"SACRIFICE & SERVICE"

FINDING FAMILY MILITARY RECORDS

As a military historian/museum collection owner, I offer Military History Exhibits & Sacrifice & Service Programs to honor those who served their country in difficult times. 

Due to the number of my family members who have served honorably, I developed the Sacrifice & Service programs to assist our modern generations to understand many of the perspectives of conflicts. 

Why they went to war, how they selected the side they would die for, what happen at home and to dispel myths as much as possible.

I do not always agree with their beliefs of positions but i have found much of what I thought about American Wars was not true. I interact with patrons of the exhibit and website and would like to hear from you.

I have a Military History page, to visit my website www.PlantationQuilts.com click here. Plan to schedule an event to honor your community's men and women consistently. You do not have to wait for a certain date. Random acts of kindness and recognition are needed and appreciated.

While researching for the program How to Find Your Civil War Ancestor I was contracted to do in 6 months, I realized my family had contributed to the war effort on both Union & Confederate Army sides! I then began to tell their stories also. Most of my Civil War Ancestors were not African-American and yours may not be men.

There are many Native American wars and other conflicts that I had family in and documentation on and I will continue adding sources and information.

Book of Negroes

There were 3 copies of this handwritten, Book of Negroes, Black Loyalist passengers leaving New York on British ships in 1783.

It list the names of Africans, their status (free or slave), physical description, and for some, the former owner’s name and last known place of residence.  One in America at the National Archives Washington, DC; one at the Public Records Office in Kew, England and one in Nova Scotia Archives in Halifax, Canada. More information on these books made by British and American inspectors. This above book’s digital information can be found at:| http://novascotia.ca/museum/blackloyalists/17751800/Objects1775/booknegroes.htm

AMERICAN REVOLUTION -

COINS

  

Even though they lost the war, the British evacuated around four thousand Black Loyalists to their other colonies and to Nova Scotia after the war. The records and listings are still in existence and many of their descendants still live in the same cities you will read about shortly. I have a more exhaustive list of resources following the bibliography of my book below.

Here is the Virginia Representatives’ response to Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation. Source: Canada’s Digital Collection: Black Loyalists: Our History, Our People http://blackloyalist.com/

The detailed text is below. I do not think that people who were already being treated cruelly and enslaved by their “owners” would believe they would be pardoned for escaping. 

Virginia, Dec. 14, 1775. By the Representatives of the People of the Colony and Dominion of VIRGINIA, assembled in GENERAL CONVENTION A DECLARATION -WHEREAS Lord Dunmore, by his proclamation, dated on board the ship William, off Norfolk, the 7th day of November 1775, hath offered freedom to such able-bodied slaves as are willing to join him, and take up arms, against the good people of this colony, giving thereby encouragement to a general insurrection, which may induce a necessity of inflicting the severest punishments upon those unhappy people, already deluded by his base and insidious arts; and whereas, by an act of the General Assembly now in force in this colony, it is enacted, that all negro or other slaves, conspiring to rebel or make insurrection, shall suffer death, and be excluded all benefit of clergy: 

We think it proper to declare, that all slaves who have been, or shall be seduced, by his lordship's proclamation, or other arts, to desert their masters' service, and take up arms against the inhabitants of this colony, shall be liable to such punishment as shall hereafter be directed by the General Convention. And to that end all such, who have taken this unlawful and wicked step, may return in safety to their duty, and escape the punishment due to their crimes, we hereby promise pardon to them, they surrendering themselves to Col. William Woodford or any other commander of our troops, and not appearing in arms after the publication hereof. And we do farther earnestly recommend it to all humane and benevolent persons in this colony to explain and make known this our offer of mercy to those unfortunate people. EDMUND PENDLETON, President.

NEWSPAPERS -

Oliver Cromwell - (May 24, 1752 – January 1853) He was born a free man in Black Horse (now the Columbus section of Mansfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey). He was raised as a farmer. Cromwell was one of the longest documented American Revolutionary War soldiers, his discharge papers were personally signed by General George Washington.

