia had freed
their slaves. As in North Carolina, so in Virginia,
the principles of Friends, for some time before the
late Civil War, were so at variance with the prevail-
insf sentiment around them that most of them moved
West, so that at the time the war began, there were
in the State only a few small remnants of meetings
that met to worship God after the manner of Friends.
One of these small meetings was in the vicinity of
Winchester, which city has been made famous as the
centre of important military operations during the
Revolution as weU as during the Civil War.
Winchester is seventy-four miles from Washington,
SOUTHERN HEROES. 331
D. C. Here General Washington for a long time
made his headquarters, and here, through Governor
Dinwiddie's orders, he procured horses for his journey-
to Ohio, in the French and Indian war. Here s-ov-
erument stores in large quantities were deposited for
the then frontier settlements. To Winchester Wash-
ington then retreated after the disastrous defeat of
Braddock, in 1745 ; and there in 1758 he built a fort,
the remains of which are still apparent. The inhabi-
tants still point to the place where his residence stood,
and to the well which his soldiers sank through a
hundred and three feet of solid rock. It is now
filled with excellent water, and the present inhabi-
tants draw freely from it. It may have been at Win-
chester that George Washington said, in relation to
exempting Friends from the army : "Let them alone,
for you cannot induce them to fight for or against
us. They are a harmless, peaceable and industrious
people, who will produce bread and meat, and if they
will not sell it to us we can take it if we need it. We
need bread and meat as much as we need soldiers."
It was to Winchester that Philadelphia Friends, who
were suspected of being royalists, were exiled during
the Revolution, and here some of them died and were
buried. Congress finally acknowledged its error, but
never made good the great loss to Friends. It was at
Winchester that General Morgan, of Revolutionary
fame, lived during his last days. Although he was
called the " Thunderbolt of War," he said that men's
opinions of him were erroneous. He was generally
spoken of as " the brave Morgan who never knew
332 SOUTHERN HEROES.
fear," but when the pride of youth and the so-called
glory of war had faded from his mind, he said :
" People think that Daniel Morgan never prayed.
People say that old Morgan never was afraid.
People do not know that old Morgan was often
miserably afraid." He then proceeds to tell of times
of fear when he retired behind gun carriages and in
thickets before battle and prayed. If " the brave
Morgan " was afraid in times of battle, must we not
believe that it is pride, and a false pride, which
prompts men often to say that on entering battle
and engaging in such a terrible conflict they know
no fear ? Thomas Hinshaw tells us that at Gettys-
burg he watched the faces of men closely as they
came out of battle, and on them could be plainly
seen the marks of fear, and the paleness of every
face evinced the terrible strain of anxiety through
which they had passed. It is not dishonorable in a
soldier to confess : " I was afraid." A certain vet-
eran major once said, with emphasis : " When a
soldier tells you that he was never scared in battle,
you make up your mind that he is taking liberties
with the truth or else he was never under fire."
Winchester is said to have been taken and retaken
by the contending forces, during the Civil War,
seventy-six times, twelve of which were in one day.
It is stated by the citizens that all the men in the city
between the ages of sixteen and sixty joined with
the Confederate army in what they believed to be the
needful work of defending their homes. Old men,
women and children were frequently obliged to take
SOUTHERN HEROES. 333
refuge in their homes and cellars from the storm of
shot and shell, and many of these were the innocent
victims of the deadly missiles.
Around this famous little city and within its bor-
ders were the homes of jjeace-loving- Quakers. They
were well known as such, and many were the aro-u-
ments held with them upon the subject of the consis-
tency of war with Christianity.
Two weeks before the ordinances of secession were
passed, Robert Griffith, in conversation with one Hal-
liday, a Virginia gentleman, who afterwards became
governor, was told by him : " We will make Virginia
the Lowell of America, crown cotton king, and re-
vive the slave-trade." To this our friend replied:
" If you will use the money you purpose spending in
this Work in building up our commerce and manu-
facturing interests it will be creditable to you, but so
surely as you persist in your evil designs to destroy
this Union, so surely will it become a desolation and
a wilderness ; King Cotton will be dethroned, and
your idol, slavery, will fall. With secession comes
emancipation." To this Halliday replied : " You
cannot say these things two weeks hence."
Just after this Aaron Griffith, Robert's brother,
wrote a letter to his wife, who was visiting relatives in
the West. The post-office was taken possession of
and the letter seized. In it was found the statement :
" We are getting on very well but for the hangers-on,
who annoy us very much, and there seems no security
against them." Some tried to sell this letter back
to him, saying it would be used against him as
334 SOUTHERN HEROES.
expressing treasonable sentiments. He was finally
arrested on this charge, and gave a lawyer $50
to secure his release. The lawyer kept the money
but failed to make good his promise, and Aaron was
sent to jail. He was finally liberated by the inter-
ference of a personal friend, an officer in the gov-
ernment, whom he had in time past befriended.
While he was in prison his horses, harness and much
property were taken and confiscated to government
or personal use. His mill was robbed of over |20,000
worth of cloth, and the machinery was taken away
and placed in the mill of a neighbor, who still retains
it, but has not prospered in its use.
Friends in this vicinity were generally known as
Union men, and were the especial objects of attention
by bands of marauders, who went about seizing what-
ever they could to further their own interests, or the
interests of the Confederacy. Aaron Gi'iffith finally
barred his doors to prevent them from entering his
house at will. One night as the family was gathered
in the sitting-room, after a chapter in the Bible had
been read, and followed by a season of devotion, as
was their custom, a rap was heard at the door, and the
plain language of a Friend requesting admission. But
the jieculiar form of expression was defective, and the
suspicions of our friends were aroused that the visitors
were impostors. Aaron Griffith parleyed with them a
little, and after becoming satisfied that his convictions
were correct, declined to open the door. They then
tried to open it themselves, but without avail. They
did not maintain the patience of Friends, and in the
S-OUTHERN HEROES. 335
heat of their anger used many expressions not com-
monly used by pious people. After a time they began
to shoot through the doors and windows into the room
where our good people sat " under the shadow of the
Almighty." They finally made their departure with
threats and loud curses that accorded poorly with the
language with which they had first made their presence
known.
On a hill overlooking the broad and fertile valley
of the Shenandoah is a large old-fashioned meeting-
house built upon a ten-acre lot which was deeded to
Friends in 1728, at which time a small log-house was
built upon it. But in 1750 this gave place to a larger
and more pretentious building. Since the completion
of the latter, twice each week with the exception to
which we shall refer, it has afforded a meeting-place
for the Friends to worship God. They have been the
leading people of that neighborhood, but the pressure
of outside influences and internal disturbances have
tended to reduce the membership until now only a few
meet in the old meeting-house.
During the civil strife the army of each govern-
ment was anxious to possess the fertile Shenandoah
valley. From its rich soil came much of the support
of the Southern army, and the Northern men were
anxious to deprive them of its supplies. Hence the
terrible struggle around Winchester as a centre and
the possession of the Friends' meeting-house by sol-
diers for some time, so that the Friends had to meet
for worship in the private houses of some of their
members.
336 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Perhaps the last assembly held before the breaking
of this long chain of meetings was a quarterly meet-
ing held in the 6th month, 1863, for Friends of Balti-
more and of the country around Winchester. It was
a large gathering and the house was filled with people.
Francis T. King, Thomas R. Mathews and John Scott
of Baltimore were present. They knew of the close
proximity of the armies, but on leaving home they did
not anticipate a conflict between them so soon. Shortly
after the meeting became settled, and while John
Scott, the veteran soldier of the cross, was preaching
with unusual power the Gospel of Peace, the noise of
battle was heard without, sometimes so loud as to
almost drown the voice of the preacher. The terrible
shock caused by the discharge of cannon shook to its
very foundations the stone structure in which they sat.
But the gosjiel message flowed on without interruption
and the congregation remained quiet until the end.
Francis T. King said it was one of the best and most
solemn meetings he ever attended, and " the ministry
of our friend John Scott was in harmony with our
feelings."
When the meeting was over our friends were anxious
to return to Baltimore, but they were on the Southern
side of the army lines, and between them and " My
Maryland " was an impassible barrier. After having
had dinner and his horse well fed, Robert Griffith, a
Friend of the meeting to which we have referred, took
the Baltimore Friends in his carriage and started to
drive beyond the army lines so as to start them on
their way toward Baltimore. They journeyed for two
SOUTHERN HEROES. 337
days before they could find an open way, which was
at Mt. Union on the Pennsylvania Central Railway,
where they arrived just as the last train was passing
to Baltimore before the road was seized. As they
neared the State-line and Francis T. King saw the
train approaching and his way clear to his beloved
home, he clapped his hands and nearly shouted for
joy-
The army lines had been extended and our friend
Griffith was cut off from his home. It was more than
three months before he could return to his family,
who, in the meantime, had been told that the Friends
had been captured and the horses and carriage con-
fiscated. As all communication was stopped, he found
a home with Friends near Bellefoute until Winchester
was retaken by the Pennsylvania Federal forces and
the way thus made for his return home. He found
that ,f our good horses he had left had been confiscated
by the Southerners. At one time an officer was about
to take his sister's horse, but she refused to let go of
the bridle-rein. With drawn revolver he commanded
her to loose it or he would shoot. She replied : " I
cannot be robbed of many years. Shoot if that is
the way with you Southern gentlemen, who so boast
of your chivalry. I do not propose to give uj) my
horse." The officer rode on, leaving the horse in her
possession.
As the war progressed Friends were naturally made
to feel the displeasure of their neighbors in many
annoying ways, and most of those subject to military
requirements made their way to the North or West.
338 SOUTHERN HEROES.
The home of Jesse Wright was for a long time be-
tween the picket lines of the oi)posing forces, and his
house was frequently shot over by both armies. Bul-
lets sometimes entered the rooms, but none of the
inmates were struck. It was not unf requent for men
and officers of one army to call while those of the
other were in the house. Our friend, who was a peace-
man and disposed to show hospitality to all, would
cheerfully greet the last comers and escort them to
another part of the house, set before them the best he
had, and entertain them as well as he had entertained
their enemies. In another part of his spacious farm-
house there would sometimes be under his care those
who did not belong to either army and who were not
disposed to join a military force. Each party, save
the last arrived, would then remain quiet lest their
presence should become known and trouble arise.
The son of our friend was liable to conscription by
the Southern army, and he was warned a number of
times that soldiers were to take him. lie evaded them
for a time, but finally concluded that his home was no
longer a safe place for him, so taking leave of his
father, mother and sisters, he started on foot over the
hills, to pass the pickets if possible, and find a place
where he might not be molested. As he reached the
hill-top overlooking the home of his childhood, he
stopped to take what he supposed was his last look
upon the dear old place. But he saw more than he
expected, for the soldiers were in the yard and some
were entering the house in search of him, so that he
hastily proceeded on his way.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 339
Often the family fed soldiers until they did not
know where bread was to come from for their own
sustenance. For three weeks a wounded Union sol-
dier was kept secreted, and nursed and fed. The oft-
visiting- Confederates were not apprised of his pres-
ence under the same roof. At one time twenty
refugees were sheltered and cared for by Jesse Wright
until they could escape.
On the occasion of the death of a neighbor there
was such a scarcity of men who dared to show them-
selves as the friends of the deceased, that it became
necessary for Jesse Wright to assist in preparing the
body for burial. He passed the pickets in safety, and
after performing the kind office to the comfort of the
mourning household he mounted his horse to return
home. But the pickets had been changed and the new
ones would listen to no explanation, and promptly
arrested him. He was sent to Winchester jail, where
for three days he saw no one whom he knew. A
Southern general whom he had l)efrien(h>d then dis-
covered him and said : " Why, Mr. Wright, what are
you doing here ? " " Some of your men have captured
me, and I know not for what I am detained," was the
reply. The general said he would look into the mat-
ter, and in less than twenty miiuites a i)ass and an
order for his horse were brought him. Upon receiv-
ing the thanks of our friend the general said : " We
all know there is no harm in you, Mr. Wright. We
know what your principles are."
Colonel Mosby's command had captured a supply
train near what was called " the yellow house," not
340 SOUTHERN HEROES.
far from the Jesse Wright home. They were closely
pressed by the Federal cavalry, and two young men,
seeing their danger and knowing that Jesse was a
friend to everybody, sought shelter under his roof.
The cavalry men found the horses, but not the men.
Although they searched about the house they did not
enter it, and the boys breathed more freely, as from'
the window they watched their pursuers ride away.
The house was never searched except when the offi-
cers came to seek for John Wright, the son of the
house.
Joseph N. JoUiffe was another one of the Friends
in this locality. lie was a staunch Union man and a
prominent citizen. It was his brother, John Jolliffe,
to whom we have alluded as counsel for Eliza Garner,
the fugitive slave-mother who murdered her child in
Cincinnati rather than go with it back into slavery.
Joseph had remained in Virginia, but he had no more
sympathy with slavery than had his brother John.
Neither did he believe in secession. It is positively
asserted that his vote was the only one cast and
counted in Frederick County for Abraham Lincoln.
This fact was remembered by his neighbors, who en-
deavored to make use of it when surrounded by South-
ern soldiers, but Joseph Jolliffe was undaunted and
outspoken in his allegiance to the United States.
When the Union general. Banks, retreated from Win-
chester on account of pressure by Stonewall Jackson,
our friend Jolliffe thought it most prudent for him
to leave his home, and for some time he remained
in Maryland. One day the members of his family
SOUTHERN HEROES. 341
were told that the Confederates were comino- killino-
women and chiklren as they came. The mother con-
sidered it best to flee ; so the horses were harnessed by
his little boy, Johnnie, who with his mother and sister
started to flee away from the approaching- army, with-
out any definite idea as to where they should go. The
road was filled with the fleeing Union troops and
wagon trains, and with wearied, broken-down horses
doing their best to drag their heavy loads through the
mud. The tired and frightened men hurried on, often
leaving a wagon or horse by the wayside. Such con-
fusion and terror are perhaps never seen elsewhere as
are shown by a routed and fleeing army.
One wretched man especially impressed the boy-
driver. In his left hand he carried a chicken and a
frying-pan, and was seeking a place to cook the fowl.
The right hand hung helpless by his side, and through
the coat-sleeve protruded the bone of his arm, which
had been broken by a ball. In the poor man's flight,
the bone had cut through not only the flesh but the
clothing over it. When our friends reached the house
of a man some miles away, they were told that they
had been misinformed, and said that they would be as
safe at home as anywhere. They dined with him and
toward evening returned to their home.
On the nineteenth of Ninth month occurred a
pitched battle, and for over half an hour the contend-
ing armies fought around their house, which was used
as a shelter by soldiers of both sides. The family
sought safety upstairs and seventeen bullets were after-
wards found in the rooms below. The chimney was
342 SOUTHERN HEROES.
struck by a cannon-ball and came tumbling down
upon the roof over their heads, but neither Union nor
Confederate bidlets touched the little band of God's
trusting children. Many 6f the combatants, however,
were shot about the place, and John Jolliffe, now liv-
ing on the old homestead, states that he saw a Union
lieutenant shot by a Southern soldier, who immedi-
ately robbed him, took his clothing and left him where
he fell. The dead officer was afterwards buried by
the family, who never knew who he was, for there
was no means of ascertaining. John Jolliffe told the
writer that this stripping of the dead was a common
occurrence. Clothing w^as scarce among the Confed-
erates, and the soldiers could not be well supplied by
the government, so that many of them were dressed in
Northern uniform, and this often led to great confu-
sion, sometimes even to loss of life.
While the fight was going on around the house,
Susan Jolliffe, now Hoge, impulsively seized a United
States flag and running to the attic eagerly displayed
it from the window. The Union soldiers saw it and
were so filled with delight that they cheered her
loudly.
Once the Confederate general. Early, sent officers
to arrest our friend Jolliffe. He had been complained
of as a Union man, and his enemies now sincerely
hoped to see him punished for his sentiments. Upon
being presented to the general, Joseph Jolliffe asked
what was required of him. General Early replied
that he wished Jolliffe to show him the roads about
that part of the country. " Now, friend Early, you
SOUTHERN HEROES. 343
know the roads around this part of the country as well
as I do, and you laiow I woidd not show them to you
anyway," was the prompt reply. He was then asked
to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederacy, and
on declining- to do this, the general asked him if he
had taken the oath to the United States. He replied
that he had promised allegiance, and the general told
him to now take the oath of allegiance to the Confed-
erate government. He replied : " When you get it
established I will, and not before." An officer stand-
ing by said : " Mr. Jolliffe, you are the first Quaker I
ever saw who says you instead of thee.'' General
Early promptly said : " That makes no difference.
He has the principles." The general sent him home
with an admonition to pray for the Confederacy.
At one period General Breckinridge made his head-
quarters at the house of our friend Jolliffe for some
weeks, and his staff camped upon the beautiful lawn
in front ; but when Sheridan began to get the better
of his forces, Breckinridge took sudden leave, not
even stopping to thank the members of the household
for their courtesy and care of him during his unwel-
come stay among them.
After the battle of Winchester, October 19, 1864,
Elizabeth Comstock with five women Friends of that
neighborhood, proceeded under the escort of Aaron
Griffith to call on General Sheridan for permission
to visit the hospitals and minister to the bodily and
spiritual necessities of the wounded and suffering sol-
dier-boys. Seeing these women approaching in their
old-fashioned long bonnets, and having no idea of the
344 SOUTHERN HEROES.
object of their mission, Sheridan became troubled, and
as Aaron Griffith reached him he took him aside and
asked excitedly: "What do those women want?
Have they come here to lecture me ? " When he was
informed of their mission he replied : " Well, I am
relieved, for their appearance frightened me more than
all the enemy in front, for I knew what to do with
them, but this army of Quaker women I did not know
how to meet."
CHAPTER XVIII.
By all for -wliicli the martyrs bore their agony and shame ;
By all the warning words of truth with which the prophets came ;
By the future which awaits us ; by all the hopes which cast
Their faint and trembling beams across the blackness of the past ;
And by the blessed thought of Him who for earth's freedom died,
O my people ! 0 my brothers I let us choose the righteous side.
Whittier.
Virginia Friends liad "become so reduced by emi-
gration that the yearly meeting was laid down in
1844. At the close of the war there were only four
small meetings left, viz., Black Creek, Somerton,
Cedar Creek and Richmond. These formed what
was then and is now known as Virginia Half Year's
Meeting. It belongs to Baltimore Yearly Meeting
as does Hopewell meeting, near Winchester. Each
of these meetings had its trying experiences, and the
few men of legal age belonging to them were claimed
by the strong hand of military law.
At Richmond meeting, John B. Crenshaw was the
minister. He was born May 2, 1820, at the home
occupied by him during the war. In 1860 he married
his second wife, Judith Willets, who survives him.
His father, Nathaniel B. Crenshaw, had been a soldier
in the war of 1812, but becoming convinced of the
principles of peace and the sinfulness of slavery, he
346 SOUTHERN HEROES.
joined the Society of Friends and became a minister.
His life was several times threatened on account of
his pronounced and freely expressed opinions. He
was unwilling to receive slaves by inheritance, and
suffered much on that account. It was said that he
was the means of freeing more than three hundred
slaves, and he lived to see all the colored people in
this country free. He died in 1866 at a good old
age.
John B. Crenshaw was much interested in church
matters, and was a strong peace man. Five miles
north of the city he had a pleasant home, and kept
open house for all Friends traveling in the minis-
try or on other church service. Owing to his ac-
quaintance and influence with men of authority, he
was often called upon to aid Friends and Dunkards
who were drafted or conscripted into the Southern
army.
His widow has kindly given access to many letters
and papers which show plainly how these unfortunate
people depended upon his assistance, and looked to
him to secure their release from j)rison or from the
army. In many cases they did not look in vain. It
is very apparent that they had great love for him and
confidence in him. She states that he finally gave
up his time almost exclusively to looking after the
interests of these people. He labored by day and by
night, often making long journeys, sometimes on foot,
to visit the Friends who were sick, in prison, or in the
army. Looking carefully into the merits of indi-
vidual cases, and usually being able to present a clear
SOUTHERN HEROES. 347
case, the officials came to have great confidence in
him, and for this reason and because of their reaard
for him as a Christian minister, they usually granted
his requests. Besides the service thus rendered, his
house was frequently for weeks the home of those
whom he was serving.
For about two years he edited and published the
" Southern Friend," which became a necessity, as the
people were unable to secure the publications of their
Northern brethren, and they were so often misunder-
stood and maligned in the public press that some
means of being correctly represented before the people
was quite important.
The committee that came from North Carolina in
the interest of their members came to John B. Cren-
shaw's house and worked with his advice and assist-
ance. Friends of North Cai'olina appreciated his
services. He was cut off from Baltimore Friends,
with whom he really belonged, and for the time being
he was identified with North Carolina Yearly Meet-
ing, and the Friends learned to esteem him very
highly " for his works' sake," as well as on account
of his genial nature. He kept a diary, at least a part
of the time, during his busy life in these trying times.
Having liberty to quote therefrom, we make a few
extracts, which will serve to give the reader some idea
of his continued activity in the cause of peace and
good will to men.
Under date of Fourth month 18th, 1861, he writes:
"Attending the sittings of the Philadelphia Yearly
Meetmg. There is great excitement. Mobs going
348 SOUTHERN HEROES.
about forcing suspected persons to lioist the United
States flag. It is indeed a very trying time, both in
church and state."
" 19th. Left Philadelphia about eleven p. m. We
reached Baltimore on the 20th. Found the railroad
bridge was burning. The cars we came in were
promptly filled with soldiers, who went back and
burned the bridges we had just crossed. We were
left outside the city. Hired a carriage to the Wash-
ington depot. In Washington we found the Potomac
boats in the hands of the government. We went to
Alexandria, Va., by a boat which, on arrival, was
seized by Governor Letcher of Virginia. Reached
home safely, for which I trust we are truly thankful."
" 28th. No heart to write, feeling too dejsressed
with the condition of my beloved country. O Vir-
ginia ! That thy counselors may in faith look to the
only true God for guidance, is the prayer of my
heart."
" 5th month 29th. Father Crenshaw came down
to try to get to Baltimore to the meeting for suffer-
ings. We felt called to petition the powers that be,
on behalf of peace."
" 6th month 2d. Our poor little meeting nearly
broken up."
" 7th month 30th. I rode around the neighbor-
hood to see if I could raise anything for the sick in
Richmond. All that I saw promised to send some-
thing."
"7th month 31st. Visited four hospitals for the
sick and wounded soldiers. Most of them comfort-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 349
ably situated, but many of them wounded and suf-
fering much."
" 8th month 14th. Again made collections for and
visited the sick."
" 10th month 7th. A long and interesting meeting,
during which a document was issued setting forth
the condition of Friends in the present distressed con-
dition of the country."
" 12th month 11th. Father asked permission of
the meeting to visit the Federal prisoners in the city ;
I to accompany him, should we get the permit from
the proper authorities."
