Daughters of Confederacy chapter re-chartering, officer ceremony
By Terri Jo Ryan Tribune-Herald staff writer
Members of the John H. Reagan Chapter 325 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy will conduct a re-chartering and officer installation ceremony at 2 p.m. Aug. 8 at Mountain Baptist Church, 6319 E. U.S. Highway 84, Gatesville. The public is invited to observe.
Jane Pitts, one of the 15 re-chartering founders, said the Reagan Chapter originally flourished from its founding in 1898 until about 1928, when it disbanded for more than 80 years. But a cadre of Southern heritage fans resurrected the organization in May.
Pitts, who was aided in some of her own Confederate family history research by the current Texas Division UDC president Shirley Woodlock, said some individuals were inspired to reform the group after attending a storytelling event last October at Oakwood Cemenetery in Waco, which featured costumed characters from the Heart of Texas Storytelling Guild.
Acknowledging the past and sharing the stories — sometimes painful — of one’s Confederate ancestors is one of the purposes of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Pitts said.
For example, her great-great-great grandfather (on her mother’s side) was only age 17 in 1863 when he joined up as a substitute for another man. But the teenager — William “Summie” Allen — repeatedly went AWOL, which led to his imprisonment in Richmond at the Castle Thunder penitentiary, a converted tobacco warehouse that housed 1,400 inmates in appalling conditions.
But in the spring of 1865, with General Sheridan on his way to take the city, deserters were offered the chance to redeem themselves and were promised pardons if they would fight, Pitts said. Allen eventually was rewarded for his service with a land grant near San Marcos, some property of which is still in her family a century and a half later.
For more information on the UDC, Chapter 325 or the ceremony, call 723-4724 or send e-mail to pittsjep17@aol.com.
RELATED SEARCHES
MORE IN WACO HISTORY: BRAZOS PAST »
Waco History ProjectIn My Opinion
Magazine
New issue!
- Check out June's issue
- Summer swimwear, great teachers, El Conquistador & more
- Link: View the magazine as a virtual flipbook
