Col. E. W. Taylor Camp #1777

NEWSLETTERSONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS

July……….…………..2019

June Program

July Program

July 25As we’ve done a

few times in the past,

we’ll have a two-part

screening of a WBTS

film for our July and

August programs.

The difference is

that now we can

watch it on our big-

screen TV instead of

on the old pull-down

screen.

We’ll see the 2014

war drama at left,

based on the true

story of a group of

brave cadets from the

venerable Virginia

Military Institute

who took part in the

Battle of New

Market, Virginia on

May 15, 1864.(cont. on next page)

July program, cont.

The film was shot in locales including Powhatan, Virginia, the Virginia Military

Institute (VMI) and Lexington, Virginia. Its world premier was May 19, 2014 at the GI

Film Festival (a worthy 501c3 organization and event).

It depicts the Battle of New Market, Virginia, which was fought on May 15, 1864.

The film’s title refers to the many soldier’s shoes left on the battlefield due to the muddy

conditions during the fight. Ten cadets died during the battle.

Predictably these days, the drive-by liberal media’s reviews of any film about

anything historical, especially anything involving the Confederacy, are mostly not worth

the time it takes to read them. The Hollywood Reporter said the film was “best viewed

as a glossy advertisement for the venerable military academy that is its focus.” Note

their inadvertent slip praising the school [perhaps not realizing Virginia is in the South].

Valor is valor, and the revisionists can do nothing about that. Valor is one trait they

don’t understand, never having seen it among their leaders nor felt it. The valorous

VMI cadets were an integral part of the outnumbered Confederates’ victory that day.

One historical inaccuracy in the

film may be the students’ spoken

or implied attitudes about slavery. Many of

them were the sons of wealthy planters and

would have accepted it.

The battle remains the only time in American history wherein

the student body of a functioning and operating college fought as

an organized unit in pitched combat in battle.

Cynthia Harriman delivers one of the best-

ever programs to Taylor Camp’s June meetingIf you weren’t with us in June you missed a rare treat!

As promised last month, Mrs. Harriman gave us a lively

discussion of early American funeral practices and customs,

some of which we could ourselves remember. We even

had some laughs. She’s a very accomplished presenter.

One local instance is shown below. Jeff Souder and his

wife, of Hurst, died three days apart in July 1921 and were

buried in the same casket in Hurst’s Arwine Cemetery.

Now we know the real origin of the use of flowers.

Souder was a member of the Union army from Indiana

who moved here after the War. His wife was the

granddaughter of Mexican War vet and Union soldier

James Arwine. Arwine was 62 when he enlisted in the

north’s 82nd Indiana Infantry. He made it more than two

years and marched hundreds of miles before they sent him

home on a medical discharge. He also came here later,

along with several of his sons, and he’s the oldest man on

our memorial in Bedford.

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

Our warmest thanks to a key person in our program to

mark Confederate graves…Mariah Ozuna of

Worthington Monuments

On Friday, June 28,

James Alderman and

Mike Patterson drove

to the main office of

Worthington’s in

Rendon and presented

a Certificate of

Appreciation to

Mariah Ozuna, our

Artist in Residence.

Mariah now does all our drawings and plots all the mask to place on

our Confederate monuments before they’re engraved.

Keller veteran, local enlistee, next in line to

get a new headstone from the Taylor CampWay back about 1886 some skilled local

artisan made Eli Allen Hill a very nice

headstone from a piece of local rock to put in

Mr. Gilead Cemetery. It still looks good today,

even though it’s been hit several times and

repaired with concrete.

Some well-meaning person many years ago

tried to recut his date of birth. Now it looks

like he was born in 1889 and died in 1886.

We’d never dream of replacing a piece of folk

art like this. We’ll just make him a new one to set

beside it. The inset photo at left is the stone we

picked up at Worthington’s on June 28.

Eli was born in Alabama and came with his

parents to settle north of Mt. Gilead in 1859. He

served the South in Capt. Faulkner’s Co. of the

15th Texas Cavalry. He enlisted at Denton on

February 8, 1862, riding a horse worth exactly

$162.50 (they said) and with equipment worth

$25. Like many others he was captured, put in a

Yankee prison, got out, spent time in a

Confederate hospital, got caught again, went back

to prison, and finally got out in June of 1865.

