Confederate Slave Payrolls Provide a Wealth of Information

From the September 25, 2021, Terre Haute (Indiana) Tribune Star  ""Genealogy:  Confederate Slave Payrolls provide a wealth of information" by Tamie Dehler.

The National Archives and Records Administration has a valuable online resource called Confederate Slave Payrolls, which can be of great value for persons doing research on their black past.  Not to mention the Civil War.

"During the Civil War, the Confederate Army required enslavers to loan their enslaved people to the military.  Throughout the Confederacy from Florida to Virginia, these enslaved people worked as cooks and laundresses, labored in deadly conditions to mine potassium nitrate to create  gunpowder, worked in ordnance factories, and dug the defensive  trench works that defended  cities such as Petersburg, Virginia.

"This series , comprising nearly 6,000 payrolls for enslaved labor,  sheds light  on the lives of enslaved people loaned to the Confederate Army during the Civil War, and may provide a wealth of genealogical  information relating to the names and home counties of African Americans.

"The payrolls show the time period covered, the Confederate officer under whom the enslaved people were employed, the place of service, names of the enslaver,  names and occupations of the hired enslaved person, number of days employed, daily rate of wages, amount paid, and the signature of the person receiving the payment."

You can view the full series of the "Confederate Slave Payrolls" in the  National Archives Catalog:  National Archives Identifier 719477.

So, It Is Now Enslaved People Instead of Slaves.  Enslavers Instead of Slaveowners.  --Old Secesh

About Those Confederate-Named Items To Be Removed from VCU-- Part 1: More Confederadication

 From the September Richmond.com "VCU board of visitors votes to remove names of Confederate supporters from its campus" by Eric Kolenich.

Virgina Commonwealth University will be removing  16 building names, plaques and other Confederate symbols.  Big surprise, the school is in that Richmond city.

This move will erase the names of Ginter Hall and Dooley Hospital from a spot where a Dooley Hospital once existed. 

James Dooley left his home and surrounding grounds to the city of Richmond, served in the Virginia General Assembly and  helped oversee railroad construction across the country.  His crime was that he was a Confederate soldier.

Lewis Ginter owned part of the land that is now Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and hired the architects who built the Jefferson Hotel.  When he died, he left substantial gifts to  charities and public  institutions.  His crime?   He was an officer in the Confederate Army.

--Old Secesh

Williams Guns in Schoolfield's Battery

There were six Williams guns in Schoolfield's Battery, commanded by Captain J.J. Schoolfield, the only battery to consist solely of the unique cannons.

The 25 men were attached to the 4th Kentucky Cavalry and could fire up to 40 rounds a minute, but at that rate were somewhat erratic.

They usually fired one pound solid balls, but on occasion loaded the barrels with buckshot and half ounce ball cartridges.

The guns performed well according to my source and often confused Federal forces as to just what sort of artillery they were up against.

An Interesting Weapon. --Old B-Runner

Richard Kidder Meade; No Close Relative of General Meade-- Part 8

Continued from the Friends of Gettysburg web site.

R.K. Meade was a hero in the North after Sumter's surrender, but he resigned his commission when it became apparent Virginia would also secede. He became an engineer in the Confederate Army.

Confederate General J.R. Anderson wrote a letter to Secretary of War Judah Benjamin requesting that Meade be commissioned a Captain of Engineers. As such, he directed the fortifications that became Fort Fisher for a short time before serving on the staff of General Longstreet on the Virginia Peninsula. Promoted to major in the summer of 1862, he died of typhoid July 31, 1862 at Petersburg, Virginia.

He was buried at Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia. His father, Richard Kidder Meade, Sr., is also buried there.

To What heights Might This Young Man have Risen Had It Not Been for His Early Death? --Old B-R'er