Trenton Evening Times Newspaper 04 -11-1905
Oliver Cromwell Revolutionary War Veteran

ARTICLE FROM THE TRENTON EVENING TIMES, TRENTON, NJ PG. 5, APRIL 11, 1905. Cromwell left the Continental Army after the Siege of Yorktown. Many years after his retirement, although he was unable to write or read well, Cromwell applied for his veteran's pension. Several local politicians, lawyers, and even judges came to his aid. He purchased a 100-acre farm outside Burlington when he was granted $96 a year for his pension. Not only did he serve honorably, he was awarded the Badge of Merit started by George Washington (Now called the Purple Heart) for long, faithful service, he served throughout the entire conflict. 

Serving bravely in several companies known as Private Cromwell under the leadership of a Colonel Shreve and Colonel William "Scotch Willie" Maxwell in the 2nd New Jersey Regiment between 1777 and 1783, he fought in the battles of Trenton, NJ in 1776. He was wounded at the Battle of Springfield. "African-American Patriots of the Revolutionary War". He also fought in the battle of Brandy wine 1777, Princeton in 1777, Monmouth 1778 and the final battle the Siege of Yorktown 1781. www.Fold3.com 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013. Most men were in the American Revolutionary War enlisted for a period of only one year.

He recieved an military pension again busting the myth that Afican/African-Americans did not recieve pensions or there were none that served. I have used Fold3.com to find newspapers, Native American records and my ancestors Civil War Records.

Newspaper articles can be written anytime after and event or persons life and you should check for your town, trades, organizations and might be surprised at what your might find.

DUNNSMORE’S ETHIOPIAN REGIMENT LINKS & BOOKS

KAPLAN, Sidney and Kaplan, Emma N. The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolutionary. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press. P. 490. 1989.

QUARLES, Benjamin. The Negro in the American Revolution. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina, pg. 19. 1966.

BATTLE OF COWPENS:

HOURIHAN, William J. (Winter 1998). "Historical Perspective: The Cowpens Staff Ride: A Study in Leadership". The Army Chaplaincy. Archived from the original on 2007-06-24. Retrieved 2007-12-10.

MONCURE, Lieutenant Colonel John (1996). "The Cowpens Staff Ride and Battlefield Tour". Command and General Staff College: Combined Arms Research Library. Retrieved 2007-12-10.

MONTROSS, Lynn (April 1956). "America's Most Imitated Battle." American Heritage, Vol. 7, No. 3 (April 1956), Pp. 35-37, 100-101.

PARKER, John W. "Historical Record of the Seventeenth Regiment of Light Dragoons, Lancers: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1759 and of Its Subsequent Services to 1841". Replications Company. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-10.

WEBB, Jonathan (2009). "Battle of Cowpens Animated Battle Map". The Art of Battle. Retrieved 2009-06-12.

WITHROW, Scott (2005). "The Battle of Cowpens". U.S. Department of the Interior: National Park Service: Cowpens National Battlefield South Carolina.

CAGNEY, James (2010). "Animated History of the Battle of Cowpens". HistoryAnimated.com. Retrieved 2012-07-01.

AGRIPPA HULL INFORMATION:

Teaching African-American Heritage in the Upper Housatonic Valley: https://mcla.digication.com/AAHT/Agrippa_Hull1

One of my Patriot Revolutionary Strother family members also fought at Cowpens.

Websites on Peter Salem and other Blacksin Wars 

CRISPUS ATTUCKS INFO: 
ASANTE, Molefi Kete. 100 Greatest African-Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. 2002.

BOLSTER, Jeffrey W. Black Jacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997.
LIBRARY ofCongress Exhibit Attucks

MANDELL, Daniel. Tribe, Race, History: Native Americans in Southern New England, 1780-1880 Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008. 

MANDELL, Daniel. Behind the Frontier: Indians in Eighteenth-Century Eastern Massachusetts. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1996.

NEYLAND, James. Crispus Attucks, Patriot. Holloway House. 1995.

PARR, James L. & Swope, Kevin A. Framingham: Legends and Lore. The History Press, 2009.

SILVERMAN, David J. Faith and Boundaries: Colonists, Christianity, and Community among the Wampanoag Indians of Martha's Vineyard, 1600-1871 Cambridge University Press, 2005.

