After the War

"To every true Southerner every Confederate soldier was a hero, and until the last man in gray passed away, a Confederate union was held every year in some town in Pickens County. And the old soldiers sat around and re-fought the War, and the people in the neighborhood brought baskets, and a big day was had. In nineteen twenty-seven they were honored when the monument was placed on the courthouse square up here. In nineteen ten, one hundred and seven were present at the reunion, and in nineteen and twenty-nine only fifteen were left. These were: R. M. Beard, J. Dean, L.D. Elrod, W. A. Howard, S.C. Johnson, L.C. Kelley, J.D. Lowe, W. McCrary, H.P. May, T. H. Noland, W. G. Robinson, J.A. Spruill, W.W. Swedenburg, M. Sparks, and R.H. Wilson. And I believe that Col. H. P. May was the last one to die.

After the surrender, many were hundreds of miles away from home. They were barefooted, hungry, penniless, no clothes, and poor health. But with the same kind of courage that had sustained them for four years, those, who were not so weak that they fell by the wayside, walked back to a Pickens County that they hardly recognized. They found their courthouse in ashes, the fields grown up in weeds, the fences down, and families destitute and scattered. Most were heavily in debt, and the land mortgaged. One only has to read the old newspapers up here in the courthouse to see how many foreclosures there were, and how many people lost everything that they had. The letters AG.T.T. was written on every other house, almost, meaning, AGone To Texas. Many families went west, looking for greener pastures.

But many stayed here, to try to pick up the pieces and live through the dark days of Reconstruction. And Reconstruction was a difficult time for the people in this county. Four times it was under martial law; three times for the duration of an election, and the first time in eighteen sixty-five after the surrender. It was only through the cooperation of responsible black leaders that the Democrats forced the county, freed this county of the Radical control. I read in an old newspaper that when the Union soldiers came to occupy Carrollton after the War, as they rode through Pickensville the old soldiers, many of them without any legs, without any arms, crippled and injured, rushed into the street and gave the Rebel Yell, letting those Union soldiers know how they still felt.

Our ancestors believed they could build another courthouse here, that they could elect honest, dedicated officials, and make Pickens County progressive once more. And now, a hundred and fifteen years later, we see the fruit of their labor. Those brave men left us a rich heritage, a way of life that is the envy of every other region. Many times we feel the South is discriminated against, but we must keep in mind that we are a united nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all. We must teach our children and our grandchildren to be loyal Americans."