The Newsletter of the Salt Creek Civil War Roundtable Vol. XLX No.5 15 January 2010 427th Regular Meeting Happy New Year to everyone. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. The New Year comes with a new week for our meetings. Starting this month we will meet on the 3rd Friday of the month at Fairview Village. The talk will be a power point slide presentation focusing on some famous as well as lesser known people, situations and events that are comical, ludicrous or just a bit out of the ordinary. It is meant to be entertaining as well as informative. The premise of the title is that any book written about Abraham Lincoln, a doctor or a dog is sure to be a success. Tghus a book about Lincoln's Doctor's Dog is a sure-fire bestseller...Using that as a basis, I will wander through the war, shedding light on the types of situations mentioned above. Robert I. Girardi aka Rob is a member of the Salt Creek Roundtable. This will be his 9th talk at the Salt Creek Roundtable. He has also done talks at other roundtables as well. Robert has a Master's Degree in Public History from Loyola University of Chicago. He is a past president of the Chicago CWRT, Vice President of Salt Creek, a member of the Company of Military Historians. He is also a member of the editorial review board for the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society and am the author/editor of seven books. DATE: 15th January 2010 PLACE: Fairview Village, Downers Grove, IL. TIME: 8:00 p.m. SPEAKER: Robert Girardi TOPIC: “Abraham Lincoln’s Doctor’s Dog: A Random and Irreverent Look at the Civil War” DECEMBER MEETING BY RICK BENSON On December 4, 2009 we had our final “first Friday of the Month” meeting at Fairview Village. In December we had Civil War Memorabilia Presentations. We had Betty Criddell, Lyn Pewitt, Gale Pewitt, Rick Benson, Cindy Intravartolo and Roger Bohn Our first speaker of the night was Betty Cridddell. Betty began by relating that her Great Grandparents received their freedom from slavery. She then talked briefly about the start of slavery in the Caribbean. She related that the 1st boat containing 20 slaves that landed in what is now North America landed in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. Slavery was not abolished in America until 1863 when Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation. Betty’s Great Grandfather lived in Kentucky. In 1864, one of Mrs. Williams daughters, the owner of Betty’s relatives, wanted to sell all of their slaves to Cuba. Betty showed a copy of the document showing that her Great Grandfather was a Free Person of Color. Betty obtained this document from the house she grew up in. The next speaker was Lyn Pewitt. She began her presentation posing the question of what does a Southern plantation, a coffee tin and a letter to Jefferson Davis have in common? The southern plantation, Barrington Hall was built by Lyn’s Great Grandfather in 1842 in Roswell, Georgia. The cotton mills were the economic backbone of the community. All eight of the sons either worked for the mills, or were associated with the Confederate Army. Thomas E. King, Lyn’s Great Grandfather’s son, penned a letter to Jefferson Davis. Mr. King related to Davis that they had over 100 stills in that portion of Georgia, and drunkenness was a big issue. Mr. King never received a reply. Cathryne Evelin King, who Lyn is descended from, had two sons. The sons moved to Minneapolis and founded a coffee company named Barrington Hall Coffee Company. This company supplied coffee to the US forces during WWI and WWII, packed in small brown tins. Thus the connection between the southern mansion, the letter to Jefferson Davis and the coffee tins are all items belonging to the Lyn Pewitt family. The next speaker was Gale Pewitt. Gale’s presentation was on Nathan Bedford Forrest items he has collected. Gale brought in square nail he received when he visited Forrest’s home. Then he brought in letters, samples of signatures, letter opener and a picture of Forrest. The next presenter was Rick Benson, Rick presented items related to Andersonville and Captain Henry Wirz. He showed several different photographs he owns. He had a picture of Clara Barton’s grave marker, Xerox copy of Harper’s Weekly Magazine and booklet. The next presenter was Cindy Intravartolo. Her mementos were on Union Cavalry Commander John Buford. Commander Buford was hard to research. She had a Union Picket Pin, silverware, thimble, hat pin and several items she received from a Buford relative from Texas. Last, but definitely not least, was Roger Bohn. Roger’s presentation