SILVER THREADS

 

Written and Published Online by John Silver

w/contributing articles by various Silver cousins

 

Hello Dear Family and Friends,

 

Spring is finally here in Delaware. We have had a solid week of cold rain. Now we can enjoy our warm rain. Seriously speaking, we do hope that all of us made it through the winter and can enjoy the warm weather that is coming. There is a saying here in Delaware, "If you don't like the weather in Delaware, stick around for an hour or so, it will change."

This month we have two excellent articles from cousin John Silver Harris who does not let the weather bother him since he lives in Florida. (But I know for a fact that he does worry occasionally in the hurricane season.)  Cousin Rex is still keeping every one interested in his 58th North Carolina Infantry Saga. It is especially interesting to me since I'm a great-grandson of Tilman Blalock Silver. I've visited most of the battlegrounds where the 58th fought. I hope to squeeze in a few more before winter arrives again.

Cousin Laura Cowan Cooper is trying to establish our family line through DNA samples. I have agreed to help if I can. (She's very persuasive.)  If you would like to participate please contact her at dacooper@usit.net.  Keep in mind that our reunion is coming up in July.  Please try to make it if it is at all possible.  Also as a favor to me, please bring pictures of the old folks and the young folks too. There is a Silver book in the making and I need family pictures to go with the story lines. I also need stories or family news.  I'll copy them at the reunion!

Barney, as always, has done an excellent job keeping up the website and Silver Threads published. Being the shy type of person he is, he never gets mentioned too often. [I like it that way!  BVK]  Thanks for the good work!

 

 

From: Howard Williams
Date: April 25, 2005
Subject: Frankie Play in October

The Legend of Frankie Silver drama is now in production.  As an introduction to the play The Frankie Foundation is doing the Courtroom Scene to various schools and groups in Burke County.  We are performing this Courtroom Scene in the Johnson Middle School at 1:30 p.m. on April 27 and the Table Rock Middle School on May 2 at 1:30 p.m.  On May 4 at 1:30 p.m. we will perform this scene at Grace Ridge in Morganton.  These presentations of the Courtroom Scene will be free.  Donations will be accepted.  The Drama Workshop scheduled for April 30 has been postponed until the summer because of a schedule conflict.  The tryouts for the whole play will take place at the Collett Street Recreation Center in Morganton, NC on May 16, 17, 18, and 19 at 7:00 p.m.  Parts are open for different ages, and performers chosen will be paid.

The presentation of the entire play will take place at the CoMMa October 7, 8 and 9.  There will be discount prices for groups of 10 or more.  For questions about the Courtroom Scene, the open tryouts, or the whole presentation, please call 828-439-2414.  Ask for Howard Williams.

 

 

John Silver Harris found this gem.

 

I’ve been doing family history for nearly 30 years,

Diligently tracing my illustrious forbears.

From Pigeon Lake to Peterborough, Penrith to Penzance

My merry band of ancestor has led me quite a dance.

 

There’s cook from Kent and guards from Gwent

And chimney sweeps from Chester,

There’s one daft fisherman lived all his life in Leicester.

There’s no one rich or famous, no not even well-to-do,

Though a second cousin twice removed once played in goal for Crewe.

 

I’ve haunted record offices from Gillingham to Jarrow

The little gray cells of my mind would humble Hercule Poirot.

I’ve deciphered bad handwriting that would shame a three year old,

And brought the black sheep of the family back into the fold.

 

My bride of just three minutes I left standing in the church,

As I nipped into the grave yard for a spot of quick research.

Eventually I found an uncle, sixty years deceased,

That was far more satisfying than a silly wedding feast.

 

After three weeks of wedded bliss, my wife became despondent

She named the public records office as the co-respondent.

I didn’t even notice when she packed her bags and went

I was looking for a great-grandad’s will, who had died in Stoke on Trent.

 

But now my 30 year obsession’s lying in the bin

Last Tuesday week, I heard some news that made me pack it in

Twas my darling mother, who is not long for this earth,

Casually informed me they’d adopted me at birth.

