Dixie Watchman
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Sam Early "The lordly Littlefield, amiably accessible, keeps his carriage at the hotel door to facilitate responses to eager calls from members of the Legislature. Night finds bright lights and abundant whiskey in hotels rooms where members, won by money, stagger joyously. Having sold a United States Senatorship, these importunate statesmen are now blackmailing the purchasers with threats of exposure, and money is forthcoming." Description of Tallahassee under Reconstruction Claude Bowers, The Tragic Era, The Revolution After Lincoln When THEY say "a danger to our democracy" they are not talking about your democracy or my democracy. Your democracy and my democracy died nearly 200 years ago. They are talking about THEIR democracy, the democracy of the rich and powerful that serves their interests, not the interests of us and our families. America changed markedly after 1848 when thousands of communist refugees ended up in the US following their failure to take a single country during Karl Marx's revolution of that year. Communists soon figured out how to work the system and gain power, wealth and influence in the U.S., until they controlled just about every way we get information. They control not just which events they want us to know about but the perspective from which they are told. A lot of people don't think for themselves and those people vote. They are easily manipulated.
Soon after communists came to America, they began overturning election results. If you don't believe me, just ask the people of Los Angeles, Colorado or Samuel Tilden, the Democratic presidential candidate for 1876. In 1859 the people of Southern California voted overwhelmingly to secede from the rest of California and form the territory of Colorado. Denver's hinterland had not yet claimed the name; Idaho also considered calling itself Colorado early on but went with Idaho. Southern California included the counties of Los Angeles (including today's Orange County), Santa Barbara (which included today's Ventura), San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Tulare (which included today's Kern County) and San Bernardino. The California Legislature approved the measure and the Governor signed the bill. But the people's vote was overruled behind the scenes by people in Washington who did not want two more senators from outside the Northeast which would happen anyway when Colorado Territory took the next step which was to apply for statehood. The votes were: For Separation from California Against Separation from California Los Angeles Co. 1,407 441 San Bernardino Co. 441 29 San Luis Obispo Co. 10 283* San Diego Co. 207 24 Santa Barbara Co. 395 51 Tulare 17 0 Total 2,477 828 *This is the way the county clerk recorded it but most historians think San Luis Obispo County's results were accidentally transposed. Samuel Tilden was elected president of the US by a majority of popular votes in a seceded Southern California. He had 184 of the 185 electoral votes needed to win in the Electoral College. Rutherford B. Hayes had only 165 committed to him. It was obvious that Tilden had won the election of 1876 but, although exactly how it happened is only speculative, deals were made in back rooms to give Hayes the presidency. In return for the South's acceptance of Hayes as president, US troops were removed from its state capital buildings, court houses and streets. Eventually the Federal government would build military bases outside of major Southern cities in case Southerners got any ideas about trying for independence again. The bases were named for Southerners to give the Southern public a feeling of ease – like today's Department of Homeland Security or the Patriot Act. Fortunately, they have lost that camouflage and can now be seen for what they are: A foreign invader needing to prop up its collapsing empire by intimidating its increasingly awakening people. The biggest threat to OUR DEMOCRACY™ were the elections of 1860 to 1876. The rich and powerful feared the results, or potential results, of democratically held elections at this time. The people of the Southern states demanded elections in 1860 to give them a voice in governing themselves rather than being governed by a hostile North. They elected delegates to their state's Constitutional Conventions from a slate of Secessionists vs Unionists in Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. No one ran as a Unionist in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. South Carolina elected no Unionists; all 169 delegates to South Carolina's Secession Convention were Secessionists. In addition, all five Indian tribes of Oklahoma voted to support the Confederacy. The people of Arizona territory, where slavery was illegal, also voted to become independent from the US and "join their fellow Southerners" as they said in their declaration. The US threatened Kentucky with military invasion if the governor allowed a democratic vote; the governor backed off, not wanting his state invaded. The people organized their own election and Kentuckians voted overwhelmingly for independence from the US. The US invaded. All these states and territories voted 66% or more for the super majority needed to pass legislation in a constitutional convention. So much for your democracy and my democracy. The Federals threatened to invade Delaware if that state allowed its people the chance to vote. The legislature backed down and forbade the people the right to vote. Maryland was invaded by Federal troops and eventually became an immense prison camp. Many legally elected state and local governments would be overturned and their officials imprisoned. The Federal Government thought it could do a better job of selecting governments than the citizens of those states had done. Now we face world war because Russians who had been separated from Russia by the communist to become part of Ukraine voted to secede from Ukraine and unite with their fellow nationals. For some reason the US Government thinks it has the right and duty to override the perfectly expressed wishes of people halfway around the world. The US Government hates secession. Secession is the people firing its government when it is no longer best for them. Time to fire the US Government. It no longer works for us. It doesn't work for my democracy or your democracy. It only works for OUR DEMOCRACY™.
