Week 12 The theme for Week 12 is "Membership." It isn't unusual to find our ancestors as members of a group, such as churches, school alumni, veterans organizations, or fraternal societies. Have you found an ancestor who was as member of a group? Or maybe you've made a discovery by being a member of a genealogical or historical society. Write about it this week!
Membership in the GAR was very important to Frederick Sumner Oatley, the 3rd Great Grandfather of my husband. Fred served as Department Commander and was the last surviving member of his post and at the time of his death was Vice Commander for his Department. So a little about the GAR: these were Union veterans, organized locally into posts, and the posts of a state made up a department. The organization was only open to civil war union veterans and membership had to be voted on. The group is no longer in existence since the years have gone by. Before the group was officially disbanded it named as its heir Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. The SUVCW site has a great quote about why the GAR came about in the first place and helps me realize why it was so important to Fred to maintain that membership.
“Men who had lived together, fought together, foraged together and survived, had developed an unique bond that could not be broken. As time went by the memories of the filthy and vile environment of camp life began to be remembered less harshly and eventually fondly. The horror and gore of battle lifted with the smoke and smell of burnt black powder and was replaced with the personal rain of tears for the departed comrades. Friendships forged in battle survived the separation and the warriors missed the warmth of trusting companionship that had asked only total and absolute commitment.”
No comments:
Post a Comment