Col. E. W. Taylor Camp #1777

NEWSLETTERSONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS

June……….…………..2019

February

Program

June Program

.

Again this month, our speaker is Cynthia Loveless Harriman, the Executive Director of the Texas

Civil War Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. She is a 7th generation Texan who grew up in a small

central-Texas town. She graduated from Baylor University with a BBS in Education. She attended

graduate school at the University of North Texas where she received her certification in History.

She has an enviable record in the public schools, in several historical, scholarly, and civic

organizations. She also is a member of several patriotic lineage societies. She’s a great and

experienced presenter. She is married to her college sweetheart, Steve, and is the mother of grown

triplets.

Her husband, Steve Harriman, was the first Commander of the E. W. Taylor Camp.

Following up the information she

presented last month in Death, Dying and

Memorial Day, we’ll explore the Mourning

Practices of our ancestors.

Death was a daily occurrence in every

American community due to the war, limited

medical practices, disease, lack of sanitation,

etc. The Victorians viewed death as a “gentle

rest,” and mourning well was considered a

reward for a good life. Thus, the art of

mourning became a cottage industry which

required proper clothing and behavior

complete with jewelry, décor, poetry, and

manuals, as well as an overdose of

superstitions.

These customs would last through the

early twentieth century and some linger even

today.

MOURNING CUSTOMS

June 27

Our meetings are on the last Thursday of each month, except November and December when we

don’t meet because it would always conflict with the holidays.

Each month’s program announcement is always on the first page of this newsletter.

We meet at the Catfish and Company restaurant in Hurst, Texas, along the north side of the

Airport Freeway and on the access road west of Precinct Line Road.

If you’d like to eat with us we’d suggest you be there at 6 p.m. We start the meeting at 7 p.m.

Our goal is to be finished and out by 8:30 p.m. It would be bad manners for a group as large as

ours to stay ‘til closing time. We appreciate the restaurant’s hospitality to the Sons of

Confederate Veterans.

Who are we? That’s easy to see!!!

Go to our website and start looking at our newsletters, beginning with

the most recent and working back. Contact us at mfpchat@yahoo.com

http://www.taylorcampscv.org/

For our website: user name is TaylorCamp and password is SCV1777EWTaylorCamp

Thanks to Cindi Harriman for an excellent

program on Death, Dying, and the Origins of

Memorial Day in America

As she told us, America was taken

aback at the unprecedented number

of dead the War produced, and the

number of social questions it

asked…which needed to be

answered right then. Who was

responsible for fixing this problem of

mass burial and remembrance?

In Memory

of our Late

Compatriot,

Ron Parker

1942-2019

Compatriot Ron Parker, cont.

Ronald Gene Parker, of Tarrant County, Texas, passed away on Sunday May 26th, 2019 in Bedford

Texas. He will always be remembered as a loving father and friend to all who knew and loved him. He

was born on October 1st, 1942 in Tarrant County, Texas to Mr. Monroe Jean Parker & Mrs. Betty Jean

Peirce Parker. Ron spent 40+ years working at Bell Helicopter. He also enjoyed many hobbies including

Treasure & Relic Hunting, and Civil War Reenacting with the 19th Texas Infantry. He was a member in

good standing of the SCV Taylor Camp where he served as adjutant for several years. Ron is survived

by his son Stephen Parker, of Hurst, Texas and his grandson, Stephen Parker, of Hurst, Texas. He was

preceded in death by his loving wife, Jacqueline Lorraine Ard Parker, of Bedford, Texas in 2007 and his

younger sister, Judith Monette Parker, of Fort Worth Texas in 2007. The visitation will be held from

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm on Thursday, May 30th, 2019 at the Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home, 5725

Colleyville Blvd., Colleyville, TX. There will be a Graveside Service at 10:00 am the following

morning on Friday, May 31st, 2019 at Bluebonnet Hills Memorial Park. Bluebonnet’s online obit.

Compatriot Ron Parker, cont.

At the request of Ron’s son and grandson, Stephen Parker Sr.

and Jr., the Taylor Camp conducted Ron’s funeral service and

fired a three-volley musket salute in his honor. Had one of us

gone before, Ron would have been there to help.