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 "Who could not conquer with troops such as these?"
Lt. General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson on the Army of Northern Virginia A genealogy company recently noted that the Mason-Dixon Line marked a genetic boundary usually occurring due to an ocean or mountain range. Southerners are a unique people with little in common with other US citizens. Southerners have built a wonderful civilization with beautiful towns and wonderful music. We have contributed greatly to the world's arts and literature. Southerners even managed to build a strong, world-class economy, overcoming an economy that had over 20% of its infrastructure destroyed by northern invasion, and the remains plunged into hopeless debt by corrupt carpetbag governments. Truly, as General Jackson noted, this is a uniquely Blessed and resilient people. This is the story of how that people came to be. Jamestown, Virginia, established in May of 1607, was the first permanent English colony on the North American mainland. The Mayflower wouldn't land at Plymouth Rock until 1620. Jamestown was named for and founded during the reign of King James l of England and Vl of Scotland.(He's the same King James who commissioned the King James version of the Bible) Jamestown had a tough time surviving. Of the 630 first colonists who came that first year 510 perished during the first two and a half years. Next for the beleaguered survivors came "the Starving Time", winter of 1609-1610, during which only 60 of the colonists survived. These few survivors decided to abandon Jamestown. They sailed a ship from Jamestown to the mouth of the James River to meet Lord Delaware, who brought them the bountiful supplies they had prayed for during those bitter years of starvation. 2) These men, women and children were the first Southerners. Strong. Creative. Imaginative. The young colony would continue to struggle until 1649, which is when the ancestors of most modern Southerners left England for North America. King Charles I had been overthrown and beheaded, and those who had supported the King were in mortal danger from "Lord Proprietor" Oliver Cromwell and his fanatical Puritan supporters. Meanwhile, Sir William Berkley and the beautiful virgin soil of Virginia were beckoning-and Royalists answered the call. CAVALIERS: This is the political term that is used for the two largest, and earliest, groups of white Southerners. What they had in common was that they fought for the Episcopal (Anglican) Church and King Charles l(for whom the Carolinas were named) during England's Civil Wars, fought from January 1642 to December 1651. Unlike America's War for Southern Independence, the English War was an actual Civil War, fought between two factions for control of the same government. If you are a Southerner with an English background, you likely have an ancestor who was a Cavalier. Cavalier comes from the French word "Chevalier" which means Horseman and is also used as the French word for knight. Cavalry also comes from Cavalier. Cavaliers were known for their long hair, fancy attire and, well, their cavalier disregard of danger. They were outnumbered by the Puritans who were called "Roundheads" because of their short hair. They were given that name by Queen Henrietta Maria de Bourbon (Mrs. King Charles l) for whom Maryland was named. When she saw her first Roundhead, she asked who the round headed man was. The first Civil War was a draw but the second was a victory for Oliver Cromwell and Parliament. King Charles l was beheaded and Oliver Cromwell was instated. Cromwell is best remembered for coining the phrase "Warts and all" when giving his portrait painter instructions on how the dictator wanted an honest image of himself. The end of the second Civil War ended in Oliver Cromwell's Roundheads winning which resulted in large numbers of Royalist and Episcopalians leaving England for Virginia rather than live under Cromwell's Puritan rule. This was the South's biggest emigration event and it involved two very different types of Englishmen. The largest group was Celtic. They lived in Britain from the earliest times, before a monster tsunami washed away the land bridge around 8,200 years ago. They were isolated for thousands of years until about two thousand years ago when people from Europe began coming to the Island. The newcomers generally tried to exterminate the native Celts. For instance, when the Saxons invaded Sussex County, they killed all the native Celts. It was the invading Saxons gave the Welch their name; it means foreigner in Saxon. By 1600 the surviving Celts had been pushed to the west of England. These Celts/Cavaliers have another name; Craykers or Crackers. A Crayker was a talented storyteller who was much loved and respected as storytelling was the main form of entertainment in an age before tv and movies. Crackers made up about 68% of Cavaliers. They, as well as their descendants today have the Southern accent that is not too different from the standard American accent. They pronounce their "R"'s. It's the accent of Andy Griffith, Elvis Presley and Georgia's Governor Kemp. Craykers say "Merry is r church