USMINT.GOV, United States Mint: "Plinky's Coin of the Month February 2000".

PETER SALEM’S INFO: 

Forgotten Patriots--African-American and Indian Patriots of the Revolutionary War (2008), which was published by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Peter Salem’s service was discussed in many more general reference books on African-Americans in American history, including:

AMERICANNational Biography Online

AMERICAN Slavery and Slave Trade Records

APTHEKER, Herbert (Ed.) A Documentary History of the Negro People in the United States. 1962.

CARTER, G. The Negro in Our History 1922, rev. ed. 1962);

QUARLES, Benjamin and Fishel, Leslie H. Jr. The Black American. 1970.

WAKIN, Edward. Black Fighting Men in U.S. History. 1971.

Military Cemetery and Death Records :

Headstones are a source of American Revolutionary or Civil War military service or community illnesses like yellow fever or malaria out breaks.

American Revolutionary war marker

I have gone to the family churches and the cemeteries with my parents on several occasions and cleaned, re-marked an photographed the grave sites. Some take paper & charcoal & do headstone rubbings. We have photographed the headstones to do quilted textiles of them.


There are Strother Family cemeteries in: 

Strother Family in Edgefield, South Carolina has a family cemetery. Here are others in USA

Lincoln County, Georigia (* I'll have to visit since I am looking for 9 children my great grandfather had in GA that I found in a note of archived papers I was reading) 

Granville County, North Carolina

Hubbardstown, Wayne County, West Virginia 

Lat: 38° 11' 15"N, Lon: 82° 36' 00"W, approx Contributed by Cassandra Griffith, Feb 7, 2001 [cgrif30057@aol.com]. Total records = 33.

 Lamar County, TX

GPS coordinates are 33° 42' 40.3668" N, -95° 47' 5.8734" W (Lat 33.7112133  and Lon -95.7849653).

Sabine County, TX 

*GPS Coorinates: (Lat  3132119 N Lon - 09350964W) 

Cottontown, Tennessee 

Rockingham County, VA

Strange Cemetary Fact: George French Strother (1783 – November 28, 1840) was a nineteenth-century politician and lawyer in Virginia and Missouri. He died on November 28, 1840. He was originally interred in Christ Church Cemetery and in 1860 was reinterred in Bellefontaine Cemetery

Since 1656, Africans and African-Americans weren’t legally eligible to enlist in the American military forces for fear of insurrections against their “masters”. In May 1775, for the Framingham militia, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety allowed the recruitment of free blacks. Major General George Washington issued an order forbidding Africans or African-Americans, whether freemen or slaves, from joining the American forces, but when he was informed that on 7th about Lord Dunmore freeing the slaves to enlist and canceled the order. 
A new edict was issued on December 30^th and the Continental Congress on January 16, 1776, approved the immediate permitting the service of free African-Americans (since they had already run away), and men like Peter Salem reenlisted in the American Massachusetts regiment. That is why you might find service by some African men on both the Loyalists (British) roles and the American Patriot or Continental muster roles (colonist who wanted to be out from under the heavy taxes imposed by Britain)

“Poor behaved like an experienced soldier in his gallant and brave action as he fought in Captain Ames Fry’s regiment” Despite the intentions of the petition history has not recorded if Poor was rewarded by the court. He remained in the army for many years and fought in the battles of White Plains, New York and survived the harsh winter conditions at Valley Forge. In 1975, Salem Poor’s likeness appeared on a United States commemorative postage stamp

Peter Salem's Grave Marker 

PLAQUES-

Oliver Cromwell Plaque

“And thus, one by one, the men who purchased with their blood the liberty we now enjoy, are going off the stage…We suggest whether it would not be proper to erect some suitable monument over his grave…it will be pleasant to know that the people of Burlington felt sufficient interest in him, to mark the spot where his ashes are buried.”