" 12th month 22d. Father and I had a satisfac-
tory meeting with the Federal officers, then with some
of their men, — prisoners in Richmond. On last
Seventh-day I went to meet an appointment with the
Massachusetts men. Had a very satisfactory meeting,
and was urged to come again."
" 1st month 23d, 1862. Went with father to visit
Federal prisoners, with some of whom we had a
meeting. Some seemed serious, but others careless
and noisy. Distributed Testaments and other books,
which were gratefully received."
" 1st month 30th. Again, with father, had some
very interesting meetings with Federal prisoners.
Distributed more Testaments. The men seemed
grateful, and some manifested a very tender spirit."
"4th month 4th. Went with Isham Cox and
others to attend meeting for sufferings held at Deep
River. An exceedingly interesting occasion. The
situation of young Friends subject to military call
350 SOUTHERN HEROES.
claimed most serious attention, anil a memorial was
prepared and a committee appointed to present it to
their State Convention, now in session."
" 4tli month 16th. On reaching Richmond found
Dr. Nicholson and Joseph Elliott awaiting me, and
on the 18th father and I went with them to see the
President. After waiting for hours we were informed
that we could not see him before nine p. m., at his
residence, whither we repaired at that hour. Were
politely received, but he positively refused to accede
to the petition which we presented, requesting him
to send a message to Congress recommending that
Friends be released from military duty on account of
religious scruples. He said he refused on the ground
that it would be special legislation and open the door
against us for further persecution in a future day."
" 4th month 23d. Several balloons in sight, sup-
posed to have in them Federals reconnoitering.
About six A. M. we heard what seemed to be heavy
firing at or near the head of Mechanicsville turnpike.
There is a })icket this afternoon at my bridge. Oh,
that we may be able to maintain our principles as
followers of the Prince of Peace ! "
" 4th month 24th. Went to Aunt Crenshaw's.
They were expecting the Federal army about noon.
We learn that several were killed in the skirmish
this mornins:. A laro-e number of Confederate sol-
diers camped on and around my farm, expecting to
fight to-morrow."
" 4th month 25th. Sent my wife and children to
father's ; so many soldiers coming in and out."
SOUTHERN HEROES. 351
" 4tli month 26th. Quiet in this neighborhood to-
day."
"4th month 28th. Went to meeting. The few
Friends seemed glad indeed to see me. Hurried
home on account of the sokliers. They are constantly
wanting something, milk or something to eat, and I
supply them freely."
" 4th month 29th. A large division of the army
on the road. Gen. D. H. Hill has selected my house
as his headquarters. The Crenshaw and Johnson
batteries are camped in the woods back of my barn,
and from there all across the country the woods are
full of soldiers."
" 4th month 30th. Busy all day waiting on the
soldiers, who are constantly calling for something."
" 5th month 31st. General Hill moved his head-
quarters to Vass, and General Gregg took up his at
the house, having previously been below the hill."
" 6th month 1st. Went to our little meeting. Saw
many wounded brought from the battlefields of yes-
terday and to-day, in which it is supposed that more
than two thousand Confederate soldiers were killed."
" 6th month 4th. Continual crowd and care. A
very stormy night. The poor soldiers must have
suffered. My porches were full, and some of the
sick were in the dwelling-house. Three houses in
the woods full, and many lie in the barn and shelters.
Many quite sick."
" 6th month 4th. Many sick soldiers left in my
house and out-buildings, some with measles and some
with pneumonia."
352 SOUTHERN HEROES.
" 6tli month 9tli. Two of the sick dead."
" 6th month 13th. Pressed my wagon to-day to
carry off the sick. All gone from the house but one.
One poor man buried to-day, making three here."
" 6th month 23d. We hear much cannon firing
here to-day, some so near we can see the smoke from
the guns and see the shells burst."
"6th month 28th. Fighting continues. Many
lives lost on both sides."
" 6th month 29th. We hear that the Federals have
been cut off from York river and driven across the
Chickahominy . "
" 7th month 9th. Father and I at meeting at
Jane Whitlock's house, our meeting-house having
been taken possession of by the government." (The
meeting-house was at that time at Nineteenth and Gary
streets, one square distant from Libby prison.)
" 8th month 8th. Whiting's division of the Confed-
erate army encamped on our farm. Left next day,
having taken some potatoes and fruit and stripped
plank from many panels of the fence, etc. Upon the
whole I think we have cause to be thankful that we
are not more injured. The officers placed a guard
over the orchard, potatoes and houses."
" 8th month 27th. John Carter and Nereus Men-
denhall here, to present a memorial from North
Carolina Meeting for Sufferings to the Congress of
the United States. A copy is placed on the desk
of each member."
"8 th month 28th. Went with Friends to see if we
could get Thomas Elliott out of prison, but General
SOUTHERN HEROES. 353
Winder had received no reply from Petersburg, where
he had sent for information. By appointment we met
Miles, the chairman, and other members of the mili-
tary committee of the House, to explain, as well as we
could, our principles on war. They asked us many
close questions, which I trust we were led to answer
to their satisfaction, as they expressed themselves so
at the close, and I feel that we have cause for grati-
tude for help received on that interesting occasion.
We hear that the committee of the House has already
united in recommending that Friends and Dunkards
be exempted from military duty, etc."
"8th month 29th. General Winder released
Thomas Elliott on condition that I would ffive re-
ceipt for him and have him forthcoming when called
for. On the 31st he was called for, and I had to give
bond for |500 for his return whenever called."
" 10th month 1st. Letters from Dr. Mendenhall,
asking my attention to the cases of several young
men."
"10th month 15th. I failed to find the young
men, but met at camp here a number of other young
Friends."
" 10th month 17th. Went to look up some young
men. Jonathan Harris here for same purpose."
"10th month 18th. Went with J. Harris. We
paid the tax for five Friends and three Dunkards,
14000. Put in a petition for Jesse Gordon, who
professes to be a Friend in principle. The Secretary
of War agreed to pass him as a Friend, much to our
relief."
354 SOUTHERN HEROES.
"10th month 19th. The Friends and Dunkards
from Camp Lee came to our little meeting to-day."
" 10th month 20th. Jonathan Harris and I got off
young Gordon at the war office. Met some of the
Virginia Dunkards brought here as conscripts, some of
whom had paid the $500 tax into the State treasury.
At their request I drew up a petition to the Secretary
of War, asking that those who had paid the tax might
be allowed to return home until the legislature meets,
when they hope to be allowed to draw the money
from the State treasury to pay the Confederate
treasury."
" 10th month 22d. At Camp Lee found that the
Friends had gone home, except young Gordon, who
was too sick to go ; also the North Carolina Dunk-
ards. The Virginia Dunkards are not yet through
with their cases."
" 10th month 25th. We attended the meeting for
sufferings of North Carolina Yearly Meeting. An
interesting occasion. Committee appointed to con-
sider the exemption law, and report. Friends seem
very sweetly united in this time of trial and afflic-
tion. Friends cannot accept the provisions of the
law as just, or as what they had a right to expect.
A number have placed money in my hands for exemp-
tion."
" I have been engaged several days assisting our
friends Isham Cox and Allen U. Tomlinson in trying
to get off some young Friends from military duty.
Isham Cox stopped at a camp between Richmond and
Petersburg to see his son-in-law Woody, whom, with
SOUTHERN HEROES. 355
his brother, we succeeding in getting off. Isham Cox
had very acceptable service in our meeting, and left
next day for home, taking the Woody boys with
him."
" 12th month 10th. Took my wife in the buggy to
camp near Drury's Bluff, where General Daniel is in
command, to visit the young Friends. They have been
kindly treated, and not required to perform military
duty. Thompson is ex^Decting exemption on account
of poor health ; Stephen Hobson, hoping for release
on the ground of being a miller ; and General Daniel
tells us that an order has been issued for the release
of J. Harvey and S. Hobson."
" 1st month 3d, 1863. Went to General Daniel's
camp. The young Friends have left. Called at
Drury's Bluff, but found no Friends there."
" 1st month 16th. Isham Cox here to get Friends
released from army and prison."
" 1st month 17th. Engaged all day arranging for
the release of six young Friends, for whom Isham
Cox paid 13000."
" 1st month 18th. Isham Cox gave us what seemed
food convenient for us at meeting to-day. He takes
cars to-morrow for camp near Fredericksburg."
" 2d month 7th. Interceded for M. H. Bradshaw,
not a Friend. Secretary of War agreed to pass him
as a Friend. I paid the tax and brought him home
with me."
" 2d month 9th. Got Bradshaw a passport home.
Petitioned Secretary of War in behalf of Calvin Per-
kins."
356 SOUTHERN HEROES.
" 2cl month 19tli. General Pickett's division of the
army quartered here. A large portion in our woods.
Colonel Brocton and aids stayed with us. All left
at noon. Have burned a lot of wood and fencing."
" 3d month 2d. Successful in having the Secretary
of War pass as a Friend William A. Wells. Paid the
tax for him and arranged for his discharge."
" 3d month 5th. Went with Matthew Osborne to
see about removing the remains of his son Jesse, who
died at Oakwood in Eighth month last. The super-
intendent showed us what he said he was sure was
the grave. Sent the coffin to Raper and Murray's
to be packed for removal to North Carolina. On
opening it, there was found only a skeleton, a little
hair, and some pieces of cloth."
" 3d month 19th. Letter from Thomas Kennedy's
wife saying that he was sent to Richmond."
" 3d month 21st. Went to Richmond to see about
Thomas Kennedy. Learned that he had been sent
North under a flag of truce."
" 3d month 31st. Went to meet Christian Robertson
and his son-in-law (Dunkards), to help them to get
the former out of the army."
" 4th month 1st. Isham Cox here to try to get some
young men exempted."
" 4th month 2d. Went with Isham Cox, and we
succeeded in getting all these cases exempted from
military duty, for which we are truly thankful."
" 4th month 6th. I was favored to get the release
of O. Gordon, and paid the tax for him."
" 4th month 12th. Nathan Hunt, Jr., at our meet-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 357
ing to-day. Came home with me. I got a jjassi^ort
for him to Fredericksburg to-morrow."
" 4th month 18th. Got a release for William P.
Osborne. Learned that Christian Robertson's ap-
plication was refused; but they ofPered him a de-
tail to hospital work. Procured a furlough for C.
Robertson (Dunkard) to go home for ten days. He
has not applied for tranfer to hospital duty."
" 5th month 1st. C. Robertson has returned, true
to his promise. Called at the war office, but found
no decision in his case."
" 5th month 2d. Took C. R. to get his furlough
extended eight days. He went to Chimborazo hos-
pital. His uncle came home with me."
" 5th month 6th. Coming from meeting with J.
Harris we learned that the Federals had been in
strong force around father's, and taken all his horses.
Got passport for J. Harris to go home."
"5th month 9th. Got an order to send Joseph
Fell North ; also a discharge for Eli Bird, who came
home with me much rejoiced."
" 5th month 14th. Went with Isham Cox to see
Assistant Secretary of War on account of several
persons who desire exemption by paying the tax
imposed upon non-combatants."
" 6th month 9th. Took C. Robertson to Richmond
to the war office to see about his case. Got two
Friends through, and paid the tax for them."
"9th month 4th. Went with John Pretlow and
William Bradshaw to make an effort for Bradshaw's
release. Hope we have succeeded, though it has to
pass through a long routine yet."
358 SOUTHERN HEROES.
" lOtli iiiontli 1st. Isliam Cox and J. Harris came
in about night from Orange Court House. Found
the grave of John Hobson. His father much dis-
tressed."
" lltli month 2d. Engaged with father preparing
memorial to present to the legislature, on exempting
Friends from military duty."
" 11th month 5th. The memorial was presented to
the half-year's meeting, which adopted it with great
unanimity, and directed 300 copies printed for dis-
tribution among the members of the legislature.
Friends parted in much love and unity, feeling that
trials await us."
" 11th month 14th. Detained until late before
the military committee of House of Delegates, who
treated me respectfully, but declined to do anything
for Friends."
" 11th month 15th. Went to see Judge Campbell,
who wished to see me about the Hockett boys. He
offers to send them North. Wrote to their father
for advice."
" 11th month 21st. A defense which I wrote in
reply to an attack on non-combatants appeared in
the ' Whig ' to-day."
" 12th month 7th. The Secretary of War decided
against T. R. Vestal. I asked for a special interview
in regard to his case. T. R. Vestal is poorly."
" 12th month 11th. William Cox here to get me
to assist him in the case of William Overman."
" 12th month 12th. Received orders for the release
of C. Robertson and John Reynolds."
SOUTHERN HEROES. 359
" 12th month 21st. Went to Camp Lee and paid
$500 to Captain Maynard as exemption tax for my
son, Nathaniel B. Crenshaw."
" 12th mouth 26th. Procured an order to send A.
G. Fell North, and an order to discharge A. G. Kush
from the army. I paid tax for him in 6th month
last, but he did not get his discharge."
" 12th month 28th. Lazarus Pearson came to see
about Overman."
John B. Crenshaw's diary for the year 1861 is
missing, but the year was spent in a continuation of
the same arduous work as the extracts oiven indicate.
A few quotations from the diary of 1865 may here be
given.
"1st month 4th. At the enrolling office I was
handed an exemption as a minister."
" 2d month 1st. Went with David Moffitt before
the Secretary of the Navy, and succeeded in securing
the release of his son from the Confederate States
navy."
" 2d month 3d. Went to see about the cases of
several Friends who were suffering for the non-per-
formance of military duties."
" 2d month 14th. Got an early start to see the
Advocate-General and several other officers. Saw
W. T. Haley, H. Ford and Milliken. Obtained a re-
commendation from Hale's officers for his discharo-e.
Returned to Petersburg very weary, having walked
nearly twenty miles."
" 2d month 16th. On my way to Richmond met
360 SOUTHERN HEROES.
James Hockett, Nathan Spencer and N. Farlow going
toward my home. They came by appomtment of
their monthly meeting to look after Friends in the
army."
" 2d month 17th. Waiting on Friends, he found
Seth Laughlin died on the eighteenth of last month.
Blair still sick."
" 2d month 20th. Went to father's. Found them
more cheerful than expected from all that we had
heard. The Federals took all of his horses and most
of his provisions. Father is trying to use some of
the broken-down horses and mules the Federals left
on his place."
On the first of Fourth month John B. Crenshaw
and his daughter, now the wife of Josiah Leeds of
Philadelphia, went to his father's, sixteen miles away,
to attend meeting for worship at Cedar Creek on the
Sabbath, where occasional appointments were made
after the meeting ceased to be regularly held. The
next day, April 2d, Jefferson Davis and his cabinet,
and many prominent citizens of Richmond, left the
capital of the fast-waning Confederacy. With the
few troops remaining in the city, they hurriedly took
their departure for a more southern point, for safety
from the approaching Northern troops. While John
B. Crenshaw had been attending meeting with the
little company in the country, a Friend minister from
England was attending the city meeting, and on
arriving home that evening they found him as a guest.
The diary continues :
" J. J. Neave, a minister from England, at my home.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 361
Early in the morning we heard heavy explosions, the
blowing up of the magazines, and we learn that the
Federals are in the city. J. J. Neave and I drove to
the city and called on our Friends, whom we were
glad to find composed. On coming out we were
stopped by colored pickets, but they let us pass home.
"Warwick's mills and a large space around destroyed
by the Confederates burning the tobacco-warehouses."
" 4tli month 5th. Called on a number of Friends,
among them Judge Campbell, with whom I had a most
interesting interview. I rejoice that he remained in
the city, believing that he will be very useful in restor-
ing order. Went to see some of my neighbors. Ser-
vants everywhere very unsettled. One of my neigh-
bors, Colonel J. B. Young, gTossly insulted by the
colored troops. His silver, etc.", stolen, but was soon
restored by an officer. Lawless men are taking
horses, etc."
" 4th month 8th. J. J. Neave and I were not al-
lowed to go into the city. A number of the neigh-
bors called to ask advice. The fright and harassment
from robbers continues. At the request of the neigh-
bors I drew up a statement of the manner in which
the soldiers are robbing and insidting the people, and
presented it to General Wirtzel, to whom I was intro-
duced by Judge Campbell. The general promised to
issue orders to repress the disorders."
" 4th month 12th. Had to get a pass to go home.
Colored pickets at our toll-gate. We all renewed our
allegiance to the United States."
" 4th month 14th. Colored troops sent off and
362 SOUTHERN HEROES.
arrangements made to protect this section with white
troops."
" 4th month 18th. Went with numbers to get their
passes."
" 4th month 26th. Went with Allen U. Tomlinson
to affirm his allegiance to the United States. Got a
pass to go to my home."
" 6th month 2d. Had a long interview with Judge
Campbell's wife with reference to his present con-
dition as a prisoner."
" 6th month 3d. Writing a memorial to President
Johnson on behalf of Judge Campbell."
" 6th month 5th. Father and I had a consulta-
tion with Judge Campbell's wife. Met F. Ruffin and
Colonel Ray in reference to memorial certificate, etc.
Judge Lyons introduced us to Governor Pierpont,
who received us courteously and gave father Willets
a permit to visit the penitentiary and jails of the
State, with request that he would report the result."
" 6th month 25th. After meeting, read to our
Friends the memorial in behalf of Judge Campbell.
I was unanimously requested to sign it in behalf of
Friends in Virginia."
" 6th month 29th. Father Crenshaw started this
morning for Washington with the memorial in behalf
of Judge Campbell."
Here ends the diary, but we know that John B.
Crenshaw continued in good works until the tenth of
Sixth month, 1869, when he passed from works to re-
wards.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 363
We find upon the minute-book of Hopewell monthly
meeting-, and upon that of the meeting for sufferings
for Baltimore Yearly Meeting the following account
(the estimated loss as here given is said to be far
below the actual amount) :
" It is deemed proper that we should place upon
our records a brief statement of some of the trials and
losses sustained by our members, mostly living in
Virginia, on account of the fearful scourge of the
Civil War, which, during four years of deadly strife
between opposing armies, so devasted our beloved
country; and though we can give but an imperfect
idea of the sore trials experienced, the constant appre-
hensions both to persons and estate to which we were
exposed, yet this may serve to show some of the
horrors of civil war, in the disregard of the peace,
rights and liberty of the individual citizens, conse-
quent upon such an unhappy state of affairs.
" The war began in 1861, and from that time until
its suppression in 1865 we were, with brief intervals,
not clear of one or the other of the armies in our
midst. Property was constantly in jeopardy, either
from impressment or from depredations of independ-
ent bands of soldiers.
" The first summer of the war, a few of ovu- young
men were forced out in the militia and placed to work
on fortifications, but through the favor of a kind
Providence they were soon enabled to obtain their en-
largement and escape as refugees into the loyal States.
" Some of our members not subject to conscription
were arrested by military order on account of their
364 SOUTHERN HEROES.
known Union sentiments, and held under guard in a
loathsome guard-house or in the camp, without a
charge against them, until they were released through
the interposition of personal friends. All were sub-
ject to taunts, threats and reproaches, by a vindictive
and unscrupulous soldiery, countenanced and encour-
aged by sympathizing citizens, purely on account of
their conscientious sentiments in opposing the rebel-
lion and the mad ambition of its leaders.
" Searching houses under feigned pretenses was
often repeated, merely, as it seemed, to annoy, or un-
der the exercise of arbitrary power to offer indignity
and insult to the unresisting inmates.
" Freedom of speech and transit from place to place
were greatly abridged, and as a consequence our regu-
lar religious meetings were interfered with, and social
intercourse nearly destroyed. In many cases the last
horse was taken, thus depriving the family of its ac-
customed use on the farm, or even in going to mill, or
procuring wood for fuel.
" Stock, grain, and in fact provisions of all kinds
were regarded by the insurgents as their projjerty and
were openly appropriated by them to their own use at
their pleasure. Civil law was entirely inoj^erative
and disregarded, and a military despotism reigned
supreme.
" Schools along the pathway of the army were gen-
erally suspended, and school and meeting-houses, if
not destroyed, were appropriated to hospital or other
military purposes. The condition of morals and re-
ligion very much declined, and a general demoraliza-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 365
tion in every grade of society was abundantly appar-
ent. In consequence of the loss and destruction of
their property and the serious invalidation of their
currency, many were reduced to near the verge of
bankruptcy, the savings of years of toil being swept
away in the general wreck. But it is difficult, after
the lapse of time and the trying things through which
we had to pass during the war, to sum up all the
losses, evils and troubles connected with the dark cat-
alogue of the times. We might add incidents of
attempts to break into houses, shooting at the inmates,
throwing stones through the windows, and other out-
rages ; but we forbear. It is now under feelings of
unfeisfued thankfulness that we hail the return of
peace and the establishment of law and order through
the land, bringing with it the abolition of slavery and
the ultimate enfranchisement of the negro race, a con-
summation for which our society has long faithfully
labored.
" In conclusion, we desire gratefully to acknowledge
and commemorate the preserving care and over-ruling
providence of our Father in Heaven for shielding us
whilst His fearful judgments were in the land, staying
our minds in confidence and trust in his mercy, and
giving us to experience that ' His compassions fail
not ' in the most trying emergencies.
" In the following summary are many articles of
convenience or comfort which were taken or destroyed,
of which it would not be easy to estimate the actual
loss. We therefore give an approximate aggregate
of each as severally repeated :
366 SOUTHERN HEROES.
" BALTIMORE QUARTER, HOPEWELL (VA.) MONTHLY MEETING.
John Griffith, horses, hay and grain
Jesse Wright, timber, stock and grain . .
A. H. Griffith, horses, hay and harness
" " wood and fencing . . ,
" " cotton warjjs burned . ,
" " cloth impressed and stolen
James Jauney, stock, grain and hay . ,
James Griffith, stock and goods . .
Joseph M. Jolliffe, stock and goods.
William Barrett (no account).
Kachel N. Hoge (no account).
$950.00
900.00
1,200.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
20,000.00
835.00
1,100.00
11,100.00
$38,085.00
" In Dunning's Creek Quarterly Meeting, Henry-
Hare, William P. Hare, Joseph J. Hare and Benjamin
F. Hare were taken to Confederate camp at Suffolk
on the 24th of Second month, 1862, and were there
placed under guard for two weeks. They were then
called upon to work in the commissary house and to
make some bunks for the sick, which they did. They
were permitted to have provisions sent from home,
and when Joseph J. and William P. Hare were taken
sick they were permitted to go home. About this
time the State of Virginia passed a law enjoining a
tax of $500 and two per cent on the property of all
non-combatants who were of military age. Under
this law our Friends were released, jmying as follows :
J. Hare, $522.25; WiUiam Hare, $562.21; B. F.
Hare, $510. Henry Hare was at home on the reserve
list. Congress passed a law requiring only $500,
which he paid.
" There was taken from our friend William Hare
$515 in United States money and about $800 worth
SOUTHERN HEROES. 367
of property. He was cruelly treated, being sliot in
the head and left for dead, but he has measurably
recovered.