organist" very much like Midwesterners but much less nasal. The other Cavalier group, The Southern Anglo-Normans, sometimes known as the people with the "Gone with the Wind" accent, about 25% of Cavaliers, would say "Mayree is hour chuch awganist". These two people lived in the same small towns but didn't interact with each other on a daily basis because their lives were so separated. Craykers had successful smaller farms and would be the carpenters, the tool makers, and tradesmen whereas the "Gone with the Wind" people would have the plantations or be the lawyers and cotton brokers of the town. This wasn't a deliberate separation, but it kept two groups as distinctly separate groups until the latter part of the 20th century. Famous Southern Anglo-Normans would include Paula Dean and Rue McClanahan's character Blanch Devereaux on "Golden Girls". You might also know the Anglo-Normans of 100 years ago from Downton Abbey, in the characters of Lord and Lady Crawley- if you traced their trace them back 10 generations or so, you would likely find their ancestors as Anglo-Norman supporters of Charles I at the time of the English Civil War - this is the time the Southern Anglo-Normans separated from the Anglo-Normans. The English Anglo-Normans had huge land holdings and the eldest son inherited everything, leaving the younger sons to find another way of making a living. The limitless lands of Virginia were a perfect match for the younger disinherited sons, and the poorer Crayker Cavalier soldiers needing someone to pay their passage to Virginia was great opportunity for the Southern Anglo-Normans to acquire farm labor for the price of the voyage. A steep step down from dandy soldier to farm laborer perhaps, but it worked and most Cavaliers were able to acquire their own land. This is when the plantation system of the South was born. The migration of Cavaliers to America took place between 1649 and 1652. The halfway year mark between 1652 and 2023 is 1836. This means that the Southerners who voted for independence in 1860 and today's Southerners, are living in the second half of the Cavalier family's existence in America. MORE SOUTHERNERS in the future: Rednecks, Ulster-Scots, Hillbillies, Covenanters. Black Southerners Creoles Cajuns American Indians 1)AN AMERICAN HISTORY by Nathaniel Wright Stephenson. Ginn and Co. Boston. 1913. p.28 2)An American History p.28
4. Who was the first American president to have a Jewish Secretary of State? 5. Who was the first gay US president? Answers: 1) Ulysses S Grant. He was the sole master of at least five slaves. They had all belonged to Grant's father-in-law, Frederick Dent. The last four traveled with Grant during the war and found Grant such a disagreeable master that they escaped. One slave was called "Black Julia" to distinguish her from Grant's wife Julia. 2, 3, and 4. President Jefferson Davis. All three positions were filled, at different times, by Judah P. Benjamin. 5. President James Buchanan. He had a close relationship with William Devane Rufus King, who was Vice-President under Franklin Pierce. Andrew Jackson called King Miss Nancy and others called King Mrs. Buchanan. Seattle's King County was named for William Rufus King when it was founded in 1852. It was renamed in honor of Martin Luther King in 2007 because William Rufus had owned slaves. King county is 171 years old today. HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SOUTHERNERS AND THE SOUTH?
The purpose of this quiz is to talk about some interesting facts about the South. Don’t take Your Score too seriously. If you get one right you are doing good. The questions all relate to the South or Southerners although they might not seem to at first.
5) Houston 6) Washington 7) Philadelphia 8) Miami 9) Atlanta 10) Boston 2. What are the three southernmost state capitals? Name them in order from Southernmost. For instance, Honolulu is the farthest south so that would be number one-woops! I’m not supposed to tell you the answers. Oh well, what are the next two southernmost state capitals? 3. The familiar Confederate flag borrowed the diagonal Saint Andrew’s Cross, which represents Scotland, from the British Union Jack. The Confederate flag was originally to have the other of the two crosses, the more traditional Saint George’s Cross which represents England. The change to the Saint Andrew’s was made at the request of a group of Confederate citizens. Who were they and why did they request the current design? 4. What is the largest city in the US named for a Jewish person? 5. What is the largest city in the US named for a Confederate officer? 