America’s mourning continues as Lincoln‘s funeral train pauses in Cleveland this day. At the same time, many rejoice as local newspapers publish accounts of the death of John Wilkes Booth. The assassin’s death cannot right his evil deed, but at least a small amount of justice has been served. The wrath of the U.S. government…
While slaveholders, politicians, civil servants, religious leaders and newspaper editors in the Confederacy lament over the losses at Gettysburg and Vicksburg and try to sort out the meanings and repercussions thereof, many ordinary Southerners do the same. Mary Beckley Bristow is one of those ordinary Southerners. She is a member of the Sardis Baptist Church…
Kentucky is engaged in a see-saw battle for control between Union and Confederate forces. Refusing to secede, the state nonetheless harbors many Confederates. This month, Union forces in northern Kentucky visit the Sardis Primitive Baptist Church in Union, a congregation with Confederate sentiments. One member, Mary Beckley Bristow, comments upon these recent events: Have just…