Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas
Milam County, Texas
All Credit for this article
goes to Mike Brown and the
Rockdale Reporter
goes to Mike Brown and the
Rockdale Reporter
Rockdale Has a Link to End of Civil War
by Mike Brown - Editor
Rockdale Reporter - 2015-03-19
The Texas Civil War Museum in Fort Worth advises me they have a couple of new exhibits.
So, if you want to see a cigar that was once (partially) smoked by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, or a lock of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s hair, all you have to do is head for Cowtown.
We’re approaching one of those “round number” anniversary dates.
Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Grant 150 years ago April 9 at Appomattox, Virginia, ending the Civil War.
I wouldn’t call myself a Civil War buff, but stuff keeps floating up into my mind at most inappropriate times.
A couple of years ago, I was in the chow line at the Rockdale police banquet and found myself standing next to then-County Judge Ed Magre.
Now, Ed is a real Civil War buff and can dissect battles and strategies with the best of them.
I looked at the line, which was in shape of a fishhook, turned to him said said: “Judge, does this remind you of Meade’s defenses on the second day of Gettysburg?”
He knew, immediately, what I meant. Everyone around me took a couple of steps backward for some reason.
Of course, being me, I immediately went into skeptic mode about the museum’s pronouncement. As in how do they know it was Grant’s cigar and Lee’s hair?
A friend in Rockdale once showed me a glass with a tiny line of liquid in the bottom. “Elvis drank this tea!” he proclaimed. “Or, that’s what they say,” he added, honestly.
If you ever watch the “Pawn Stars” on television you know they’re big on “provenance.” No I’m not talking about the capital of Rhode Island. Provenance means proof.
I guess they could always spend a bunch of money and look for Grant’s or Lee’s DNA—or Elvis’s for that matter—and that would settle the issue.
The museum also has Lee’s pocketknife, but there’s a letter with that, which proved it was his.
But I don’t have to go to Fort Worth to find history relating to the end of the Civil War, just to Rockdale’s I.O.O.F. Cemetery.
William Blackwell Woody was born in Halifax County Virginia, in 1848. In 1864 at age 16—yes, 16— he enlisted in Lee’s Army. He served the final five months of the war and was with Lee at the surrender in Appomattox.
Woody came to Rockdale, was named postmaster here by President Grover Cleveland in 1893.
Twenty years later he attended the fabled 50th reunion of Gettysburg and wrote about it, movingly, for The Reporter.
He died here in 1928.
by Mike Brown - Editor
Rockdale Reporter - 2015-03-19
The Texas Civil War Museum in Fort Worth advises me they have a couple of new exhibits.
So, if you want to see a cigar that was once (partially) smoked by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, or a lock of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s hair, all you have to do is head for Cowtown.
We’re approaching one of those “round number” anniversary dates.
Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Grant 150 years ago April 9 at Appomattox, Virginia, ending the Civil War.
I wouldn’t call myself a Civil War buff, but stuff keeps floating up into my mind at most inappropriate times.
A couple of years ago, I was in the chow line at the Rockdale police banquet and found myself standing next to then-County Judge Ed Magre.
Now, Ed is a real Civil War buff and can dissect battles and strategies with the best of them.
I looked at the line, which was in shape of a fishhook, turned to him said said: “Judge, does this remind you of Meade’s defenses on the second day of Gettysburg?”
He knew, immediately, what I meant. Everyone around me took a couple of steps backward for some reason.
Of course, being me, I immediately went into skeptic mode about the museum’s pronouncement. As in how do they know it was Grant’s cigar and Lee’s hair?
A friend in Rockdale once showed me a glass with a tiny line of liquid in the bottom. “Elvis drank this tea!” he proclaimed. “Or, that’s what they say,” he added, honestly.
If you ever watch the “Pawn Stars” on television you know they’re big on “provenance.” No I’m not talking about the capital of Rhode Island. Provenance means proof.
I guess they could always spend a bunch of money and look for Grant’s or Lee’s DNA—or Elvis’s for that matter—and that would settle the issue.
The museum also has Lee’s pocketknife, but there’s a letter with that, which proved it was his.
But I don’t have to go to Fort Worth to find history relating to the end of the Civil War, just to Rockdale’s I.O.O.F. Cemetery.
William Blackwell Woody was born in Halifax County Virginia, in 1848. In 1864 at age 16—yes, 16— he enlisted in Lee’s Army. He served the final five months of the war and was with Lee at the surrender in Appomattox.
Woody came to Rockdale, was named postmaster here by President Grover Cleveland in 1893.
Twenty years later he attended the fabled 50th reunion of Gettysburg and wrote about it, movingly, for The Reporter.
He died here in 1928.