The 1865 surrender of Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, Va., on April 9 and other surrenders, late battles and the May 10 capture of Jefferson Davis, brought an end to the Civil War.
The effect that four years of fighting had on those who survived the war, as well as their families, can never fully be understood. The millions of slaves who were freed also had a new life facing them that was unprecedented.
We often forget how close these events were to our loved ones. My maternal grandparents in Columbus were fortunate that their three Confederate soldier grandfathers, Joseph H. Brooks, William F. Hudson and Robert Ross Snellings, survived the war, the first two being prisoners of war. They returned, started families, and lived into the 20th century to be remembered.
Whether my grandfather ever asked his grandfathers about the war, I do not know. My grandparents lived through World War II, which ended only 80 years after the Civil War — not even a century between them.
As 150th anniversaries of the end of the Civil War and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the 70th anniversaries of the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the World War II surrender in Europe come about this spring, it is important to consider how these events effected our families and their memories.
If you have anyone you can interview about their memories of those events, do so.
Winder newspapers in new book
Faye Stone Poss has published newspaper abstracts from the cities of Athens, Louisville, Sparta and Washington, as well as Jackson County.
Her latest is “Winder in the News, Newspaper Accounts of Winder, Georgia, 1893-1915,” which covers events ranging from the town’s renaming from Jug Tavern through it becoming the county seat of newly formed Barrow County in 1914.
She includes all sorts of interesting information — not just obituaries and legal notices, but also many human interest stories. It’s a fun read, even if you never knew any of these families.
Edited by Jane N. Grider, the book has a personal name index and a topical index. Published with a Taylor Foundation grant, it is available for $35 postpaid from Faye Poss, 2767 Centerville Rosebud Road, Snellville, GA 30039-5517. Check fayestoneposs.tripod.com for her other books.
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