Eli’s brother, also at Mount Gilead, is one of the

few Galvanized Yankees who lived here.

You’ll find a much more detailed bio of Eli in

this newsletter after we set his new rock, probably

some time in July.

May 27, 2019 at Mount Gilead was an important

day in the history of the E. W. Taylor Camp

Our annual part in the Memorial Day Observance at Keller’s Mt. Gilead Cemetery is one of our best

and most visible outreaches to the community. This year our adjutant, James Alderman, sought out and

got some help from some other heritage groups to make our firing line more interesting. We had one

man dressed as a soldier in the French-and-Indian War, two American Revolutionaries, one Warrior of

1812, one Texas Revolutionary, one WBTS man in Confederate uniform, and one man in U. S. World

War I uniform. Two of our Taylor compatriots were also in period dress and were playing with the

Frontier Brigade Band.

Two new friends we made that day are

shown in the right end of the line, at left.

The are Jim Young (above left) and Mike

Edwards (above right). Both visited at our

June meeting and both are now members

of the Taylor Camp. Jim Young was out

of town for our June meeting, and Mike

Edwards chose to wait until the July

meeting when he and his friend can be

sworn in together.

Both men are exactly the type of

members any organization, and the SCV

particularly, would welcome into their

midst. We’ll include some biographical

information on both of them in the August

issue. Welcome to the camp, Jim and

Mike!

Government goof-ups areinteresting when no one gets hurt

We’ve gotten used to using “unique” as a synonym for unusual or

interesting. This Confederate soldier’s marker may actually be one-of-a-

kind.

One of our newest compatriots, Mike Edwards, has

some interesting Confederate ancestors. One of them

may have a government-supplied headstone which is

unique.

John Elliot Woods served in Co. A, 12th Texas

Cavalry, died in 1911, and was buried in Ridgeway

Cemetery in Bastrop County, Texas. Over a quarter-

century later a family member applied to the Veterans

Administration’s predecessor, the War Department, for a

headstone for him. Soon after, the process ran afoul of

someone not detail-oriented or not paying attention,

maybe a hurried or distracted public employee.

The original of the application is shown below. The

family included the veteran’s full name, John Elliot

Woods, and his date of death. Even though the

regulations allowed it, the

official who reviewed the

app and sent it on decided to

use only the veterans’ initials

and to delete the death date

entirely.

This editor has noticed that many of these earlier

stones do not include birth or death dates, and he’s

always assumed it was because the government was pay-

ing the engraver per character. This explanation would

explain the man who processed the application deciding

to save another nine characters of engraving in the name.

Goof-up, cont.So what’s so unusual about this stone? The man who made it thought he was making

a Union soldier’s marker, that’s what.

Union markers of this era have a recessed shield, as shown on the preceding page

and at left below. The lettering is done in a block font with raised lettering and no

serifs. Raised letters in marble are very fragile and won’t last, especially in the face of

acidic rain like we now have. Notice the old stone below.

The Confederate stone at right is typical. It was furnished by War Department (sans

dates) and was sent to Denton County, Texas in 1931. Their lettering was still being

hand-cut and was quite shallow.

All American veterans except Confederates who

have government-supplied markers, from the

American Revolution up until today, have round-

topped stones. Although the story is probably

apocryphal, it’s said Confederate stones have pointed

tops to keep Yankees from sitting on them. Whatever

the reason, they’re the only ones with pointed tops.

Nearly forty years ago your editor pulled this stone

up and hired a monument man to cut the soldier’s

dates on it. Mr. Land was one of your editor’s four

Confederate great-great grandfathers. Most of the

stones this age still have no dates engraved on them.

Remember that if you know

of Confederate soldiers who are

in unmarked graves, or whose

old markers have become broken

and/or unreadable, let us know.

The E. W. Taylor Camp will

see what it can do to get those

situations permanently fixed.

IN

MEMORY OF

COMPATRIOT

JACK

DYESS1939

2019

MAJOR JACK G DYESS (US ARMY RETIRED)

Jack was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He received

his Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of

Omaha and his Master of Science from The University of

Nebraska/Omaha. He enlisted at the age of 19 in the military

and retired 35 years later as a Major in the US Army. He is a

decorated veteran having served two tours in Viet Nam as a

combat engineer. While in the Army, he participated in the

The following obituary for Jack appeared on

the website of Lucas Funeral Home in Hurst

1976 Montreal Olympics on the US Orienteering team. He was elected as President of

the US Orienteering Federation in 1973 and coached the Ohio University team to three

national championships. His passion for the sport lead him to publish a book which is

still in use at the college level.

