Pvt. William Riley Milton Camp 741
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Volume 10 Commander Terry Binkley Issue 10
Commander's Corner
Greetings Compatriots,
It’s getting that time of year again when we have quite a few things going on and events coming up soon that we need to get ready for!
Camp 741 was well represented at the recent Villages Military Memorabilia Show. Thanks to Compatriot Bob Blackmer for arranging for us to participate, we were able to set up several tables with War Between the States educational material as well as SCV literature. We also got some positive publicity in a couple of newspapers and on the Villages News Network. I want to thank Compatriots, Bob Blackmer and wife, Peggy, 8th Brigade Commander Harry Hurst and wife, Karen, Bob Grenier and wife, Alma, Jim Baumgardner and wife, Tammy and last but not least Sgt.-At-Arms Eddie Hurst, for turning out in uniform and period dress to maintain the legacy of our Confederate ancestors. I know they would be honored to know that we still love and remember them and honor their memory by publicly declaring their Cause just!
We have another opportunity to “go public” on Saturday, November 5th at the Ocklawaha re-enactment. We have been invited by Cmdr. Skip Cornelius of Camp 1786 Oxford, to join them for a display and recruitment table at the re-enactment. A courtesy call was made to the Marion County camps and they have welcomed our attendance. We will set up shop around 9AM and leave around 2PM. Please plan to come out and help, even if it’s just for moral support! We’re going to take the trailer and decorate it and use it as a recruitment booth.
In less than a month we have the Cracker Christmas Parade in Umatilla. It will be on November 26th, so start thinking of decorating ideas for the trailer/float and plan on being there for this great event too. Camps 1709 (Cmdr. Larry Rowe, Geneva) and 1360 (Cmdr. Jay Cross, Deland) and 1786 (Cmdr. Skip Cornelius) have already made plans to be there with mounted cavalry and re-enactors of the 2nd S.C. Infantry. The theme of this year’s parade is “Red, White and Blue Salute to Our Military Heroes”, so we have the perfect heroes for them!
We had our officer’s call on Oct. 20th. Several items were addressed and need further discussion. Please plan to be at the next camp meeting for details of the issues that were brought up.
God bless you all,
Y.O.S.
Terry
If I ever disown, repudiate or apologise for the cause for which Lee fought and Jackson died, let the lightnings from Heaven rend me and the scorn of all good men and true women be my portion. Sun, moon and stars all fall on me when I cease to love the Confederacy. 'Tis the cause, not the fate of the cause, that is glorious"-- Major R. E. Wilson, C.S.A.
Chaplain’s Chat
LIKE A ROCK
Stones. Rocks. They are a rare find in the state of Florida except for the sandstone found in a few areas. So I was pleasantly surprised to find several very large stones almost buried in pine straw, tangled vines and palmetto fronds out by the back fence. I decided to dig 2 or three of them out and place them at the edge of my flowerbed for decoration. The more I dug, the more I found. Very few were smaller than a Florida grapefruit; a few were almost too big to haul in my wheelbarrow. In a couple of hours of backbreaking, sweaty work I had a rock garden about the size of my flower garden.
As I sorted them out and selected which one to place where, I was reminded of that verse in 1 Peter 2:5 where he talks of the make-up of the Church: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
The thought occurred to me that man makes bricks - God made rocks. When we want to construct a sturdy and enduring building, we use bricks and blocks. When God determined to build His Church, He chose to use stones, living stones.
Bricks and building blocks meet the standard of being identical. Each individual is the same size, weight, shape, color and texture as the next. But not rocks. Not stones. There are no two alike. Snowflakes get lots of recognition as being each unique. But any rock you find will be just as uniquely different from any another as snowflakes.
It is true that in the Church “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:” – we are all “just plain Christians.” But each is a unique individual and you will never find any two of us just alike.
Our Sons of Confederate Veterans has a lot in common with churches and stones in that characteristic of uniqueness. I’ve had the privilege of visiting several local camps and so far, I’ve never been in two that were just alike. Each camp has it’s own uniqueness, its own “flavor”, with different characteristics, and personality.
And in the same manner, there seem to be no two Compatriots just alike. Our Commander has a father and brothers in our camp but each Binkley is a unique Son of the Confederacy.