Prince Whipple's home in Ambou, Ghana, with his family until he was ten years old and his father sent him with a cousin to America to follow in his older brother’s footsteps of being educated in the American colonies. The captain of the ship decided to sell the boys into slavery near Baltimore, Maryland. A man named General William Whipple (A signer of the United States Declaration of Independence from Portsmouth, New Hampshire bought the young nobleman. He lived in the area for slaves on the inherited plantation of William’s wife the Moffatts. Prince took the name of his master and is known as Prince Whipple.

Plaque for Ghana's Prince Whipple;s brave American Revolutionary War Service

Whipple joined the American Revolutionary war effort as a Captain and aide to General George Washington. He took Prince with him to serve as his bodyguard but Prince was considered a soldier. Whipple rose quickly through the ranks to the position of general and his assignments became more important. He trusted Prince and being tall and very strong, sent him to deliver a large sum of money to another city. He was attacked along the way and shot one robber and beat the other with a heavy whip saving his Master’s money! Although as many as 5,000 black soldiers fought in the American Revolution on the side of the Patriots, Prince, it is believed was the first to step ashore after the crossing of the Delaware River on that freezing December 25th 1776 night. He fought at the Battle of Trenton, New Jersey when they surprised 1,000 Hessians, hired to fight by the British were taken as prisoners of war. They were busy celebrating the holiday.

Freedom Letters signed by General George Washingtons-

James Armistead (1760-1832) was born in Virginia, an African enslaved to the owner whose last name he took. In 1781, when James was twenty-one years old he heard the Marquis de Lafayette, a French volunteer for the Patriots was in need of men to spy on the British. When James asked his master could he go during the siege of Richmond to volunteer, William Armistead, his owner agree. 

Lafayette was born 1757, in the town of Chavaniac, to a wealthy landowning family, living in southern central France (In the province of Auvergne). Young and wanting adventure, he was commissioned as an officer at age 13 years old. He wanted to follow his family’s martial tradition. Convinced that the American Patriot’s cause in the revolutionary war was noble, he came to the New World seeking glory in it. The 19-year-old was made a major general in the Continental Army, though he initially wasn’t given a fight force to command. 

James (former slave) was described as brave, smart and knew the area well. He was just what Lafayette needed since the British were offering freedom to slaves who joined their side no one would suspect James of being a Patriot spy. It was the when Armistead arrived in the British cap to offer his services as a guide and body servant in exchange for his freedom at the end of the American Revolutionary War. 

While serving meals to General Charles Cornwallis, all he had to do was listen for discussions on British strategy on the war. He would pass the information daily outside the camp to the Patriot’s scouts at risk of his own safety and his life. Soon General Cornwallis and General Benedict Arnold was also impressed by Armistead’s work ethic and asked him to be a British spy never doubting his loyalty to the British cause. He of course agreed to keep his cover and it made his job of reporting back even easier. He could now move freely between the camps bring back false reports of Patriot plans to the British and the British plans and moves real time to the Lafayette. When Cornwallis discussed his strategy to move his troops to Virginia, Armistead revealed the plans in written reports given to other American spies, so the Patriot Army followed. When Cornwallis and his army camped on Chesapeake Bay at Portsmouth Armistead delivered his most important written report (Dated July 31, 1781), of the war the British planned to unload troops in Yorktown, Virginia. 

Led by Lafayette, General George Washington moved the French and his American forces to join him and cut off the British forces by sea and land, surprising and surrounding Cornwallis in the Siege of Yorktown. Armistead had proved to play the most pivotal role in the final battle of the Revolution. Cornwallis had no choice but to surrender ten days later. Armistead asked General Lafayette if he could take his last name and honored General Lafayette agreed.

Marquis de Lafayette, 1824 trapped British General Cornwallis
and his force of 6000 at Yorktown

OIL PAINTINGS-

James Armistead Lafayette

When the Marquis de Lafayette returned to America for a visit in 1824, he commissioned the artist John B. Martin to paint a portrait of his friend James Armistead Lafayette, faithful spy. 

The painting shows James, very proud, in a military blue coat, wearing a white neck cloth under the gold buttons embossed with the symbol of freedom, gold American eagle buttons.

Uniforms can also help in dating photos by the style of attire.

