YOUR history, MY
history, ALL history is important. I can better understand you when I can
understand your background. An old Native American saying, “Never judge people until
you have walked a mile in their moccasins.” Let us walk together that mile and
if necessary an extra mile!!! We
read in Genesis where Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery. Joseph
could have become very angry and bitter. Read more about the life of Joseph in
Genesis 37:1-50:26. His life is summed up in 50:19* “But Joseph said to them,
‘Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You planned evil against me; God
planned it for good to bring about the present result — the survival of many
people…’” What was Joseph’s focus? Where would the people of Israel be without
Joseph’s focus on God?
Biblical
history repeats many, many wars for what purpose? At age 81, I still have many,
many lessons to learn. We are created in God’s image for a relationship with Him.
Adam and Eve had that perfect relationship; so, there was no need for laws. Adam
and Eve took their eyes off God and exchanged their perfect relationship for a
lie. They exchanged God’s truth for the devil’s lie. God gave Moses the first recorded set of moral
laws followed by many more. Bishop Clarence E. McClendon explained the need for
laws, spiritual, moral and physical, in one of his services during the early
months of 2020. For more teaching by Bishop Clarence E. McClendon, view his
website, Clarence E. McClendon Ministries.
Are
you familiar with the song “Amazing Grace”? Many people, including myself have
received great comfort from hearing “Amazing Grace.” This song was written
during a period in our history of much pain and suffering. Probably without this suffering, we would have
been deprived of this comforting song. View for yourself the rest of the story;
watch the free movie “Freedom” with Cuba Gooding, Jr.
The
history of survival, one day the family was fighting on one side, the next week
necessity meant fighting on the other side. A Civil
War soldier,
Solomon Whitaker, from North Carolina enlisted in the Confederate and Union
Army. The records to substantiate this claim are found in his Union Civil War
Pension application. The originating agency may have changed the document
order. Reading the two pension applications, it appears that some of the papers
from Mr. Whitaker’s first application appear mixed with the widow application.
The
two pension applications have been combined into one packet. Solomon J.
Whitaker, Company I, Reg’t N.C. Mounted Infantry, filed 9 July 1890 with
application number 799.435 and certificate number 567.502. Elmina F. Whitaker,
widow, filed 2 March 1896 with application number 630249. Solomon J. Whitaker
pension application number 799.435 includes:
- Medical affidavit with physical
information as to reason requesting invalid status
- Neighbor’s affidavit with
information as to personal knowledge of character and habits
- Claimant’s affidavit with
reason for applying for pension
- Declaration for invalid pension
with full name, age, location, service, and reason for soliciting for
assistance
The
board of pension examiners may request additional information such as further
medical notes or in Mr. Whitaker’s case, information on his service in the
C.S.A. and the U.S. Army.
U.S.
Army:
- Enlisted in Knoxville, TN on 1
March 1865 in Company I 3rd Regiment of N.C. Mounted Infantry and
Volunteer as a private
- Honorably discharged in
Knoxville, TN on 3 August 1865
- Unable to earn support by
reason of nervous prostration and disease of the liver
C.S.A.
Militia General Affidavit:
- “…always heard him talk
favorably about the union and against the confederacy…he did not go into
service until he had to under the conscript law…” M.L. Underwood
- “…Yes he was in the Confederate
Army. He was first in the militia which was afterwards organized into
Henry’s Battalion…”John Moore
- “…he served in what was known
as Henry’s Battalion of home guards…” Mark Moore
- The board requested information
on the Confederate Capt. Harris’ Co. 14 Battalion N.C. Inf. James Henry
Colonel or Co. A. Henry’s Battalion C.S.A. Commissioner of pension
findings that “there are no rolls of said organization on file.”
- Several other long letters were
written about Mr. Whitaker joining the home guard to avoid being sent to
the front lines. One letter states that in February or March of 1865 many
men from the home guard unit went to Knoxville, Tennessee, to join the Union
Army.
What
would you do to preserve your family?
Not
long after William Lange, 1846-1928, arrived in Frankfort, Will County,
Illinois, he signed up to fight. Family research reveals his name as Long,
Lang, or Lange. What is correct? I have DNA family members spelling their
surname name Long; we are one and the same family. When and where did the
spelling change? Was it a language misunderstanding? While searching for the family roots, I found
in his Civil War Pension Files the spelling in his country of origin is Lange. With
this information, I was able to trace the family further back. Read the blog article.
*CSB
Tony Evans Study Bible, Holman Bible Publishers, 2019.