" On the twenty-ninth of Third month John Britton ;
James, Edward, Tilman and William Harris, and
Oswin White were taken to the entrenched camp be-
low Norfolk. After twelve days' steadily refusing to
perform military service they were put in a dungeon
where they remained nine days. They were released
on payment of the State tax of 1500 and two per cent
on the value of their property. Edward Harris was
taken sick in the dungeon and died seven days after
being released, we believe, from the effects of his im-
prisonment. Joel Cook, Joseph Johnston, James J.
Harris, B. F. Wilson, Walter Pleasants, E. S. Ricks,
Walter Ricks, and Nathaniel B. Crenshaw were re-
leased on payment of the tax.
" John Pretlow lost about |400 in property, and
Joel Cook about 1175. In addition to what we have
mentioned, we know that others of our members sus-
tained considerable losses, of which no report can be
made ; but we can all unite in saying that the preser-
vations and deliverances experienced at the hands of
our merciful God were so great and manifest as to call
forth only adoration, love and praise, and to cause us
to testify as we desire in humility to do, that God is
faithful in all His promises, ' a very present help in
every time of need.'
" Signed on behalf of the committee,
John B. Crenshaw."
368 SOUTHERN HEROES.
The shooting of William Hare was one of the most
unprovoked cases of cruelty that could be imagined.
An eye-witness states that he had been paid a $500
greenback shortly after the surrender. Soon after-
ward two men came to the house and called to him.
They wore military clothing and had guns. He was
required to give them his money, which he did with-
out a word of protest and turned to walk away. He
had gone but a few yards when one of the men took
deliberate aim and shot him in the back of the head.
He fell as though dead, and they went their way.
Albert Peele, who saw the act, called for William
Hare's wife and they took him into the house. After
much careful nursing he was restored, and he still
lives, occasionally meeting those men on the streets
of a neighboring town ; but he declines to tell who
they are, and says he tries to forgive them.
CHAPTER XIX.
We fast and plead, we weep and pray,
From morning until even ;
We feel to find the holy way,
We knock at the gate of Heaven !
And when in silent awe we wait,
And word and sign forbear,
The hinges of the golden gate
Move, soundless, to our prayer !
Who hears the eternal harmonies
Can heed no outward word ;
Blind to all else is he who sees
The vision of the Lord !
Whittier.
In Wayne County, N. C, of which Goklsboro is the
county seat, there lived about sixty families of Friends.
The Neuse river divided them about equally. On the
north side was Nahunta meeting ; on the southern side,
Neuse meeting. These two montlily meetings formed
Contentnea Quarterly Meeting. The membership
was made up largely of those who had good cotton
plantations and were substantial citizens, but were
much ostracized by their slaveholding neighbors, and
were thoroughly disliked by them, though they com-
manded the respect of the slaveholders because of
moral worth and financial prosperity.
In the early part of the war they were generally
suspected of holding Union sentiments. For a long
370 SOUTHERN HEROES.
time there had been little opportunity of manifesting
their opinions, except by personal interchange of
thought by those who could trust each other. The
elective franchise in every place was very much re-
stricted. In many ways the Friends were made to
feel the displeasure of their slaveholding neighbors,
and every effort was made to induce them to assist in
the support of the Confederacy. Our Friends kept
to their own counsel and to their own work. They
had braved the displeasure and suffered the suspicions
of neighbors too long to turn from their principles
now ; so instead of willingly aiding in the support of
a cause with which they had no sympathy, they hesi-
tated not to do what seemed to them right to aid any
who might be suffering on account of the war.
On one occasion as a train loaded with Union sol-
diers was passing slowly through the city and suburbs
of Goldsboro, on the way to one of those terrible
Southern prison pens, forty men jumped from the
cars. Friends were probably known by some of them,
and the soldiers were soon secreted about their differ-
ent homes. Food was not abundant with all, but they
assisted one another and kept them for weeks, making
way as fast as was prudent for their passage to Yan-
kee land by way of the Underground Railroad.
The secessionists managed to secure quite a number
of men who did not believe in fighting, and of these
they tried to make soldiers. Stephen B. Hollowell,
Thomas S. Hollowell, Nathan B. Cox, William T.
Cox, William T. Genett and Nathan Genett paid the
tax. Robert Edgerton was taken to Newbern, where
SOUTHERN HEROES. 371
he was threatened and abused to no purpose. They
told him that he would be put in front of the next
battle, but when there was prospect of a battle he was
left to be taken prisoner, while they hurriedly re-
treated. For months his family did not know whether
he was dead or alive, until he unexpectedly appeared
at home, having been exchanged as a prisoner of war.
Calvin G. Perkins went from his home in Golds-
boro on a business trip to Newbern, about the time
General Butler was besieging that city. He was
known as a Quaker, and that of itself was ground for
suspicion that he was a Union sympathizer. He was
very reticent about expressing his opinions, as became
any one who could not " hurrah for the Confederacy."
Some pretended to believe that Calvin had gone to
give information to General Butler, and on his return
home he was arrested. His property, amounting to
several thousands of dollars, was confiscated, and he
was sent to Salisbury prison. Here he was visited by
his brother, Needham Perkins, who writes the follow-
ing letter to a friend :
" PiKEViLLE, N. C, 11th month, 1863.
" I suppose thou hast heard the cause of Thomas
Kennedy's imprisonment. I saw his wife yesterday,
and she says she does not look for his release before
the end of the war, if he should live that long. I
accompanied her to Salisbury to see Thomas, about
three weeks ago. The old man seems cheerful as
though he were at home. He has the privilege of
going anywhere at will within the enclosure.
372 SOUTHERN HEROES.
" Brother Calvin is still there. He was brought to
the gate of the garrison, and I was allowed to speak
about ten words to him. We were then separated.
I have been there three times during his nine months'
imprisonment, and each time my interview has been
equally as short as the last. Calvin had the promise
of being exchanged several months ago, but they refuse
to carry out this promise. In the Sixth month last I
sued out a writ of habeas corpus in his favor. They
confessed on trial that they had no charge against
him, yet the judge put off the trial for about ten days,
pretending that they might find something against
him. During this time the President declared mar-
tial law, and then the judge said that put a stop to it.
" Some months ago the President was petitioned
for his release. There was nothing found against
him then. The Secretary of War ordered his release
more than two months ago, but the commander of the
prison required a bond of five thousand dollars for
his good behavior, and that he should take the oath
of allegiance to the Southern Confederacy before he
released him. Calvin says he will stay there until
the end of the war before he will do either.
" When I was there, more than one hundred and
forty Southern men were in prison at Salisbury, and
only two Federalists. N. T. Perkins."
For more than two years Calvin Perkins was kept
in this terrible prison with no charge against him,
according to their own testimony. Finally he was
sent North as an exchanged prisoner. None of his
SOUTHERN HEROES. 373
estate was allowed him, but lie was assisted to busi-
ness by Friends, and all things needful were provided.
When the war closed he returned to Goldsboro, N. C,
where he still lives, and is a respected and prominent
citizen.
Silas and Levi Hollo well, Thomas Cox, Samuel
Perkins, and James and David Grantham were sent
to camp at Raleigh. Although they were abused and
punished severely, they were loyal to their principles
and were finally liberated.
William Overman, a member from Neuse meeting,
was also severely tried, and made to walk around the
camp followed by a soldier with gun and bayonet.
The soldier was frequently relieved, but he was re-
quired to tramp, tramp, tramp. If he stopped from
weariness, the bayonet was thrust into him, and sev-
eral times he was cruelly wounded. Although it was
severe winter weather, he was not allowed to go to
the fire. His only sustenance was bread and water.
He suffered much, but kept the faith. William Cox,
an aged minister to whom we have before referred,
learned of his condition and took him some provi-
sions. He sought an interview with the officer in
charge, and remonstrated with him for treating an
innocent man so. He said : " Unless you relieve him
he will die." The answer was : " He ought to die ;
any one who will not fight for his country ought to
die." " But after death is the judgment," said the
preacher ; " we all have to die, and will be rewarded
according to our deeds." The officer seemed to be
impressed by the visit and the words of the preacher,
374 SOUTHERN HEROES.
and William Overman was then allowed to go to the
fire and receive the provisions brought to him. The
authorities at Richmond were visited by Friends on
his account, and his liberty was secured.
Jonathan Pearson, not then a member with Friends,
but sharing in the testimony they held against slav-
ery, inherited a family of negroes, whom in 1854 he
proposed to set free and send to Ohio. But they
were so well satisfied where they were that they chose
to remain with him, and refused to go. Jonathan's
brother Lazarus told him that those slaves would yet
bring trouble into the family, and he ought not to
hold them ; but Jonathan could hardly see any better
way to do. He was perliaps more pronounced against
secession than against slavery, and shared very fully
the feelings and anxiety of his brother and of the
Friends, concerning the course the South had taken.
He was not, however, molested by the authorities
until the second conscription act, which called for all
able-bodied men under forty years of age who had
not already been taken. Not willing to be captured,
Jonathan went to the Friends' neighborhood called
Rich Square, in Northampton County. Learning
during the summer that his twin children had the
typhoid fever, he could not be satisfied to remain
away longer. Fully conscious of his danger, he
sought their bedside, with great care that none of the
neighbors should see him. He watched with his
little ones while their life lasted, doing what he could
for them, but did not dare to expose himself by
attendino- their funeral.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 375
He continued in liiding until late in November,
but was then betrayed by one of the colored men who
had some time before refused to leave the family.
The neighbors suspected that Jonathan was around
the place, and tried to induce the servant to disclose
the hiding-place of his master, promising great re-
wards if he did so, and threatening severe punish-
ment if he did not do as they wished. The negro, in
whom Jonathan Pearson had had implicit confidence,
disclosed his hiding-place, and our friend was found
and sent immediately to Raleigh, N. C. ; thence to the
army on the Rappahannock river in Virginia.
His brother Lazarus soon followed, resolved to
secure his release if possible, fie took for him two
suits of homespun clothing, and a new pair of shoes.
In due time he found him in camp on the Rappahan-
nock. Piclvcts of the Southern army were sometimes
willing to allow persons to pass them going North,
and while in camp Lazarus arranged for Jonathan to
pass the lines.
On the bitter cold night that ushered in the year
18G4, he passed the Confederate pickets and started
across the river, which he supposed to be sufficiently
shallow for wading. But the current was so strong-
he was borne down to deeper water. He had on the
new shoes and two suits of clothes. He was an ex-
pert swimmer, but it was with great difficulty that he
reached the opposite bank. Having escaped drown-
ing, he was now in danger of freezing, and found it
necessary to " run for his life." He did run, toward
the Northern lines, where he was readily received and
376 SOUTHERN HEROES.
sent to camp, and soon after to prison at Washington,
D. C.
For more than three months he was unable to
communicate witli his friends. Finally his uncle in
Iowa, William Pearson, a minister well known
among Friends, secured his liberty through the Con-
gressman from that district. About a year after he
left home his family joined him, having escaped from
the South by way of the Underground Railroad.
After the surrender they all returned to their Caro-
lina plantation, and did effective service in the meeting
which they joined.
W. T, Hales, one of Lazarus Pearson's neighbors,
a poor man who was the only support of his widowed
mother and sister, was convinced of the unlawfulness
of war for the Christian, and was received into mem-
bership with Friends after the passage of the exemp-
tion act. He was conscripted about a year later and
taken to the 24th North Carolina regiment, near
Petersburg, Va., where he underwent great hardshijis.
His friends were willing to pay the tax required, and
he did not object, but there seemed no way of induc-
ing the officials to accept the money and release him.
He was court-martialed, with sentence to be pnt at
hard labor and to forfeit three months' pay, which
latter part did not matter much to him, as he would
receive no pay. The order that he should do hard
work they tried to enforce by attempting to make him
shovel dirt. This he would not do. He told them
that his conscience would not allow it. Times were
appointed to hang and shoot him, but still he would
SOUTHERN HEROES. 377
not bear arms. One day an officer came and said :
" The matter is now settled. You are ordered to be
shot immediately, and allowed only time to write to
your mother." Our new member kept to his faith
and the officers failed to carry out the order.
From a package of his letters written while in
camp, we select the following one to John B. Cren-
shaw:
5th Alabama Bat., 3d Corps,
Near Petersburg, Va., 12/14, 1864.
" Most Highly Esteemed Friend,
" John B. Crenshaw : I received thy kind letter
a few days ago, and was very much pleased to know
you were doing all you could for me ; but am sorry to
inform you that the adjutant has just told me that I
am to be bucked day and night, continually, from
now until the end of the war, unless I perform the
duty put upon me by the court ; and to-morrow he
will commence feeding me on bread and water alone
for fourteen days at a time.
" It seems that the bucking is very severe, but I
trust I may be enabled to bear it witli patience. He
said that such were General Hill's orders, and it looks
at present as though there is no chance for me except
to suffer until death, which I do not mind much,
trusting that I may be counted worthy to suffer death
for Christ's sake.
" This leaves me with a very bad cold, and I have
been afflicted with fever for several days.
" I would be well pleased to see some Friend, but
do hate to be so much trouble. I hope thee will
378 SOUTHERN HEROES.
inform me soon what Congress decided upon. If we
never meet again on earth, may we find peace in
heaven. I remain as ever,
W. T. Hales."
The Confederate Congress had been petitioned in
vain for the discharge of this peace man. The f ol- ,
lowing is from a letter written by him to John Hol-
lowell, a Friend who lived in Wayne Connty, N. C,
who was interested for him. The letter was written
1st month 8th, 1865 :
"The general has my feet tied together and my
hands together from daylight to dark, which he says
will be continued till the end of the war.""
He writes to J. B. Crenshaw, 3d month 4th, 1865 :
" I 've been iipon bread and water ever since the fif-
teenth of Second month last. They are keeping me on
it all the time now. Tying is continued yet. I have
been somewhat sick with cold." Third month 20th,
he writes : " Be thou assured I am most carefully
awaiting for patience to have its full course in all
my trials. Having full confidence, I can boldly say,
the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what men
shall do unto me. I shall most assuredly continue in
the faith of our profession, undergoing anything, even
to death. I have several times witnessed present help
from the Lord. I remain in Christian love thy friend
and brother, As ever,
W. T. Hales."
Our friend was indeed a source of trouble to the
Southern officers, and how to make a fighting man of
SOUTHERN HEROES. 379
him tliey did not know. Becoming discouraged, they
were disposed to get rid of him in some way, so night
after night they forced him as near the Union pickets
as they dared, and then bucked him down. They
sometimes fastened him to a tree, and left him there
for the night, hoping that he might be shot. But no
bullet reached him ; no device for taking his life was
successful; no punishment was sufficient to conquer
our hero. He would cheerfully suffer and die, but
deny his Lord, never !
At the fall of Kichmond the fleeing Confederates
took him with them on their hurried retreat south-
ward. Their flight was in the direction of his home,
and when they came in sight of the dwelling-place of
his mother and sister, a little north of Goldsboro, he
managed in some way to escape and go to them. Re-
joicing in the goodness of the Lord, with grateful
heart he took up the old routine of farm-life. Think-
ing that he did no more than his reasonable duty, our
hero seldom has anything to say of the sufferings he
underwent for the principles of peace.
North of Goldsboro, in Northampton and Per-
quimans counties, there were other settlements of
Friends. They were of the same faith and heroic
courage as those in other parts. The Underground
Railroad passed this way, and at the home of Henry
Copeland, Rich Square meeting, in Northampton
County, more than three hundred travelers were
cared for while making their way amid the perils of a
closely guarded country, to the land where they could
be free.
380 SOUTHERN HEROES.
If Henry took them in, it was very uncertain when
they could get out, for dangers abounded and he must
know that " the track was clear " before he allowed
them to depart, if he could prevent them from start-
ing. Sometimes he kept them for weeks, and even
months. Only one man (not a Friend) of all those
who stopped with him failed to escape, and that one
positively would not heed the earnest pleading of
Henry Copeland and Aunt Dolly, who knew the dan-
ger of his leaving his hiding-place. He foolishly
turned a deaf ear to their pleadings and went to his
death.
Other dwellings in the vicinity were open to this
class of travelers, so if three hundred were enter-
tained at Henry Copeland's, there must have been
many others who, in this manner, found deliverance
from tho rule of the secessionists.
The neiglibors suspected Henry Copeland and wife
of holding Union principles and harboring deserters,
as they called them. On one occasion a company of
men was seen coming toward the house, and by their
appearance Aunt Dolly suspected that they meant
mischief. In the chamber of her house were men
whom she knew they would send into the army or kill
if they should be seen.
The L part of the house was not as high as the
main building, and in the chamber of the main part
were seven men waiting for a way to open for them to
escape Southern military service. A hole had been
cut through the wall of this room, near the floor, into
the dark loft of the L part, and guests were instructed
SOUTHERN HEROES. 381
when taken to this chamber that in case of alarm they
were to enter this dark place and pull the box of bed-
ding against the opening to cover it from the view of
those who might search the house. Stepping under
the window of the room where the men were, Aunt
Dolly called loudly : '^ Who are all those men coming
up the road?" They had seen her and it would be
imprudent to go in and give warning, yet they should
be warned. Her friends readily understood her mean-
ing, and hastily retreated to their hiding-place, the
last one pulling the box close to the wall. All ap-
pearances of occupants were removed from the room.
The soldiers rode up to the gate and entered into
conversation about the object of their visit. Aunt
Dolly was very free with them, and seemed much sur-
prised when they hinted that it was suspected there
were deserters in the house. She told them they
might search for themselves. They answered that
that was just what they came for, and proceeded to
dismount and enter the house.
Aunt Dolly's freedom and apparent willingness had
partly disarmed them of their suspicion, but they went
through the house and into the chamber where the
box of bedding stood against the wall. The quiet
seven could hear them talking, some of them declar-
ing that they knew Aunt Dolly was all right, and they
always said Henry Copeland was no enemy of his
country, etc., etc. The secreted men were not in-
clined to dispute any of their statements, and were
left with their friends until the road was clear, and
they could make their way to a place where they could
382 SOUTHERN HEROES.
earn their bread for themselves by some honest em-
ployment, instead of accepting it as the bounty of
others.
Aunt Dolly was one of those good, motherly, Chris-
tian women we love to speak of as a "mother in
Israel." She took into account the practical necessi-
ties of a case, and was ready to help any neighbor in
time of trouble. She was sent for from far and near
in cases of sickness, and often not only cared for the
invalid, but fed the hungry household. Her husband
was many times threatened with hanging, and doubt-
less would have been hung but for the fact that so
many depended upon him and his wife for aid in sick-
ness and trouble. No doctors dared ride in that
vicinity after dark, but Aunt Dolly feared nothing,
and many a dark night on her white mule she went to
or from the home of some suffering one.
One evening as she passed Rich Square after dark,
a group of soldiers observed her as they stood talking
by the roadside. As she stopped to speak to some
one on the other side of the way, she heard one of the
soldiers say : " There 's Aunt Dolly. Let 's hang her.
They are all Union down that road." Another an-
swered : " You dry up, talking about hanging folks
who fed and nursed your wife while you were gone
last winter." Aunt Dolly proceeded on her way un-
molested, nor was she ever molested.
AV. C. Oatland was taken to Eich Square, and an
attempt was made to hang him for saying that the
South was in rebellion against the government. The
word " rebellion " was, and still is, an obnoxious term
SOUTHERN HEROES. 383
in the South, the Southerners claiming that they had
a right to secede, and that it was not rebellion.
One elderly Friend, Thomas B. Elliott, was charged
with assisting some conscrijits to cross the Chowan
river. He was arrested on suspicion, his horses and
property were confiscated, and he was sent to prison
at Richmond, Va. There he was kept several months,
but he was finally released as a result of the efforts
of John B. Crenshaw in his behalf.
Jonathan E. Cox once went to the marshal's office
at Weldon, N, C, for a pass across the Roanoke
river. He was accused of being a Quaker, and a rope
was immediately called for with which to hang him,
because he was opposed to the war. He told them he
was opposed to that war and all others. Much excite-
ment was manifested, and a large crowd soon gath-
ered. In the crowd was a Captain Barnes, who recog-
nized him, and by threats and commands he succeeded
in rescuing Uncle Jonathan.
Another Friend of the same meeting went to Nor-
folk in the spring of 1864, to take his wife's sister to
start for Indiana to meet her husband. On his return
he was captured by General Matthew Ransom's men.
They took his horses, wagon and goods, and put him
in the guard-house at Weldon, N. C. J. E. Cox went
to see the general about securing his liberty. The
general treated Jonathan with great respect, and said
that he wanted no Quakers in his army ; he knew they
would not fight. The Friend was released and his
property was restored.
CHAPTER XX.
Bearer of Freedom's lioly light,
Breaker of slavery's chain and rod,
The foe of all which pains the sight,
Or wounds the generous ear of God !
Whittier.
Thomas Kennedy was an aged minister who
lived on the south side of the Neiise river, near
Goldsboro. For sixty years he had lived and served
his generation faithfully. His loyalty to the prin-
ciples of his church had been tested in many ways,
and he had ever been found faithful. He was a man
of sterling character, and exerted an influence in his
community outside of his own church ; and while not
disposed to be meddlesome, he hesitated not, if oc-
casion required, to express his opinions on the ques-
tions of the day. He was an avowed abolitionist, and
on this account the slaveholders disliked him.
At one time, Thomas Kennedy became owner, by
inheritance, of about eighty slaves. What to do in
the matter became a grave question. Should he
refuse to accept them, they would be passed to other
heirs of the estate. He could not, for conscience'
sake, hold them as property. To release them in a
slaveholding community would expose them to the
liability of being kidnapped, and, besides, it was
SOUTHERN HEROES. 385
contrary to the law to set a slave free in a slave
State.
Much to the surprise of his friends and the neigh-
boring slaveholders, he accepted them as his property.
The slaveholders laughed and the Friends mourned.
It was not long before there were indications of a
long journey to be made by our friend, and more
than usual preparations seemed necessary. Little was
said about it except to wise counselors. One morn-
ing the blacks were summoned and told that he
intended to free them. They were told of the danger
of remaining in the Southern States, and that their
new master proposed for them to go to a land where
they would be free.
The rejoicing of these " children in understand-
ing " may be more readily imagined than described.
Though they now had a master as kind as man could
be, who would look after their interests faithfully, yet
they still had the inherent desire for freedom, and
they prepared for the journey with great rejoicing.
Thomas Kennedy took leave of his family and the
few friends who had gathered to see them off, and
started on his errand of love. He went by carriage
to Newbern, and from there they set sail to the island
of Hayti. The slaves knew not their destination, nor
when they would reach it, but Massa Kennedy was
with them, and such was their confidence in him that
they were content to be with him whether on sea or
land.
Upon their arrival he arranged as best he could
for them to support themselves. So much had these
386 SOUTHERN HEROES.
poor dependent creatures become attached to him,
that the parting from him was an affecting scene.
Many wept as children, and one woman so ckmg to
him, weeping and praying to be allowed to return and
live with him all her days, that an official standing by
misunderstood the scene, and thinking that Thomas
was trying to take her away with him, drew his sword
and was about to slay him. As the officer did not
understand the English language it was with difficulty
that he was made to understand the real state of the
case.
