In Raleigh this day the first Convention of the Colored People of North Carolina convenes, a gathering “novel to the white people.” Prior to the end of the war and the defeat of the Confederacy, such an assembly was not merely unlawful, but inconceivable. Even now, many delegates from distant towns and cities traveled to…
Born in 1839 in Lowndes County, Georgia, the future Rev. James Madison “Boss” Hendry as a child moved with his parents to Florida. There he lived when the war broke out. He acquired the nickname “Boss” because of his “aggressive” nature. Enlisting on May 4, 1862 as a private at Fort Meade, Florida, he serves…
Gilead Baptist Church of South Carolina’s Grindal Shoals community dates to September 27, 1804. Revolutionary veterans comprised six of the founding members. Upon the commencement of the Civil War, many members joined the Confederate Army, including pastor Philip Ramsour Elam. William Lee took Elam’s place as pastor for 1861 and 1862. During Lee’s pastorate, three…