 

Author Unknown

 

Mike Wallace

By John Silver Harris

 

You know him – I know him.

Mike Wallace is probably the most enduring of all the T.V. personalities. And at 87 years of age, he’s still going strong.

As far back as 1956, I was watching him on TV in an Army dayroom at Fort Hancock, New Jersey.  I think I first saw him on a New York program called Nightbeat. Then he went national with his program called the Mike Wallace Interviews.  That was long before the long-running 60 Minutes program began.

What set Mike’s programs apart was that he challenged his guests with difficult probing questions – unlike the other schlock on TV, then and now.  I was fascinated by his confrontational, provocative style on real issues.

I distinctly remember his interview with the Reverend Billy Graham.  Mike and his producers had done their homework.  He had obtained a copy of something Graham had written or said years earlier that lambasted religion.  Mike read it aloud and then asked: “Reverend Graham, are these your words?” 

 “Yes, they are, Mike,” Graham replied, quickly adding: “and wasn’t that a foolish thing to say.”

That was the one time I can remember that Mike had no comeback.

I met Mike only once, but it was not an encounter I’m likely to forget.  I had the unfortunate experience of facing him on “60 Minutes” back in the mid-70s.  Sitting across from Mike, I found that it is a lot easier to ask the questions, as I had been doing as a reporter, than to answer them.  Especially when you know your answers are going out to millions of viewers nationwide.  And what you say can get you fired.

 (As one wag put it: “You know you’re in trouble when your secretary tells you that “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” called to cancel your appearance, but “60 Minutes” want you.)

I had a good reason not to want to be on his program.  At that time, I was a reporter for The National Inquirer, which, as a professional journalist, was not something I wanted emphasized on my resume’.

Secondly, I had earlier spent four months and some $100,000 of Enquirer on a globe-girdling search for Utopia.  My series of articles went nowhere—never published.  Enquirer staffers had been fired for a lot less, and I was trying to keep a low profile, even around the office.  The last thing I wanted was to be on National TV.  But Rod Gibson, a fellow staffer, told Mike about my Utopia search, and I was trapped.

A group of us reporters and editors had lunch with Mike while he was at the Enquirer, and on those occasions, he was deceptively amiable.

And before the actual shoot, we went through a rehearsal batch of questioning to put me at ease.  (It didn’t.)  During this session, Mike asked fluff-ball questions such as “What countries did you visit in your search for Utopia?”  It’s when the 60 Minute camera starts to roll that he bares his fangs and bites into you.

Having watched his program for some 20 years, I knew darn well it wasn’t those softy questions he was going to throw at me in the actual interview.  Instead, he opened with:  “You mean you spent four months and $100,000 of the Inquirer’s money on an around-the- world search for Utopia, but returned empty handed!” followed by: “What did you tell the boss?”

 “I didn’t tell him anything,” I replied, “I was never asked. (I explained that my editor simply sent me off on the next assignment.)

Thus it was that I had sweated through what Andy Warhol might term my “15 minutes of fame” on national television.

And that was enough.  I’ve paid my dues—been through the fire.  So, if 60 Minutes ever calls me again, my reply will be: “No thank you.  But I’m available to appear on a revived edition of ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.’ “

 

 The 58^th North Carolina Regiment, Company K,
and Letters to Folks Back Home

Compiled, Edited and Re-created
By Rex Redmon

I concluded my portion of last month’s newsletter with the following paragraph;

As the Union Army in East Tennessee began to control the area around Knoxville, fighting between the Confederate and Union forces escalates into one of the bloodiest battles the Civil War will ever know; The Battle Of Chickamauga, Tennessee! In the coming months we will see what an important role the 58^th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, as well as the roles of our Silver cousins, played in the upcoming battle. We will also explore the circumstances of why the Union Army gained such a foothold in East Tennessee that would enable the territory to fall into Union hands in the Fall of 1863. Also, I will have additional Civil War letters to the folks back home written by our extended Silver family cousins.