His admiration of Armistead’s work did not end there. Three years following the end of the American Revolution Lafayette’s praise and written certificate of Armistead’s participation was sent to the Virginia General Assembly of Virginia. Armistead asked his master be paid for him and he be awarded freedom and the Assembly agreed.   He was recognized a war veteran but not considered an American citizen! Because of his service, when he was in his sixties, Armistead did receive a military pension. One of the myths I have heard now busted is Africans/African-Americans did not receive American Revolutionary military pensions.

LETTERS - 

Signed by General Lafayette in 1784.

(Letter’s Text) “This is to certify that the bearer by the name of James has done essential services to me while I had the honour to command in this state.  His intelligences from the enemy’s camp were industriously collected and faithfully delivered. He perfectly acquitted himself with some important commissions I gave him and appears to me entitled to every reward his situation can admit of.  Done under my hand, Richmond, November 21st, 1784. Lafayette”

There are many more artifacts from American Revolutionary War Veterans. Check the records of Free Black settlements, churches, muster rolls DARs and Archives for information about  Africans & Africans in American Wars.

Black Loyalist website I found: http://blackloyalist.com/

“This site explores an untold story of our nation's history: how Canada became the home of the first settlements of free blacks outside Africa. As Revolution began in the thirteen American colonies in the late 1770s, the British were badly outnumbered. When in desperation they promised freedom to any slave of a rebel who fought the Americans on their behalf, the response was greater than they could have imagined; as many as 30 000 slaves escaped to British lines. Working as soldiers, labourers, pilots, cooks, and musicians, they were a major part of the unsucessful British war effort. As defeat became inevitable, these free blacks were evacuated to Nova Scotia with the other Loyalists. ”But their hoped-for promised land never arrived. 

Their land was never granted, and most were reduced to a position not so different from slavery, where they were dependent on the meagre wages they could earn from manual labour. In the end most chose to seek a new life in Sierra Leone, away from the cold lands where they had experienced so much prejudice. This is the story of those Black Loyalists.” (Documents section contains a number of original historical documents which we have transcribed for your use, including several first-hand accounts of life as a Black Loyalist in Nova Scotia. In addition we have court records, official proclamations, personal letters, and a wealth of other material, all of which may be cited at your leisure. A separate page describes a number of valuable secondary sources, historians, and web sites you may wish to consult for further information.)

WAR of 1812 -

My relative William Strother's information as recorded in his bounty land file, War of 1812, Served in Co. commanded by Capt. William Watson and Regiment commanded by Col. Abner Womack at the Navy Yard, St. Tammany, LA.

War of 1812 Sources:

I have over 200 relatives who fought in the Civil war I have not spent much time on the War of 1812. Since we have applied for Daughter's of the American Revolution I've spent more time on the records and documentation needed for National application. I have been accepted by the Peachtree Chapter of DAR's. 

When looking for military history remember all wars were not fought in America.

University of Michigan's 1848 Mexican American War Link
History of War Link

US History.org Manifest Destiny Mexican American War Link

US Department of the State Historian "Milestones 1830-1860"

PBS.org Mexican American War Link

CIVIL WAR 1861-1865

58 of my family members fought in the American Civil War on the Union Side and 160 of my family members fought in the Civil War for the Confederate States of America. 

  

Abolitionist Harriett Tubman was a spy, scout and nurse for the Union Army.

Do not assume that your military ancestor is a man.

Click Here for the Library of Congress Teacher's Page Women in the Union Army

Sojourner Truth Union Nurse

Here is a link to my

Strother Families Indexed web page.

Click on her photo for more information on this abolitionist, sufferagett, great orator and Union Army nurse.

Coded communications were not unique to this family. Even though the Farrow family was free in Georgia and South Carolina prior to emancipation, even North and Southern Civil War military units had coded language and plans in order to be successful. We have identified over 38 different Underground Railroad (UGRR) methods of escape used by individual abolitionist, anti-slavery societies, religious groups and conscientious sympathizers. We highlight earlier slavery and mention the Underground Railroad when the Spanish were in control prior to British dominance of American Colonies.