After instructing at the university level, Jack was the JROTC instructor in the Fort

Worth School District at Trimble Tech High School and Southwest High School. Often

while at dinner or an activity, it was common to hear ‘Major Dyess, do you remember

me?’

Jack’s love for boating began at a young age. He formed DFW Maritime and as the

lead instructor for US Coast Guard Captain’s licensing held a Captain’s license in the US

Merchants Marines, 100 Gross Tons. Often he was requested to serve as an expert wit-

ness in boating accident cases. As one of 22 active Instructor Evaluators for the American

Sailing Association (ASA), he held 19 ASA certifications.

Governor Rick Perry commissioned Jack an Admiral in the

Texas Navy in 2007 in recognition of his service to his country,

his state, and his city. He represented the citizens of Haltom

City from 2012-2016 on the City Council and served a term as

Mayor Pro Tem.

As an avid military history enthusiast, he visited over 100

Civil War battlefields as well as numerous World War II battle-

fields in Europe.

His love of teaching drew him to the Texas Civil War

Museum, where he served as a docent and speaker, constantly

looking for ways to engage the public with this part of Ameri-

can history. He was a popular speaker and traveled the

country giving his power point presentations on all aspects of

American history.

Jack Dyess, cont.

Jack loved to dance, competing, and winning

many swing dance competitions throughout Texas.

When asked what was his most interesting experi-

ence he would always say teaching actress Julia

Roberts to country-western dance while appearing

in a movie with her and Willie Nelson in 1992.

Even in death, Jack continues to give back. His

relationship with his stepson showed him the

importance of organ and tissue donations. His

parting gift through Life Gift donation has allowed a

burn victim to be given the gift of hope at a time

when he or she must have been feeling lost.

Jack is survived by his wife Diane Agerton

Dyess of Haltom City, daughters Jackie Dyess and

husband Dave Sigler of San Antonio and Doris

Elaine Dyess Hughes and husband Jimmie Hughes

of Colorado Springs, grandson Dominick Jack

Hughes and wife Candace Hughes of Colorado

Springs, granddaughter Nina Hughes of Colorado

Springs and great-grandson Apollo Hughes, also of

Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Memorials in lieu of flowers may be made to

The Texas Civil War Museum Endowment or to the

Veterans of Foreign Wars.

He was a member of the Reserve Officers

Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Order of the

Southern Cross, Order of the Blue and Gray, charter

member of the Order of the Vietnam War, and

charter member of Society of Steel Magnolias.

Other memberships included Society of

Independent Southern Historians, life member in the

Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the Military

Order of Stars and Bars where he served as State

Society Commander 2015-2017.

Family and friends gathered at the National

Cemetery in Grand Prairie on Thursday, June

13. Compatriot Richard Montgomery (above)

of the Stonewall Jackson Camp in Denton was

the officiant both here and at the funeral home.

The gentleman sitting at Diane’s right is her

father. Several Patriot Guards stood watch as

Army and Air Force personnel fired a 21-gun

salute and awarded Diane Dyess the flag. The

Patriot Guards also presented her a framed

certificate.

Descendant of early Confederate and first Tarrant County Sheriff

to die in service attends May 20 groundbreaking of Tarrant

County Law Enforcement Memorial at Court House

On Monday, May 20, 2019, Tarrant County Sheriff Bill E. Waybourn (above right)

was honored to meet John Cullen York (above left) during the Tarrant County Law

Enforcement Memorial and Groundbreaking Ceremony. Mr. York is the great-great

grandson of former Tarrant County Sheriff John B. York (EOW 24 August 1861). Sheriff

York was remembered for his service and sacrifice during the ceremony.

Back in 2016 the E. W. Taylor Camp honored Sheriff York with his first-ever

headstone in Mitchell Cemetery near the corner of NE 28th Street and Decatur Avenue.

Cullen York and his family were the guests of honor that day (inset).

The finished Memorial will stand beside the 1895 Tarrant County Court House.