6. The Confederacy had two capital cities at different times. Can you name them? 7. Who was the only man to serve as governor of two different states? He was also the only governor to be forced out of office in two states? Hint: He has a big city named for him. 8. In 1830 New York and Pennsylvania recognized the right of free black men to vote but with restrictions not required of white men. New York mandated that they have a net worth of $250, a large amount of money at the time. Pennsylvania would disallow black people to vote at all in 1838 (Keyssar, 55). In 1830 only seven states extended the franchise to free African-American men without restrictions and one of those would withdraw the right that year. Which seven from the list 10 listed below extended the right to vote to free black Men in 1830? Connecticut Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire North Carolina Ohio Rhode Island Tennessee Vermont Virginia 9. One of the most popular and famous actors of the first half of the 19th century wrote a letter to President Andrew Jackson threatening to kill the president if didn’t release two men convicted of piracy. The man, whose first and middle names were Junius Brutus was a friend of “Old Hickory” and in the 1830’s it was not illegal to write threatening letters to presidents. The father would later write a letter to Jackson apologizing for the missive. Junius had a son who would also be a famous actor. Do you know who the son was? 10. Martha Ann Holliday and John Henry Holliday were first cousins. They were also rumored to be in love with each other. You probably think that these two Georgians are just fictional Characters. You would also never think they were related in any way, much less first cousins but they were very real. You just know them both by different names that they acquired later in life. Guess who they are? 1. 1) New York 106 6) Washington 105 2) Chicago 110 7) Philadelphia 104 3) Los Angeles 104 8) Miami 98 4) Dallas 113 9) Atlanta 105 5) Houston 107 10.) Boston 102 Hot air from the Everglades continuously rises bringing temperate breezes over Miami. 2. What are the three southernmost state capitals? Honolulu is the Southernmost. What is second most and what is third? Number one: Honolulu. (Hawaiian for safe harbor). 21 18’ 25”. Two: Austin (abbreviation of Augustine meaning “the magnificent one”) Texas 30 16’ 2” Three: Baton Rouge. (French for Itta Humma, Choctaw for the “red stick” that marked the boundry between the Houma and Bayagoula Indians' territory in 1689,) 30 26’ 51” and, if you’re interested, the fourth capital from the equator is Tallahassee at 30 27’18”. These coordinates were taken from the Wikipedia entries for all four cities. 3. The Confederacy’s Jewish citizens. They thought the Saint George’s Cross to be too Christian and therefore, seemingly at least, exclusionary of other religious beliefs. Thousands of Jewish men fought for the South’s independence. 4. Fort Myers, Florida was named for Abraham Charles Myers whose wife was Marion Twiggs Myers. Twiggs County, Georgia was named for Marion Twiggs Myers father, Revolutionary War hero General John Twiggs. Marion’s mother was Ruth Emanual whose brother, David Emanuel, was governor of Georgia. David Emanuel was America’s first Jewish governor. The first white person to be born in Georgia was also Jewish. Philip Minis, son of early (1733) British emigrants Abraham and Abigal Minis, was born in Savannah on July 11, 1734. Philip was a successful merchant and was banned from holding office by Georgia’s British government because of his outspoken yearning for an independent America. 5. Fort Myers, Florida was named for Col. Abraham Charles Myers, Quartermaster General of the Confederacy. 6. Montgomery, Alabama was the first capital of the Confederacy. It was named for General Richard Montgomery of Revolutionary War fame, who died outside of Quebec City leading what, evidently, he alone perceived to be a surprise attack against the British. Although General Richard Montgomery had no relationship to Alabama it’s just as well that the early name of the town was changed as it is unlikely that the Confederacy would have chosen the city as its capital had it kept its earlier name “Yankeetown”. Actually, the official name of the place was New Philadelphia, not much better, but it was better known as Yankeetown. Montgomery is of Norman derivation and means “Gomer’s Hill” in Norman French. Montgomery is the seat of justice for Montgomery County, named for War of 1812 General Lemuel Montgomery and not the “hero” of the Quebec City campaign. The Confederacy’s second capital was Richmond, Virginia. The extant state capitol buildings of both cities served as the meeting place for the Confederate Congress. Richmond is also Norman French and means “Rich Hill”. Although it’s an independent city and not in any county, Richmond is the seat of justice for Henrico County. 7.Sam Houston was governor of first Tennessee and then Texas. He was also president of the Republic of Texas. He resigned as governor of Tennessee after his wife publicly bad-mouthed him in the severest way over his loutish behavior. He was forced to resign the governorship of Texas because he was a strong unionist and also because of his dishonesty. Houston, Texas is the largest city in the US named for a slave owner. He owned twelve. Houston’s son, Andrew Jackson Houston ran unsuccessfully for governor of Texas in 1892 as a “Lilly White Republican”. The “Lilly Whites” wanted only whites to vote in Texas’s Republican party. At the time the Texas Republican party was the sixth largest vote getter in the Lone Star State, gathering fewer constituents than the socialist party. One would think they would have realized they were in no position to cull voters. 