December 2006

The Blue Lantern

December 2006

HL Hunley Camp 143

Camp meeting Nov 21 had an excellent turnout with 3 visitors present. Mark Clark said the blessing and we had our Thanksgiving feast with many members bringing covered dishes. Our guest speaker was Charles Leggett.

Nominations were held and Joe Willis and Monty Jones were nominated for Camp Cmdr. Monty later backed out and Joe will be running unopposed. Also unopposed were Dale Presley for 1^st Lt. Cmdr., Rick Andrews as adjutant, Chuck Botts for Color Sergeant, and John Couch for Treasurer.

Adam Byerly past Cmdr. of the star of the west camp and now a Field Representative for the SCV presented Ray Price a plaque on behave SCV for his $500 donation and sponsorship. Cmdr. Wright received the plaque on behave of Frank Price.

$250 of the $500 donations comes back to the Camp. If you know of anyone who would like to be a sponsor get in touch with Rick.

We have two-cadet membership, which is anyone from birth to 12 years. Carter Allen Edwards, Kayla Mathew Miranda. We made a motion and it was seconded, we voted and it was passed to accept their application into the Camp.

Coastal Carolina Fair- Chuck thanked everyone for participating. The event made $944 for the Camp. 24 cases of bottle water were used and it was a great turnout.

The SCV GEC recently approved and passed a resolution of support for the "Bricks for Beauvoir" fundraising effort. The purpose of the effort is two-fold. It is to raise desperately needed funds for the operation and rebuilding of Beauvoir and to raise funds to create the "Monument to the Unknown Soldier," which will dramatically enhance the existing Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier.

ANYONE may purchase a brick, whether an SCV member or not. The ONLY information that can appear on a brick is name, rank, and unit of a Confederate soldier; the name of the purchaser, veterans of other wars, personal messages, etc. CANNOT be put on the bricks, which are intended SOLELY to honor Confederate veterans because the bricks are to form a plaza surrounding the Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier, who should be surrounded by his comrades in arms only. Order forms are found on http://www.scv.org/pdf/Beauvoir.pdf

Budget - We’ll be voting on the budget at the next meeting Dec 19^thon items such as the Friends of the Hunley, Jefferson Davis Home, 16^th reg. Greenville Confederate Museum, Sternway scholarship, SCV defense fund, the confederate museum in Richmond, SC Heritage Def Fund, SCOA Southern Legal Resource Center, Elks Alzheimer golf, and Christmas donation project.

Lee/Jackson Banquet and Auction

As everyone knows by now that our Lee Jackson Banquet will be held this year at the Fellowship Hall of the Bethany United Methodist Church on Friday, January 19, 2007, social hour from 6 to 7PM. Please put this on your calendar and plan to bring family and friends. The fee is $20 per person. Stan Clardy will be performing his play “Soldiers in Gray” and I promise you, people of all ages will enjoy his performance tremendously.

The silent auction donation center is now open and receiving items for the upcoming auction. Please look around and let’s get rid of those unwanted valuable items. To make things easier for you Ben Bunting will be assisting me with collections and the auction this year and you can contact either of us to arrange for drop off or pick up of your generous donation. I would like to have everything in hand by the first week in January to allow for time to prepare the bid cards. For those of you who are extremely busy, don’t worry, I will call you. Rick Andrews – 478-5317 or Ben Bunting – 200-7561

"To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we submit the vindication of the Cause for which we fought; to your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles he loved and which made him glorious and which you also cherish. Remember, it is your duty to see that the true history of the South is presented to future generations."

Lt. General Stephen Dill Lee, Commander General, United Confederate Veterans,
New Orleans, Louisiana, April 25, 1906.

Hunley Camp Christmas Project

Congratulations to all Compatriots of the H. L. Hunley Camp who donated and participated in our Christmas Project. What started out as a straight forward effort to purchase two or three dozen bicycles to be turned over to the US Marines for their Toys-for-Tots Campaign, mushroomed into a $6,600.00 fantastic mega donation of 430 toys, 89 of which were bicycles.

