Gathering war clouds do not keep the wedding bells from ringing: Woodson Reilly Cummings (born January 8, 1838) marries Elizabeth Mann Houchins in Monroe County, Virginia. In February 1862, the couple’s first child is born. Calls for enlistment conflict Cummings, whose Baptist religious convictions are opposed to fighting. His wife and young son don’t want…
Seeking ways to supply Fort Sumter, Abraham Lincoln explores a plan devised by Gustavus V. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Fox proposes to send an ocean-going steamer south to Charleston (illustrated), accompanied by three warships, tugboats, and launches for ferrying supplies from the steamer to the Fort. Not all Washington officials are keen on…
The middle of the nineteenth century witnessed many white, lower social class southern Baptist families relocating as the southern frontier expanded. Among such families was that of Robert McMinn, born June 8, 1799 in Buncombe County, North Carolina, and married to Sara Kuykendall in 1820. Following a stint in Georgia, the couple returned to North…