 

During August of 1863, the 58^th North Carolina Infantry Regiment was commanded by Colonel John B. Palmer. The regiment had marched from the Cumberland Gap area of the Tennessee/Kentucky border to Bell’s Bridge near Loudoun, Tennessee on July 12^th. The regiment remained at Bell’s Bridge for the remainder of July, 1863. On August 4^th, Colonel Palmer’s regiment was reassigned by major General Simon Bolivar Buckner to the Fifth Brigade commanded by Brigadier General John W. Frazier. However, Frazier’s headquarters was still located at Cumberland Gap where he received orders from Buckner on August 3 to move units of his command away from Bell’s Bridge. These units included the North Carolina 58^th under the command of Palmer.

The 58^th was ordered to march to Big Creek Gap southeast of Knoxville where they would relieve the 55^th Georgia, also a part of Buckner’s command. The 55^th Georgia and The North Carolina 64^th, plus reinforcements from the 64^th Virginia Mounted Infantry, marched to defend Cumberland Gap against invading Union forces. The Gap was a strategic position for the defense of East Tennessee and the Confederate forces must hold it at all costs. If the Gap fell into Union hands, the front door to the Tennessee Valley would be left wide open.

While Confederate troops were repositioning themselves throughout East Tennessee, life in Mitchell County, North Carolina, just across the Unicoi Mountains to the east went on as usual despite the fact most of the men folk were away from home. Prior to the movement of the North Carolina 58^th on August 4^th, Rosanah Gouge wrote a long letter on July 29^th to her husband of two years, Garrett Dawes Gouge.

 

July 29, 1863

Dear Husband,

I take this opportunity to drop you a few lines to inform you that we are all well at this time. I hope these few lines will come safe to you and find you well.

I received a letter from you last Saturday which came by hand. I was glad to hear you had got well. It is a satisfaction to me when I can hear you are well. When I received your letter and you said you had been so unwell, I was so uneasy I could not rest.

I suppose the Tories (Union-Sympathizers) have killed four of our men on Jack’s Creek. It looks like the people are in more danger here than are in the army. (Than those in the Army.)

I suppose there are several of the boys from about here killed and wounded. Swinfield Howell wounded in the arm. Mose McKinney killed.

I am done (with) my corn. I finished it last week. Some of it looks very well and some sorry. I sowed it (the garden) all in turnip seed. I got our wheat all cut by hard work. Uncle Ligah cut two days; James Sparks, two days; Alisson (Hoppes), one day; William Jones, one day.

I never got (does not name who) to help one grain. I told him I would give him what he charged but he would not (help). I have been just as kind to him as I could be. I don’t know what was the matter without he could not leave Jane McNeil long enough and you can give a guess from that.

Anderson weights 44 pounds. John (Richmond), I have not had him weighed yet. He looks bad. I have just commenced weaning him. He can’t talk any yet although he is pert as a cricket.

Your father and mother are well. I think Hector (McNeil) has give out moving down at all.

Garrett, I would give everything I ever saw if you could be at home. I hope you will live to get home sometime, though if we are never permitted to see each other in this world, I hope we both will meet where parting will be no more. I want you to keep me as good heart as you can. I never knew anything about being lonesome until this summer.

Garrett, if you need socks or anything that I can make, you must let me know. I am going to see you this fall if you don’t get to come home.

You must write soon and often. Garrett, I would write several things that I don’t if you could read it yourself. Give Joel and Tilman and Levi… (My best respects?) I could give Levi a history of one of his girls if I did not hate to. He can give a guess which one. I will put the two first letters of her name: S.B.

I will close. Yours as ever. Farewell. Rosanah Gouge to G.D. Gouge.

 

(Editor’s note: There was a lot of dissension and civil unrest between Union sympathizers and pro Confederates in and around Yancey County, North Carolina, during the Civil War. While I have been unable to ascertain what happened on Jack’s Creek in July of 1863, I have read accounts of killings and a battle between approximately sixty men at the Roland house on Jack’s Creek in October of 1863 and the murder of Reverend. Samuel J. Byrd in April of 1865 by Union sympathizers. The complete stories of these accounts are published in the Toe River Valley Heritage — North Carolina, Vol. II. by Dr. Lloyd Bailey. Also, Dr. Bailey’s publication has many accounts listing the fate of many of the men who served both in the Confederate Army as well as those who were Union sympathizers, plus, those who deserted both armies and became outliners, who in turn, were a plague upon society.