The Taylor Camp members who attended the service included

David Stewart, Terry Theiss, Bob Gresham, Rich McCook,

James Alderman, and Mike Patterson.

This was a great honor accorded to us by Compatriot Parker’s

son and grandson. We were happy and privileged to be able to

do this for one of our camp’s founders, Ron Parker.

In Memory of

Compatriot

Jack Dyess

of the

W. H.

Griffin

Camp.

Jack passed away during the night of June 4-5 as a result of

complications of quadruple bypass surgery hours before. As soon

as we know further details we’ll email them to you.

Thanks!!!

…to all seven of the members of the E. W. Taylor Camp who

represented us at the 2019 Texas Division meeting on June 1 in

Temple, Texas. This is probably our best attendance ever at a

state meeting!

The members assembled in Temple elected Charles Oliver as

Commander, Craig Stone as 1st Lt. Commander, Larry D. Reynolds as

2nd Lt. Commander, and Frank Krawiec as 3rd Lt. Commander.

The Third Brigade elected Barry Turnage as its Commander, Allen

Hearrean as its 1st Lt. Commander, and Calvin Allen as its 2nd Lt.

Commander. Hearrean has also been appointed Texas adjutant.

Former Texas State Senator and Land

Commissioner Jerry Patterson to speak at

Griffin Camp on Tuesday, June 11Everyone is invited to the meeting of the W. H. Griffin camp on June 11 at

Diamond Oaks Country Club, 5821 Diamond Oaks Drive in Haltom City.

The meeting is scheduled for 6-9 p.m.

The speaker is former Texas State Senator and Land Commissioner Jerry

Patterson. He is a retired Marine Corps Lt. Colonel and fighter pilot who

volunteered for duty in Vietnam. He has a history degree from Texas A & M.

His programs are quite interesting and engaging.

We regret the short notice of this invitation. If you’d like to attend and eat

please email Diane Dyess at Dyess739@yahoo.com Diane says she needs to

be notified by noon Friday, June 7, but we’re unsure what effects Jack Dyess’

untimely passing during the night of June 4-5 will have on this event. If it goes

on as planned and if you’re not intending to eat, you might be able to just

walk in (she needs a count for the food preparers.)

His talk is entitled “Should

All ‘Offensive’ Monuments

Go—Including Lincoln’s?”

The catered meal is $15 and we’re

encouraged to eat with them

because it helps defray the

cost of the room.

June upcoming programs in the Texas Civil

War Museum’s Summer Speaker free series

Dr. Richard McCaslin, University of North Texas, Pompeo

Luigi Coppini-Defining the Historic Landscape of Texas in

Monuments, book signing, 12:00 noon, Sat. June 8

Civil War Living History,

15th Texas Cavalry. Drilling and Firing

Demonstrations throughout the day, 10 am –

4 p.m., Sat. June 15

Summer Speaker Series & Book Signing Luke

Salisbury, Professor, Bunker Hill College,

Mass. Author of No Common War, Sat. June 22

at noon

Summer Speaker Series & Book Signing

Scott Bowden, Arlington author of Robert E. Lee

at War, book signing. Sat. June 29 at noon

Jim Davis, Hughes Springs, Texas author of The Cypress Rangers

in the Civil War, book signing at 12:00 noon (Cypress Ranger flag

currently on exhibit) Sat. July 6

https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/05/20/the-war-on-history-

comes-for-george-washington/

The War on History Finally Comes for George WashingtonIt shouldn’t take anyone with a functioning brain many guesses to

name the city where this is happening…San Francisco, of course.

“If the board succeeds in politicizing Washington, whose legacy

was once so secured and uniting that his home at Mount Vernon was

considered neutral ground during the Civil War, then we have clearly

crossed the Rubicon of social division.” [and rational thought]

Ed note: There are millions of living Americans surnamed Washington,

Jefferson, Jackson, Lee, and similar “offensive” names. One of these days

look for some liberal in Congress to sponsor a bill authorizing free

government-paid legal services to anyone wanting to change their last

names to something they consider less degrading.