was on Confederate currency. He discussed the history of the Confederate currency in depth. He had several samples of Confederate currency to show. He showed several original Confederate notes he had. He also related that the Civil War was as much about the economy as it was about battles, philosophy, etc. PRESERVATION REPORT BY LEN OVERCASH, SR. PA - The train station where President Abraham Lincoln arrived to deliver the Gettysburg Address might become a part of the Gettysburg National Military Park, if U.S. Rep. Todd Platts, R-York County, gets his way. Platts introduced legislation to expand the boundaries of the military park to include the Lincoln Train Station and 45 acres of donated land in Cumberland Township, Adams County, in order to preserve it. TN - Congressman Bart Gordon announced that he was able to secure funding for Stones River National Battlefield to improve the historic site and make it more accessible to visitors. Stones River National Battlefield received $1.5 million, which will be used to improve the entrance on Thompson Lane and continue construction of the much-needed access roads for the tour bus route. The project will allow visitors to see new portions of the battlefield and improve the overall visitor experience. Work on a walking trail at Fort Defiance should be completed within the month, project manager Hatem Shaw said, and work on the interpretive center could begin by early January, after the city received a letter Wednesday reinstating project funding. The city began construction on the project, conceived to tell the story of the fort’s role in the Civil War, in October 2008. PA - With three major road projects scheduled for Gettysburg borough next year, residents, commuters and tourists might need to take a more creative approach to getting around during construction season. “Almost definitely, traffic will be a hassle in 2010, borough.” Manager John Lawyer said. GA - Gordon County commissioners voted Tuesday to lead the charge to complete work at the Resaca Battlefield after the state department overseeing the project made a retreat. A group of local residents began pushing for a battlefield park in the early 1990s and progress had advanced as far as a ground-breaking ceremony before the Georgia Department of Natural Resources pulled out due to a lack of funding. The park is located where entrenched Confederate forces met Atlanta-bound Union troops led by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman in May 1864. But state officials hope the site, located next to Interstate 75, will be friendlier to modern visitors from the North. Kim Hatcher, a spokeswoman for Georgia State Parks, said the state had allotted $3.7 million for the project, but realized that wouldn't be enough to complete it. The original goal was to complete the project by the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in 2011. With that date fast approaching, the county stepped in and asked to take over the project. The source for the above articles is: www.civilwarinteractive.com VA UPCOMING CIVIL WAR EVENTS Northern Illinois Civil War Roundtable Arlington Heights Memorial Library 500 N. Denton Ave. Arlington Heights, IL Friday, February 5, 2010 www.nicwrt.freehostia.com Chicago Civil War Roundtable Holiday Inn Mart Plaza Chicago, IL Friday, February 12, 2010 5:30 p.m. Dinner 7:30 p.m. Speaker Presentation $40.00 Dinner; $5.00 for presentation only 1-630-460-1865 to make reservation www.thecwrt.org Kankakee Civil War Roundtable Kankakee Public Library 304 South Indiana Ave. Kankakee, IL Wednesday, February 3, 2010 7:00 p.m. http://kvcwrt.cwahi.net/ ALL FOR THE UNION It is that time of the year, to renew your member. Enclosed is a 2010 membership form. If you want your name to be in the drawing for a free 2010 membership, please send it to Paula Walker by March 12. The drawing will be held at the March 19th meeting. EDITOR’S NOTES Next Board Meeting of the Roundtable will be January 12, 2010 at Fairview Village. FUTURE MEETINGS 2010 (3rd Friday of the month) Feb- Jim Cunningham/Nation vs. State: Origins of the Conflict Mar- Ray Glick Civil War Horses and Mules Apr- Brian Seiter/General William Starke Rosecrans May- Panel Discussion (What was the turning point of the Civil War) June-Banquet THE SALT CREEK CIVIL WAR ROUNDTABLE www.saltcreekcwrt.org President: Jan Rasmussen Vice-President: Robert Girardi Treasurer: Paula Walker Secretary: Rick Zarr Historian: Cindy Intravartolo Meeting Liaison: Mary Lord Newsletter Editor; Jennie Warner, jenniewarner@gmail.com Newsletter Staff: Rick Benson, Rick Zarr, Len Overcash Sr.