Photo by Ervin Houk

An interesting relic from

Imagine how much our late friend and compatriot, Ron Parker, would have

enjoyed finding this with his metal detector.

Reconstruction-era Texas

When your friends know you’re interested in old stuff they

sometimes bring you interesting things to see. A friend of your

editor’s at church brought this old U. S. Deputy Marshall’s badge for

him to see. The friend’s dad found it in a pawn shop in Arkansas

years ago and bought it. It’s made from an old U. S. Morgan Dollar,

hence it must date from 1878 or later. Send any comments to your

editor at mfpchat@yahoo.com If anyone else knows more about it,

we’ll pass the comments along.

A few more words on the subject of Nat Terry, for now. For some years we’ve worked hard to find and mark the

graves of unmarked Confederates in our area. We’re planning a

very nice one for Mr. Terry’s grave in Pioneer’s Rest Cemetery.

We’ll be sharing more details with you as they develop.

Continued from this newsletter’s May and June issues, this 1907 memory by one of

Terry’s friends appeared in the Fort Worth newspaper that year. This is the third and last

installment of this particular source. We are presenting it as a typescript this month.

“Outwitted by a Jockey

I remember on one occasion his becoming completely outwitted by a Ten-

nessee horse jockey. The major kept fine racing horses. This Tennessean heard

of his horses and of his great fondness for backing them with large sums of

money, and owning a horse

that had made quite a reputa-

tion, he decided to put up a job

on Major Terry.

He therefore bought out a

tin pedlar and put his fine race

horse and another to the wagon

and struck out himself to sell

tin cups, etc. He made it con-

venient to happen [to be] at

Major Terry’s at sundown on a

certain afternoon and ask for accommodations for the night, which was freely

granted him by the hospitable Major Terry.

When the Tennessean got to the door of the parlor and saw a beautiful car-

pet on the floor—mark you, this was in the long ago when carpets were scarce-

he stopped and deliberately pulled off his boots. The major asked him why he

did that, and he said: “ I didn’t want to walk on your wife’s bedspread.” The

major told him, “Why never mind, that’s a carpet on the floor,” and induced

him to put his boots back on and then sat and talked with the major, who as

you will remember delighted to talk, if he could not with the most intelligent

and first men of the state or country, he would take the lowest—but he would

talk.

Major Terry an Odd Character, cont.Finally the fellow looked at a pair of brass and-irons which had been

rubbed up very brightly and said to Major Terry: “Mr. Terry, what will you

take for them gold fire dogs?” The major, a very great lover of money, saw

that there was an opportunity of making a speculation, and told the fellow

$15. He said that he would take them. Being a cheap class of goods, the

major, after talking some time, sold out to him.

Next morning, when leaving, he asked the major to come out and look

at his horses. He was then

ready for business and had

thrown the major completely

off his guard. After talking

about his horses running for

some time and how swift they

were he said that one of them

had beat all the boys in his

neighborhood up in Tennessee

and that he could beat any-

thing in Alabama.

Major Terry said: “Hold on. I have some racing stock here.” They went

into his stable and were not long in making a bet of $500 that his old wagon

horse could beat a very celebrated horse which the major prided himself on,

and called in a reliable neighbor. The tin pedlar was thoroughly informed

by a friend who was in the game with him and in putting up the money he

said, “Now, Major Terry, I’ll bet you $200 I win the race,” which the major

readily accepted.

They fixed on a day for the race and it was run; the tin pedlar’s horse

almost outdistancing the major’s horse, and he won the $700. When he

walked up to get the money in the most courteous manner he lifted his hat

and said: “Now Major Terry, my game is ended. I wish sir, to make you a

present of your damned old brass irons and pinchbeck silver tongs.”

Now if you knew Major Terry well, my friend, you can imagine how that

struck him, but he always said that was the only horse jockey that ever got

the best of him in a race.

He remained in Alabama until along about 1850, and then left for Texas.

After remaining out there a few years he revisited his old home in North

[Earliest-known photo of a racehorse-1850]

Alabama. Everybody was glad to see him, for he was

unanimously popular, and I will say now, remembering as I do,

many expressions that he was the best emigration agent that was

ever sent out from the state of Texas. He could tell more good things

and wonderful things about Texas, but one old fellow said: “Nat, I

can believe everything you say, but what you said about hogs rooting

the corn over and wouldn’t eat it, but eat the grass under it.”

