Gathering Storm Clouds - On This Day in Civil War History

     This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The Civil War proper started on April 12, 1861. However, storm clouds were gathering months, even years before. What follows is a brief overview of what happened starting November 1860 through today's date 1861.


On this day in history....
Nov, 6, 1860
     Abraham Lincoln is elected president of the United States. The Southern states threaten to leave the Union.

Dec. 20, 1860
     South Carolina becomes the first state to take action on their threat and secede from the Union.

Jan. 3, 1861
     Delaware votes not to secede from the Union.

Jan. 5, 1861
     The "Star of the West," a civilian Union merchant ship leaves for Fort Sumter, South Carolina with men and supplies. Everyone but Major Robert Anderson, commander of the fort, knows of the ships mission.

Jan. 9, 1861
     Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union.
     The "Star of the West" is met in South Carolina by militia fire. Major Robert Anderson, commander of Fort Sumter, doesn't know what is happening and decides to not fire on the militia. This incident begins a stand off in Charleston Harbor.

Jan. 10, 1861

     Florida secedes from the Union.

Jan. 11, 1861

     Alabama secedes from the Union.

     

Jan. 12, 1861

     Major Robert Anderson, stationed at Fort Sumter, sends a dispatch to Washington declaring allegiance to the Union.

Jan. 16, 1861
     The Crittenden Compromise fails to pass in the Senate. It was a last chance effort to keep the Union together,

Jan. 19, 1861

     Georgia secedes from the Union.

Jan. 21, 1861

     Jefferson Davis gives his farewell Senate speech. During the speech, Davis stated that he agreed with Mississippi's vote to secede and they had put him out of a job. He expressed forgiveness and no ill will towards those he had disagreed with in the Senate. He also ask the same of his former colleagues. After the the speech, Davis and four other colleagues from seceded state leave the Senate and return to the South.

Jan. 26, 1861

     Louisiana secedes from the Union.

Jan. 29, 1861
     Kansas enters the Union as a free state after much blood shed between Kansas and Missouri residents over the issue of slavery.

Feb. 1, 1861
     Texas becomes the last pre-war state to secede from the Union. This decision went against the wishes of Governor Sam Houston.

Feb. 4, 1861
     Delegates from the seceded states, with the exception of Texas, met in Montgomery, Alabama, where they formed a new government.

Feb. 8, 1861
     A provisional constitution is adopted for the Confederate States of America.

Feb. 9, 1861
     Jefferson Davis is elected Provisional President of the Confederate States of America.

Feb. 10, 1861

     Jefferson Davis learns of his election. He said he was unfit for the job and the odds were great, but he would not shrink back. (Read more)

Feb. 11, 1861

     President-elect Abraham Lincoln leaves Springfield, Illinois, headed to Washington D.C.
     At a stop in Indianapolis, Indiana, Lincoln asked those gathered if it was coercion or invasion to invade South Carolina and make them submit. He also asked which one it would be if the Union was to just reclaim it's forts.

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For more information...
Jefferson Davis Farewell
1861 in the United States
This Day in History
Lincoln's Whistle Stop Tour to Washington
Lincoln's Whistle Tour Speech in Indianapolis, IN

Graves in Unexpected Places

This past week, I made an unexpected discovery. I happened to find the grave marker for Rev. Richard Whatcoat. I was visiting the Wesley Methodist Church in Dover, DE when I stumbled upon the grave marker.  It was hanging on the wall in one of the church's hallways.

Richard Whatcoat's grave marker
Special thanks to Wesley Methodist Church

What interested me in this piece of stone wasn't what was written on it, but the explanation across the hallway that accompanied the stone.

A brief history of Richard Whatcoat
Special thanks to Wesley Methodist Church

Now, I must admit, I would not have known who Richard Whatcoat was if an explanation had not been available. And I probably would not have been very interested in him even after I read about him if I hadn't recognized some other names like Francis Asbury, John Wesley, Thomas Coke, and the young Methodist Church.

For those in Protestant churches, John Wesley is a recognizable name from 1700 and 1800's. Wesley was known for his preaching and founding Methodist Societies, starting in England and then spreading to the Amereican colonies. The men who helped John Wesley spread Methodism in colonies are not as well-known. Francis Asbury, Thomas Coke, and Richard Whatcoat were three of those men. They also served as the first three bishops of the Methodist Church in America. Whatcoat and Asbury were also traveling companions as they spread the Christian Gospel throughout the colonies and the new western frontier.

At the end of Whatcoat's life, he became ill and stayed with a friend of his in Dover, DE. When he died, he was buried under the pulpit of Wesley Church in Dover where he had preached many times. The grave marker was put on Whatcoat's grave. When the church moved several years later, they grave marker was moved also, but Whatcoat's body remained. A monument was later erected in the graveyard near the old church.

The graveyard at North Street near Slaughter Street

A special thanks to Wesley Methodist Church in Dover, DE for allowing me to photograph Richard Whatcoat's grave marker located inside their church.

For further reading about Richard Whatcoat...
Whatcoat United Methodist Church - Who Was Whatcoat?
Richard Whatcoat - www.FrancisAsbury.org

The Nostalgia of Old Buildings

Old buildings have always had a special appeal. There is something about them that conjures up questions and stories about who might have lived or worked there, what events might have happened, and what the walls would say if they could talk. Old buildings appeal to one's imagination and curiosity.

Growing up in Central Washington state, most of the old - I should say historic - buildings I saw that were in good condition were the ones found in museums or were government offices. Central Washington is farm country. Most of the houses, mainly farmhouses, built between the 1850's and early 1930's, when Washington became a state and settlers began to move in to the area, have been left to decay. There are not a lot of historic houses and buildings for schoolchildren, history lovers, and dreamers to tour outside of the local museum.
  
Recently, I moved to the East Coast, where old, historic buildings appear to be, well, everywhere. The center of each town is home to several blocks of buildings that appear to date back at least one hundred years. Many buildings have signs in front of them telling the history and significance of the building.

One building in my town with such a sign provokes questions and fanciful stories every time I pass it. The yellow, three-story, brick building was built as an academy. Over the years, the building has served many different purposes.

While I don't know any more about the building than the information on the sign, I can't help making up my  own stories about the building. I imagine that it was once a girls boarding school with mischievous youngsters who liked to play tricks on their spectacle-wearing, spinster, school marms. (I probably have a preteen book to thank for that image.) I also see a shy, scared, little first-grader who is huddled with her bunny in the corner, wishing she was at home with her parents. I can visualize girls running about the grounds, laughing and playing games.

As the years progress, I can see the girls being sent home because funds for the school have run out. Their faces are long, as they wave a sad farewell to each other. I imagine the school sitting empty for many years, accumulating dust and cobwebs. Occasionally, local pranksters sneak into the building to look for ghosts or break a window. Finally, the community takes notice of the old, forgotten building. They clean it up, give it several new layers of paint, and open it up as a community center and recreational hangout. Today, it is the historical center for town.

Now, is that what really happened in the old academy? Most likely not. In fact, if one of the city historians knew what I imagine about the building, they would probably be appalled at the tale I conjured up. Never-the-less, it is still fun to imagine what might have happened in the old, historic building. Now, if only the walls could talk.