Adventure and overcoming

adversity with the Virginia FlaggersWhat do you do when the

pulley at the top of a 90-foot

flagpole stops working, and

adjacent landowners won’t let

you cross their land with a

truck, lift, and bucket? Hire a

climber.

Read the story and lots more

at their blog (above left).

http://vaflaggers.blogspot.com/

Birdville Confederate gets his

new stone on June 3Our newest member gets some sweat equity in our camp’s

program of work…and it was real sweat.

Compatriot Steve Hicks,

who was recently sworn in,

came to the tombstone store

and picked up Madison

Booth’s new stone and your

editor and we installed the

rock Monday afternoon.

The photo of the old stone

at lower left was taken nine or

ten years ago. Look at the

same stone at left to see what

only a few years of Texas acid

rain have done to it…and this

is an upright on which rain

doesn’t sit and eat marble

while it’s evaporating.

Taylor camp adjutant and his lady

looking good at the 55th annual

North Texas Military Ball on May 4

Saturday, May 4, the 55th Annual Military Ball of North Texas

was held at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel to honor service members and

veterans.

Taylor Camp adjutant James Alderman and his wife, Ja Ann

Alderman, made us all proud.

Taylor Camp helps commemorate

Memorial Day again this year at

Mount Gilead Cemetery in Keller.We were there once again, this

time on May 27, but with a new twist.

Thanks to some new and old

friends in other groups, this year our

firing line included one man from the

French and Indian War, two American

Revolutionary soldiers, one from the

War of 1812, one Texas Revolutionary

man, one WBTS man, and one man in

World War I attire.

This is the realization of a dream

we’ve had for some time. Thanks to

everyone who made it possible.

Memorial Day at Mt. Gilead, cont.

Left to right, above: Mike Edwards, Kevin Shellman, Jim Young,

Terry Theiss, James Alderman, Kent Mathews, Paul Porter, and Mike

Patterson.

Mike Edwards and Jim Young are new friends of the E. W. Taylor

Camp, and are in the process of becoming members. Kevin

Shellman is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and is

a friend of James and our commander, Ron Turner.

Terry Theiss is a Taylor Camper but didn’t shoot because he was

playing that morning in the Frontier Brigade Band, along with

another of our members, Rich McCook.

James Alderman and Kent Mathews are both Taylor men, as is

Mike Patterson on the right end.

The young gentleman between Patterson and Mathews is Paul

Porter, a college student and World War I devotee who lives in

Southlake. He’s already helped us at several events, and we look

forward to many more years of his association with us.

Taylor Compatriot reaches

milestone in his life and careerSean Partee received his

Master of Arts Degree in

American History on May

10 at the Gaylord Hotel at

the National Harbor on the

Maryland side of Washing-

ton D. C.

His wife, Christie, and

his mother were there to

support him.

While they were in D.C.

they went on tours of the

White House, the National

Archives, the Capitol,

Mary Custis Plantation

(aka Arlington National

Cemetery), all the war

memorials, and a few

Smithsonian Museums.

He is now being considered for an adjunct professor position in

history at Tarrant County College Northwest.

We wish Sean and Christie the very best of luck as they sally

forth into this new chapter of their lives.

Before we

begin on Mr.

Terry for this

month, we’d

like you to see

him at his

best. While

he was Presi-

dent of the

Senate for the

State of Ala-

bama he was

instrumental

in getting this

resolution.

On January

1, 1842 he

signed it. He

didn’t know at

the time he’d

later become a

Texan.

This secre-

tary of state,

Mr. Garrett,

would later

write his own

memories of

Mr. Nathaniel

Terry. See our

next issue for

them.

Continued from last month, this 1907 memory by one of Terry’s friends appeared in

the Fort Worth newspaper that year.

“You probably knew him well enough to know how to value

his statements in his various moods;…”

Major Terry An Odd Character, cont.

tain occasion and after listening to the speech, or I might say, the utter failure

of the ex-waggoner in his efforts to make a political speech, his egotism

asserted itself and while ploughing in the new ground next day with a coulterwhen it would strike a root seemed to emphasize the idea with himself that

he was fitted for another occupation than that of farming. In other words, he

wasn’t a Cincinnatus.

