May 15, 2000, George Turner, speaking on the "Fishing Creek Confederacy."
The History Buffs met at the Brass Pelican on Monday, May 15, with 33 people
present. In the absence of Tom Stackhouse, Jim Vance chaired the meeting. Each
one was asked to introduce themselves. We were pleased to welcome visitors who
had not been with us before. Jim made the announcements: - The next meeting
will be the regular Third Monday of June at the Brass Pelican. The tentative
topic is the history of the Chimney Stack Hunting Club with Jim Dildine as the
speaker.
He also announced that the Homecoming at St. Gabriels Church is Sunday, July
16 with worship at 11:00 A.M. Genealogical information will also be shared.
See Betty Victory for more information.
The minutes of the last meeting were read. Jim gave thanks before breakfast
was served.
Immediately following breakfast, Jim introduced Professor George Turner, president
of the Columbia County Historical Society who gave a most interesting and informative
talk. The first point Professor Turner emphasized was that this was not a group
of Confederate sympathizers. The actions here were politically motivated- People
here were willing to fight to save the Union- but they were not willing to fight
to free the slaves. And they were not in favor of a draft to fill the ranks
of the Union Army. Many felt that Abraham Lincoln stretched his powers as granted
by the Constitution. They felt he had no right to institute the drafting of
men to serve in the U.S. Army. There had never been a draft in the history of
the United States. The 44 men who were arrested for "entering into, confederating,
and assisting in forming combination to resist the execution of certain provisions
of an Act of Congress" were not mainly draft dodgers. Most of them were
too old to be drafted. They were men who were leaders of their community, men
who were politically motivated, and men who had spoken out at meetings. They
spent time in federal prison and came home to a hero's welcome. Many were elected
to public office in later years. Professor Turner compared the temper of the
people in Colombia County in Civil war times to many people's feelings during
the Viet Nam war. It wasn't that people didn't love their country it was that
they felt their country was wrong in this instance. It gave us a different outlook
on the Fishing Creek Confederacy and our thanks go to Professor Turner for a
most interesting presentation.
The next meeting will be the third Monday, June 19 at the Brass Pelican with
the topic of the history of the Chimney Stack Hunting Club as the topic.