8. 1) Connecticut: No. Blacks lost right to vote in 1822. (Howe, 497 and Keyssar, 354) 2) Ohio: No (Keyssar 55) 3) Maine: Yes (Keyssar 55, Howe 497) 4) Rhode Island: No. Disqualified Blacks in 1822 (Howe,497) Right to vote reinstated in 1841 (Howe, 497) 5) Massachusetts: Yes (Keyssar 55) 6) Tennessee: Yes, but free Blacks disfranchised in 1834.(Keyssar, p.354) 7) North Carolina: Yes, but free Blacks were disfranchised in 1835. (Keyssar, 55, Howe 497) 8) Virginia: yes, but free Blacks were disfranchised in 1830. (Keyssar, 354) 9) Vermont: yes (Keyssar 55) 10) New Hampshire. Yes, but Catholics and Jews were not allowed to vote. Only men professing a belief in any protestant sect could vote as per the state constitution. All Southern states recognized the right of Jews and Catholics. (vote: bozonblogger.blogspot.com) Keyssar, Alexander. “The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States,” Basic Books 2001. Howe, Daniel Walker. “What God hath wrought: The Transformation of America (1815-1848)”. Oxford University Press 2007. Oxford. Litwack, Leon Frank, “Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery” publisher Alfred A. Knopf. NY 1979. 9. John Wilkes Booth was the son. Junius Brutus Booth was the father. The pirates were De Ruiz and DeSoto who had been sentenced to death. The letter was written on July 4, 1835 but was long thought to be a forgery of some sort. It was verified as authentic by hand writing specialists in 2009. The elder Booth was no stranger to intoxicants and was often uncivil under their influence. This could explain, to some degree, the malice in the letter. John Wilkes Booth was named for a collateral ancestor, the British parliamentarian John Wilks who was a proponent of American independence during the Revolution. MP John Wilks was noted for his wit. Allegedly, once a fellow member of Parliament, who opposed Wilks both politically and personally, said to Wilks that “you will either die on the gallows or of the pox (syphilis)”. To which Wilkes responded “that depends on whether I embrace your politics or your mistress.” Yale book of Quotations by Fred Shapiro. Yale University Press, 2006 pp.281-282. Wilks was also reported to have had a conversation with a constituent where as the man said he would rather vote for the Devil. Wilks responded, “Naturally” then said “And if your friend decides of against standing, can I count on your vote?” Cash, Arthur H. (2006) “John Wilks: The Scandalous Father of Liberty” New Haven; London: Yale University Press. P.211 The actual plot to kill Lincoln was more fascinating AND convoluted than anything today’s spy novels could fabricate. To learn more about it read “Why was Lincoln Murdered” by Otto Eisenschiml. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, New York, NY. 1937. To learn more about John Wilkes Booth read “John Wilkes Booth: a sister’s Memoir” by Asia Booth Clarke. University of Mississippi Press, Jackson. Written in 1874. First published in 1938. Copyright 1996 by University of Mississippi Press. 10. Martha Ann Holliday became a nun in the order of Sisters of Mercy and took the name Sister Mary Melanie. It was said Sister Melanie joined a convent, in part, because of her first cousin, John Henry Holliday. They had a close relationship which some assumed to be romantic. John was a dentist in Griffin Georgia. He developed tuberculosis (the disease killed his mother) and moved west to a healthier climate where he became known as Doc Holliday to Wyatt Erp and his friends. Doc lived his famously exciting and event filled life before dying in Glenwood Springs, Colorado on November 8, 1887. The local paper reported his passing by saying: “He had only one correspondent among his relatives- a cousin, a Sister of Charity, in Atlanta, Georgia. She will be notified of his death, and in turn advise any other relatives he may have living. Should there be an aged father or mother, they will be pleased to learn that kind and sympathetic hands were about their son in his last hours, and that his remains were accorded Christian burial.” One day Sister Melanie’s second cousin once removed, Margaret Mitchell, visited her and told the elderly nun that she was writing a book and that Melanie was going to be in it to which Sister Melanie reportedly said “Well, make me be good.” Sister Melanie discarded much of her saved correspondence with Doc. After Melanie’s death her youngest sister burned the remaining letters Melanie and Doc wrote to each other. (Roberts 399). Some of Melanie’s family denied that Doc was related to them. The shame wasn’t because of any first cousin taboo which didn’t exist at the time but because a respectable Southern family certainly wouldn’t have been proud to be kin to an outlaw; however, most of the family honestly admitted their relationship to Doc Holliday. One relative recalled Sister Melanie saying that if people had only known him as she had, they would have seen a different man from the one of western fame. Roberts, Gary L. Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend.2006, John Wiley and sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey p. 399. |
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