I knew his son, Nat, and his daughter, Mary

Jane. The others I don’t remember, because I

was quite a young boy then myself, and three or

four years afterward I went off to college. When

I returned the war broke out and the rest you

know as well as I could tell you.

But I repeat that I enjoyed your book all the

way thru. I like your style. It bore the impres-

sion of honest truthfulness all the way thru and

told by a man who cared more for the ideas he wished to convey

than the language in which he clothed it, which is always one of the

most captivating methods of writing. You did it so well that I think

you should do more of it.

With the very best wishes and kindest regards, I remain,

Your friend truly,

JOHN C. FEATHERSTON

Major Terry an Odd Character, cont.

Featherston was Captain of Co. F, 9th Alabama Infantry.

He died in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1917. He had reminis-

cences published in the Confederate Veteran and the

Southern Historical Society Papers. In 1987 the book at left

was published by the Birmingham Public Library press.

Rampant conflict of interest, nest-feathering, dereliction of duty and

irresponsibility in one of the houses of the legislative body, on and

on…but enough about 2019. Let’s talk about Nathaniel Terry’s time as

president of the Alabama Senate.

The facsimile above is the top half of a single page from the Journal of

the Alabama Senate for the 1840-1841 term. The bottom half of the same

page appears on the next page of this newsletter. During the years he was

President of the Senate, Terry’s name appears on nearly every page.

While he was on the committee which dealt with the State Bank, his

partisan support of it would be almost laughable if it didn’t remind us so

much of men and women in our government today.

Time after time when he was asked to do something, he and his

committee reported the action as “inexpedient.”

If they’d had the Internal Revenue Service and 501c3 groups back

then, he probably would have set himself up as the “Terry Foundation.”

Alabama Senate Journal, 1840-1841, cont.[Dec. 7, 1840]

The facsimile above is the bottom

half of the single page from the Journal of

the Alabama Senate, for the 1840-1841

term (shown on p. 21 of this newsletter).

It seems that whenever another senator

bucked Terry, he could usually rally

enough support to have his way.

When Terry failed in his run for the

governor’s chair in 1845 the new gov-

ernor, Joshua L. Martin, used his influ-

ence to close the bank. The bank’s

franchise was withdrawn later that year

and all its branches were closed.

One of the bank buildings from 1833 is

still standing in Decatur and is shown at

right.

[Written by another of Nathaniel Terry’s friends, this

monumental work, “Reminiscences of Public Men of

Alabama,” was published in 1872. It’s another one of

those things we can only marvel at from this distance,

done in an age of no typewriters, phones, copy machines,

or word processors. His story of Mr. Terry is on the

following page of this newsletter. It’s another frank look

at one of our earliest Tarrant County pioneers.]

“His [Nat Terry’s] career in Alabama

fills too large a space in legislative

annals to soon be forgotten.”

William Garrett

From Public Men in Alabama, 1872, by William Garrett

Mr. Garrett gives a balanced and not always complimentary evaluation of Nathaniel Terry’s

personality and public service in Alabama. Garrett knew Terry from 1837 until Terry came to

Texas in the early 1850’s.

William Garrett (1809-1910), above,

knew Terry throughout Terry’s time of

public service in Alabama. Several of

the incidents he mentions in this

account are interesting stories in their

own right.

Garrett served at various times in

both the Alabama House and Senate,

and was for many years Alabama’s

Secretary of State.

During Alabama’s Reconstruction

government, Garrett was appointed

Secretary of State by Yankee Prov. Gov.

Lewis E. Parsons. He was a member of

Alabama’s Constitutional Convention in

1875.

Nat Terry had influential friendsThen as now, making influential friends was an important part of holding a seat in

government. Terry was good at it.

Below is an excerpt from a letter James K. Polk wrote to Samuel H. Laughlin, dated Nashville,

Tennessee April 2, 1840. (At the time he wrote this letter Polk was Governor of Tennessee).

“…Do you know Col. Nathl. Terry of Limestone County, Hon . S.

C. Posey of Florence or Mr. Woodson of the Huntsville

Democrat[?] The two former I know to be my warm friends; and

the latter I understand is so in his feelings and publications. Burn

this when you have read it. I write more freely to you than I

would to almost any one else, because I know I can do so safely.