United States Colored Troops (USCT) Civil War Vol. I & II (soldiers name and unit): www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm

In 1862, the U.S. Congress approved the enlistment of freed black in the Union Army ranks. Whites received a pay of $13.00 per month and the Negro soldiers $7.00 per month. In June 1864, an order was issued that gave equal pay regardless of race and they did make it retroactive to the 1st of the year 1864, but not to the beginning of the enlistment of African, or African American soldier’s enlistment.

Here are some of the web site I have used that are all free of charge.

United State Colored Troops in the American Civil War:

Contraband Camps kept records, had church, births & marriages

https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/United_States_Colored_Troops_in_the_Civil_War 

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war/article.html   

http://www.afroamcivilwar.org/about-us/usct-history.html

http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/usct/usct-united-states-colored.html

https://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/education/usct/usct_history.asp

http://www.lwfaam.net/cw/

http://encyclopediavirginia.org/United_States_Colored_Troops_The

http://www.usct.org/CampWillianPenn/CampWilliamPenn.htm

http://www.nps.gov/cwdw/historyculture/the-united-states-colored-troops-and-the-defenses-of-washington.htm

http://home.usmo.com/~momollus/USCT.HTM

http://battleofolustee.org/8th_usct.html

https://jubiloemancipationcentury.wordpress.com/2011/05/30/monuments-to-the-united-states-colored-troops-usct-the-list/

Camp Chase - The records include each man's age, height, status of freedom, occupation, date released by Col. Moody and masters names if they were formerly enslaved. All men were released from April to May 1862. These include confederate officers that brought their slaves to war to serve them.  When looking for relatives or history do not overlook military records. You need to know what legislation had been passed in that region or court cases may have impacted the area where your relatives lived.

TEXTILES

Not knowing what this was, it was used to wrap a statue we purchased at a flea market. It stayed that way until one day at my museum a veteran was touring the exhibits early when I was updating an exhibit and he being a military history buff recognized the color and texture of the blanket and quickly picked it up from on the paper where I tossed it after taking out the statue. He began to explain the significance and value of the textile. (I am not an expert on everything !) After our discussion (my lesson) I did more research and featured this textile in the display.

The Kentucky Military Institute was a military preparatory school in Lyndon, Kentucky and Venice, Florida, in operation from 1845 to 1971.

Kentucky Military Institute Blanket dated 1863 

This is My KMI Civil War Blanket. It is one of the UGRR Secret Quilt Code Military History (Civil War Era) Textiles in our collection. Note the date on the blanket is '45 and many patrons thought it was made in 1845. That is the date of the founding of the Kentucky Military Institute. My late mother wrote on the lower back corner of the blanket dated 1863. 

I have written many historians and archives on the history of military blankets and will update you soon. I try to document each of the artifacts and textiles in our collections. You should store them in pain cotton sacks (I use feed sack pillow cases) never in plastic. Write or type a note with all the information you know, your name, contact information, date and put in a plain envelope an keep with the artifact or textile in the case.

CIVIL WAR

On August 10, 1861, the term "contraband" used in referring to absconded enslaved people, first enters the Official Records in U.S. Navy correspondence when Acting Master William Budd of the gunboat USS Resolute used the expression. (Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I - Volume 4: page 604)

Frank Baker, James Townsend and Sheppard Mallory, enslaved men, had been contracted by their owners to help construct defense batteries the Confederate Army under General Benjamin Huger at Sewell's Point across the mouth of Hampton Roads from Union-held Fort Monroe. They escaped at night and rowed a skiff to Old Point Comfort, where they sought asylum at Fort Monroe.

Former slave holders could legally request their return (as property), prior to the War, in accordance to the federal Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. But, since the state of Virginia had seceded it was no longer party to the law. Educated as an attorney, General Butler, took the position that he was under no obligation to return the three men, since Virginia considered itself a foreign power to the U.S. He was unwavering in his decision to hold them as "contraband of war." When Major John B. Cary (Confederate States of America) requested their return, Butler denied it. The three men continued working for the Union Army but were given the minimum pay.

26th US Colored Volunteer Infantry on Parade  PA 1865

The U.S. Confiscation Act of 1861, clarified the issue of slaves' status during the war; it declared that Union forces could seize any property used by the Confederate military, including slaves. Many slaves, used this as a means of being unofficially freed and the enslaved men and women ran from Southerners' plantations to Union lines.