We called US Marine Gunnery Sergeant Kathryn Brennan and asked for her advice. Rick Andrews and Walker Wright met Gunnery Sergeant Brennan at a local store in Summerville December 5^th. On the evening of December 12^th a caravan of nine trucks and trailers loaded down with four pallets of toys and eighty-nine bicycles made their way down to the US Marine Corps Toys-for-Tots staging area in North Charleston. Fifteen of our finest, including SCV, SC Division Commander Randy Burbage, made the presentation to the Marines and helped them offload all the items. Sleep well, this Christmas Eve Hunley Camp, you did a great job.

NCAA Interference Petition

Compatriots, The web site to petition the NCAA to stop meddling in South Carolina and Mississippi State affairs is up and running. Please check the site out and sign the petition.

http://www.ncaainterference.org/

Upcoming Events

Dec. 17^th – Sunday –Summerville Christmas Parade - Starts at 6 pm in downtown Summerville, SC. Sponsored by the Jaycees. The camp needs 6 ladies to ride in the event and the word is we can fire our rifles.

Remember our Camp meeting is on Tuesday Dec.19^th, at 6:30PM at the Masonic Lodge in Summerville. Make plans and come on out for the election of Camp Officers.

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Camp Chorus - At our last camp meeting, Cmdr. Walker has expressed an interest in starting a chorus made up of volunteers in the HL Hunley Camp. Six have already showed interest and think that it will be a great step for the good of the camp. Walker is looking for anyone that would possible play a string instrument or piano. One of his goals is to perform at different functions in the SCV and perhaps be ready to perform at the SCV Division meeting next March. If anyone is interested please call him at home 553-7426 or page him at 219-0352.

The ARK, Adult Respite Care assists families living with Alzheimer's Disease and related memory disorders. The ARK offers group social respite in a safe, therapeutic, and loving environment of acceptance. Family members receive a temporary break from the responsibilities of full-time care giving, while the care receiver participates in social activities.

Here are the pictures I was forwarded by Don Bagwell of ARK. Chuck and I were on hand for the celebration that did not have too many people (less than 50) due to the Walterboro program.

The lady with Chuck is Fran Josephson. She was a Navy Lt in the Code Breaking dept. during WWII.

The short Army Capt in the picture with me was responsible for arranging the meetings between Hussein and his defense attys. It was a nice day and all had fun.

Dale

A pocket watch mystery By BRIAN HICKS

Gold, bejeweled and ornately inscribed, the old pocket watch just plain looks like something George Dixon would have bought. But did he?

The watch may have once been a Christmas present from the Hunley captain to Queen Bennett - the girl who, legend has it, was Dixon's Mobile, Ala., sweetheart. Now, her descendants are donating the family heirloom, and the mystery of its provenance, to the Hunley's eventual museum.

The watch, along with a pistol that once belonged to Bennett’s father, will soon be on Hunley lab tour. But don't expect the mystery of the watch to be solved anytime soon. After all, it has been more than a century in the making.

George Dixon was a riverboat man, perhaps from the Midwest, who found himself in Mobile in the early days of the Civil War. There he most likely met Robert Bennett, a steamboat pilot who worked the same rivers and perhaps the same ships. Bennett may have even introduced Dixon to his eldest daughter, a teenager everyone called Queenie.

Mobile historians say the two were involved in serious courtship by October of 1861, when Dixon joined the 21st Alabama and marched off to war with a gold $20 piece in his pocket. The coin, according to legend, was a gift from Queen.

Months later, in April of 1862, Dixon was shot in the leg as his company stormed the battlefield at Shiloh. But the coin deflected the bullet and probably saved his life.

Dixon returned to Mobile to convalesce, and it was there that he began work on Horace Hunley's submarine project - and spent the Christmas of 1862. Within a year, he would be in Charleston, in command of the Hunley.

But what of the watch? Did he buy it, give it to Queen? George Bennett Walker Jr. and Sally Necessary, Bennett's great grand children, say the watch had been in the family for years. Family lore claimed it was Queen's, but they had no proof.

Then a few years ago, they discovered a door in the back of the watch that opened and, inside it, this inscription: Queen Bennett, December 25th, 1862. As if it were a Christmas present.

"I thought, 'Oh my gosh. She and Dixon were very close. He probably gave her that watch,'" Walker told The Post and Courier at the time.

The family says the watch is too ornate to have been a present from Queen's father. The inscription suggests it was a gift, and the lettering is similar to the engraving on Dixon's lucky $20 gold coin, which reads "My life Preserver" along with his name.