[Signed] James K. Polk”

Several letters to, from, and about Terry are preserved in the personal

papers of James K. Polk, who served as U. S. President 1845-1849. Polk

Both Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk, have communi-

cations from Terry in their preserved papers.

There are at least two letters of introduction online Terry

wrote to Jackson for others. The one at left was for two of

Terry’s brothers-in-law. One of

them was the man Terry later

said had defeated him for

governor of Alabama [not so].

Both were written when Jackson

was in retirement at his home in

Tennessee, the Hermitage.

Jackson

Mr. Terry winds up his

The roller-coaster life of Mr. Terry and his family topped out in the 1840’s, and was nearly at the

bottom, by his standards, by the end of the decade. Remember that in 1907 his old friend, John C.

Featherston, wrote of him and his financial escapades:

Nathaniel Terry was one of the big men in Alabama in 1840. He owned 117 slaves and was

President of the State Senate. Government officials and other prominent men asked him for letters of

introduction to men like Andrew Jackson and James Know Polk. He must have gloried in it.

When the 1850 census was taken in Limestone County, Alabama Nat Terry was still comfortable

…but not in the Senate and not in the governor’s chair. His slave count was down to 21. He

apparently told friends in Texas that eighty of his slaves had been sold on a single day in Alabama to

satisfy his creditors. This may have been a result of the closing of the Alabama State Bank. He liked

to be known for being at the center of big happenings.

About 1854 he and his family, with many of his belongings and, (we’re told 39) slaves started to

Texas. Nothing at all about the trip has survived. It seems likely, since river transportation was so

prevalent in northern Alabama at the time (below left), they may have gone to the Alabama coast then

across by water to the Texas coastline. By that time it would have been possible to travel inland by

water as far as Jefferson, Texas. That would have left a straight-line trip from Jefferson to Fort Worth

of about 200 miles. The daily expense of moving with such a large group of people, animals, and

belongings must have been considerable.

“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.”

For the third month in a row we’re trying to acquaint you with one of the most

influential men who settled here before the WBTS.

We have quite a bit more infor-

mation to share on Mr. Terry in the

future. He didn’t just retire to a farm

and sit out the rest of his life here.

He lived almost twenty years

longer and made a name for himself

in Texas, too.

His gravesite is known and easily

accessible in Fort Worth’s Pioneers

Rest Cemetery, and we’re planning a

marker for him like none we’ve ever

done before. We hope to dedicate it

in the fall or early winter.

Stay tuned or come to a meeting

of the camp to learn more.

business in Alabama

Getting to know our local ConfederatesWhile we were looking for documentation on Mayor William Paxton

Burts’ mother-in-law, we found some more information on the mayor as well.

One of the many interesting sources

on Mr. Burts we’ve found online was

Georgia Plunkett’s Red’s Medicine

Men in Texas, 1930.

DR. WILLIAM PAXTON BURTS, the

first Mayor of Fort Worth, was born

on a farm in Green Meadow, Washing-

ton County, Tennessee, on December 7,

1827. His parents were both from Vir-

ginia but moved to Tennessee soon after

their marriage. Before the Civil War they

were wealthy in land and slaves.

Young William did not enjoy farm

life; while endowed with wonderful ener-

gy his inclinations were not for the labors

of the field. This was so apparent to his

father that he one day said to his son, "If

you can't do better plowing than this, turn

those horses out and go home," a com-

mand the dutiful son most cheerfully

obeyed. And he never tried to plow an-

other furrow.

William attended several common

schools, among them the Martin Acad-

emy of Jonesboro, near his home. He

later attended Washington College and

Tusculum College, near Greenville. In

choosing a profession he preferred law, but yielded to the solicitations of

his father and began the study of medicine at Jonesboro under the

instruction of Dr. W. T. M. Outlaw. For two and a half years he also

studied medicine under Dr. S. S. M. Doak of Green County, Tennessee.

The first course of medical lectures he attended was at Bowdoin College,

Brunswick, Maine. He was graduated from Geneva Medical College,

Geneva, New York, in 1862.

W. P. Burts, cont.

six years. He went to Fort Worth in 1868 and continued practice there

until his death. He formed a partnership with Drs. Field and Beall. This

firm did a large practice in the years 1871-72-73.