There are some things that make us different from the rest of the population but there are some characteristics that are common to all of us. We love our country, we are proud of our heritage and we honor our predecessors. We may be Baptist or Methodists, Democrats or Republicans, ‘Gators or Seminoles but when it comes to our SCV we are Americans, we are Southerners and are proud of our ancestor who fought for the Confederacy. And we all pray GOD BLESS DIXIE!
Dun
Confederate Veteran
A Ghost Story
Charles H. Goffe, in San Antonio Express
An old Confederate scout of those days with whom I had occasion some years ago to ride through a neighborhood near a certain town, narrated a funny story that never recurs that it does not require a hearty laugh. Jim Warden (that was the old scout’s name) said as we were passing an ancient cemetery: “Do you believe in ghosts?”
“No indeed,” I answered; “do you?”
“Well, not since the incident I’m going to narrate, transpired,” he answered
“You see that old graveyard yonder? Well, it was during the first part of the War Between the States, now about twenty years ago. I had been on scout duty, and my command was operating in the vicinity where the town of Stafford is now located. My father’s home was about ten miles west of Stafford, and I took occasion to visit the family one night and get a good square meal, though it was risky business. I hitched my horse back of the house in a thicket, and when the family retired for the night, mother gave me a large white cotton blanket, as the nights were kind of frosty, you know, and I came down to this old graveyard as a safe place to sleep. Well, I found a nice grassy bed right between two graves, whose large, flat marble slabs had toppled over, and I lay down and had just gone into a dreamy snooze, when I heard the clatter of horse’s hoofs, and looking toward the entrance, where once there had been an old gate, what was my terror when I distinguished the outline of a horseman riding directly toward where I lay. Great Scott! Man, I pulled my revolver and quietly watched the intruder on my dreams. Then as he approached to about twenty feet, he bent over and seemed to be looking for me, and there he sat on his horse, bending this way and that. I was confident he was trying to find my hiding place, for it was very dark.
“Then an idea seized me, and wrapping the ample white blanket about me, I sat up. The horse gave a snort. I raised up with the white blanket fluttering about me and stepped up on one of the mounds. The stranger saw it. He gave one wild, despairing yell and out of the cemetery he rushed in a mad gallop, and I lay down convulsed. That’s my story Charley. But listen: there is more. About ten years ago I was riding where we are now, past this same old graveyard, in company with a man who was reared not a thousand miles from this spot, when this companion said: “Warden, do you believe in ghosts?”
“No,” said I. “Do you?”
“You bet I do, Warden, and so would you if you had been with me once during the times of the war.”
“Why,” said I, “what about it?”
“He stopped right along about here, filled his pipe, and said in a deep, solemn voice: “Warden, I always feel skeery when I come by this old graveyard, and I feel like something was crawling up my spine, and I kind of hate to tell it, but you and I were old scouts in 1861 and 1862. Well, sir, listen: One night I was out on scout duty near here and I lost my spur, and the lazy old nag I was mounted on was so slow that when I came to the gate yonder, I rode in to get me a good sprout that I knew was growing out of the old neglected stumps. Well, Warden, I was trying to break one off at the root and didn’t want to dismount, when suddenly my old horse gave an unearthly snort, and as I turned to look, Holy Moses! There arose out of one of those long graves, a ghost ten feet high, flapping his wings and starting for me. Great heavens, Warden! I’m scared when I think of it, and the sight of that ghost has haunted me all these years ever since.”
“And then I laughed and laughed until my sides fairly ached, and then I laughed some more. It was just too funny, and you are the very man I wanted to hear it. I told my companion all about it and detailed every incident until he was thoroughly convinced, and then he laughed. But the evil spell that had haunted him for all these long years had been broken and the “hoodoo” of his dreams had been relegated to the bowwows.”
(From the Oct. 1921 CONFEDERATE VETERAN)
"Remembrance Book"
This month’s ancestor is James M. Baumgardner, ancestor of Compatriot Jim Baumgardner. Below is a copy of his obituary taken from the local newspaper at the time of his passing. Notice the respect and honor given to this Confederate veteran at the time. We are honored to have this hero among the ranks of our ancestors and proud to have his descendant as a member of our camp.
The Huntington Herald-Dispatch, Friday Morning, October 23, 1914, pg. 12
VETERAN CALLED TO JOIN HOSTS IN PEACELAND
Venerable James Marion Baumgardner Lays Down
Burden
of Years for New Life.
