Today’s Franklin, Virginia newspaper summarizes the post-war trajectory of local freedmen in Methodist and Baptist life in Staunton since the end of the war, describing an unusually cooperative arrangement between the city’s white and black Baptists. “At the recent session of the Methodist Conference in Washington, Bishop Simpson and a colored preacher, the Rev. Mr.…
Not all Confederate forces have yet surrendered. In the mountains of North Carolina near Franklin, a small contingent of Confederates remain armed and active. Patrolling the area are the forces of Union Colonel George W. Kirk. “(D)ue to the possibility of Yankee Soldiers in the county,” Franklin’s First Baptist Church cancels services this day. Meanwhile,…
Mere weeks after U. S. President Abraham Lincoln offers amnesty to white Southerners who pledge loyalty to the United States and encourages Southern states to take steps to be readmitted to the Union, many Confederate citizens are seriously considering Lincoln’s offer. Lincoln is hopeful that his olive branch will quickly peel off Arkansas and Tennessee…