Uncle Ligah is probably Elijah Thomas, a relative. John Sparks is a relative to Caroline Sparks who stayed with Rosanah one week in 1863. Alisson Hoppes is thought to be a male teenager to young to serve in the war. William Jones’ is not identified. Jane McNeil was married to a son of J.D. and Sarah Wilson Howell, probably the oldest son, Thomas Jefferson Howell, and was Garrett and Rosannah’s nephew. Anderson is Garrett’s son by his first wife, Creamy Wilson, who was dead by 1860. Garrett married Rosannah Wilson in 1861 and had children, John Richmond and William Garrett Gouge. Joel is Joel Gouge. Tilman and Levi are Silver men, sons of Alfred Silver and Elizabeth Gouge. Levi Silver married Jane Buchanan in 1865 after the war ended so we do not know who the initials, S.B., represent.)

Judy Wilson, Rosannah’s mother, writes to Garrett on August 3, 1863, the very day the 58^th marched away from Bell’s Bridge.

Aug. 3, 1863

Dear Son:

I take the present opportunity to drop you a few lines to let you know we are all well this evening, hoping these few lines will come safe to hand and find you well and doing well.

I have nothing to write to you at this time, only I suppose the Tories are doing some mischief on Jack’s creek. Though I suppose the Indians (Home Guard?) have caught some 18 of them. I have not heard what they have done with them. I think they ought to use them very rough.

We have made a good crop of wheat though we had a hard time to get it cut and it looks like it all will spoil before we can get it all stacked.

Garrett, I would like to see you just as well as ever anybody could. I do hope this war will come to an end before long so what few men there are living can come home to their families. You must do the best you can. I hope you will live to get home sometime.

Give Joel Grindstaff my best respects.

You must write to us as often as you can. So I will close my bad lines at present.

Your friend till death.

Judy Wilson to G.D. Gouge

 

(Joel Grindstaff was Judy’s son-in-law who was married to Susannah Wilson, Rosannah’s sister.)

Colonel Palmer’s reassignment of the North Carolina 58^th away from the Cumberland Gap earlier in July was in many ways a Godsend to the men of Mitchell County. North Carolina. When the Union Army defeated the Confederate forces holding the Gap on September 9, 1863, the 425 men captured there and were eventually sent to Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois. Camp Douglas was the Union equivalent of Andersonville. At Camp Douglas, one-hundred-fifty of those captured at Cumberland Gap died in the harsh fortifications.

During the winter of 1864, over 18,000 Confederate soldiers were prisoners at Camp Douglas. For a detailed story describing life at Camp Douglas, written by a survivor of the Camp, who tells about the atrocities committed against Confederate soldiers at Camp Douglas, please refer to the website listed as endnote #2. My great, great Grandfather, Leander H. Redmon, perished there on January 20, 1865, four short months before the war ended. Leander served with the 60^th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, Company K and was taken prisoner by Sherman’s forces in Georgia on June 22 of 1864. As a result of leaving Cumberland Gap, the men of the 58^th North Carolina, Company K, would live to fight another day.

After two days of hard marching, the 58^th North Carolina reached Big Creek Gap on August 6^th where they would remain in Camp for two weeks. During that two week time period, Garrett Gouge will receive two more letters from home telling him about the robberies and murders being committed back home on Jack’s Creek. Also the 58^th North Carolina will march and counter march as it positions itself for the great battle of Chickamauga in September.

I want to extend personal thanks to two of our Silver cousins, Sherry Wyatt and Riley Henry, for sending me additional Civil War letters written by our Silver Cousins. Sherry Wyatt has given me permission to reprint a letter written by Greenberry Woody on October 29, 1862 from Campbell County, Tennessee. That letteer will appear in a future newsletter. The letter is written to Greenberry’s his wife, Catherine Phillips. Greenberry Woody was the prominent illegitimate son of Greenberry Silver.