UNION ARMIES - LIBERATED BECOMES THE LIBERATORS

PHOTOS - 
A challenge with using photos is that two or more people could have the same name. 

In that case we had other information and documents to check the reasonableness and accuracy of our photos. My great grandfather was named David Strother from SC and he was in the civil war. 

I called/emailed request to the National Archives and they had a photo and sent me a copy. This is it below. I published the photo. Then my mother and I read information on this David Hunter  Strother and realized this was not my great grandfather but another related family member.

This David Strother is from West Virginia. He was an artist "Porte Crayon" and Union officer.

David Hunter Strother's photos were 1st sent to me by the National Archives

My great grandfather was born in 1814 in South Carolina. Daivid H. was not. Different parents, Different siblings, Different military careers =  not my grandfather!

David Richardson Strother, SC CSA my great grandfather

David Served in South Carolina's 2nd Reg. Company K, he was wounded. Here are details I found in a book Conferedates of South Carolina.

Butternut Confederate soldier Uniform

Here are on-line links on David Hunter Strother:

http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/david-hunter-strother.html

http://www.wvculture.org/history/notewv/crayon.html

For Further Reading:

Strother, David Hunter. "The Last Hours of the John Brown Raid," edited by Cecil D. Eby, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography , Richmond, VA, volume 73, 1965, pp.169-177.
975.505 V81 V:73.

__________________. David Hunter Strother Collection, 1868-1888. Ms 79-7.

__________________. "The Horse Jockey," Magazine of Jefferson County Historical Society, Volume 21, December 1955, pp. 29-31. Per.

____________. "Porte Crayon (David Hunter Strother Sampler)," West Virginia Encyclopedia, Richmond, WV, 1974, pp. 60-61. R 975.4003. C739.

___________. The Old South Illustrated by Porte Crayon , Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1959. 917.5 S925.

___________. A Virginia Yankee in the Civil War, The Diaries of David Hunter Strother, University of North Carolina Press, 1961. 973.781 S925.

____________. "Porte Crayon in the Tidewater," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Richmond, Virginia. V67 1959, pp.438-44. 975.505 V81 .

____________. "A West Virginian in Europe: the Apprenticeship of Porte Crayon, 1840-1843," West Virginia History Quarterly Magazine, July 1958, pp. 266-79. Arc 1. 4: 19 1958.

____________. "Porte Crayon and the Local Color Movement in West Virginia," West Virginia History Quarterly Magazine, April 1959, pp. 151-62. Arc 1. 4:20 1959.

____________. "Porte Crayon's Quarrel With Virginia," West Virginia History Quarterly Magazine , January 1960, pp.65-75. Arc 1. 4:21 1960.

Carpenter, Charles. "Berkeley Springs Home of 'Porte Crayon'," The West Virginia Review, Volume 14, February 1937, pp.184-85. Per.

Comstock, Jim. "Stories and Verse of West Virginia," [Ella May Turner], West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia, Richwood, WV, 1974, pp. 60-61. R975.403 C739.

Cuthbert, John A. David Hunter Strother,"One of the Best Draughtsman the Country Possesses," West Virginia University Press, 1997. B S5925.

Eby, Cecil D. The Life of David Hunter Strother, Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1960. 917.5 S925.

Preble, Jack. "Introducing Porte Crayon," West Virginia History Quarterly Magazine , January 1970, pp. 125-32. Arc 1. 4: 31 1970.

Stealey, John E. III, editor. Porte Crayon’s Mexico: David Hunter Strother’s Diaries in the Early Porfirian Era, 1879-1885, Kent State Press, 2006. B S925p.

Former slaves "Contraband entering Union Lines and freedom.