On returning from Hayti, our friend quietly pur-
sued his usual occupation. Inheriting more slaves,
he sent them to Ohio and Indiana. One refused to
leave him, and remained faithfully with him as long
as he lived.
After Thomas Kennedy was sent West, during the
war, as he was one day walking the streets of Rich-
mond, Indiana, a colored man stopped before him,
and, after looking earnestly into his face a while, fell
on his knees and embraced him. With eyes full of
tears and voice choked with emotion, he said : " My
old master ! "
The slaveholders remembered Thomas Kennedy as
a practical abolitionist, and even in his old age were
watching for an opportunity to get him in their
power in order to punish him. He had lived too long
to come within the draft or the conscription act, and
being a minister of the Gospel, he was on that ac-
count also exempted from the army as a soldier, so
they sought other ways to bring him under military
rule.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 387
When secession was being talked of, before the
firing npon Fort Sumter, Thomas told the advocates
of it that their course was " serious, dangerous and
wrong." They then threatened to tar and feather
him, but knowing him as a man of influence, and that
he had many friends outside of his church as well as
in it, they were afraid to do this on account of the
effect it might have upon themselves. The condition
of the neighborhood for some time before the begin-
ning of the war was such that he felt it best to remain
quietly at home, although regularly attending the
place of worship with his friends, who endeavored to
maintain their' principles of peace and liberty in the
midst of war and slavery.
When the Northern army came to the Neuse river,
near Goldsboro, in the winter of '63-64, they burned
the bridge across the river. The Confederate sol-
diers were at one time encamped on the north side of
the river, in full view of Thomas Kennedy's house.
One evening after dark a knock was heard at the
door. A man asked for food. Thomas Kennedy
said : " I always feed the hungry as my Master bade
me do, without asking who they are," and invited the
man in. He was surprised to see him dressed in the
uniform of a Union officer, but invited him to have
supper with the family, as they were about to be
seated at the table. The man accepted the invitation
and told Thomas he was sent by his superior offi-
cers to ascertain the most sure way of surrounding
and capturing the city of Goldsboro without coming
in contact with the Southern soldiers, as they were
388 SOUTHERN HEROES.
exceedingly anxious to avoid bloodshed, and that the
capture of the city was certain.
He was successful in gaining from Thomas the ex-
pression that he " hoped Goldsboro would surrender
without any more blood being shed." The interview
being ended, after supper he requested Thomas to
show him the way to the ford, lest in the darkness he
might fall over the precipice. Having seen his guest
safely on his way, Thomas started to return home,
but was surrounded by a squad of Southern soldiers,
who had been in hiding, and were prompt to claim
him as their prisoner. They took him to camp,
where for several days he was kept in sight of his own
home, from seven to ten of the soldiers guarding him
three times a day to his own table for their own meals
and his. He was removed from here to Goldsboro
jail, and in due time tried by court-martial. At the
trial he was confronted by his guest of a few evenings
before, now a lieutenant in an Alabama regiment,
who was ready to swear away the liberty or the life
of an aged Christian minister.
Zebulon Vance, then governor of North Carolina
and afterwards Senator of the United States, kindly
came to see him while he was in jail. Doubtless
wishing him free, he told him : " Do not commit
yourself at the trial. If you say nothing, they can't
hurt you. If you have to tell anything, tell the truth,
but not the whole truth."
Thomas Kennedy had ever had but one opinion
on the subject of secession. At the beginning of
the war he had said ; " I am a loyal man, and shall
SOUTHERN HEROES. 389
be until I die." On trial, with good reason to be-
lieve that deatli would be his sentence, he said
that he had no faith in the Confederacy and never
believed it would stand. In bold, decisive lan<ruaoe
he repeated : " I am a loyal man, and shall be until
I die." W. F. Dortch, a State senator, said : " No,
Thomas Kennedy, you are a traitor, and ought to
be hung." Thomas Kennedy replied: "Nay, thou
art a traitor thyself, William F. Dortch, and hast
rebelled against the best government on earth."
Three years later William F. Dortch confessed that he
had used the above lang-uasre.
Daniel Gurley, a former slave-driver, who for pay
would often go miles at night to whip slaves, had been
promoted by the slaveholders to some office in the
Confederacy. He was standing by as Thomas Ken-
nedy was brought to camp, and greatly rejoiced at
his arrest, at which Thomas expressed his astonish-
ment, when Daniel Gurley struck him a heavy blow
on the mouth. Only a little later Daniel Gurley was
struck dumb by the hand of God, and so remained
the rest of his miserable life, which was but a few
years. " Vengeance is mine ; I will repay, saith the
Lord."
The general who served as judge at the trial of
Thomas Kennedy said to our friend : " You ought to
be hung." To this he replied : " You may hang me
if you think best ; I can die but once." Instead of
hanging him they sent him to prison in Goldsboro as
a political prisoner. His wife, Isabella, supplied hira
with food and provided for his comfort in every way
that she could.
390 SOUTHERN HEROES.
On going to see him one morning she was surprised
to learn that he had been sent to Salisbury prison,
about two hundred and fifty miles away. She made
hurried preparations and started to follow him, leav-
ing home a little past noon, with his little boy. In
fording the river they found the water deeper than
they expected. The water ran into the buggy and
wet their clothing and persons, while the horse had
to swim ; but love impelled her onward. She stopped
at Lazarus Pearson's for the night. After the reso-
lute woman had retired, Mrs. Pearson washed their
wet clothing and had it ready for use when they were
ready to go on their way to Salisbury the next
morning.
Isabella Kennedy, again a widow, and over eighty
years old, is now living in Spiceland, Indiana, a dear
mother in Israel. Having been asked for some ac-
count of these trying exj)eriences, she has kindly
furnished the following. Though written with the
trembling hand of age, it is perfectly legible. She
says, under date of Third month, 1893 :
" In reply to thy request I hope to give testimony
to the truth, as a witness to the goodness and mercy
of our Heavenly Father, which may cheer some poor
soul.
" While in jail in Goldsboro we made him very
comfortable, furnished him cooked food, bedding, fire,
etc. At Salisbury I found him without any of these.
Then he was suffered to occupy one of those brick
buildings in the yard with three Northern men, which
was an improvement over the big room with hundreds
SOUTHERN HEROES. 391
of prisoners in it, windows all broken out, and no fire,
only sucli as could be built of green wood in the mid-
dle of the dirt floor.
" He was told that if he would not attempt to go
out he need not be confined to the house, but go at
large, which he did ; and from that day he was busy
visiting the sick and cheering in many ways the suffer-
ing. The next day after I met him he wrote me that
he had been hanging up the bacon and sausage that I
took him.
" Two little boys, twelve and fourteen years of age,
were taken from their homes and put in the terrible
prison because their father had deserted the Southern
army. One of them was very sick, and had no one
to care for him. Their mother was outside pleading
to enter and care for her boys, but the officials would
not allow it.
" I was the first woman that was ever permitted to
enter the garrison. Confederate money was cheap
and plentiful, and we kept a sujjply. A lady attended
market and furnished Thomas with fruit, vegetables,
etc. They threatened burning her house if she per-
sisted, but she kept on and outlived the prejudice.
They finally became reconciled and treated her with
respect.
" C. G. Perkins, from Goldsboro, was there. He
was kept in the prison over a year with no charge
against him. His brother, Needham Perkins, a min-
ister, was with me. They tried to scare us away by
telling us that smallpox was all over the place. Pa-
tience and perseverance have accomplished much, and
392 SOUTHERN HEROES.
in this case did more than we could think or ask.
The second visit was more remarkable than the first,
but it has been a long time since these scenes, and my
feeble frame cannot bear the strain of the review. I
have to give it up. Suffice it to say that goodness has
followed us all the days of our lives, and my hope is
that we may dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
Isabella Kennedy Hall."
Thomas Kennedy's wife took with her provisions,
clothing and bedding for her husband's use. She was
at first denied admission to the prison grounds, but
was finally allowed to see him for an hour on the
porch of an officer's house. It was raining and very
cold. The officer in charge said to her : " It is too
cold for you to stand here. Come inside." She re-
plied: "If my husband must stay in a cold room
without fire and with only a little straw to lie upon, I
can stand in the rain to talk to him one hour." The
man looked rebuked and said : " Mr. Kennedy shall
have more comfortable quarters," which were provided
at once, in one of the smaU brick buildings within the
stockade. Here he had as fellow-prisoners Calvin G.
Perkins, a Friend from Goldsboro, Stephen Pancost
of Pennsylvania, and another Friend, all imprisoned
because they were supposed to hold Union sentiments.
Isabella Kennedy was allowed to fix up his room, as
best she could. She filled a tick with straw and did
many other things which a practical loving woman
could do and left him comparatively comfortable.
Three months later she went to Salisbury. Thomas
SOUTHERN HEROES. 393
and his two friends had been told that they were to
be exchanged, and when Isabella arrived they were
making preparations for departure. She promptly
reported her arrival to the authorities and requested
that she might see her husband, but was positively
refused admittance. From the window of his prison
he had seen her, and called to attract her attention.
The heart of the officer was touched by their greetings
to such an extent that he relented and allowed her to
go to her husband and assist in the preparations for
his removal. In one hour from that time they started
for the train. She was allowed to ride in the same
car with him as far as Raleigh. There they separated ;
he to go on to Castle Thunder, Richmond, Va., as a
prisoner of war, she to return home to the care of the
farm and the four children, one of them his by a for-
mer wife, one of them hers, and two of them adopted.
With the aid of two colored girls, one sixteen and
one eighteen years old, and an occasional day's work
from some one too old for the war, she managed to
make them a comfortable living. One of the children
says : " We had plenty to eat, though we had no coffee
and only a little sugar for medicines ; very little flour ;
but we lived better than many did. Mother and the
children rose early, and we went to the fields to work
until nearly school time ; when we had eaten break-
fast the little ones started on their two and a half
miles' walk to school. The two colored girls went
back to the fields. We made our own clothes, shoes,
hats and bonnets. We raised some chickens and tur-
keys, but some one came one night and carried all
394 SOUTHERN HEROES.
these away, but mother dared not say a word. She
only prayed that her family might not be personally
injured, and we were not."
In Richmond, Thomas Kennedy was placed in a
large upper room, the windows of which were broken
out. He was obliged to lie on the bare floor, having
no straw even to lie upon. Provisions were scarce
and of very poor quality. He was soon taken very
sick. His friend Pancost nursed him and did all he
could for his comfort, but it was impossible to obtain
medical attendance, medicines, or suitable food. He
finally became unconscious, and it seemed as though
he would die. He was then placed on the cars by the
authorities, and sent to Washington as an exchanged
prisoner of war. He was left in that city with no one
to care for him, and was found in a weak, delirious
condition wandering on the streets. Abraham Lin-
coln learned of the case, and said if he was a Friend
he was no prisoner of war. He had him cared for,
and sent word to Friends in Philadelphia concerning
his condition. Marshal Elliott, who was acquainted
with him, was sent by Philadelphia Friends to take
him to that city, where he was provided with medical
attendance and nurses, and all was done for him that
love and money could provide. Friends having
learned that he had a son in Illinois, sent for him, and
he remained with his father until he so far recovered
his health as to be able to go to his friends in Indiana.
He never could remember his leaving Richmond, or
his arrival in Washington or Philadelphia. Before
leaving Philadelphia he attended their yearly meeting
SOUTHERN HEROES. 395
in 1863, and seems to have created quite an interest
there, as a minister who had suffered so peculiarly and
severely for his principles.
We quote the following from a letter written by
Charles Atherton to Elizabeth Meader about that
time : " I am more particvdarly interested in writing
thee at this time because we have had with us a ' saint '
from North Carolina, Thomas Kennedy, on whose be-
half the sympathy of all Friends seems to have been
excited, he having suffered much from imprisonment
and from sickness ' nigh unto death.' "
Soon after reaching Indiana, Thomas Kennedy's
condition became so serious that word was sent to his
wife, who was still on the banks of the Neuse river in
North Carolina. She arranged immediately to disjjose
of all her effects. She had an auction and sold all
her personal property, and with her four little ones
she started for the West, where her beloved husband
anxiously awaited her. Isabella and her four children
crossed streams and mountains, successfully evading
the pickets and dangers of various kinds, and in re-
markably short time, considering the circumstances,
she stood by the bedside of her sick and almost dying
husband. He recognized her and praised God for
having brought her safely to him before he died.
He enquired lovingly after Friends and others in
North Carolina, and felt so much interest in them
that he addressed a letter to them. Wishing his per-
secutors to know that he forgave them, he entrusted
his friends in this letter with a message of love and
forgiveness for aU who had in any way mistreated him
396 SOUTHERN HEROES.
or added to his afflictions. This document was borne
with a flag of truce by Northern soldiers to Southern
officials, and safely delivered to his friends at Neuse.
After the satisfactory adjustment of his affairs, he
lost consciousness, and in twelve days from the time
of his wife's arrival his life of suffering and faithful
service was ended, with his work all done and well
done. His beloved wife had done all she could for
him, and been truly faithful until the last. She now
laid him away to rest, rejoicing in the knowledge that
he had " fought a good fight," had " kept the faith,"
and that a crown of glory was his in heaven. The
dear old lady is now patiently awaiting the coming of
the Lord to take her redeemed spirit also to the
heavenly home, where there shall be no more separa-
tion from those we love ; no more prison doors to be
opened ; and where the cruel hand of war shall never
detract from the heavenly bliss of those who reign
forever with the Prince of Peace.
CHAPTER XXI.
Yet firm and steadfast, at his duty's post
Fronting the violence of a maddened host,
Like some gray rock from which the waves are tossed !
Knowing his deeds of love, men questioned not
The faith of one whose walk and word were right, —
Who tranquilly in Life's great taskfield wrought.
And, side by side with evil, scarcely caught
A stain upon his pUgrim garb of white ;
Prompt to redress another's wrong, his own
Leaving to Time and Truth and Penitence alone.
Whittier.
We have already learned of the Underground Rail-
road, and how its business was not only interfered
with by the war, but absolutely ruined by the Eman-
cipation Proclamation. We left that subject, inti-
mating that we should learn more of it.
There were many living in the South who did not
wish to stay there amid the disturbances and troubles
caused by the war. Their homes had in many cases
become unsafe abiding places for those who had en-
joyed them for many years. The necessity of again
operating the road became apparent. Many of the old
stations were still in existence, and the officers were
still at their posts. It was very easily put in order
for the distance required to meet the need which now
arose, — that of passing on their way men, women and
children who were native-born white citizens; some-
398 SOUTHERN HEROES.
times men of large estates and comfortable homes, who
were not allowed to remain peacefully at their homes
nor to depart to their friends in the North or West,
if it could be prevented.
Lazarus Pearson, in his opposition to the war, was
one of the most outspoken and prominent men among
the Friends of Contentnea Quarterly Meeting or per-
haps of any other. He could not join in the recrim-
inations against President Lincoln and Vice-Presi-
dent Hamlin. He emphasized the necessity of peace,
and when asked his opinions, declared that the agita-
tors of secession were teaching the people an error.
When told by these people that they woidd " soon
starve out the North," he replied that he had trav-
eled North and knew that they " might as well try to
starve a rat in a well-filled smoke-house." He said :
" We need their products much more than they need
ours." When told that the mulattoes in the North
helped elect Lincoln, he replied that the mulattoes
were the sons of Southern slaveholders, and that " the
son should be esteemed as the father."
When home-guards were being appointed and vol-
unteers were being mustered, he and his friends wisely
kept silent. But it was remembered that many had
been careful to vote as Lazarus Pearson did, and that
many looked to him for advice as to what they should
do in these troublesome times. He soon received a
letter saying : " We see from your actions that you
are against us. You must either change your opin-
ions, leave the country, or abide by the consequences.
(Signed) Many Citizens of Fork Township."
SOUTHERN HEROES. 399
Lazarus Pearson's grandfather was a Friend. His
father was not, and was a slaveholder. Lazarus had
been received into membership with Friends at his
own request, and fully shared their views upon slav-
ery as well as war. In the settlement of his father's
estate, years before, he had refused to accept any
slaves. As a planter he had succeeded without them.
He had purchased from a slaveholder a large cotton
plantation in Fork Township, Wayne County, N. C,
and had been obliged to suffer various indignities
from the neighboring slaveholders on account of his
principles. They called him a " Quaker abolitionist,"
and said he ought to be banished to Massachusetts,
the worst place they could then think of.
The letter above referred to was recognized as being
in the handwriting of a neighbor who had before sent
him insulting messages. Lazarus Pearson showed it
to the vigilance committee and others of the home-
guard, asking what he had done for which he should
leave his home. Of course they claimed to know
nothing of the letter, or any reason why he should
leave their midst. At the May term of county court,
which was held soon after at Goldsboro, many people
thronged the streets. Threats had been made that
on that day Unionists were to suffer. The supposed
author of the above letter, with a mob which he led,
gathered about Lazarus Pearson and asked concerning
it whether he had compared it with any of his writing.
Lazarus calmly answered in the affirmative. The
man denied the writing of the letter, but confessed to
the sentiment, and with others began upbraiding him
400 SOUTHERN HEROES.
for his allegiance to the United States. They de-
manded that he should then and there recant his abo-
lition principles. But Lazarus was not of the recant-
ing kind. They brought a rope to hang him with, and
asked if he had any weapons. He produced a pocket
knife and a tooth-pick, saying : " Those are all."
They dragged him to an old blacksmith shop. He
said : "If you are going to hang me, take me to the
central part of the town where all the citizens of
Goldsboro can see it." Fully a hundred men had
gathered about him. He told them that he had said
nothing harmful of any one and had nothing to take
back ; that he claimed only the right of a free citizen.
Some one said : " We ought not to hang so good a
citizen as he is." Others, one of whom had been a
professed friend of his, answered : " We must make
an example of some one. He has influenced so many
against our Confederacy." Then a voice was heard
loud and clear : " It is a shame on American citizens
to hang such a man as Lazarus Pearson." They so
disagreed among themselves that all finally dispersed
except two young men who had followed quietly all
the time, one at each of Lazarus Pearson's elbows.
He had hardly noticed them in the throng, but now
they said : " Mr. Pearson, you stood up like a Chris-
tian and did not withhold the truth. We would have
died with you rather than have seen you hung." He
did not know them. They told him that years before
he had entertained them as strangers at his house and
cared for them when in need, and they had not for-
gotten him.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 401
As the crowd scattered, the people warned him not
to come to Goldsboro again, but in three days he went,
saying he was " as safe in Goldsboro as anywhere else
when tlireats were so common."
For more than a year after this experience he
thought seriously of leaving the South, but could not
feel free to do so, and he finally became satisfied that
his mission was to remain there and help others of the
oppressed, white and black, especially those who felt
that war was wrong. It was not long before this
class of people learned that if any one was in need of
helj) on his way North or West, Lazarus was the man
who could and woidd aid him. His home was on the
public road, and many halted there for rest and food.
Men, women and children stayed hours or weeks,
and were assisted in different ways. This was one of
the main stations on the Underground Railroad, and
Lazarus Pearson was general manager for all that
section of the country.
His son Nathan was conscripted and sent to the
salt-works before referred to, but not being well he
was allowed to go home, and he soon took passage for
the North, where he remained until after the war. It
was difficult to do so much in secret. He was closely
watched on account of suspicions that he was working
against the Confederacy. He must of necessity be
very guarded in his movements.
In 1863 and 1864 the Federals made a raid upon
the neighborhood of Goldsboro, and the Unionists
were in hopes that the town would be taken. The
secessionists prepared to flee, and yet some of them
402 SOUTHERN HEROES.
were ready to injure their opponents if opportunity
occurred without danger to themselves.
A son of John Moore, a Friend, on the other side
of the river from Goldsboro, had come to town to
bring a disabled soldier. Before he could return, a
guard had been placed on the bridge, and he was not
able to get home, so he went to Lazarus Pearson for
help. Knowing how anxious his friend would be
about his twelve-year-old boy, Lazarus started for the
ford of the river, from where he thought he could call
to Thomas Kennedy, and send word to John Moore
that the boy was safe, if he found the water too high
for crossing the ford.
As he rode on he saw a negro boy approaching rap-
idly on horseback. As they met, the boy slackened
his speed and hung his head as if in meditation, and
then stopped his horse and said : " Are you going to
the Kennedy ford, Mr. Pearson ? " He answered in
the affirmative. "Well, don't do it. They took Mr.
Kennedy last night, and I heard my master say,
' We '11 get old Pearson to-day on his way to Quaker
meeting.' " He was very sure that the Friends would
go to meeting whether the Yankees came or not. The
boy said his master was Boaz Hooks. Lazarus re-
membered him as the one who was in some way
connected with all his persecutions. The boy said :
" Don't tell on me, Mr. Pearson. They would kill
me." Lazarus assured him that he need not fear, and
rode on to the fork of the road where he turned oif
his way and went to the home of an aged Friend for
breakfast. He then returned home and took the boy
SOUTHERN HEROES. 403
Moore to the guarded bridge where he succeeded in
securing leave for him to pass and go home.
It was designed to hale both Lazarus Pearson and
Thomas Kennedy to prison and to death on this occa-
sion, and every means they could devise was ex-
hausted by some of their neighbors in order to bring
it about. The little colored boy proved to be his
friend in this instance.
A few days later Lazarus was surrounded on the
streets of Goldsboro by a mob that insulted him
shamefully, and one man struck him on the face. He
calmly said : " The Master bade us turn the other
cheek also. If need be, I am willing to suffer for my
principles." A number of men were standing by
whom he had hardly noticed. They had their hands
in their pockets, but with the quiet determination of
their class they were ready for action when the time
should come. They said they did not propose to see
him any further abused, and it was not done. They
said they were from the mountains of North Carolina.
Lazarus Pearson was not a man likely to provoke
insult, but he had the courage of his convictions and
would not flinch from what he believed to be the
right, even though death itself might be the penalty.
His influence was felt wherever he was known, and
men learned to rely upon him as they naturally do
upon strong characters. He often said that he was
satisfied that it was the will of God for him to re-
main in the South, but he longed to see the end and
the Union saved. He looked for real peace only upon
the restoration of the seceded States and the abolition
404 SOUTHERN HEROES.
of slavery. He labored on unceasingly, often making
exposing and dangerous journeys, aiding others to ob-
tain exemption.
The main route of the Underground Railroad was
from Goldsboro to Rich Square, in Northampton
County, then across the Chowan river to Norfolk.
Another way was from Lazarus Pearson's house forty
miles by buggy toward Newbern, and then by foot the
rest of the way. Only men, and they with an expe-
rienced guide, undertook this route. The most of
either way was traveled only by night.
Lazarus Pearson's wife and daughters kept the
house open for all comers, and the two little boys
were posted and did well their part. Although too
small to be suspected of having any hand in railroad
management, many a trip by day or by night did they
make successfully with the spirited horses ; forward-
ing men, women and children on their way to a place
of freedom and safety. Seldom did any of their
passengers fall into the hands of the enemy. But on
one occasion two young men making their escape from
the army had been safely conducted by one of the boys
to the next station, and had gotten nearly to New-
bern, when they were captured, put on freight cars
and started for Libby prison. In the vicinity of
Goldsboro they managed to escape out of the side
door of the car, and get to Lazarus Pearson's house.