Later Dr. Burts went into a merchandise business; he also became

interested in the big cattle drives from Texas to the Kansas market. He

made a great deal of money for a time; but it interfered with his

profession, so he went back to his practice.

Dr. Burts and Miss Ann G. Henderson were married at Henderson's

Mill, Green County, Tennessee, October 23, 1852. Mrs. Burts was a finely

educated and charming woman. Their family consisted of five daughters

and one son. Mrs. Burts was an old-school Presbyterian; the doctor was

not a professor of religion [meaning he didn’t profess to have a religion].

A few years back we made Dr.

Burts a new marker to go beside

his old one. The broken stone of

his mother-in-law, Sarah Hender-

son, (on whom we’re gathering

information) can be seen lying

just beyond the pickup. Here

James Alderman (in red) and Tom

Trawick are unloading Burts’

new stone from the pickup.

Dr. Burts began practice in Tazewell

County, Virginia, where he remained

During the Civil War he was appointed Conscript Surgeon of Tarrant County. In

politics he was a Democrat. He voted for secession, encouraged the war, and took sides

on all subjects with the South.

W. P. Burts, cont.

He had very little time to devote to official

duties, but in 1873 he was elected Mayor of

Fort Worth. He was re-elected in 1874 but

resigned before his term was over. He was a

member of the Tarrant County Medical

Association, of the Northwest Texas Medical

Association, and of the State Association. In

1880 he was chairman of the section on

Theory and Practice of Medicine. He served

as president of the Tarrant County Medical

Association, was Examining Physician for the

Knights of Honor, of which order he was a

member, and was Examining Surgeon for the

New York Mutual Life Insurance Company.

He became a Mason in Virginia and served

in several offices, lastly as ex-officio Thrice

Illustrious Grand Master of the Council.

We’re still looking for living

descendants of Dr. Burts’ mother-in-

law, Sarah D. Henderson, who was

the daughter of a Virginia Revolution-

ary soldier named Gordon White.

It’s looking pretty promising, and if it

works out we might offer to help the

Daughters of the American Revolution if

they decide to honor her in the coming

months. Some of her children came to

Texas; some stayed in Tennessee.

Heckling, drama mark House hearing on slavery

reparations as top Dem asks, 'Why not now?'https://www.foxnews.com/politics/h

ouse-hearing-slavery-reparations

Thanks to Compatriot Clay Fitzhugh

for sharing this interesting (and

predictable) article with us. When’s

someone in the House going to intro-

duce a bill in congress to give legal

expenses to anyone who wants to

change his name from something

“offensive”?

“A democracy …can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote

themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the

majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from

the public treasury with the result that a democracy…collapses over loose

fiscal policy,…” Origin obscure, widely quoted in the 20th century.

Claiming Racism, Illinois Democrat Cancels

Local Civil War Re-Enactment

https://thefederalist

.com/2019/06/17/claim

ing-racism-illinois-

democrat-cancels-

local-civil-war-re-

enactment/

This article was sent to us by

our new Compatriot, Mike

Edwards. Thanks, Mike.

An American ornithologist, college student and body builder, Robert Driver (below left) has

proposed that the name of the McCown’s Longspur (center below) be changed to something else. Why?

Because the soldier-scientist who first discovered it in 1851 and first described it (while serving in the

U. S. Army) was later a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army. He was John Porter McCown

(1815-1879), a career officer in the U. S. Army from 1849-1861 (including active service in the

Mexican War and the Seminole War).

A few months ago we encountered an interesting bug while we were installing a

marker for a veteran in Fort Worth. It prompted our first-ever Entomological

Corner. Now, here’s a dumb item from the news, pointed out to us by Compatriot

Rich McCook at our June meeting.

This month’s Ornithological Corner

The American Ornithological Union wisely decided to pass on something this inane and political,

but the fact that anyone would even suggest it shows once again the level on which many modern

Americans are operating. Yet another ornithologist has weighed in on it, and you can read his even

more extreme thoughts at https://matthewhalley.wordpress.com/2019/01/19/mccowns-longspur-should-

not-be-renamed-unless-all-honorific-names-are-changed/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdfru9NHGvE

Definitely worth five

minutes of your time.