SERVED GALLANTLY THROUGH CIVIL WAR
Funeral Will Occur This Afternoon Under Auspices
of Camp
Garnet Confederate Veterans
James Marion Baumgardner,
veteran soldier and pioneer resident of Huntington and Southern West Virginia,
died at three o'clock Thursday morning, at his home on Ninth street, where he
had resided for many years. Mr. Baumgardner, who was eighty-five years old, was
stricken with paralysis seven weeks ago. He lingered, fighting gallantly with
the aid of devoted friends and family, but owing to advanced age and the
severity of his affliction, he lost slowly, and the life that had once
represented a tower of strength, slowly ebbed into the shadows. Though
speechless, during all the weeks of his illness, Mr. Baumgardner was conscious
almost to the end, and frequently gave evidences of recognition to those around
him.
He was born near Ona, in Cabell county, on March 21, 1830, on the MacCorkle
homestead, one of the oldest properties in that section of the county. His
parents were Jacob and Mary Baumgardner, who came from
Fincastle, Va., to this section
early in the Nineteenth century. In his boyhood he evinced in a marked degree
qualities of vigor and intelligence and a capacity for work to which he held
steadfastly until the encroachments of age forced him into the quietude of
retirement. At the first outbreak of the Civil war, being of warm southern
sympathies, he enlisted in the Confederate army, and served gallantly to the
end. He participated in the battles of Scary, Carnifax, Morristown, Lewisburg,
Chambersburg and Lookout
Mountain. His first service was under General Wise. This was concluded in 1861.
He was transferred then to General Robert E. Lee, the great southern chieftain,
and he followed with undaunted footsteps the varying fortunes of that leader,
until the closing year of the war, when he became attached to Longstreet's army,
and participated with that intrepid leader in many of the thrilling events of
the south. At the close of the war, he returned to Cabell County, and for a
number of years conducted a hotel at Guyandotte. Those were the days before the
railroads, and old-time river conditions prevailed. The traffic was from
turnpikes and the steamboats.
At the close of the war, he married to Lucinda Ferguson, who, with the
following children, survives him; Harry Baumgardner, of Washington, D. C.; Mrs.
Herbert Tompkins, of Cliffton Forge, Va., Mrs. Robert Kyle, of Huntington. Mrs.
Tompkins and Mrs. Kyle were with their father when the end came.
Mr. Baumgardner had had a wealth of human experience. The long span of his
life had brought him into contact with all the sweetness of peace and all the
hardship and devastation of war. He was kindly mannered, a close student of
events and of the Bible, in the study and discussion of which he found incessant
delight. He was a Christian by profession and by practice. For many years, he
was a member of the Fifth Avenue Baptist church, and the funeral rites will be
conducted at the shrine of that church today. He saw Huntington grow from
woodland and cornfield to the magnificent city it is today. He lived well,
albeit long, and when the summons came, he was ready to say, with Stonewall
Jackson, that great leader of the south he served: "Let us cross over the river
and rest under the shade of the trees."
The funeral will occur at Fifth Avenue Baptist church, at half past two
o'clock this afternoon. The burial will be at Spring Hill. Camp Garnett, United Confederate
Veterans, of which Mr. Baumgardner was a faithful and honored member, will
attend in a body.
Our Camp
History/News/Notes
NEWS: WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! to help recruit members at the Ocklawaha River Raid Reenactment, Saturday, Nov. 5th. You need to arrive between 8-9 a.m. to help disseminate information. You may wear your uniform or dress as you wish. The event should last until after the reenactment, about 2-3 p.m. We will set up the trailer for recruitment purposes.
Life Membership in the SCV at the National level has 3 tiers.
Age 12 to age 64 is $500
Age 65 to age 70 is $250
Age 80 and up is $125
It can be paid $100 down and the rest as you want to send it in, but you must continue to pay your annual dues until the full amount is paid.
Life Membership at the Division level is $150 paid all at once and cannot be paid until the National membership is paid up.
Next Meeting: First WEDNESDAY, Nov. 2, at the 5th Street Charhouse in Leesburg, FL.!
Located at 114 S. 5th St. between Magnolia and Main St. in downtown Leesburg. 6 P.M. Supper, 7 P.M. Call to Order. Guests are always welcome!