They soon started again, and this time were success-
ful in reaching then* friends in the West.
As the end of the war aiDproached, during Sherman's
march, thousands of Northern prisoners were taken
SOUTHERN HEROES. 405
from tlie Andersonville and Florence stockades to pre-
vent their being recaptured by Sherman. Near Golds-
boro they were turned loose without food or shelter,
and left on the ground, starving and dying daily from
hunger, cold and dampness. The whole community
was moved to feed them, some through sympathy and
many through fear of the coming Union forces.
As Lazarus Pearson was feeding two, they asked
the way to his home. He told them, not expecting
ever to see them there. One was so weak that he
reeled as he walked. That night they succeeded in
evading the guards and reached Lazarus Pearson's
house in safety. They said they knew by his looks that
he was a good man, and that a good man would help
them in their great need. They were soon dressed as
citizens, and after two weeks' rest they obtained pass-
age on the Underground Railroad and went home.
Day after day Lazarus Pearson fed the hungry,
turning none from his door. His fertile brain sought
out many ways of relief ; his active body performed
heroic sei-vice. Two plantations had been cleared by
him, and their lowlands drained and made to produce
bread for the hungry. His powers, taxed beyond en-
durance, failed, and typhoid fever prostrated him
upon a bed where day after day he was watched by
loved ones, with alternating fear and hope. But the
time had come for him to " rest from his labors," and
with visions before him of liberated men, women and
children, he rejoiced at the part he had taken in their
freedom. He heard whisperings of things beyond the
vail, and with smiles upon his face passed on to the
land of eternal freedom.
406 SOUTHERN HEROES.
The next Jay after he was burled, the noise of battle
was distinctly heard in the distance. Twenty miles
south, the battle of Bentonsville was fought. Sher-
man's army of 150,000 men, on their way from
Georgia, had met Johnston's retreating from Golds-
boro. Bitter indeed was the conflict, but Sherman
routed the Southerners and pursued his way to obtain
supplies sent him from Newbern to Goldsboro. He
had been living upon the country, and terrible devas-
tation was the result. An advance guard of seven
cavalrymen came to Lazarus Pearson's former home,
as the family was about sitting down to breakfast.
They took the places of the family at the table, and
after their breakfast began plundering the place.
They took carriages, buggies, five of the finest horses,
and a yoke of oxen. They loaded all with choice
meats, sugar, eggs, flour, etc., and departed.
An hour later a Pennsylvania regiment came and
helped themselves to potatoes, poultry, thousands of
pounds of bacon, and everything else hungry soldiers
could wish. They also searched every part of the
house. The colonel was remonstrated with, and shown
papers and letters proving the Union sentiments of
the family. He stopped the destruction of the
property and confined their takings to that which was
needfid to satisfy immediate hunger. But this was
only a temporary respite. Soon the large lawn in
front of the house was filled with men, and all day
they were coming and going. The dwelling-house
was scarcely free from their presence during the day.
The explanations to the officers of Friends' princi-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 407
pies, their Union sentiments, and sufferings for them,
were understood by some, hut .availed little with
hungry men who had been on the march for seven
weeks, since leaving Savannah February 1st, and all
the way living by this same means. They said they
had no other way of living, and if the buildings were
sjxared the family should be thankful, for in South
Carolina they had in every instance burned the build-
ings after taking the food and property.
In the evening the members of the hungry family
were told that if they had anything to eat they should
be protected while cooking it. We remember that
their prepared breakfast had been eaten by others,
and they had eaten nothing all day. A little corn
meal and a dressed turkey were brought from some
secret hiding-place, and by the light of the evening
lamp they were permitted to break tlieir fast.
Sherman's men soon entered Goldsboro. John-
ston's army, having been defeated at the battle of
Bentonsville, was hovering in the vicinity, and soon a
company of cavalry appeared at our friend's house
and demanded of the son Thomas where the Yankee
soldiers were, and threatened to shoot him if lie did
not tell. He was " a chip of the old block " and told
them they might do as they would ; he did not pre-
tend to know who any one was those times. They be-
came satisfied that Sherman's men were in Goldsboro,
five miles away, and they took up their quarters near
by, feeding their horses from what was left in the
barn and helping themselves to whatever they could
find. For several days they thus lived on the family.
408 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Sherman's army remained about twentj^ days in
Goldsboro, while he visited Washington. In the
meantime the men were resting from their long march
and many of them scouring the country round for
whatever they could find. While there they were
furnished with new clothing and provisions by the
Government.
After the departure of Sherman's army from Golds-
boro, and of the company of Confederate cavalry from
our friend's, they began looking about them to see
what they had to do with, and what they could do.
The head of the house, whose fertile brain and active
body had been their reliance, was gone. The boys
and their mother must now depend upon their own
energies and management, and resolutely they under-
took the task. Two horses were brought from the
woods, where they had been hurriedly tied in a thicket
at the first coming of the soldiers, and fed in secrecy.
One of them was too young for hard work, but was
able to do light ploughing. Two thousand pounds of
pork was ixnearthed from under the smoke-house,
where it had been buried, and with the remnants
gathered the family was able to begin the work of
making another crop in much better condition than
many of their neighbors.
Although robbed of so much, they had enough left
to subsist upon until more could be made, and they
never had to appeal for help or accept rations issued
by the United States government to the starving citi-
zens, as so many did.
Eight years afterwards the estate was paid $1600
SOUTHERN HEROES. 409
in settlement of a valid claim for $3000 and interest,
for the provisions, horses, cattle, etc., taken by the
Union men from as true a patriot as dwelt in any
part of the country. This was about the interest for
the time of the delayed settlement, without the prin-
cipal, but war measures and war settlements are sel-
dom arrived at on a scale of justice.
Living across the river from the home of Thomas
Kennedy was his brother minister, Ncedham Perkins.
He was a neighbor of Lazarus Pearson. It was he
who accompanied Isabella Kennedy on her visit to
Salisbury, and whose letter concerning his brother has
already been given. Thomas Kennedy and Needham
Perkins often conferred together and with the elders
of their respective meetings as to the wisest course for
them to pursue. They were in their native land, but
among strangers so far as any friendships or confi-
dences were concerned outside of their own small
circle, and it was necessary to have a united under-
standing as to their best course. They were the
natural leaders of their little flocks during these try-
ing times, and the welfare of those flocks depended
largely upon their teachings and examples. They
were loving brothers in Christ, and the visits to each
other and the hours spent in conferring ijpou the
condition of church and state, when they sought
together God's help and guidance, were a mutual
strength and encouragement. These people were
isolated from their neighbors because of a well-de-
fined difference of sentiment, which had existed from
childhood. Now, because of the attempt to force upon
410 SOUTHERN HEROES.
others tlie views and practices of slaveholders, a bar-
rier was created between neighbors, so strong as to
cause them to look upon each other with distrust.
Yet a certain respect was shown these men by the gen-
erality of the people, because they were ministers of
the Gospel. This is still characteristic of the South,
and the people are to be commended for their obedi-
ence to the Scriptural injunction : " And we beseech
you, brethren, to know them which labor among you
and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you ;
and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's
sake."i
As a minister, Needham Perkins was exempted
from draft and conscription. The soldiers often came
to his house, and he fed them ; when sick he nursed
them. Occasionally men came to his home, hunting
for horses and wagons or anything that might be use-
ful to the army, and while they sometimes appropri-
ated his property, they did not rob him as they did
many others. At one time they came and told him
that they had come to press his horses and wagons
into service. He told them : " The horses are in the
barn, and the wagons under the shed." They replied :
" Oh, you are too willing ! We won't go for them,"
and they did not. He fully carried out his principles
of non-resistance, and was well known as a peace-man.
He never carried weapons of any kind.
We have already learned of the unsettled state of
things for a time following the surrender ; how the
armed men went about the country robbing and mur-
1 1 Thess. V. 12, 13.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 411
clering men of Union sentiments. On one occasion,
after a business trip away, Needham Perkins arrived
at Pikeville and had left the depot to walk one and a
half miles to his home. The full moon was shedding
her silver light upon his pathway, and with happy
thoughts of his dear wife and children he expected
so soon to be with, he hurried forward. A little way
in the distance he saw two men in the shadow of a
pine-tree by the roadside. They were watching his
approach ; but without thought of danger Needham
hurried forward, to find upon nearer approach that
one of the men was pointing a gun at him. Believing
that no one could mean to harm him, he told the men
his name, thinking they had mistaken him for some
one else. But no, he was the man they were waiting
for, and had planned to waylay and murder. With
the gun aimed at his heart, the man pulled the trigger,
but it missed fire. Immediately a crushing blow was
struck upon his head, knocking him down. Blow
succeeded blow, and his skull was fractured over the
left eye. His left ear was nearly cut off, his jawbone
broken, all his upper front teeth knocked out and the
lower ones broken off ; a gash was cut across his throat
three inches long, and many other wounds were made
upon him. Still he retained consciousness. He
readily saw that the men intended to kill him, and
that his life depended upon his making them believe
they had done so. He felt each terrible blow, and the
pressure of the keen blade upon his throat and into
his flesh, but as he could do nothing he kept quiet
without showing signs of life, and allowed them to
412 SOUTHERN HEROES.
roll him over and take from his pockets 11250 and
papers of about the same value.
He heard them start on their way, but they soon
returned to make sure that he was really dead, and
after turning him over again and again, satisfied that
they had accomplished their terrible purpose, they
departed. He lay there about an hour before feeling
sufficiently sure that they were gone to arise and go
on his way. He succeeded in reaching his father's
house, a quarter of a mile away. His father met
him at the door but did not know him until he told
his name.
As soon as he had finished telling his father the
story, he became unconscious. His wife and the doc-
tor were sent for. Twenty-one days, Sarah, his wife,
sat by him, doing all that the most tender affection
could promjit to save the life of the one who was so
precious to her and their children. The doctor after-
ward repeatedly declared that the excellent nursing
and constant care to keep fresh water on the wounds
had saved his life.
The next morning after the occurrence the officers
visited the place where he had been so terribly
treated. They found the gun-barrel with the charge
still in it, but with no lock or stock attached. The
broken stock was found in one place and the lock in
another. Near by there was a pool of blood. The
sheriff of the county seemed very desirous of securing
evidence to convict the guilty parties, and visited the
sick man repeatedly to see if he was correct in his
suspicions of certain persons. He asked Needham :
SOUTHERN HEROES. 413
" Do you have any idea who it was you saw by
the pine-tree ? " Needham was unable to talk, but
he gave an affirmative nod of the head. The sheriff
then asked with eagerness if it was the two persons
he named on whom suspicion rested ; but Needham
would not answer. The sheriff asked him to nod his
head or press his hand if the right j)ersons were
named ; but he would give no information that might
lead to the conviction of the men who had so brutally
attempted to murder him.
Needham Perkins knew that if he said it was a
certain man, that man would be hung on his evidence.
He afterwards stated that he was fully satisfied who
the men were, but he did not see that he would be
justified in causing their death ; that he was a Chris-
tian and loved his enemies. He lived for some years
after this and departed this life in peace, an honored
Christian minister.
The mother and children worked the little farm,
and she labored faithfully to educate the children and
bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord.
A few years after the death of the father, the writer
was conversing with one of the sons about giving his
heart to the Lord. He replied : " No ! not until I
have killed the men who attempted to murder my
father." He was working to discover them, and
when discovered he proposed that their lives should
pay for their crime. He well knew that the nature
of true religion, such as his father had possessed,
would not permit such an act, and in the unregenerate
414 SOUTHERN HEROES.
state of his heart he wished first to have vengeance,
then religion, and was not ready to leave it with him
who said : " Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith
the Lord." lie did not consider that the spirit of the
Lord Jesus would take the evil desires out of his heart,
and give him the spirit of love which so fully pos-
sessed his father, and in which he had so j)eacefully
passed away.
Shortly after this the mother's heart was gladdened
by hearing her son confess his sins and accept his
father's Saviour. She is still living, a sweet-spirited
grandmother, rejoicing in the happy homes of her sons
and daughters, where the grandchildren eagerly watch
for her coming to spend a little time witli them. She
rejoices in the present, desiring to forget much of the
past, and with bright hopes for the future looks
beyond the vail for union again with him who in other
days walked by her side. She testified recently :
" When His rod smites us. His staff is sufficient to
support us if we are willing to lean upon it."
CHAPTER XXII.
The day is breaking in the East, of which the Prophets tokl,
And hrig'litens np the sky of Time the Christian age of Gold ;
Ohl Might to Right is yiehling, battle bhide to clerkly jjen,
Earth's monarchs are her peoples, and her serfs stand uj) as men ;
The isles rejoice together, in a day are nations born.
And the slave walks free in Tunis, and by Stamboul's Golden Horn.
WlIITTIElt.
Northern farmers know little, by experience, of
the ravages and devastation of war. There were no
companies of foragers hunting over their premises to
see what they could secure to feed hungry horses and
soldiers ; no marauding bands of lawless men plunder-
ing and taking property of all kinds, as was the case
in the South.
The extra prices obtained by Northern farmers
for whatever they produced made money easy, and
in the abundance of the things they possessed they
could well rejoice. Not so with those who lived in
the Southland in war time. Men who had hitherto
worked the farms and numaged tlie estates were
mostly in the army. The women and children, with
now and then a little helj) or advice from those men
who were too old for army service, had to nuxke the
(a-ops, care for the homes and give one tenth of what
they had produced to the Confederate government, or
416 SOUTHERN HEROES.
have it taken from tliern. The frequent raids of sol-
diers of one or both armies, bushwackers, or strag-
glers, made possession of provisions, cattle or horses
very uncertain, as any thing was taken or destroyed
at the will of the marauders.
In his report, January 1, 1865, of that memorable
march through Georgia and Carolina, General Sher-
man states : " I estimate the damage done to the State
of Georgia and its military resources at one hundred
millions of dollars at least, of which twenty millions
has inured to our advantage, and the remainder is
simply waste and destruction. This may seem a harsh
piece of warfare, but it brings the sad realities of war
home to those who have been directly or indirectly
instrumental in involving us in the attendant calami-
ties."
It is not difficult to imagine that complete desola-
tion marked the track of this army, which on the first
of April numbered 74,105 infantry, 4781 cavalry, and
2244 artillery, besides wagon trains, their attendant
horses, cattle, etc., all living off the country. They
started with only twenty days' supply of bread, and
forty days' supply of beef and coffee. Orders were
given to keep the supply on hand up to the standard,
and secure their necessities from the country through
which they traveled. They marched in three and
four columns at various distances, and destroyed and
appropriated whatever they wished.
Bentonsville, Johnson County, N. C, is about six-
teen miles from Goldsboro. Near here lived William
Cox, to whom we have referred as visiting Friends in
SOUTHERN HEROES. ^Yl
prison and working for their comfort and liberty.
One Sabbath morning, as our friend was makinjr
prei^aration to go as usual to meeting for worship, he
was startled by the sound of battle, and the fearful
sounds grew nearer and nearer. All day the battle
raged in the neighborhood, and in the morning it
began around their dwelling, where some of the neigh-
boring women and children had sought shelter. Soon
the bullets were heard falling on the roof. William
closed the doors and then walked the floor, watching
as best he could through the windows the movements
of the men engaged in the terrible conflict, while the
women sought refuge under the beds. Though a
number of the bullets entered the room, none of the
occupants were hit by them. Until ten o'clock on
the morning of the second day the roar of cannon,
the sharp crack of muskets and the confused noise of
battle were heard continually without. Within the
house the cries of the children mingled with the
prayers of the mothers.
After the battle ended, an officer of the United
States army came to the door and asked if there was
any one there. William opened the door, and the
women obtained their first glimpse of the battlefield.
His wife says : " I was frightened so bad I thought I
should die. The officer said : ' Don't be frightened ;
you shaU not be hurt.' But the fright did harm me,
and will as long as I live. When I looked out I ex-
pected to see the ground covered with dead men, but
instead of that it was covered with live ones, pillaging
and taking what they could lay their hands on. The
418 SOUTHERN HEROES.
officer had a little meat and lard taken into the
house, and a few bushels of corn into the hall room.
The dear Heavenly Father preserved all our lives, but
we were left very destitute."
One of those present, Sarah Winslow, says : " We
expected every moment to be killed. The balls fell
thick and fast upon the house. Cannon firing near
us ! The children crying ! The tenant's wife and I
praying aloud, asking the dear Lord to be our shield !
And so He was. My brother's two little children were
with me, and the army now came between them and
their home. The dear little things had to walk six
miles under the care of an old Friend who could cross
the lines. Their clothing had been taken by the sol-
diers, and we had to beg more to make them comfort-
able- In their excitement several Friends went to
Goldsboro for protection, their father among others,
and they could not get back, as the Yankee army was
in Goldsboro, so they went on to Indiana and stayed
a year. When they returned to their desolate homes,
the land was there ; the houses were there ; but all
the rest was gone."
Johnston's and Sherman's armies had so devastated
the country that it was necessary for Sherman to issue
rations to the citizens as well as to the soldiers, or
many of them would have perished. Unwilling as
many were to eat the " Yankee rations," they were
obliged to do it ; the country all around had been
ransacked by Johnston's army of 36,817 men, as well
as by Sherman's. The people were robbed of every-
thing the soldiers could fmd to eat, and of much
besides.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 419
Isaac Cox, a comfortable farmer, was visited by a
company of soldiers, who entered his house, helped
themselves to all they wished to eat, and then began
to look around for something to carry away. So eager
were they in their search for gold, which they had
heard he had, that they finally hung Isaac by the neck
to make him reveal its hiding-place, and to save his
life he was compelled to do so. They overturned the
hearthstone in front of the fireplace in his sitting-
room, and from here, to Isaac's grief and their re-
joicing, they took seven hundred dollars in gold, and
readily transferred it from its lopg hiding-place to
their pockets. The child's cradle was searched, and
the baby's clothing taken, for what reason was a
mystery to the mother ; but William Hockett has told
us that the soldiers took things that were of no use
to them.
At the house of L. J. Moore, of Neuse meeting,
dinner was being prepared when a company of sol-
diers called. The turkey just cooked, and all the
good dinner the family was about to eat, was appro-
priated by the hungry men. All the turkeys in the
yard were caught, and the good housewife was ordered
to produce a string with which to tie them together.
Two dressed hogs were taken. They found a lot of
sausage meat which had been prepared for keeping.
This they could not very well take in crocks and cans,
but they found a way to carry it. Mrs. Moore had
recently spun, wove and made a suit of yarn clothing.
This they proceeded to fill with sausage meat. Tying
strings around the bottoms of the pants and sleeves
420 SOUTHERN HEROES.
of the coat, they had a sausage man, which they pro-
ceeded to put astride of a horse. They hung the
turkeys over the same horse's back. They took a good
hand-made counterpane for a horse-blanket. A home-
made sugar loaf the mother begged them in vain to
leave for her baby. Every dish, tin pan and cooking
utensil they either carried off or destroyed. Ever}'^-
thing eatable of all the well-stored larder they carried
away, save some salt and a little corn meal that had
been overlooked.
The family had had no dinner, the children were
hungry, and the mother was puzzled to know how to
feed them. It was night, but they must have bread.
The mother finally found the meal and salt. She
washed out the trough, from which a horse had been
fed. In this she mixed the meal for bread and then
baked it in the ashes. Theirs was a large family,
and they knew not where the next bread was to come
from ; but government rations served to supply the
need for a time.
Near the banks of the Neuse river lived a Friend
named Jesse HoUowell. He was a good farmer, used
to having plenty around him. His wife was good at
carding, spinning and weaving, and many of the aris-
tocratic slaveholders' wives sought instruction of her
in this now necessary employment. It became a
source of pride among the ladies when they could
produce good yarn suits for their husbands or sons.
With equal pride the men wore them. Broadcloth
was not to be had as in other days, for love or money.
Shoemakers, women as well as men, were respected
SOUTHERN HEROES. 421
on account of their calling. From the palmetto ob-
tained from South Carolina, many made hats for them-
selves and their neighbors. Hats made of wheat
straw were quite common.
As the end of the war drew near and the slave-
holders saw that theirs was " the lost cause," they
became anxious to save what they could, and they be-
lieved that if they and their goods could be sheltered
by Friends it would be better for them. Jesse Hollo-
well was employed in moving their goods to his own
and other Friends' houses, just before Sherman's
army came. But the soldiers knew no difference.
The Confederate and Union alike took whatever they
found that they wished, without regard to the religion
or politics of the citizens. When it was understood
that Sherman was at Fayetteville, there was a fear
and trembling among the people, and every effort was
made to secrete property.
On the day of the battle of Bentonsville, these
Friends could not get to their meeting, as the soldiers
were between them and the meeting-house. The dis-
tinctness of the sounds from the battlefield made it
seem nearer than it really was. Even the cattle
seemed to know that there was a terrible catastrophe
at hand. They were restless, plaintively lowing and
wandering uneasily about all day. At Jesse Hollo-
well's, between Bentonsville and Goldsboro, they had
not seen a soldier during the day, but they heard the
continual noise of battle all day, and at evening the
sharp crack of musketry nearer by ; they went to
bed at night without knowing the result of the day's
bloody work.
422 SOUTHERN HEROES.
The next morning our friend resumed his work as
usual, not knowing what better to do. About nine
o'clock the dog began to bark, and the boy Jesse, anx-
ious to learn the cause, climbed upon the fence. He
saw a lot of men and horses about the house, and
thinking they might want the horse with which he
was ploughing, he began to wonder where the horse
could be secreted. Before he could decide, a man in
blue uniform, the first Jesse had ever seen, was there,
and ordered him to unhitch the horse ; but Jesse did
not like to give it up, for it was one that they had
raised and he was much attached to it. The soldier
did not wait for him to do it, but promptly unhitched
it himself, and mounting rode away. " It then dawned
upon me," Jesse says, " that we were receiving a visit
from our friends (?) the Yankees. When I reached
the house I found that they had been to the field and
taken a horse and cart from the boy working there.
They were loading the cart with smoked hams, piling
them on top of one another, with not a piece of any
other kind of meat on the cart. They had hitched
two horses to it, one in front of the other, — a new
way of carting, to me. Soon others were loading a
buggy with dried fruit and other pantry supplies.
Bureau drawers and trunks were all searched, and the
four dollars in specie that we (the children) had saved
was taken away. A pot of lard that mother had hid
in the ash-hopper, they thought a rich prize, but richer
still the barrels, one of which had been buried in the
smoke-house, and another placed above it, thinking if
the top one should be taken they would not look for
SOUTHERN HEROES. 423
the second. But Sherman's men were used to foraa-
ing and they found and took the two barrels of lard.