Texas Civil War Museum

Most extensive, best

WBTS collection West of

the Mississippi River !!!Cool stuff, cool programs, cool giftshop,

cool air. Tu-Sat 10-5

July upcoming programs in the Texas Civil

War Museum’s Summer Speaker free series

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

Vicki Tongate, Southern Methodist University

Author of Another Year Finds Me In Texas,

The Civil War Diary of Lucy Pier Stevens,

book signing at 12:00 noon Sat. July 13

Allen Mesch, UTD, SMU and TWU Author

of Preparing for Disunion—West Point

Commandants and the Training of Civil

War Leaders, book signing at 12:00 noon

Sat. July 20

Tom Holder, “Historian Mollie MacGill

Rosenberg, Sharpsburg’s Angel of the

Confederacy, Texas Philanthropist,” author

of Lone Star General, Hiram B. Granbury,

book signing 12:00 noon Sat. July 27 (Mollie

MacGill Rosenberg’s portrait is currently on

display)

They Walk

Among Us.We’re not speculating

on their politics. It’s just

nice to see someone else

who makes us feel better

about ourselves. Wish the

license plate on the SUV

was readable. Would just

be interesting to know….

Who’d Erath County,

Texas choose to make

the memorial for

Sheriff James Mastin,

who was killed in the

line of duty near

Stephenville in 1877?

For all you memorial needs/questions give us

a call at 817-770-4434. M-F, 9-5. Sat 9-3.

Or email Mike@worthingtontx.com

Our continued thanks

to Matt and Ryan

Worthington and their

staff who make it

possible for us to have

a Confederate grave-

marking program.

That’s Who !

Jack Dyess

Thanksto All the Good Folks Who Helped the Camp

Last Month…

…to all our Compatriots who went to Jack’s memorial

service at DFW National Cemetery on June 13.

…to Ervin Hauk of the Tarrant County Historical Commis-

sion for sending us his photos from the Tarrant County Law

Enforcement Memorial and Groundbreaking Ceremony.

....to Compatriots Mike Edwards and Jim Long for

coming to be a part of our camp.

…to all our Camp members who attended the Texas Division meeting

in Temple on the first day of June.

…to all the Taylor members who attended the presentation by

Jerry Patterson at the Griffin Camp meeting in Haltom City

on June 11.

…to all the Taylor members who attended Jack Dyess’

memorial service at Lucas Funeral Home in Hurst on

June 12.

…to Compatriot Steve Hicks for helping to install Madison

Booth’s rock in Birdville Cemetery on June 3.

… to Amanda Milian, Project Archivist at the Tarrant County

Archives, for going the second mile with us on the phone in our

search for Nathaniel Terry records.

…to employees of Tarrant County who helped us get a look at

Nathaniel Terry’s estate files, which were away from the court

house in off-site storage: Erika in the probate office, Tony in the

county clerk’s office, and Bryan in the warehouse who especially

went out of his way to help us.

…to Marilyn Patterson, for proofreading all our stuff and for giving

your editor spur-of-the-moment taxi service hither and yon on Camp

business.

Our

…to all our visitors at the June regular meeting of the Camp. We

hope all thirty people there enjoyed their visit and learned

something worthwhile.

...to James Alderman who took us down to Worthington’s on the

morning of June 28 and brought Mr. Hill’s rock back to Colleyville.

…to all the members of the E. W. Taylor camp who voted at the

June meeting to pay for Nathaniel Terry’s marker.

The July Puzzle

https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?r=play&pid=3d78b65f8629

This wonderful painting by Don Prechtel, ”VMI Cadets at

New Market,” hangs in the museum of the Virginia Military

Institute. Its colors and detail almost give it an N.C.Wyeth feel.

Don Prechtel is a highly-acclaimed award-winning artist who

makes his home in Creswell, Oregon. He has been a

professional artist since 1968.

You may find the puzzle by going to:

You’ll find it there in the condition the last person there left it. For

specific directions, see our June 2019 issue or email the editor at

mfpchat@yahoo.com

"To you, Sons of Confederate

Veterans, we will commit the

vindication of the cause for which

we fought. To your strength will be

given the defense of the

Confederate soldier's good name,

the guardianship of his history, the

emulation of his virtues, the

perpetuation of those principles

which he loved and which you love

also, and those ideals which made

him glorious and which you also

cherish. Remember, it is your duty

to see that the true history of the

South is presented to future

generations.”General Stephen Dill Lee CSA