The result was that he was elected to the legislature and commenced his

political career. He came within two votes, if I remember correctly, of

being nominated for governor of the state. He remained in the legislature for

a number of years and was an expert with cards. It was said he cleaned out

the Alabama legislature of all its spare cash.

He was a man of extraordinary intelligence and nerve. He would buy a

plantation and negroes without a dollar in his pocket, or to his credit, as

quickly as you would buy a 10-cent cigar, thinking that it would be

presumption for a man to ask him for money rather than his note. The result

was that he rose and fell in fortune as the tide does with water.

He deliberately took his horse

from the plow, and broke the

plow to pieces over a stump;

went to the house, washed up

and put on his best clothes;

mounted his horse and declared

himself a candidate for the legis-

lature and commenced making

efforts at speaking himself, at

which he proved far more

successful than his opponent.

Next month we will continue this 1907 newspaper account with

the next installment, entitled “Outwitted by a jockey”

Nathaniel Terry’s two serious runs

Again, it’s obvious that Mr. Terry talked a lot about himself in later life. As we’re

beginning to see, lots of people also talked and wrote about him as events unfolded.

The story has survived in two or

three sources that Mr. Terry was

defeated in one of his bids for

governor by his brother-in-law, the

husband of his wife’s sister. Close,

but no ten-cent cigar.

The first time he ran was in the

election of 1845, held on August 4.

Terry was at the time serving as

President of the Alabama Senate,

which was meeting at the old capitol

building (below left) when

Tallahassee was still the capital. It

was situated along the Black Warrior

River (below right). Then as now,

river transportation was vital to he

state’s economic health.

In 1845 there weren’t really any

contentious federal issues to debate,

but there was one really big one in

Alabama interesting to both the

Democrats and the Whigs:

whether or not to continue

operating the State Bank of

Alabama.

In his post as President of the

Alabama Senate (the office of Lt.

governor in Alabama didn’t yet

exist), Terry was often appointed

to look into some aspect of the

workings of the Bank and to

report back to the Senate.

Terry was quite interested in

seeing the bank stay open,

because he had such a huge

financial stake in its continuance.

Not everyone in Alabama

thought the Bank was a good idea.

for the Alabama governor’s office

Nat Terry, gubernatorial hopeful, cont.

The 1845 election let Terry get

the closest he ever came to the

governor’s chair.

These days we hear much about

“Draining the Swamp” in

Washington, D.C. Ironically, back

in 2013 a book was published by

Quid Pro Books of New Orleans

by a scholar, attorney, Air Force

veteran and all-around useful and

productive Alabamian named

Herbert James Lewis (above right).

It is entitled Clearing the Thickets:

A History of Antebellum Alabama.

He obviously wasn’t talking about

cutting brush. He relates this story

about Nat Terry.

Terry’s immediate emergence as

a candidate for the governor’s

office might indirectly be blamed

on the weather and the Black

Warrior River, although he

probably liked the idea and may

have been considering it for some

time.

At the time set for the

Democrats’ gubernatorial conven-

tion in 1845, a lack of rainfall

caused the Black Warrior River to

become virtually impassable.

Lots of the Democrats

from other parts of state were

slow in arriving because of

stalled river transportation.

Terry was widely-known

as a leader in the “pro-bank

junta.” He owed three of the

branch banks around $30,000,

and was already well-known

in the capital because he’d

served for years as President

of the Alabama Senate. Pro-

bank Democrats rushed

through Terry’s nomination

before many of the others

could get there.

As other writers have

mentioned, Terry’s traits were

becoming well-known, and

many sensible people were

Nat Terry, gubernatorial hopeful, cont.

outraged over the path the State

Bank had taken and the overt

protection Terry and his friends

were giving it.

One very-popular anti-Bank

Democrat who arrived late to the

Convention was Joshua L. Martin,

(above right) and he registered,

ran, and won as an Independent

(since Terry was already the

Democrats’ nominee). Martin’s

election was the first time in

Alabama history a non-Democrat

won election to a statewide office.

Martin won 53.55% of the popular

vote to Terry’s 45.25 % and the

Whigs’ 1.18%.