The fancy watch also seems to match the taste of Dixon, who apparently liked very fine things. When he was found aboard the Hunley, he was carrying a nice pocket watch and several pieces of jewelry. The question is, did he have Bennett's watch inscribed when he got the coin inscribed? Or did he even give her the watch?

"It's a key part of the story'- a watch that Dixon could have possibly given her on the last Christmas they were together," said Randy Burbage, a member of the Hunley

The family donated the watch to make sure it will be preserved and protected. Now, alongside the Hunley, it will carry its own mystery.

I would like to take this opportunity to express to the members of the H. L. Hunley Camp #143 and their families, my thoughts in regards to the upcoming holidays and the end of my term as your Commander.

First of all, Christmas is a joyful time for many of us and I wanted to extend to you my most sincere wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. While enjoying all of the holiday festivities associated with this time of the year, please let’s not forget those in our Camp who have suffered hardships and losses.

This year has seen a number of our Camp members sick, injured and hospitalized throughout the year and hopefully all those problems are behind them and they will be looking forward to better times in 2007. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Doyle Gilliam who passed away in July and also to Charles Legette, Cecil Buddin and Will Buddin who lost their mothers in recent months. Christmas will be a difficult time for them.

Over the past few years, I have proudly watched as our members opened up their hearts on many occasions including this year’s effort on our Toys for Tots Campaign. While the Hunley Camp is accustomed to experiencing success on most things they take on, Toys for Tots has surpassed our wildest dreams and I sincerely hope this will become an annual project for the Camp. We are going to put smiles on a lot of kids faces this year that are less fortunate that ourselves.

Speaking of less fortunate, we are in the heritage business and at this time of the year, ones thoughts often turn to our ancestors as we try to imagine what hardships they had to endure. There was an article printed in the November/December 2002 issue of the Blue Lantern that seemed to put things in the proper perspective. I think it would be appropriate to revisit that article again.

As to the farewell part, the last 30 months spent, as the Commander of the H. L. Hunley Camp #143 has been one of the most rewarding times of my life. Upon taking office I was immediately swept up in the enthusiasm of our members. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as your Commander. The Hunley Camp has proven itself time and time again as a leader in the SCV world. Together we have won both National and Division recognition as the Camp that gets the job done. Well done to each and every one of you.

Many wonderful things have happened on my watch. While every moment spent as Commander will always be cherished, there are those events that will always stick in my mind. Some were of a historical nature and others just seemed to touch me in a special way. I will try to list a few of these; the swearing in ceremony as Commander, the Hunley Funeral, the Division Conventions, the National Convention in New Orleans, winning the Division Camp of the Year Award, winning the National Historic Project Award, the many Memorial Services and especially the Compatriots and time spent together making plans to make Hunley Camp the success it is. Without the diligence of our Camp members, these awards and projects would never have become a reality.

I have enjoyed every moment of being your Commander, being the Camp representative at heritage related events and meetings and most of all, making so many new and lasting friendships. I pledge to continue to actively support our Camp and wish all the best luck in the world to our new Commander. Good Luck and Gods Speed. E. Walker Wright

By way of announcement and information, and on behalf of the McGowan Camp # 40 and Camp Commander Gary Davis, it is my pleasure to share an ongoing project with you.

On May 12th, 1864, during the War Between The States, American fighting men participated in what was perhaps the most sustained, (almost 20 hours), close-quarters combat of the entire conflict. The sheer savagery of the battle forever named this small piece of ground "The Bloody Angle".

One of the primary Confederate units involved in the struggle was a hardened group of South Carolina warriors, known as "McGowan's Brigade". The courage, tenacity, and sacrifice shown by these men goes virtually unmatched, even to this day.

The National Park Service preserves this hallowed ground in Virginia where so many men, from both sides, died while in service to their respective countries. There are currently four monuments on the grounds, one each for the Union soldiers of Ohio, New Jersey, and New York. Another was placed for the Confederate men of North Carolina, Ramseur's Brigade.

We, the men of the Brigadier General Samuel McGowan Camp #40, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Laurens, S.C. have embarked upon a mission to install a monument to our forbears at this battlefield.

Please visit the web site for more information as we move forward with our plans and please share our news with all on your mailing lists.

"Duty is ours; the consequences are God's" .............Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson

Mark A. Simpson, Division Adjutant