Father tried to convince them of our Union principles,
and mother begged to have my horse, the one she and
the girls drove, but it was all of no avail. These
supplies were taken to the camp near where the fight-
ing had been going on the day before. The man with
the buggy-load of dried fruit and pantry supplies
finally promised mother that he would return the horse
and buggy after getting to camp. A colored boy who
was working with us offered to go with him and take
them back, and to our surprise, after everything else
had been taken or laid waste and the country was full
of soldiers and implements of war, the man who had
taken off the family-horse returned with him and the
colored boy ; but said that the harness had been cut so
badly that he could not bring the buggy back ; but it
was afterwards recovered from a man, who, like the
rest of us, was picking up what was left in the deserted
camps.
" After the first squad of soldiers left us, things
were pretty quiet until the next day, when we went
to work again, probably from force of habit. I was
working near the road. A squad of Union soldiers
passed, and one of them, being bareheaded, called me
to the fence and took my new one hundred and fifty
dollar hat from my head. Some additional plunder-
ing was done at the house, but we had not seen much
of the work, as we found afterwards.
" On Fourth-day the wagon train camped betwixt
us and the Neuse river, and soldiers, several files deep,
424 SOUTHERN HEROES.
were marching past our house all day. The woods
were on fire. We could hear the guns as they killed
sheep, cattle and poultry in every direction. When
night came, it found us without dinner and with no-
thing for supper ; not a change of clothing for men,
women or children ; bedclothes all gone, every pillow
and bolster ripped open and the feathers emptied out ;
fences burned, weather-boarding stripped from the
barn and carried off, all the washing and cooking
utensils gone, etc., etc. Then we began to see some
of the effects of war.
" Fourth-day evening, when things had somewhat
quieted down, father went down to the nearest camp
and told an officer our situation, and asked him for
something to eat. He was given a joint of bacon and
probably something in the bread line. I have for-
gotten how mother managed to cook; I only know
that she did, and that we did not really suffer from
the pangs of hunger. That was the only day that we
were entirely without food. Father said that when
on his begging trip he did not feel so badly as he did
when he heard that South Carolina had seceded from
the Union.
" When the camp had been moved from the south
side of the Neuse river, the people in this vicinity —
and we were very convenient in this respect — raked
up all the loose corn, shucks, fodder, etc., to feed poor,
sore-backed and broken-down horses, which we had
picked up preparatory to making another crop. Oc-
casionally we would find a small piece of bacon or a
few dried peas that they had left. All the good horses
SOUTHERN HEROES. 425
that they could find no use for were huddled up and
killed. There were about a hundred and fifty killed
within an acre's space about three-fourths of a mile
from us, and seventy-five in another direction about
the same distance. On moving camp they would cut
up and mutilate buggies and carriages, pile rails upon
them and burn them.
"After Johnston surrendered, the United States
commissary issued rations to citizens who would avail
themselves of them. I have forgotten the quantity,
but it was a certain amount of flour, pickled beef,
sugar and coffee, weekly. I think Sixth-day was
' draw-day ' in our section. For miles below they
would gather at the pontoon bridge on Neuse river,
near where we lived, and about ten o'clock they were
allowed to cross. From there to Goldsboro and return,
this crowd of hundreds, mostly women and all on foot,
was accompanied by a guard of one man, detailed for
that special purpose. Sister Kate (then a little girl)
was our representative."
Immediately following the surrender of Lee, North-
ern Friends, aware of the great straits to which their
brethren in the South were reduced, organized what
was known as " the Baltimore Association of Friends,"
"as a channel for the distribution of aid from the
Friends of Europe and America." Agents were sent
to the different yearly meetings to solicit aid. Not
only was food needed immediately to keep them from
starving, but means for the rebuilding of their school-
houses and meeting-houses, and foi* the education of
their children. Most nobly did the Friends give them-
426 SOUTHERN HEROES.
selves to the work of relief. Our correspondent, Jesse
HoUowell, continues his account :
" As soon as the Baltimore Association came to our
relief, Friends quit calling on Uncle Sam. I vividly
recollect the day E. M. Janney and Sarah Smiley
(agents for the Baltimore Association) came to our
house. Things had very much quieted down, and we
seldom saw any soldiers unless we went over toward
Goldsboro (six miles away). One day we saw a squad
of cavalry and a two-horse jersey-wagon coming
through the plantation. There were no fences to hin-
der. They drew near, and it appeared as though they
were going to call. We felt as though we did not
want any more soldiers' calls. Mother started to go
out, thinking to give them instructions on getting to
the public road, one fourth of a mile distant, but
Richard Janney and the officer in charge wished to
know if Jesse HoUowell lived there, and on being
answered in the affirmative alighted with baggage in
hand and were coming in. The soldiers had taken
their leave and turned for Goldsboro. Mother met
them. Introducing themselves, they told their mission
before going into the house. It was joyful news to
us. When father returned at night I told him of it
and he could hardly help shouting.
" With our warlike neighbors, it was a question
how the Quakers North and South could love each
other and be on such friendly terms at the close of
such a bloody war ' between the sections.' "
Johnston accepted the generous terms of General
Sherman, which he dictated in accordance with what
SOUTHERN HEROES. 427
he understood to be Abraham Lincoln's policy, but
these terms were not satisfactory to some in authority,
and were finally rejected, making it quite probable
that further blood would be shed ; but rather than
continue the now hopeless undertaking to establish the
Confederacy, Johnston finally accepted the more ex-
acting terms required by others, and on the twenty-
sixth of April surrendered his army.
On the tenth of May, Jefferson Davis was captured
at Irwinsville, in the south of Georgia. On the four-
teenth of May all the Confederate troops east of the
Mississippi laid down their arms. On the twenty-
sixth of May all west of the " Father of Waters "
followed, and the Confederate States of America
were no more. The high ambitions of her statesmen
and office-seekers were fallen, their hopes blasted, and
their slaves forever free.
CHAPTER XXIII.
A redder sea than Egypt's wave
Is piled and parted for the slave ;
A darker cloud moves on in light ;
A fiercer fire is guide by night.
The praise, O Lord 1 is thine alone,
In thine own way the work is done.
Our poor gifts at thy feet we cast,
To whom be glory first and last.
Whittier.
The thought in writing this book was that it would
help to convince the reader that arbitration is the
best way to settle international difficulties. Some-
times this may be done by showing the awful results
of war.
A recent visit to many of the Southern battle-
fields, where occurred some of the most disastrous
conflicts of the war of 1861-65, has so impressed the
writer that he has ventured to introduce the following
summary account of a few of the scenes of carnage.
He knows that what is described was no part of the
work of " the Friends in war time," and yet it may
have a part in so teaching men the horrors of battle
that they will " learn war no more."
Fredericksburg is the chief town of Spottsylvania
County, Virginia. It has about five thousand inhabi-
tants, and is situated on the south bank of the Rap-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 429
paliannock river, sixty-nine miles from Washington,
D. C, and sixty-seven miles from Richmond, Va.
George Washington was born near here, and the
house in which his mother lived is still standing,
being kept in order by the Masonic lodge that claimed
Washington as a member. Near Fredericksburg is
an unfinished monument which marks the burial-place
of the mother of George Washington.
Just out of the suburbs rise St. Mary's Heights,
and away to the southwest stretches the level plain
between the heights and the river. This plain is six
miles long and from one-half mile to one and a half
miles broad. On St. Mary's Heights are a National
and a Confederate cemetery, side by side. Here sleep
those who wore the blue and those who wore the gray.
It matters not to them now which side they served.
Peaceably they sleep together on that hill, in one
great "city of the dead," overlooking the smaller
city on the plain, bordering the noble Rappahannock,
with the heights sheltering its flowing waters on
either side.
In the Federal cemetery 15,000 graves are marked
with marble slabs, 12,000 of them with one sad word,
" Unknown," on them. In the vicinity of this city
were fought five of the most bloody battles of the
war. In other cemeteries were laid many thousands
of the brave boys in blue or gray, who fell upon these
fields of carnage, and many were never given a place
in any cemetery. Each died, as he thought, for the
sake of his country, and they slew each other not be-
cause they had any hatred one for another as mon, nor
430 SOUTHERN HEROES.
because tliey had complaints against one another ;
but from place of birth, education, mistaken views
and force of circumstances they were arrayed against
one another as soldiers in mortal combat.
The writer recently visited the little city upon the
plain, upon which one of God's servants, George
Whitefield, pronounced a curse, and concerning
which he made a remarkable prophecy. The pre-
dictions were literally fulfilled within the time spe-
cified. While there we read the story of " George
Whitefield's Curse," as given by Isabel Worrell Ball
in the " Evening Star," of Washington, D: C. It
may not be inappropriate to give it in this con-
nection.
A CURSE ON FREDERICKSBURG.
" In 1769 George Whitefield, one of the founders
of Methodism, and, until they split on doctrinal
rocks, the fast friend of John Wesley, pronounced a
curse upon Fredericksburg, which, in the light of
to-day, seems almost prophetic. The reformer was
an eccentric man, as fidl of whims as a watch is of
wheels, and he was hence the legitimate prey of the
small boy, who was ubiquitous then as now.
" While preaching in the open air over against the
heights of Fredericksburg in 1769, the young hood-
lums of the town set upon him and drove him to a
frenzy. Turning upon his tormenters, like an aveng-
ing demon, he cursed the town and all that it con-
tained, in the lurid language of the day. He
consigned it all to Hades and ordered red-hot trim-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 431
mings for the reception decorations. He predicted
that for the ungodliness of the town and its inhospi-
table treatment of himself misfortune should overtake
its inhabitants, and before the curse should be fully-
worked out the streets should run red with blood. He
concluded by saying that for one hundred years it
should stand still, and not a soul should it grow till
the century was gone.
"When the census of 1870 was taken, one year
more than the century named, the population num-
bered just four more souls than it did when the old
man turned his invective loose upon it.
" How the soul of the old Calvinist must have
gloated over the fulfillment of his prophecy, the
climax to his curse, if it was hovering over that pretty
little town on that foggy morning when the plain over
which he stretched his bony hands was turned into a
veritable Golgotha, and the Rappahannock ran red
with blood."
In the five bloody battles fought around this city
from December, 1862, to May, 1864, about one hun-
dred thousand men were said to have been killed,
wounded and missing.
The first of these terrible scenes began December
13, 1862. Both armies were confident of their own
ability and of the insufficiency of the enemy. Gen-
eral Burnside succeeded General McClellan in com-
mand of the army of the Potomac, November 10,
1862. With desperate eagerness he moved his army
of a hundred and twenty thousand men over the Rap-
432 SOUTHERN HEROES.
pahannock, on four pontoon bridges, fighting as they
went. Eighty thousand men, under Lee, Jackson and
Longstreet, were on the heights with artillery, pre-
pared to sweep the plain when it should be filled with
that army of a hundred and twenty thousand souls.
General E. P. Alexander, the Confederate engineer
and superintendent of artillery, said to Longstreet :
" General, we cover that ground now so well that we
will comb it as with a fine-tooth comb. A chicken
could not live on the plain when we open fire
upon it."
General McClellan's lack of success in gaining
victory for the Federals had caused the authorities to
become impatient, and General Burnside, in his zeal
to win a victory, was wholly unprepared for the trap
so successfully laid for him by the Confederates, and
when their batteries did open fire upon his army it
was indeed mown down. An English correspon-
dent on the grounds wrote to the London " Times "
as follows :
A TERRIBLE AND SUBLIME SCENE.
" Such a scene, at once terrible and sublime, mortal
eye never rested on before, unless the bombardment
of Sebastopol by the combined batteries of France
and England revealed a more fearful manifestation
of the hate and fury of men.
" The thundering, bellowing roar of hundreds of
pieces of artillery ! the bright jets of issuing flame !
the screaming, whistling, shrieking projectiles ! the
wreaths of smoke as shell after shell burst in the
SOUTHERN HEROES. 433
still air! the savage crash of round shot among the
trees of the shattered forest ! — all formed a scene
likely to sink forever into the minds of all who wit-
nessed it, but utterly defying verbal delineation.
" A direct and enfilading fire swept each battery on
either side as it unmasked. Volley replied to volley,
crash succeeded crash, until the eye lost all power of
distinguishing the lines of combatants, and the plain
seemed like a lake of fire, — a seething, molten lake
of lava, coursed over by incarnate fiends, drunk with
fury and revenge."
The Richmond " Enquirer " said the next day :
" The Yankees commenced stormino; the hill at
half past eleven, and were repulsed four times with
immense slaughter. They were mowed down by hun-
dreds. Two hundred and fifty bodies were counted
in a space occupied by only one regiment."
General Longstreet, one of the Confederate com-
manders, says : " Five times the Union troops formed
and charged, and were repulsed. A sixth time they
charged and were driven back, and then night came
to end the dreadful carnage, and the Federals with-
drew, leaving the battlefield literally heaped with
their dead. Before the well-directed fire of Cobb's
brigade, the Federals had fallen like the steady drip-
ping of rain from the eaves of the house. Our mus-
ketry alone killed and wounded at least five thousand,
and these, with the slaughter of the artillery, left
more than seven thousand killed and wounded before
the foot of St. Mary's Heights.
434 SOUTHERN HEROES.
" The dead were piled sometimes three deep, and
when the morning broke, the spectacle that we saw on
the battlefield was one of the most distressing that I
ever witnessed. The charges had been desperate
and bloody, but utterly hopeless. I thought as I saw
the Federals come again and again to their death that
they deserved success, if courage and daring could
entitle a soldier to victory."
Of the gallant Irish brigade of twelve hundred
men, whom, each with his sprig of shamrock. General
Meagher had led into the valley of death on that
bloody thirteenth, only two hundred and sixty re-
ported for duty the next morning. These still wear-
ing the shamrock in their hats, battered and begrimed
with the terrible work of the day before, and mourn-
ing the loss of their comrades, gathered around the
flag of green and gold, ready to renew the work of
slaughter and sacrifice the remnant of their famous
brigade at their commander's word.
Of Hooker's four thousand men who assaulted the
enemy, trying to gain a stone wall, 1760 were left
on the field. The killed, wounded and missing in
this terrible effort to gain St. Mary's Heights were
12,973 on the Union side and 4576 on the Confed-
erate side.
Defeated and utterly discouraged, the Union army
recrossed the Rappahannock and went into winter
quarters in close proximity to the enemy, still shel-
tered behind their entrenchments. The army was
disheartened not only because of its own defeat, but
because of the general discouraging outlook for the
SOUTHERN HEROES. 435
Federal forces. At Stone River, ten thousand more
of the brave defenders of the Union had been sacri-
ficed in the vain attempt to gain a victory, for a vic-
tory it could hardly be called. Sherman's troops
before Vicksburg had also been obliged to withdraw,
leaving two thousand five hundred more soldiers
slain.
Recruits for the thinned ranks of the Army of the
Potomac were called for, and on May first, 1863,
125,000 men now forming this army, with a new com-
mander whose reputation had gained for him the name
of " Fighting Joe Hooker," again entered upon the
conflict. The battle of Chancellorsville was fousfht
and 1630 more of the Northern soldiers were killed,
wounded and missing, with nearly as many on the
Southern side. After three days hard fighting, see-
ing the hopelessness of the undertaking, utterly dis-
couraged and humiliated, he ordered a retreat, and in
the darkness of the night the army of the Potomac
recrossed the Rappahannock, leaving twenty thousand
stand of arms and fourteen pieces of artillery on the
field to enrich the enemy.
These continued reverses so distressed Abraham
Lincoln that when word was brought him of this de-
feat he seemed almost to despair.
In June, 1863, Hooker asked to be released of his
command, and General Meade succeeded him. Then
followed the Gettysburg campaign, with the loss of
23,316 men on the Northern side and 36,000 South-
erners, after which Meade and Lee occupied about the
same positions as before, not far from Chancellors-
436 SOUTHERN HEROES.
ville. It was then that Meade planned the battle of
Mine Run. So desperate was the undertaking that
his men did not expect to survive the battle ; but they
were soldiers.
" Theirs not to make reply ;
Theirs but to do and die."
As they were disposed for the night in such a way as
to be ready for instant action when daylight should
come, they at once began writing farewell messages to
their friends, and their names on slips of paper, which
they pinned to their blouses, that there might be no
need to write upon their grave-stones the single word,
" Unknown."
The engagement began on the twenty-first of No-
vember, 1863, but such was the prospect of the utter
annihilation of the Northern forces that the corps
commanders thought that criticism was better than
destruction, and they refused to take their troops into
action. After some skirmishing, in which about five
hundred were lost on each side, they withdrew and
entered into winter quarters. For a time there was a
hush of the sound of battle, but it was the calm that
preceded a storm even yet more fearful and destruc-
tive.
Grant started south and his army took up the cry,
" On to Richmond ; " but many a bloody field must
be crossed ere they reached the Confederate capital.
Lee, with his bold Southern boys, ready to die at the
word of their loved general, was still occupying the
ground around Mine Run and Chancellorsville. Here,
where the army of the Potomac had stared death in
SOUTHERN HEROES. 437
the face less than six months before, and about a year
before the waters of Mine Run had been crimsoned
with the blood of those who had died at the battle of
Chancellorsville, Grant met Lee in the deadly battle
of the Wilderness.
This locality was not an ordinary forest of tall pines
or gigantic oaks. These had long since been removed
for timber by those engaged in mining in this vicinity,
and there had grown up a dense undergrowth of low-
limbed pines, stiff chinquapins, scrub-oak and hazel.
The ground was rocky and uneven, so that friends
and foes were invisible to one another, except the few
who were close together. Here lurked two hundred
thousand men, about half of them dressed in blue and
half in gray. No ordinary line of battle could be
formed, and there was no chance for the display of
generalship as in the open field. No general could
see his men ten files away. Artillery was useless, and
the three hundred immense guns of the Northern
troops were silent except for the few shots made by
the roadside. No cavalry could enter the Wilderness,
and they were ruled out of the conflict. It was a
deadly hand-to-hand fight between the sons of America.
Something horrible indeed there is to contemplate
in this battle of the Wilderness, as men sent their
missiles of death to each other and brought misery
and woe to the families represented. Maddened by
the intoxicating work at hand and reckless of their
own or others' lives, they fought, the officers only
knowing of the loss or advantage to either side by the
Yankee cheer or the Southern yell, which could at
438 SOUTHERN HEROES.
times be heard from the unseen men, following the
sharp crack of musketry.
Here eighteen thousand men wearing the blue and
twelve thousand clad in gray were slain, and no vic-
tory was gained by either side. It was generally con-
ceded to be a drawn battle. Fearful in its intensity,
horrible in its effect, was the battle of the Wilder-
ness.
The following remarkable story has been told the
writer for truth, and has been used by some whose
care in such matters warrants us in giving it cre-
dence :
The night before entering this battle, several men
were assembled, reading their Bibles. The believers
in God's promises were endeavoring to encourage one
another to put their trust in Him. On reading the
ninety-first psalm, particular attention was called to
the seventh verse, " A thousand shall fall at thy side
and ten thousand at thy right hand ; but it shall not
come nigh thee." This verse they were encouraged
each to claim as the promise of God to him, and
finally the open Bible was placed on a rock, and
those who would claim the promise were asked as an
evidence of their faith in God's protection to pass
by and place their fingers on that verse. Seventy
men were said to have solemnly placed their fingers
on the seventh verse of the ninety-first psalm. After
the battle was over and the regiment, which had en-
tered the battle with a thousand men, was assembled
for roll-call, only one hundred were able to answer
" Here," and of this hundred, seventy were the men
SOUTHERN HEROES. 439
who had placed their fingers upon the promise of God
and definitely claimed his protection from the hidden
enemy In that terrible thicket.
Grant had started South, and, not discouraged by
the result of the fight, had kept on toward Spottsyl-
vania, fighting all the way. For twelve days Lee
contested every attempt he made to advance, and forty
thousand more of the Union forces were slain between
the battle of the Wilderness and the battle of Spott-
sylvanla, where the broken and wearied forces met in
what has been called by many " the deadliest and
fiercest conflict of the war."
Foot to foot, hand to hand, the Union forces en-
deavored to overpower the Southern men and capture
the place ; sometimes standing on the bodies of their
slain comrades three or four deep, they fought what
is known as " The Bloody Angle at Spottsylvania."
They finally planted the United States flag within the
enemy's breastworks, where they managed to hold
their position in spite of Lee's desperate efforts to dis-
lodge them.
But Spottsylvania itself was not yet captured.
Leaving about nine thousand of Lee's troops among
the slain, and about twelve thousand of his own men
unable to answer to the bugle call and march on to
Richmond, General Grant, with a vast army still left,
moved south, and for the first time In two years the
little city of Fredericksburg could rest from the noise
and expectation of battle.
The battle of Cold Harbor was remarkable for Its
great loss of life in a very short time. Some say ten
440 SOUTHERN HEROES.
minutes, and none claim more than twenty as the
length o£ time that the battle lasted ; and yet the
Northern troops were obliged to withdraw from the
attack, and in that brief space of time they lost 15,000
men.
Meade did not approve of a renewal of the attack,
yet he finally consented to issue the orders given him,
and the word was passed from officers to men. The
time came for the contemplated onslaught, but not a
man obeyed the order. This is perhajDS the only in-
stance in the annals of warfare where the intelligence
of the rank and file of the soldiery rose above the
judgment of their superiors, and an emphatic though
silent " No " was given to the requirements of officers
whom they were accustomed to obey. The bitter ex-
perience of the morning taught them that it was a
useless butchery of men to assail the stronghold of the
enemy, and they refused to make the required sacri-
fice of life.
The curse of George Whitefield had been fulfilled ;
the streets of Fredericksburg had indeed run red with
blood. She had suffered as only a city can suffer
with contending armies seeking to drive each other
from her borders.
Shall we draw the curtain here and veil from our
sight the terrible scenes of which we have caught only
a glimpse ? The days of peace have come. No more
is " the battle of the warrior with confused noise
and garments rolled in blood " known in our land.
America's sons are once more united under the flag
of our fathers and we are brethren.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 441
Better, far better, is now the condition of that little
city on the banks of the Rappahannock, cursed though
it may have been by the Lord's servant, and by the
hand of war.
The little plain stretching out before the city hav-
ing drunk the blood of so many, and the city at its
head having been cursed by God's servant, remind us
of Israel, once a great nation, and of the plains of
Esdraelon or Jezreel, in the land of Palestine, over-
looked by the mountains of Gilboa and washed by the
river Kishon, between Jordan and the Mediterranean,
— once a flourishing region. Esdraelon had drunk
the blood of so manj'- of God's people that Gibbon
said of this once fair field : " When the last trump
shall sound, more bodies will answer the summons
from Esdraelon than from any other spot of the same
size on the inhabited globe." Of the valley of Jezreel
the Lord said (Hosea i. 4-6) : " For yet a little
while arid I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the
house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of
the house of Israel. And it shall come to pass at that
day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley
of Jezreel. I will no more have mercy upon the house
of Israel ; but I will utterly take them away." For
the crimes and for the bloody battles fought there, and
for grief at the death of Saul and Jonathan, King
David wept and mourned that the beauty of Israel
was slain. In his sorrow and grief, stretching his
hands toward the mountains overlooking the plain, he
said : " Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew,
neither let there be any rain upon you, neither fields
442 SOUTHERN HEROES.
of offering." Abundantly though the fields did yield,
yet since that day only thistles nod in the breezes, and
no hand tills the unproductive soil.