Also, Riley Henry sent considerable information about David R. Silver, brother to Colonel Samuel Silver and son of Reverend Jacob Silver, which I will include in a future newsletter as well. In addition, Riley has shared with me a Civil war letter written by David Parker to Nancy Silver, his wife. (Nancy was the daughter of Frankie and Charlie.) I cannot reprint the letter in its entirety as written because of Riley’s copyright restrictions, however I can describe some of the contents of the letter which I will do in a future newsletter.

Until next month, everyone take care…

Cousin Rex Redmon

Redhrex13@aol.com

From Robin, Jim, David and Samantha (John Silver family)

 

Dear Family and friends,

     David is doing very well.  We’ve been back for three visits since he was discharged from the Yale Hospital, but I’m not complaining.  The doctors are checking his levels for anything and everything.  He takes a massive dose of pills every day.  I have a huge pillbox that I keep organized – unbelievable! 

He is isolated at our house and can go outside.  We might go to the beach today and just take a mask in case someone gets too close.  Every day we walk down the street from the house and he still gets tired. He’s sleeping less and eating a little more, all good. 

He is allowed one or two visitors as long as they are well.  This will be the norm for the next few months until they graduate him.  Socially, it’s tough.  The social worker at the hospital is organizing a group of boys (18 to 22 years of age) who have had bone marrow transplants this year.  There are four so far and if they talk about their ordeals and compare notes, it should  be a therapeutic session.

His cousin, Taryn, will be home from college shortly and that will be a big help.  They are good buddies and talk about everything.  Taryn is a good listener. All his cousins living so close is great.  He misses the ones that are too young to be able to tell if they are sick or have colds.

I feel as if I can finally take a deep breath.  It is still too early to let my guard down but I try to be less anxious.  He is to go back for a bone marrow test next week and have his battery of tests done but every day we are so thankful that he is home and on the road to full remission. (David has been in the hospital with leukemia since June of 2004 with the exception of about 10 or 12 days.)

We wish to thank everyone for their prayers.  We know they helped us through the last few months.

Love, Robin

 

 

BIRTHS, MARRIAGES & DEATHS

 

 

MR. & Mrs. jeremy silver and family

morganton, nc
saturday, MARCH 12, 2005

 

 

Donna Reed Fisher and Jeremy Alan were united marriage in a candlelit ceremony on Saturday, March 12, 2005 at six o’clock in the evening at The First Apostolic Church of Morganton.

The bride is the daughter of Mary Reed Orders and the late Ernie Mack Reed, stepdaughter of Johnny Orders, and granddaughter of Virginia Lucas and Ray and Emily Ward, all of Morganton.

The groom is the son of Ronald and Regina Silver and the grandson of Melissa Pritchard, all of Morganton.

The bride has three sons, Dillon Johnson, Luke Fisher and Benjamin Fisher. The groom has one daughter, Destiny Silver.

Pastor Alvin Baker of the First Apostolic Church officiated the ceremony.  A children’s vow and ring exchange ceremony was included.  Sheila Hayes photographed the occasion.  Renee Baker assisted with the video, music and sound.

The couple will spend their honeymoon at The Sun Village Resort and Spa in the Dominican Republic.

(George Silver Sr. > George Silver Jr. > Reverend Thomas Silver > Thomas D.B. Silver > Jesse Lester Silver > Woodrow Silver > Ronald Silver > Jeremy Alan Silver.

 

 

julia margaret silver

 

 

Grandpa James Diston Silver (our illustrious editor, John) would like to announce the birth of his newest grandchild, Julia Margaret Silver on his 72^nd birthday, April 3, 2005.  Born at 7:13am to John Douglas and Kathleen Denise Silver, Julia weighed in at a healthy 7 pounds, 4 ounces.

(George Silver Sr. > George Silver Jr. > Jacob Silver > Alfred Leonard Silver > Tilman Blalock Silver > Tilman Anderson Silver > Diston Silver > James Diston Silver > John Douglas Silver > Julia Margaret Silver.