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| View from the railroad tracks of Wartrace's downtown area. This area of the town is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Wartrace Historic District. |
Commentary
The name Wartrace came from a Cherokee Indian trail that once passed through the area. Wartrace is connected to Shelbyville by the Walking Horse and Eastern Railroad, a historic rail line that is still in part-time operation. The town, initially known as "Wartrace Depot," was established in the early 1850s as a stop on the newly constructed Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad.
During the Civil War, the rail line was strategic to both the Union and Confederate armies. The Tennessee campaigns of 1862 and 1863 saw Union troops force the Confederates from Nashville all the way to Chattanooga along the line of the railroad. The tracks and bridges were repeatedly damaged and repaired, and the rolling stock was largely destroyed. At different times the trains carried supplies for both armies.
During the Civil War, the town was the winter headquarters of Confederate General William J. Hardee following the Battle of Stones River. The Old Chockley Tavern in Wartrace was a gathering place for Confederate officers during the Tullahoma Campaign. A skirmish was fought at Wartrace on April 11, 1862. The town eventually came under Union control toward the end of 1863.
With the increase in rail travel in the late 19th century, Wartrace experienced a boom period. At its height, the town had six inns and hotels, and serviced 13 trains per day. One hotel, the Walking Horse Hotel, is still in business today.
William did not have an ordinary peasant's taste in newspapers. He hungered for knowledge, not sensationalism. He sided with those wronged by a slave owning society. He was an abolitionist.
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| Horace Greeley |
Harriet Beecher Stowe, a strong abolitionist wrote for both the New York Evangelist and the Independent...”
The NY Evangelist was published from 1830 to 1902. To give a
sense of the opinion of the publications read by William Graham, a
writer for the New York Evangelist wrote on July 25, 1861: We are
now opening our eyes to the unwelcome fact that they are enemies of the
country, and must be dealt with as TRAITORS. This once settled, scruples
fast vanish about the mode of conducting the war. We feel bound to use
every means in our power to put down a rebellion which is striking at
the very life of the nation.
In the same issue the Evangelist asked: why not make a
speedy end of this dreadful business by at once proclaiming freedom to
the slaves?…Whatever rights they [southerners] had before as loyal
citizens, they have forfeited by their treason and rebellion.
There are 74 Comstock’s with NY regiments,
none with the 107th. In the 1860 Census the only male Comstock of young
man age in Schuyler County (Town of Reading) was John age 13, which
would have made him 17 in 1864.
Davids' Island
is a 78 acre island off the coast of New Rochelle, New York. It is about 5 miles north of Throg's Point, the location of Fort Schuyler, on the western end of Long Island Sound. Currently uninhabited, the island has been owned by the City of New Rochelle for more than 30 years. After a number of false starts, including a brief attempt by Donald Trump to develop the island, its future use remains undetermined. Remaining structures on the island were demolished by the city in 2008. So much for history.
The U.S. Government in April, 1862 rented the island for hospital purposes from the then owner, Thaddeus Davids. Wooden structures were immediately
erected which housed thousands of wounded prisoners from the
battlefields of the Civil War. At the end of the war, Congress
authorized its purchase for military purposes and it was conveyed to the
United States in 1867. It was later converted to a coastal artillery defense post and
was given the name Fort Slocum after Major General Henry W. Slocum, U.S.
Volunteers.
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| Fort Slocum on David's Island in 1968 |
Uncle Bell was the father of Dr. Robert Bell. Uncle Bell's first wife Elizabeth died in 1846 and was the sister of William Graham's father.
The writing of love letters for another is one practice that seems to have disappeared in our society. It still occurs in societies on this planet where literacy is less universal. Not sure who was the Boyes for whom William was writing love letters.
Commentary
William Graham's comments about living in "the midst of sin" and his frequent references to the Lord indicate he was a religious man of the stricter sort. At the same time, his comments about slave owners and his preferences in newspapers would indicate that he was an abolitionist.
Abolitionism had a strong religious base including Quakers, and people converted by the revivalist fervor of the Second Great Awakening in the North in the 1830s. Belief in abolition contributed to the breaking away of some small denominations, such as the Free Methodist Church.
Evangelical abolitionists founded some colleges, most notably Bates College in Maine and Oberlin College in Ohio. In the North, most opponents of slavery supported other modernizing reform movements such as the temperance movement, public schooling, and prison- and asylum-building. They split bitterly on the role of women's activism.
William was raised a Presbyterian in Ireland. The Free Methodist Church was founded in 1860 in western New York near where William Graham worked as a farmer. They opposed slavery, supporting freedom for all slaves in the United States.
The denomination was more conservative than the regular Methodists with regards to drinking, smoking, gambling, jewelry and modern dancing. Given these beliefs, and the association of his descendants in Schuyler County with the Methodist Church, there is a strong possibility that William was a Free Methodist.
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| Methodist camp revival meeting in the 1830s |
Dr. Robert Bell - Detailed information on his life may be found in William's Letter Correspondents.
This mention of a shilling is the only indication in William Graham's surviving letters of his Irish origins.
Anna is mentioned in a number of William Graham's letters. In 2008 one might call her a girl friend, but his comments about her to his sister convey an ambivalent feeling on both sides. Whatever transpired in their relationship, he eventually married another woman, Mary Platt.
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| Blockhouse at Union camp guarding the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad |
Commentary
Rural New Yorker, a farm paper founded in 1850 as Moore's Rural New Yorker, dedicated "to home interests of both country and town residents."
Interesting the importance placed on the photo, the picture of loved person as a representation of that loved one. Photography was then a new technology and had a fascination and significance which has diminished today.
The rumors about heading to Kentucky were wrong. William's suspicion in that regard was correct. However, change was indeed afoot. The Atlanta Campaign which would culminate in the fall and burning of that city would begin in a little over a month - on May 7, 1864.
William and the 107th Regiment would again experience the stress, fear and excitement of battle. The boredom and sins of the last six months would be no more. Now a different sort of horror would bathe the land of Georgia.