The curse of God is plainly seen, not only upon this
fair land, but upon that people who rejected God's
commands and would not have the Prince of Peace to
reign over them. May it be removed from the plain
of Esdraelon and the mountains of Gilboa as well as
from the fair city of the Southland, if upon them it
still be ; and may the day be hastened when God's
chosen Israel, " the lost nation," and all the nations of
the earth may learn righteousness, and the terrible
blight and curse of war never more be known.
CHAPTER XXIV.
As thine early children, Lord,
Shared their wealth and daily bread,
Even so, with one accord,
We, in love, each other fed.
Not with us the miser's hoard ;
Not with us his grasping hand ;
Equal round a common board,
Drew our meek and brother band.
Whittieb.
In giving some account of the work of the Balti-
more Association, which was organized for a specific
purpose, did its work thoroughly and grandly, and
dissolved when that work was accomplished, with the
universal testimony, " well done," it is quite fitting
that we should make special mention of him who so
clearly saw the need of such an organization, con-
ceived the plan, and whose liberal contributions to its
funds and continued service made possible the accom-
plishment of its work.
Francis Thompson King was born in Baltimore,
Second month 25th, 1819. He was carefully trained
and educated in the Society of Friends, and early
became convinced of the sin of slavery and of war.
He devoted his first hundred dollars toward the pur-
chase of a slave boy in whom he had become inter-
444 SOUTHERN HEROES.
estecl, and set him free. He was often instrumental
in the purchase and freeing of slaves.
Under the preaching of John Hersey, a Methodist,
he was awakened to a sense of his spiritual need.
Soon after this Joseph John Gurney, from England,
a minister among the Friends, visited this country
in religious service. He sto^^ped at Joseph King's
house, and his son, Francis T. King, became an
avowed Christian in 1838. Under the influence and
teaching of this man of God, he definitely accepted
Jesus Christ as his Saviour, and received pardon for
his sins, through faith in His atoning blood. He
fully accej)ted the doctrines of the Gospel, as held by
the Friends, and ever remained loyal to the interests
of the Baltimore Yearly Meeting, with which he was
actively connected.
From 1840 to 1856 he was an active and successful
business man, and his business was conducted strictly
in accordance with his Christian principles. On one
occasion he received a large order for goods. As they
were about to be shipped he ascertained that they
were to be used for military purposes. He immedi-
ately refused to allow the order to be filled, saying
that no goods of his should be used for the promotion
of war.
Having obtained the amount he had previously
fixed upon as needful for his support, he retired from
active business life, that he might give himself more
directly to the Lord's work ; not as a minister, though
he often addressed the people in the name of his
Saviour, but in the various lines of church work so
SOUTHERN HEROES. 445
much needing consecrated intellect and business tal-
ent. He was a philantkropist of broad views, tak-
ing into consideration every subject claiming liis
interest and assistance, and devoting such time and
means to it as his generous heart and wise head might
deem prudent.
Baltimore was always his home, and what con-
cerned his native city interested him. He accepted
positions of trust in connection with her public works
and charitable institutions, as well as many concerns
of public interest outside the State. Such was the
influence exerted by him among the leading citizens
of Baltimore, that by his wise counsel he was able
to do much toward influencing the city authorities
to maintain their position of loyalty to the United
States.
In Fourth month, 1861, when the Pennsylvania
troops were approaching Baltimore on their way to
"Washington, the Southern sympathizers were deter-
mined that they should not pass through the city.
Two days before a Massachusetts regiment had been
attacked while marching through the city from one
depot to another, and men on both sides were killed,
— the first lives lost in the war. The railroad
bridges north and east of the city were burned to pre-
vent the transportation of troops to Washington, and
all the ports were closed. Everywhere the fife and
drum were heard, recruiting men. Squads were drill-
ing, and cannon and supplies were being hauled
through the streets. Baltimore was a great military
camp.
446 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Five thousand troops from Pennsylvania were
nearing the city. It was Sabbath morning, and the
church bells rang out as usual ; but soon the alarm
bells were heard, and preparations were made to pre-
vent the passage of these troops ; but the cavalry and
infantry moved on. The Friends' meeting-house was
near the city hall. About meeting time the Friends
gathered in the yard, as was their wont, though the
excitement in the vicinity was very great, some anx-
iously querying what to do ; for many had not heard
of the approach of troops before their coming to
meeting and of the possible repetition of the scenes
of two days before. To add to the trial of their faith
and patience, word came to several that their horses
had been taken by the militia.
As the hour drew near at which they usually
gathered within the house, the voice of one of their
elders was heard saying : " Friends, I think the best
place for us is to quietly gather into the meeting-
house and wait as usual upon the Lord." In a few
moments, without a questioning word, the congrega-
tion was seated, " under the shadow of His wing." It
was the only congregation of worshipers in the city
of Baltimore on this exciting day.
Many of the city officials sympathized with the
South, while the few Union men, surprised and over-
awed by the actions of their officials, made no opposi-
tion until the ballot box revealed the fact that a good
portion of the citizenship was loyal to the Union.
Francis T. King called upon the city authorities, and
was most kindly received and readily granted an au-
SOUTHERN HEROES. 447
dience. He told them that he had just returned from
the North, and explained to them the situation, — how
the North was much better prepared to carry on a war
than the South, and that it would be useless to op-
pose her. Communication by wire or mail had been
cut off. Great efforts were being made to induce
Maryland to join the Confederacy, and her officials
were much perplexed.
After faithfully presenting his views to the city
fathers, Francis T. King then went to see the gover-
nor, who received him cordially in his room, though
the hour was now midnight. He gave him a full ac-
count of what he had seen in the North, and an idea
of the determination of all classes to prevent Mary-
land, just in the rear of the nation's capital, from
seceding. The governor listened with attention and
apparent interest to all he had to say, asking many
questions. Francis T. King says : " I was soon re-
lieved to learn that he was loyal, and would defeat
the efforts of the secessionists to put Maryland in a
hostile position." The disloyal members of the legis-
lature were soon after arrested by the United States
authorities, and a loyal legislature elected. Governor
Hicks was retained, and remained true to the great
responsibilities of his situation during the war.
Francis King's greatest interest was in the Society
of Friends, and however much he might be pressed
with public and other business, his church and its
work claimed the foremost place. As we have
already learned, he frequently visited Washington,
and had free access to the government officials to
448 SOUTHERN HEROES.
present the needs of any of his suffering brethren.
He was active in the pressing of Friends' claims for
exemption from military duty, and was of great assist-
ance in securing the favorable exemption laws granted
by the United States government.
During the war, when thousands of Southern sol-
diers were imprisoned at Point Lookout, at the
mouth of the Potomac, some of them thought they
should be liberally furnished with whatever they might
wish, and made earnest appeals to the Southern sym-
pathizers in Baltimore and elsewhere for money, pre-
tending that they needed it to buy food, clothing,
blankets and other needfid thino^s. The foUowiue: is
an account given by F. T. King concerning the sub-
ject, and gives a good idea of the care of prisoners
by the Federal government :
POINT LOOKOUT.
"In the cold winter of 1863, when so much
suffering from the weather was experienced by the
prisoners of war, a leading merchant of Baltimore,
a well-known sympathizer with the South, called upon
me and said that he and his friends were constantly
receiving letters from Confederate prisoners at Point
Lookout, at the mouth of the Potomac, complaining
of not being protected from the severity of the
weather, and that they were suffering intensely for
want of blankets, shoes, underclothing, etc. ' We
have piles of such letters,' he said, ' and we are pre-
pared to put into your hands 120,000 as a gift to
you, for which you will be accountable to no one,
FRANCIS T. K.IN(i
SOUTHERN HEROES. 449
believing that we can rely uj)on you to relieve the
prisoners at Point Lookout.' I replied that I hardly
thought their condition could be so bad, and that I
saw no way by which I could serve him unless I went
to the Secretary of War myself and received au-
thority to disburse this money. He replied that I
might take any course I thought best, but he and his
friends did not wish to be known in the matter ; they
did not think it safe that they should be.
"I went to Washington at once and told Secretary
Stanton the whole story. Striking his hand upon the
table he said : ' God forbid that I should ever resort
to such retaliatory measures,' and taking a card he
wrote out a commission for me to visit the prison and
report to him. At my request he included the name
of James Carey.
" We started next day upon our mission, spent the
first night at Alexandria, Va., and took a govern-
ment boat the following morning down the Potomac.
Quite a number of Confederate earthworks frowned
upon us from the south bank. It was long after dark
when we reached the prison city, and we could not get
a place to sleep within the enclosure ; so we had to
take what rest we could outside the pickets in a very
rude and unclean house, — a rest much disturbed by
rats ; a large one fell from the rafter overhead directly
upon us.
" Early the next morning we called upon the com-
mander with our credentials. He received us kindly,
wallted with us to the gate of the immense enclosure,
and introduced us to a number of the principal Con-
450 SOUTHERN HEROES.
federate officers, and requested them to show us all
over the grounds, allow us to inspect the food and the
clothing, and to answer fully every question we put
to them relative to their condition and wants. We
spent the day in making a very careful inquiry, and
found the state of things altogether different from
what we had been led to expect. The prisoners hav-
ing little to do, some of them spent much of their
time in gambling, and having obtained the names
of leading Baltimoreans, who sympathized with the
South, they had been drawing upon their liberal-
ity to furnish the means with which to gamble and
to purchase, clandestinely, prohibited articles. Our
commission gave us the power to order clothing,
blankets and whatever was needed ; but the extent of
our demand upon the quartermaster did not amount
to a sujjply for more than thirty or forty of the
11,000 prisoners. The Confederate officers were
very much provoked at the course of those who had
imposed on the kindness of their friends in Balti-
more.
" We were exceedingly interested in this ' prison
city,' as it might be called. It was regularly laid out
in streets, fronting the bay, and everything was kept
neat and clean. The ingenuity of the men was shown
in the nice tents and cabins they had built, some of
them lined inside very neatly with simple materials,
such as cracker boxes, etc.
" We made our report to the Secretary of War,
and also to our friends in Baltimore, much to their
relief."
SOUTHERN HEROES. 451
When the war was over, the situation of tlie freed-
men of the South was one of great interest to Francis
T. King, and he worked diligently for the improve-
ment of their condition. The Indian work also
claimed much of his attention: but amid it all he
kept up his interest in the North Carolina Friends.
Just before and during the war he had watched their
faithful adherence to the principles of peace during
the most trying circumstances. He had seen the lia-
bility of the abandonment of the country by those
bearing the name of Friends, and he set himself to
check the tide of emigration. Many companies passed
through the city on the way to their friends in the
West, who welcomed them to their homes, destitute
as many of them were. Upon their arrival in Balti-
more, Francis T. King often met them and gathered
what information he could concerning the condition of
the Friends they had left behind.
He found tliat great indeed were the sufferings and
privations caused by the war, which had left them
but little with which to begin life anew. Taking all
this into account, he conceived the idea of helpino-
them to start again on the old homesteads, and begin
the work at once of "rebuilding the waste places."
So he called a few of his friends and kindred spirits
around him, and told them of the great need of prompt
action for the relief and encouragement of their
brethren who had suffered for their principles during
the dark days of the war. It was agreed to form an
association to be called " The Baltimore Association
of Friends, to advise and assist Friends in the South-
452 SOUTHERN HEROES.
ern States." Francis T. King was appointed Presi-
dent ; Isaac Brooks, Secretary ; Jesse Tyson, Treas-
urer; and tliere was a board of twenty managers.
The following executive committee was appointed :
Francis T. King, Chairman ; John C. Thomas, Sec-
retary ; Francis White, James C. Thomas, M. D.,
Jesse Tyson, and Caleb Winslow, M. D. A liberal
amount of money was subscribed by Friends in Bal-
timore, and Francis T. King was appointed to visit
every yearly meeting of Friends in America, to ex-
plain to them the situation and solicit funds for the
aid of these their brethren.
We have seen how promptly their messengers,
Sarah Smiley and Richard M. Janney, were on the
grounds. Even while Sherman occupied Goldsboro,
they arrived at Jesse Hollowell's house, bringing
good cheer and bodily comforts. They were the first
to cross Mason and Dixon's line, as the bearers of
brotherly love and substantial aid to the destitute,
suffering people. The capture of Goldsboro by Sher-
man opened the door for them to these fields, and they
promptly entered.
The Association shipped to them carloads of pro-
visions, boxes of goods of all descriptions, tools for
the working of the land and articles for housekeep-
ing. Sewing-needles, thread, scissors and buttons
were not forgotten, and how glad the housewives
were to receive them. Thirty years afterward, one of
them told the writer with much pleasure how Sarah
Smiley gave her thread, needles and pins, which she
so much needed, having long since shared hers with a
SOUTHERN HEROES. 453
secession neighbor. The first care was to relieve the
pressing demand for food, and provisions were dis-
tributed gratuitously, especially to Friends, but any
pressing need was not turned away from. The call
was indeed great, and most nobly did Francis T.
King and his associates meet the emergency.
The following letter from Francis T. King to John
B. Crenshaw may have a fitting place here :
" My Dear Friend, John B. Crenshaw : " We
are sadly pained to hear of the sufferings of our
North Carolina brethren, from having the armies upon
them.
" I have been engaged in sending, through a permit
from the Secretary of War, three thousand dollars'
worth of flour, bacon, etc., to Contentnea Quarter
(Goldsboro) and shall have probably twelve to fif-
teen thousand dollars to apply in the same way to the
Western Quarter, near Greensboro.
" There is a great risk in sending provisions so far
inland, and I feel best satisfied to visit these dear
friends and organize a regular system for distribution,
— also to see their meeting for sufferings assembled,
to lay several matters before them, in regard to First-
day schools and those on week days, — to supply them
liberally with books, etc.
" I shall wait until our dear friend R. M. Janney
returns and reports. He went from here to Golds-
boro, then to Greensboro and Richmond. I shall
know better how to act when he advises me.
" Now my dear friend, I want thee to go with me.
454 SOUTHERN HEROES.
I want thy advice and judgment. I can raise 120,000
for our friends if necessary.
" There are great questions to be considered, emi-
gration, etc. We have hundreds passing through
here to the West. I feel like advising them to remain
at home, and not leave their land just now, if at all.
We can help them better there.
" I will get full power from our Secretary of War,
for us both. My love to you all,
Affectionately thy friend,
F. T. King."
The war for the Union did not divide Friends
North and South, as it did the other churches. It was
to many of the Southern people not only an unlooked-
for thing, but a surprising and impressive spectacle,
that from the States which had wasted the South
should come the most practical manifestation of love
and sympathy. Whilst Friends came to the relief of
those in Christian fellowship with themselves, it was
on account of their anti-war principles comparatively
easy for them to convince the peo])le who had been
overrun by armies that they sought the good of all.
Hating none, their presence from abroad was seldom
regarded with suspicion, so that the gospel of peace
and reconciliation was from their tongues a welcome
message.
Mention has been made in a previous chapter of the
heavy losses to Friends by the invading armies, and
of the purpose of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, with
others, to send them relief as speedily as practicable.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 455
Many of the Friends in Nortli Carolina and Ten-
nessee were in limited circumstances before the war.
Those who were comparatively wealthy shared the
common fate of being- made poor by the war. It
became apparent to the Baltimore Association of
Friends, that while there were many genuine cases of
suffering to be relieved, it would be impossible, im-
practicable and unwise to attempt, as some might de-
sire, to replace all losses pro rata with anything of an
even hand. They came to the far wiser conclusion to
bestow the trust, mainly in a way to bring forth fruit
that should abide, by helping them, first to educate
their children, and secondly to improve their lands.
How was this educational work to be accomplished ?
Francis T. King, whose heart and head and hand were
in every kind of Christian enterprise, had been chiefly
instrumental in securing the fund from its various
sources. He attended North Carolina Yearly Meet-
ing at New Garden, in Guilford County, in the fall of
18G5.
This it will be remembered was a few months after
the surrender of Johnston's army at Raleigh. He
there made known the purpose for which such funds
as they had were to be used, and, with the aid of
others, labored to encourage Friends to stay by their
homes and the State of North Carolina, and educate
their children. In this way they could restore the
waste places and continue a blessing to the land in
which a guiding Hand had planted them in the early
settling of the colonies. He told them to go home
from that yearly meeting and start in their various
45G SOUTHERN HEROES.
neighborhoods such schools as they could, with such
facilities as they had, and that a superintendent of
education would be sent into the field as soon as they
could find one, who woidd advise, assist, help reor-
ganize, if need be, and pay the teachers. The result
was that many schools were started, a few of which
deserved the name, while many could not so much as
be called apologies for schools. Let it be noted that
North Carolina's public-school system previous to the
war had been very inefficient, that the war had sunk
the last dollar of her educational funds, and that now
for years there had been but few schools in the State
and almost none for the people at large. The school-
houses were few and far between, and many of the
schools which had opened were in cast-off cabins or
old store-houses at cross-roads ; but the desire to learn
and the sore need in those days of the little money
which was promised the teachers caused them to
spring up.
But who was to take the field from Albemarle
Sound to the mountains, and over in Tennesseei and
in a corner of Virginia ; inspect the needs, inspire the
cooperation of the people, build the houses, select and
employ the teachers, import books and ajjparatus and
oversee the work? The Baltimore Association sent
out a call. How many responded we do not know.
A few weeks before the call, however, Joseph Moore,
a professor in Earlham College, Kiclmiond, Indiana,
a graduate of Harvard University, and a practical
educator of more than a dozen years' experience, was
suddenly compelled by broken health to quit his post.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 457
Tlii'ougli the persuasion of some of his friends at home
and in Baltimore, he was induced to accept the posi-
tion, with little hope on his part that he would be at
all equal to the privations and exposures of such a
work.
He had for a few weeks the company of that faith-
ful, efficient and courageous Friend, John Scott, a
minister of Baltimore. They proceeded by way of
Washington and Kichmond, and thence over the war-
crippled Richmond and Danville Railroad, through a
region impoverished and desolate, and reached Greens-
boro, N. C, on Christmas Eve, 1865.
John Scott had, years before, been over much of the
field to be canvassed, so that he was j^repared to lead
the way as to the first routes to be pursued. The
field lay, as to Carolina, mainly in the counties of
Guilford, Randolph, Alamance, Chatham, Davidson,
Yadkin, Iredell, Wayne, Johnson, Northampton and
Perquimans. To these are to be added a few counties
in Virginia and East Tennessee.
If one would learn how cruel and merciless war is,
and in what a crippled state it leaves a people, let him
follow in the wake of armies that live off the country
and often destroy what they do not consume. There
was not only a dearth of food and of all that makes
for outward prosperity, not only a dearth of schools,
but in this case a great dearth of the Gospel, " a fam-
ine of hearing the words of the Lord."
In consequence of this, these brethren, engaged in
educational work, were constantly constrained, from
within and without, to preach to all classes and colors.
458 SOUTHERN HEROES.
Crowds with eager ears and hungry souls would gather
almost daily to hear the simjole Gospel words of hope
and cheer. As for means of travel and home accom-
modations, the people were always ready with the best
they had. But, notwithstanding all the kindness
shown, travelling through the forests and over the
mountains was not a luxury, since " the highways lay
waste and the wayfaring man had (well nigh) ceased."
But the army-abandoned mule or horse or cart or am-
bulance, or something better, was nearly always at
hand. If the soldiers in the contending armies could
go through their greater privations, should not mes-
sengers of peace and healing and reconstruction labor
and rejoice in the face of every obstacle?
Joseph Moore, whose health was gaining from week
to week, had from the first been taking an inventoiy,
in all the neighborhoods of Friends, of the educational
needs and appliances ; — how many children, what
schoolhouses, if any, what material for teachers, how
much were the people able to do, what was the con-
dition of the schools already in operation.
It became apparent to the superintendent long be-
fore the first circuit of the field was completed that
the schools, with a very few exceptions, must be
entirely reconstructed, and put on such a basis as would
enable them to do thorough, systematic work.
Plenty of teachers from the North were to be had,
but it was preferred to spend the funds mainly on
home talent, thus letting the money remain in the
South ; and what was more important, — to give the
young people of Carolina the opportunity to prove
SOUTHERN HEROES. 459
their capacity. Consequently the schools in operation
were terminated at an early day, and a call was made
for a normal school, with the understanding that
teachers, in the future, would be chosen from such
attendants as showed promise of ability and skill.
The Friends' centi-al school at New Garden had
been a high-grade school for a quarter of a century.
It continued in a flourishins,' condition throuahout the
war. Many of its teachers had been men and women
of sound scholarship, so that scattered through the
territory occupied by Friends were quite a number
possessed of sufficient scholarship to teach. A know-
ledge of methods, the art of conducting a school, and
an enthusiasm for public education and the advance-
ment of the literary standard were most needed.
The normal school was in these respects a success
beyond anticipation. After this first school in 1866,
the normal was continued each summer for a dozen
years or more, and did much in preparing the way for
the founding of the State Normal School.
The normal school and the work in general elicited
the attention and cooperation of many leading men
of the State of North Carolina. Governor Worth,
Judge Robert P. Dick, President Craven of Trinity
College, Judge Jackson, Dr. Nereus Mendenhall,
General Leach and a number of others addressed the
teachers on various occasions. Governor Worth, at-
tending the closing public exercises of one of the
normal schools, on visiting the " Model Farm," and
noting the general interest which was being created in
agriculture and improved schools, said : " This work
460 SOUTHERN HEROES.
of the Friends is quite the most important move in
the way of reconstruction that has come to my know-
ledge."
During the first half of the year, the work of rejjair-
ing old schoolhouses and building new ones was going
forward to make ready for fall operations. Some-
times the interest flagged where the work called for
more sacrifice and outlay on the part of the people
than they had anticipated. They did not always
readily respond to calls for educational meetings. The
superintendent procured a magic lantern with slides
illustrating geography, zoology, elementary astronomy,
etc; These were carted over the hills and valleys for
hundreds of miles. The arrival of the " show-man,"
according to appointment, crowded the old meeting-
houses, and as the exhibits were free, it was all made
educational. Many a boy and girl, as well as many a
parent, was heljjed to look up, not for the stars alone.
The work went on, till houses and teachers were
provided for all the Friends' children of North Caro-
lina and Tennessee, and for all other white children
in reach of them, without regard to denominational
lines. At that time, on account of the Freedman's
Bureau and other agencies, more attention was given,
in many localities, to the education of colored children
than to white.
After three years of devoted service, a service in
which he was delighted from the first, and in which
he took an increasing interest from year to year. Pro-
fessor Moore was called back to Indiana to take the
presidency of Earlham College. Before he left the
SOUTHERN HEROES. 461
field, the Baltimore Association had procured the ser-
\aces of Allen Jay, of Indiana, as superintendent of
education.