As far as we can determine,

Terry stayed out of the running for

the elections of 1847 and 1849.

He was back for the election of

1851 when the Democrats ran

three different men on the ballot

and the Whigs ran one. Democrat

Henry W. Collier (below right),

won with 85.76% of the popular

vote. Terry came in dead last

with only 61 votes statewide (.14%

of the vote).

Nat Terry, gubernatorial hopeful, cont.

The Whig candidate in this

election polled over 13%, and the

third Democrat made it almost to 1

percent. Interestingly, that 1-per-

cent man later became famous as

one of the loudest voices for

Southern Secession, Fire-Eater

William L. Yancey (above left).

The 1853 gubernatorial election

came along on August 1, 1853.

We have found no record that Nat

Terry was a part of it. After the results

were in the winner was Democrat John A.

Winston (at right), a friend of Terry’s.

At least we’re assuming Winston was a

friend of Terry, because the two men were

married to sisters. Times had recently been

hard for the Terry family, as shown by the

following note from Montgomery,

Alabama’s Daily Alabama Journal of

June 16, 1852.

Down the road a pieceAs a local camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, we need to be a camp

which DOES things, not just a bunch of “meeters-eaters-and retreaters.”

Each of us needs to commit to spending time and camp funds to that end.

We’ve identified a second lady buried in

Tarrant County whose father was a soldier in the

American Revolution. Both these “real

daughters” are buried in Oakwood Cemetery in

Fort Worth.

We’re putting together documentation to get

the DAR to agree with our identification. Then

we’ll partner with the DAR and the Sons of the

American Revolution to publicly honor them.

Mrs. Henderson’s son-in-law was the first

mayor of Fort Worth.

We have three known Confederates in our

county waiting for their first headstones. One

of them is Nathaniel Terry, who again has

some biographical information in this

newsletter.

Another is West-Tarrant County pioneer

and Justice of the Peace Robert Watt

Tannahill, at right. He was here by the time

the war started. His 1870s-era two-story

stone house is still standing in the country

west of I-820, and is now a Texas historical

landmark, but is a private residence out of

sight of the road. A very interesting and

colorful man, he’s buried in a little cemetery

in an abandoned gravel pit.

June’s Puzzle: The Mount Gilead

Event, 2019

Here’s proof positive that more gets done when groups help each

other. The public’s interest is stirred, American history gets a boost,

and we strike a blow against the America-haters on the left who get

most of the drive-by media coverage. The lesson for the SCV? Get

involved in the community and with other heritage organizations.

See next page for link and puzzle instructions.

How to work the

June Puzzle

https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=143807e0f3ff

You’ll find it at this URL:

Go to the URL shown above. You’ll find the puzzle in the shape the last person

there left it.

Click on “Play As” near the top of the page, then move the slider down to 180.

Click on “Start a New Game.” It seems to help this puzzler to change the

background color from time to time. Taking a break helps, too.

If you have any trouble getting these puzzles to work please email

mfpchat@yahoo.com

Click on the icon at lower right and take it to full-screen. It’ll give you more

room to work and will make the pieces bigger. If you find the puzzle solved, slick

on the reset circle/arrow at the lower left corner of the page.

Please keep Diane Dyess and all the

Dyess family in your thoughts and

prayers through this difficult time after

the untimely passing of Compatriot Jack

Dyess of the Col. W. H. Griffin Camp.

We will keep you posted by email

when we learn any arrangements.

Post-it notes with class. Well, at least

with some thought behind them.We’re going to leave Gary Larson’s Far Side cartoons alone for a while, just to give

them a rest. We hope you find one of these every month interesting for a while.

Sadly, most of the signs and graffiti we see connected with the haters

of all things American, and other demonstrators, don’t demonstrate

anything but a failure of the education system. Beginning this month,

here are some which at least were made by sentient beings.

Treat yourself to a moving, humbling

experience as we near the 75th anniversary of

the Normandy landings on D-Day

Unparalleled panoramic photography and music.

The Price of Freedom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omd9_FJnerY

Featuring John Williams’ “Hymn to the Fallen”

Coming soon…