VERTICAL NEWSPAPER CLIPPING FILE "A Golden Century at Berkeley Springs," The Iron Worker, Summer 1958.
"Article on David Hunter Strother [not complete], Charleston Gazette, 10-6-1968.
"Born on Burke Street," Martinsburg Journal , 9-12-1991.
"Col. David H. Strother... Porte Crayon, Pioneer in History .....Clarksburg Exponent, 8- 5-1928.
"David Hunter Strother, A Golden Horseshoe," West Virginia Hillbilly, 12-21- 1968.
"David Hunter:Villain of the Valley, Sack of the VA Military Inst., The Iron Worker, Spring, 1964.
"David Strother: The Man Who Recorded a Pristine Land," Charleston Gazette, 6-1- 1997.
"Early Giants in Kanawha Valley," Charleston Gazette, n.d.
"Good Writing About a Good Writer," West Virginia Hillbilly, 12-29-1973.
"Humor and Pathos with Porte Crayon," The Iron Worker, Spring, 1960.
"Know Morgan County, Sketch and Story by David Hunter Strother," 5-19-1966.
"Newshawks of "61 Reported Campaign in West Virginia, by Boyd Stutler, 3-26-1961.
"Picture, and Bio of Porte Crayon, David Hunter Strother," n.d.
'Porte Crayon Discovers New England," West Virginia Hillbilly, 7-15-1972.
"Porte Crayon Rides B&O in the Hills," West Virginia Hillbilly, 10-3-1971.
"Porte Crayon Discovers New Englanders Are Just Like People," WV Hillbilly, 7-8- 1972.
"Porte Crayon," by Jack Preble, Jr., Roane County Reporter, 12-28-1967.
"Porte Crayon Discovers New England," West Virginia Hillbilly, 7-29-1972.
"Porte Crayon's Summer in New England," West Virginia Hillbilly, 7-15-1972.
"Romance Linked Artist to John Brown," Beckley Post-Herald, 8-12-1968.
"Strother House Historic Home Civil War Gen.,.Torn Down," Martinsburg Journal, 5- 20-1977.
"Strother's Wartime Diary is Called a Classic," by Boyd Stutler, 10-8-1961.
"The Porte Crayon Memorial Society," 1-2-1941.
Source: http://www.wvculture.org/history/notewv/crayon.html

Collecting the remains of fallen soldiers, sons both Union & CSA for burial.

58 of my family members fought in the American Civil War on the Union Side and 160 of my family members fought in the Civil War for the Confederate States of America.

Alexander Strother, B. Strother, B. F. Strother. B. H. Strother,
B. T. Strother, Bailey Strother, Columbus Strother, Cook Strother,
C. N. Strother, C. H. Strother, C. W. Strother, Charles Strother,
D. H. Strothers, Daniel W. Strother, David C. Strother
David Strother ,David Hunter Strother, David Richardson Strother,
Eli Strother, Elzey Strother, Emswiler Strother, Ford Strother,
French Strother, F. S. Strother, George A. Strother, G. G. Strother,
George W. Strother, M. Strother, Gray Strother, Hartley Strother,
Heavener Strother, Horn Strother, James L. Strother,J. D. Strother
J. E. Strother, J. H. Strother, J. L. Strother, J. M. Strother
(Company G, 42 AL Infantry), John M. Strother,John Strother
(Company 26, 31 AL Infantry), John Strother (Company A,
59 AL Infantry), John Strother (OP of Instructor Talladega)
John T. Strothers, Jordan Strother, Josiah Strother, J. T. Strother
Mat Strother (Company K, 19 & 20 Consolidated TN Cavalry),
Polard Strother, Renick Strother, Reuben Strother,
Robert P. Strother, Stephen Strother, Stephen Strother Jr.
(Parks Comp VA Cavalry), Thomas Strother
(Private Co. G 9th KY Mtd. Infantry), Thomas (JT) Strother
(Co. A, 14th TN Infantry), T. H. Strother, Tidwell Strother
Vaughn Strother, W. B. Strother, W. D. Strother,
W. H. Strother, Walter C. Strothers, W. J. Strother, William Strother
( Private Company G 16th Reg’t. VA Cavalry), William Strother
Private Parks’ Company Virginia Cavalry, William T. Strother

I am continuing to add them and organize the documents for each still in existance.

Check back often I will add them soon.

WWI -

Red Hand Patch of the 371st Colored Troops 

Re-enactments