pirit of JEFFERSON and FARMER'S ADVOCATE
James Taylor presents family
history to, Sons of Confederacy
BRYAN CLARK Spirit Staff
RIPPON -- James Taylor, a for-
mer local coach and teacher as well
as a co-founder of the Jefferson
County Black History Preserva-
tion Society, was the guest speak-
er at the June meeting of the Jef-
ferson County camp of the Henry
Kyd Douglas Sons of the Confed-
eracy. Taylor spoke frankly about
the history of his and other black
families in Jefferson County at the
time of the Civil War.
Doug Perks introduced Taylor
and explained why he had been
invited to speak at the meeting.
"[Taylor] frequently comes to the
Library and Museum, and there
we have a little round table. We've
solved many problems around that
round table. One day he came in
and he told this story."
"I didn't have much interest
in the Civil War," began Tay-
lor, "until one day I went to my
mother's father's house, and I
saw my mother's bible. I opened
it up and there was this little ar-
ticle from the Spirit of Jefferson
- I almost missed it - and the ar-
ticle said he came with Banks."
Major General Nathaniel Banks
was a Union commander who
fought against Lieutenant Gener-
al Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
at Winchester in 1862.
"Now I'm gonna mention a
couple of Union generals, so
don't get upset," joked Taylor.
The room erupted in laughter.
"I found out that he (Taylor's
great grandfather) was at Win,
chester with the Union Army when
they retreated back to the 'contra-
band camp' at Harpers Ferry. I
didn't know that much about 'con-
traband', so I did a little research."
"What I found out was that
during the Civil War - around
1861 - there were three slaves
that were contracted to work for
the Confederate Army, and they
didn't like that but there wasn't
anything they could do about it."
The slaves were then told, Tay-
lor explained, that once they were
finished they would be transferred
to work for the Confederate Army
in North Carolina.
"They decided they didn't
want to do that. They decided to
escape," said Taylor.
"Not far from there was a
Union camp called Fort Monroe.
They rowed to Fort Monroe, not
knowing whether they would be
accepted or not because this was
still 1861." The Emancipation
Proclamation was not issued un-
til the beginning of 1863, and so
slaves captured in the North were
still sometimes retumed to slav-
ery in the South.
"They went to General But-
ler, who was running Fort Mon-
roe, and said, 'Please, don't send
us back.' " said Taylor. "Gener-
al Butler did not know what to
do, and he started to send them
back." When Butler checked
with his superiors, continued
Taylor, the decision was made
not to send the slaves back be-
cause if sent back they would
be working for the Confederate
Army again. "So General Butler
decided to keep them as 'contra-
band,' "Taylor concluded.
As Stonewall Jackson advanced,
the Union Army was forced to re-
treat from Winchester through
Charles Town all the way to Harp-
ers Ferry, where a large'contraband
camp' was established for thou-
sands of escaped slaves. Taylor said
that his great grandfather had bro-
ken away and hid out somewhere in
Berkeley County for a time until he
got word of the camp established at
Harpers Ferry.
Escaped slaves were still not
safe in the contraband camps,
as Taylor explained, because af-
ter a time slave owners from the
Shenandoah Valley began to
come to Harpers Ferry to recap-
ture escaped slaves. Further, he
explained, food shortages, dis-
ease and joblessness made life
exceedingly difficult for resi-
dents of the camps.
Taylor explained that, after
a time, the Freedmen's Bureau
was established by the War De-
partment with the objective of
establishing churches, schools
and employment opportunities
for former slaves. Reverend Na-
than C. Brackett was charged
with completing this task for the
entire Shenandoah Valley.
Taylor said that Brackett ini-
tially "found nothing but chaos"
in the camps, but, through con-
stant work, he established Storer
College. Storer College was a pre-
dominantly black university Which
succeeded in training a large num-
ber of black teachers throughout
its 90 years of existence.
Taylor's story was greeted with
great interest by members of the
Sons of the Confederacy. In a lat-
er interview member Danny Lutz,
who has an extensive knowledge
of local history, said that Taylor
had contributed a great deal of
new historical information to the
group. "When I was a child," said
Lutz, "most of these things were
only spoken about in whispers."
Lutz said that the Value of histo-
ry is to place the current day with-
in a broader, more expansive per-
spective. "We must acknowledge
where we have been so that we can
see where we're going," he said.