The work of the superintendent had from the first
included all the attention he was able to give to the
organization and improvement of Bible schools. This
work had received careful attention for the first three
years. Institutes and conferences were held for the
special purpose of forwarding the work. The schools
for more secular instruction being already in good
working order and in the hands of progressive teach-
ers, Allen Jay was able to give a larger share of
attention to Bible schools and religious work in gen-
eral. For this work he was admirably fitted. During
his more than eight years of oversight and attention,
the work continued to progress on all lines.
It should be further remarked, briefly, that as
times improved and local means for carrying on
schools increased, it became a part of the work of
Allen Jay as superintendent gradually to transfer the
management from the Baltimore Association to the
local patrons of the schools. The system, by degrees,
became self-supporting, and Franklin S. Blair, a na-
tive Friend, was installed as superintendent.
Of the various gratifying incidents of this worthy
enterprise, not the least was the influence which the
work of these more than a hundred trained teachers
with their thousands of pupils must have had in
leavening the educational work of the State when the
public school system of North Carolina was resumed.
The united work of Northern and Southern Friends,
462 SOUTHERN HEROES.
immediately following tlie bloody strife, was as a wave
of light following the dark storm-cloud of war. It
was a practical and forcible example, though on a
comparatively small scale, of the blessing that comes
from the beating of swords into ploughshares and
pens. It was no mean chapter in the restoration and
reconstruction of the South.
We think we can do no better than to give our
readers quotations from the reports made to the meet-
ings in Baltimore, and thereby they will get a more
clear and full understanding of the great work that
was done in the interest of the Southland, for not
Friends alone were benefited by this practical mani-
festation of brotherly love, nor were they alone in
extending a helping hand. Others soon followed the
example thus early set them, and the New South has
been helped to her present advanced condition by the
timely aid extended to her distressed citizens by those
from whom she tried to secede.
We find upon the minutes of the Baltimore Meeting
for Sufferings the following report, dated 23d of 11th
month, 1866 :
"To THE Baltimore Association of Friends,
to advise and assist Friends of the Southern States.
" In making our first general report, it is proper that
we should refer to the origin of our association.
Soon after the breaking out of the war. Friends from
North Carolina occasionally passed through Baltimore
on their way to the West, but during the autumn of
1864 such arrivals were so much more frequent and
SOUTHERN HEROES. 463
the families in most cases so much more destitute,
that it was concluded to combine our individual efforts
to aid them, and ' The Association of Friends, to
advise and assist Friends in the Southern States ' was
organized.
" We have kept a regular account of our opera-
tions, and have acted through committees, with all
the care and system in our power ; but do not think
it is required of us to make public the details of our
aid to brethren under temporary and unexpected pri-
vations, many of whom had formerly given freely to
others. It is due, however, to the contributors of the
fund that some report be made, if it be only as a
record of the love, sympathy and interest which have
bound us together as a people, when nearly every
other tie between the North and the South was
severed.
" We had no expectation, at first, of anything but
a local effort, but the interest which we felt was
simultaneously manifested throughout all the yearly
meetings, and we became the medium of dispensing
their liberality also.
" During the spring and summer of 1865, directly
after Sherman's march, two of our members twice
visited North Carolina, to distribute provisions, cloth-
ing and money, and during that year we forwarded to
the West about four hundred members, adults and
children, fifty of whom arrived here destitute at one
time.
" Though we discouraged the emigration, we could
not wonder at it, as they fled from the ravages of war
464 SOUTHERN HEROES.
to join relatives who had prospered in the West, and
who gave them cordial welcomes. Some of these
families, however, have been returned by us to their
former homes, and they are now cultivating their
farms with commendable energy. There was peculiar
difficulty attending the journey of four hundred miles
to Baltimore, and the conversion of their money into
ours at a loss of several hundred per cent., generally
landing them in our city destitute of funds and cloth-
ing, and with eight hundred miles of travel still
before them. Many of the young men, in escaping
conscription, had to travel many miles, wade rivers
and sleep in the woods. Several of them were fired
at and wounded.
" Whilst thus engaged in aiding our brethren and
endeavoring to relieve their physical wants, we soon
discovered that there were even stronger claims upon
us to educate their children, many of whom, from the
need of their labor at home, the scarcity of books and
conscription of teachers, had lost four years of in-
struction, the period of a country child's school life.
" One of our members (F. T. King) visited North
Carolina at the time of their yearly meeting in
Eleventh month, 1865, and there met in consultation
our friends Joseph Crossfield of England, Samuel
Boyce of New England, and Marmaduke Cope of
Philadelphia, and conferred with the educational
committee of North Carolina Yearly Meeting. After
carefully considering the subject, the Association
concluded to appropriate Jf^SOOO to the boarding school
(then called New Garden), $2500 to be expended in
SOUTHERN HEROES. 465
repairing the school building and refitting the fur-
niture and school apparatus, and $2500 to pay the
board and tuition at the school of the children of the
Friends who had suffered most by the war, which has
since been done.
" Secondly, to establish primary schools in every
Friends' neighborhood, under the direction of our
Association, and to ajjpoint a competent superintend-
ent, to devote his whole time to their supervision.
(This New Garden Boarding School, established
in 1836, was the only boarding school kept open dur-
ing the war, and the only one in the South known to
have been continued without financial disaster. The
State funds for education were all sunk, and the
interest in education generally was in a low con-
dition.)
" Professor Joseph Moore of Earlham College,
Indiana, was secured as the superintendent, and with
John Scott of Baltimore, in Twelfth month, 1865,
proceeded to the field of service, first visiting the
different meetings of Friends and conferring with
them on the subject of education, supplying the tem-
porary need of Friends, engaging teachers, etc.
" Most of the meetings appointed committees to co-
operate with them and do what they could in the
erection of houses, and to forward the interests of the
work. Ten new schoolhouses were built during the
3^ear 1865, and all we could do has been done to
assist Friends to recover from the effects of the war,
and to establish a school system which will sustain
itself. Our fvmd is ample to carry on the work, as
466 SOUTHERN HEROES.
now organized, for the next two years, employ a
superintendent of schools for three years thereafter,
and afford such physical relief as may be needed dur-
ing the coming winter.
" The subject of improved agriculture has claimed
the attention of our board, and our president has
been directed to confer with North Carolina Friends
at the time of their yearly meeting next month, and
submit to us a plan for accomplishing this very im-
l^ortant work. Without it, it will be impossible to
prevent the emigration of many young people whose
energy and ambition have been stimulated.
" Our superintendent of schools is directed to visit
Friends' meetings in East Tennessee as early this
autumn as his North Carolina engagements will per-
mit of, with a view of bringing these schools under
our aid and supervision.
" We would particularly acknowledge the sym-
pathy and interest of our brethren of London and
Dublin Yearly Meetings, whose great liberality has
enabled us to enlarge and prolong our labor.
" In conclusion we would express our increasing
interest and great confidence in the work, and our
gratitude to our Heavenly Father for his blessing
upon it.
" On behalf of the board of managers,
Fkancis T. King.
" Baltimore, Tenth mouth 23d, 1866."
The meeting for sufferings received reports from
the committee through their chairman, Francis T.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 467
King, which they took under consideration, and made
their report to the yearly meeting, and thus, as an
official statement, it was sent to other yearly meet-
ings. On the recoi'ds of this meeting, under date of
Third month 16th, 1868, we find the following report
of our friend Francis T. King, who was appointed to
present the memorial in behalf of North Carolina to
the different yearly meetings on this continent :
"To THE Meeting for Sufferings:
" Dear Friends : "I was appointed to lay before
the yearly meetings on this continent, as way might
open, the minute prepared by direction of this meet-
ing, on behalf of our dear Friends of North Carolina.
T visited all the yearly meetings, except Canada and
Iowa, and the latter was attended on our behalf by
Allen Jay. Our appeal was most promptly and lib-
erally responded to as follows :
New England ^2,000
New York 2,000
Ohio 1,000
Western 2,200
Iowa 1,400
Indiana 2,600
Dublin 3,400
Total )B14,600
" The American yearly meetings will divide their
payments between this year and next. London
Yearly Meeting has also directed a subscription to be
opened.
" Friends manifest great interest in our work, and
M
468 SOUTHERN HEROES.
expressed satisfaction with what had been done, and
desired our encouragement.
Francis T. King.
"Baltimore, Md., Tenth month 16th, 1868."
We find the following entered upon the minutes of
a meeting held by the meeting for sufferings :
" The committee on education in the South made
the following report, which was satisfactory to the
meeting, and the committee was continued to further
labor, as may be required. John B. Crenshaw was
added to the committee. They were authorized to
memorialize Congress, if occasion should require.
The report is as follows :
" ' Our organization originated in an effort to
extend physical relief, at the close of the war, to
the members of our religious society at the South.
Small in the beginning, and confined to this particu-
lar object, the field of labor has since been greatly
enlarged, until it now embraces not only physical
relief, but, we believe, intellectual, moral and indus-
trial development of every family of Friends in North
Carolina and Tennessee. Nor are its benefits con-
fined to the members of our own society ; but they
extend in a widening circle to many others.
'"Our last annual report gave a history of our
association from its origin, and embraced its opera-
tions down to Eleventh month 1st, 1866. The board
now has the pleasure of reporting to the association
its labors for another year, which, for the sake of
clearness, we have arranged under different heads.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 469
" ' Physical Relief. — Our disbursements, under
this head, for the past year have been: 11841.73;
amount previously expended, $12,936.40 ; total
for physical relief, since our operations began,
114,778.13.
" ' For the jjast twelve months, aid has been chiefly
confined to widows and aged persons, except for two
months previous to harvest, when, in consideration of
greater scarcity of provisions, our contributions were
more general. In view of the great losses, hardships
and discouragements in the necessary incidents of war,
through which our brethren of the South have had to
pass, and especially in view of the repeated failure
of their crops since the war ended, it is but just to
express our appreciation of the commendable spirit
of effort and self-reliance which they have generally
manifested. At no time have they shown a disposi-
tion to lean heavily upon us, but rather accepted for
themselves only such aid as necessity demanded.
They have chosen to rely as far as possible upon
their own exertions, thus enabling the board to extend
its operations over a larger field.
" ' Liberal shipments of Bibles and tracts have been
made to North Carolina ; committees on Bible schools
have been originated in every meeting of Friends, and
sixteen schools for colored people are under their care.
" ' Our president has visited nearly all the yearly
meetings on this continent, the past year, and received
liberal contributions to our work. London and Dub-
lin Yearly Meetings have also opened subscriptions ;
the latter has remitted five hundred pounds. Francis
470 SOUTHERN HEROES.
T. Kins' has also visited North Carolina four times
since our last report.
" ' Our North Carolina Friends continue to board
the teachers and pay for books, leaving the salaries
and incidentals to us, which average three hundred
dollars per school, about twelve thousand dollars a
year, to which is to be added the cost of the agricul-
tural department.
" ' With the good crops of this year and the spirit
and interest manifested in the work by our North
Carolina Friends, we propose to make the schools self-
sustaining after the close of the scholastic year upon
which we have just entered. We propose, however,
to continue the agricultural department and the over-
sight of the schools, including the pay of the superin-
tendents, for several years to come.
" ' We cannot close our report without expressing
our regret in parting with our superintendent of edu-
cation, Joseph Moore, who has filled his responsible
and arduous position with so much ability and devo-
tion. Our best wishes go with him to his new posi-
tion as president of Earlham College, Indiana.
" ' We have appointed our valued friend Allen Jay
to take his place, and he will enter upon his duties in
a few weeks.
" ' On behalf of the committee,
Francis T. King.' "
Report of the executive committee of the " Balti-
more Association of Friends to advise and assist
Friends in the South : "
SOUTHERN HEROES. 471
" We herewith present the detailed reports of our
treasurer and of our superintendents of education and
agriculture. Both departments of our work have
been conducted with efficiency, and the results are
of the most gratifying character. We now sustain
forty schools, numbering 2588 scholars. The normal
school embraces forty teachers and fifty-six advanced
scholars who design to follow teaching as a profession.
They are collected together for two months during the
summer vacation.
" There has been a steady advance in the character
of the schools, and in their influence upon the neigh-
borhoods in which they are located.
" Our superintendent of agriculture has been busy
the past year in erecting the dwelling-house and barn,
and in preparing the land for cultivation. He has,
however, found time to establish farmers' clubs, and
give a general stimulus to improved agriculture.
" Education. — Soon after our efforts to afford aid
to the physical needs of our members at the South, it
became apparent to us that it was no less a necessitv
to give relief to the educational destitution which
everywhere prevailed as a consequence of protracted
war. As soon, therefore, as we had afforded the phy-
sical relief, we turned our attention to the establish-
ment of a system of schools, extending throughout the
settlements of Friends in North Carolina and Ten-
nessee, and to a very limited extent in Virginia.
" We commenced these labors near the close of
1865, by assuming the charge of twelve indifferent
schools, composed of about six hundred pupils. The
472 SOUTHERN HEROES.
number of these was gradually increased to forty
schools, with 2558 pupils. The improvement in the
character and efficiency of these schools has been
exceedingly gratifying to us. All but four of the
teachers are natives of North Carolina, who have had
the benefit of two sessions at our normal school.
They have filled their jjositions to the entire satisfac-
tion of the board.
" Normal School. — During two months of the sum-
mer vacation, the teachers of our primary schools were
collected near High Point, a central and healthy
locality, for the purpose of undergoing a thorough
practical training in improved methods of instruction
and in school government. Besides our own teachers,
others desirous of improvement were admitted into
the class, which numbered one hundred and six dur-
ing the past year. This large attendance is an evi-
dence of the great interest which is felt in this school ;
and this has been farther proven by the daily presence
of large numbers of visitors from the surrounding
country, many of them being leading men of influence
in the State. We can hardly overestimate the bene-
fits to the State at large of such a school at this junc-
ture.
(The Friends held the first normal school ever held
in the State of North Carolina.)
" The Boarding School. — This institution, estab-
lished at New Garden, Guilford County, N. C, by
North Carolina Yearly Meeting, in 1836, has received
a new impidse from the successful operation of our
primary schools. The standard of education requisite
SOUTHERN HEROES. 473
for a successful teacher in one of our schools, being
higher than has heretofore been demanded of public-
school teachers at the South, is causing many who
wish to become teachers to desire to avail themselves
of the advantages of the yearly meeting school.
" This school has been self-sustaining for several
years past. Although not under our care, but that of
a yearly meeting committee, yet we have aided it
during the past year to the extent of $1322. 73, by
paying scholarships for the children of Friends in
isolated situations where schools could not be main-
tained, and in giving to others classical and scientific
advantages to prepare them to teach the higher
branches. We hoj)e to see the boarding school the
centre of our system of education.
" Agriculture. — The low and unremunerative state
of agriculture in the State of North Carolina exer-
cises a very depressing influence upon every effort to
ameliorate the physical and educational condition of
her people. Every other interest, being essentially
dependent upon this, languishes under the inadequate
reward of the tiller of the soil. Under this influence
the disposition to leave the State after the close of the
war has scarcely any limit, except inability to do so.
" To educate and enlighten her people without at
the same time demonstrating the possibility of greater
returns from labor would still further tend toward
depopulation. Our work, so general in its character,
could not fail to stimulate Friends to desire improved
agriculture.
" There has been a continual pressure upon us to
474 SOUTHERN HEROES.
establish a model farm, and to place among them a
practical farmer who should, by the use of improved
farming implements, artificial manures, the introduc-
tion of grasses, selected seeds and stock, demonstrate
to their eyes the great neglected wealth of the soil,
awaiting only the call of improved cultivation ; and
who, by the establishment of agricultural clubs, within
the limits of each quarterly meeting, should stimulate
a spirit of inquiry and enterprise, which would be
rewarded by the best practical results. We have ac-
cordingly purchased the farm of that honored and de-
voted servant, the late Nathan Hunt, at Springfield,
on the dividing line between Guilford and Randolph
Counties, containing two hundred acres, at a cost of
$4400. Springfield Friends contributed $700 toward
the purchase.
" We have arranged with our friend William A.
Sampson, an experienced farmer whose heart is in the
success of the mission, to take charge of the farm and
further our work by lectures on agricultural subjects,
the formation of clubs and the establishment of a
depot for the sale at cost of seeds, improved stock and
agricultural implements.
(Two tons of clover seed were sold by him one
season, at cost.)
" General Remarks. — Our expenses for the past
year have exceeded our estimate, owing to the pur-
chase of the farm, the establishment of the normal
school, and the fact that we have had an increase of
nine schools and over twelve hundred scholars.
" Our agricultural department will require a liberal
SOUTHERN HEROES. 475
outlay of funds in the next year or two, in the erec-
tion of barns and dwellings, and the purchase of stock
and farming implements, after which we design it
shall be self-supporting.
" The necessity of continuing this mission of Chris-
tian effort seems to be more important now than ever,
and we propose once more to appeal to the liberality
of our Friends to sustain the work until it can be
safely handed over to North Carolina Friends. If,
through the want of means, we should be compelled
to stop our work where it now is, sad indeed will be
the consequences to our struggling and impoverished
brethren in the South ; and to us, so much more
favored, the responsibility will be greater, for having
been given to see, yet neglecting to improve, so rich a
field for Christian labor.
" We know of no other organized and extended
system of education for white children at the South,
in operation at the date of this report, but ours ; and
it is a great satisfaction to find that working in the
most thorough manner, so that it will materially aid
the district white and colored schools whenever they
are established. In view of this, we hope gTcatly
to enlarge our training school for teachers next
summer.
" Our outlay for the past year has been : for re-
lief, 11841.73 ; for education, $11,327.12 ; boarding
school, $1332.73 ; expenses, $130.03 ; total, 114,631.-
61, exclusive of the cost of the farm.
" Our movement is attracting the attention of the
most intelligent citizens of the state, as evinced by
476 SOUTHERN HEROES.
their frequent visits to our schools, particularly that
institution, new to North Carolina, the normal school.
" The disposition to remove to other States, at one
time so general, has given place to a desire to settle
down and improve the old homesteads. Our friends
there, through various causes, are unable themselves
to sustain the work, although they continue to mani-
fest their sense of its importance to them by render-
ing what aid they can. We cannot doubt that to
abandon the work now would be to lose much that
has already been gained by this important missionary
effort, the happy result of which has been, we believe,
greatly to aid the religious awakening which is mani-
fest in several parts of that yearly meeting.
" We have therefore concluded, as the funds con-
tributed for this, although carefully husbanded and
judiciously applied by the Baltimore Association, are
nearly exhausted, to again appeal to our friends of
other yearly meetings, who so liberally responded to
our former solicitation, to aid us in continuing the
work, the result of which has been so encouraging to
us, and on which we believe the blessing of our Heav-
enly Father has rested.
" Our clerk was directed to forward a copy of this
minute to the meeting for sufferings for each yearly
meeting on this continent, and to those of Dublin and
London."
A minute dated 3d month 18th, 1872, states that
the committee on education at the South reported that
there was a bill pending in Congress, providing aid
for normal school education, and that the bill was
then before the Senate.
SOUTHERN HEROES. 477
This appeal to Friends for further contributions
was promptly responded to, as was also one other,
made especially for aid in building new meeting-
houses and repairing old ones.
On first sending John Scott and Joseph Moore to
North Carolina, late in 1865, who began operations
the first week in 1866, the Association gave them this
instruction : " Do not arrange for more than 20
schools, at salaries ranging from f 25 to -$40 a month."
Such was the interest awakened that the 20 schools
were soon increased to 61, and instead of 600 j)upils
there were 3000. The greatest number enrolled in
any one school was 158 ; the smallest, 23. Schools
were continued from four to ten months in the year.
Besides this great amount of work. New England
and New York Yearly Meetings, on their own account,
supported eight schools in North Carolina, and Ohio
supported two in Tennessee. These were all for white
children.
In his last report, Allen Jay says : '' We believe
that all Friends' children have received education for
more or less time during the past year, which is a
marked exception to the case of most other white
children in the South, in agricultural districts."
The total expenditures, through the Baltimore As-
sociation, for the relief of Friends in the South, were
as follows : —
Physical relief, including cost of the model farm $36,000.00
Friends' schools ..... 72,000.00
Guilford College .... 23,000.00
Meeting-houses ..... 7,300.00
Total $138,300.00
478 SOUTHERN HEROES.
This was contributed by Friends in England, Ire-
land and the United States, for the relief of their
brethren temporarily suffering on account of war.
Philadelphia Friends made large contributions for the
relief of physical suffering, in 1865 and later, which
did not pass through this channel. They also sup-
ported a number of schools in different cities of the
South, and for years had a superintendent of these
schools in the field, at their own expense, and they are
still keeping teachers in Southern schools.
New York Yearly Meeting, a large contributor to
the Baltimore Association, also kept up work of its
own, not only for physical suffering, but has ever
since the war maintained educational work among the
freed people, which has finally culminated in the erec-
tion of a new school building, and the establishment of
a high-grade school for colored people at High Point,
N. C. New England Yearly Meeting has a college
for the colored peoj^le at Maryville, Tenn. ; and In-
diana Yearly Meeting has one at Helena, Ark., each
of which has called for large appropriations for all
these years.
The increase of meetings and members in North
Carolina Yearly Meeting has been a source of sur-
prise to those who are acquainted with the facts.
From a membership of 1796, as shown by the minutes
of 1865, they increased to 5385, in 1883, and an in-
crease from 28 to 53 meetings is shown. They have
built 39 new meeting-houses and repaired many old
ones. This has been the result of earnest, self-sac-
rificing labor, performed with definite ends in view,
SOUTHERN HEROES. 479
viz., the conversion of sinners and the building up of
the church.
Such a field opened before them to disseminate
their views and to build up their church as has per-
haps never before been known in the history of the
Friends. The prejudices of the jseople who knew
them had become strongly in their favor, and only a
lack of money and men adapted to the work stood in
the way of their capturing much of the South, both
colored and white.
The work of the Baltimore Association and of other
Friends cannot be told by an array of figures, al-
though these may give some idea of the labor per-
formed by that noble philanthropist, Francis T. King,
and his co-workers. The better condition of the peo-
ple and of their farms, and the increased interest in
education and religion, can only be appreciated by
those who visited them in their distressingly desti-
tute condition immediately following the war, and by
knowledge, gained by personal observation, of their
present peace and prosperity.
The schools established by the Baltimore Associa-
tion have outgrown the denominational schools, and
public interest is more general in the cause of educa-
tion. The struggling New Garden Boarding School
has grown into the flourishing Guilford College, char-
tered in 1888, and the normal school which was first
held by this band of workers in North Carolina has
become a State institution, and the percentage of the
population who can read and write is largely in-
creased.
480 SOUTHERN HEROES.
The church of the Friends has grown from so
nearly a dependent body to an organization extending
its Christian work beyond its own limits. North
Carolina Yearly Meeting now cooperates with her
sister yearly meetings in the great work of sending
missionaries to foreign lands, and in working for the
Indians and colored people in our own land. She is
striving to do her part to hasten the day when " the
knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the
waters do the sea ; " and when " nation shall not lift
up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war
any more."
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