Taylor's simple yet powerful
refrain throughout the presenta-
tion echoed this sentiment, "You
can't change history," he said.
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News.
Teen workers lend
lp"
a he lng hand to
e
area seniors
TONI MILBOURNE Spirit Staff
CHARLES TOWN - The
Jefferson County Council on
Aging has partnered with a teen
program sponsored through the
Catholic Diocese of Arlington
in an effort to help area senior
citizens receive needed assis-
tance with home improvement
projects.
Elfreda Slack, with the JC-
COA, worked with WorkCamp
Coordinator Terry Simons
who saw a need in the Jeffer-
son County area. Simons led a
group of teens who were housed
at Millbrook High School in
nearby Winchester, Va., who
worked on approximately nine
projects in Jefferson as well as
on projects in Frederick, Clarke,
Warren and Shenandoah coun-
ties in Virginia.
Slack said that the program is
one of the most rewarding ones
she has ever been involved in.
"It was wonderful what they
did for seniors and it cost noth-
ing," Slack said. All materials
were paid for by the group and
all labor came at the hands of
teens reaching out to help those
less fortunate than themselves.
Ranson senior Mary El-
len Goff was the recipient of
the hard work of some of the
teens. The seven-member
group worked at her modest
home landscaping her prop-
erty, trimming bushes and
mulching to make the outward
appearance bright. The teens
then, with the supervision of
adult mentors, replaced 12
windows in Goff's home to,
make them more effective in
keeping out cold weather.
"Those old windows were
47 years old," Goff said as she
showed off the new windows
around her home. In addition,
Goff shared, the group took
out a window unit air condi-
tion that 'had been in place
since 1997 and completely
cleaned it before restoring it to
its place.
Sharon Staubs, whose mother
Elizabeth Domer also received
assistance with the rebuilding
of a deck and the installation of
a brand new wheelchair ramp,
new windows and roofing work,
Local teacher gets
SHENANDOAH JUNC- year- for teachers m pursue
TION- Carolyn Thomas,a worthy projects in science
teacher at Wildwood Middle education.
has received a
plans to use
a project which
Week Ending 6125111
JEFFERSON COUNTY.. $3,982,189.85
BOLIVAR ........................ $381,309.69
CHARLES TOWN ........ $1,061,035.88
HARPERS FERRY ......... $112,059.67
RAHSON ..................... $1,0rr, O00.l
SHEPHERDSTOWN ........ $438,721.09
TOTAL FUNDS
DISTRIBUTED .......... ".. $7,052316.22
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Mary Ellen Goff stands outside one of the newly-replaced windows
at her home.
could not say enough about the
program.
"I think this is an awesome pro-
gram and the young people de-
serve to be recognized," Staubs
said.
The program began in 1989
and has provided an opportunity
for teens to serve their commu-
mty by repairing and improving
residences. The focus, according
to WorkCamp Coordinator Paul
C. Bevins, is to make the resl-
dent's homes warmer, safer and
drier.
Slack indicated that the con-
version of bathrooms to showers
that are handicap-accessible and
senior-friendly was one of the
main projects of benefit to many
seniors. She saw the program as
a huge success and expects that it
will expand in the future into Jef-
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103 W. Liberty St' Charles Town, WV
(304) 725-0937 • dcamilletti@frontier.com
CRIMINAL " TRAFFIC * DUI
The City of Charles Town will be accepting
letters of interest for a vacancy on each of the following City of
Charles Town Committees:
1) Building Commission
2) Board of Parks and Recreation
Interested parties must be City of Charles Town residents and
are to send a letter requesting appointment to: City of Charles
Town, P.O. Box 14, Charles Town, 25414, Attention: City
Clerk. Letters should include relevant professional and volunteer
experience. For more information call Joe Cosentini, City Clerk, at
725-2311 x239.
2011 Heritage Festival
Plans are underway for the 2011 Heritage Festival which will be the
3rd weekend in September. Check out our website, www.histori¢
charlestownwv.com for updates on this and Charles Town's 225th
IIL. Anniversary celebration.
• ........................... i
=ml:i Phone: 304-725-2311
=m,=v*' 101 E. Washington St./P0 BOX 14
LI Charles Town, WV 25414-0014
