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The Sylvania Times
Wednesday, June 1, 2022 - Page 3
Editorial
From the
Editor’s Desk
-Joe Brady
The Sylvania Times, Editor
Granny used to say,
“don’t be guilty by as
sociation.” We have all
heard this small amount
of wisdom. But over the
years I have come to be
lieve this is not always the
case. We have also met
those people who seem
to try overly hard to get
people to like them. I’m
not one of those people. Granny right on down to my
Mama have always told me, “To know me is to love me.”
Why would they lie? So, just why everybody doesn’t love
me is just baffling to me but that, I’m sure, is their loss.
The truth of the matter is that not everybody will like
us. Who knows? Maybe they were having a bad day the
afternoon we met or maybe they are just judgmental and
don’t take the time to get to know us. Whatever the case,
we all meet those people-the ones we seem to take an
immediate dislike to.
Granted, I don’t meet many people that affect me in this
manner, but when I do I tend to ignore them as if they
weren’t there. Ignoring others is a gift that you are bom
with, not inherited. According to my mother, I inherited
the gift from someone other than her, but I’ve seen the
old girl in action. Like mother, like son.
Anyway, there was a person that I used to work with who
fell into this category. After several attempts to be friendly,
I quickly gave up the task. Being nice just seemed to be
such hard work, you all know what I’m talking about. If we
passed in the hallway on our way to the restroom neither
one of us would acknowledge the other. Unfortunately,
because I didn’t like this person my feelings extended to
their friends. I guess it was those of words of wisdom from
Granny because I refused to give the innocent bystanders
a chance, guilty by association.
Overtures of friendliness fell on deaf ears as I noncha
lantly ignored them. Finally, after what seemed an eternity,
my nemesis resigned.. .let’s just say at the going away
party the tears running down my cheeks weren’t tears
of sadness. But hey, it wasn’t my fault that I didn’t like
this person, I liked everybody else and therefore the guilt
surely couldn’t rest on my shoulders.
My disdain for the associates of this person continued
until one day one of them managed to strike up a conver
sation with me. I was astounded what a nice person they
turned out to be. Look at all that time I wasted ignoring
them. Now I would never suggest that saint Granny
could have been wrong, maybe I just misunderstood her
teachings.
Sometimes we must stray away from the teachings of
old to experience new things and new relationships. Just
because we didn’t approve of one person doesn’t mean
those feelings should extend beyond that. There’s no
telling what we could be missing out on. That’s all for
now, take care!
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Ogeechee Ramblingsjg; J g gj
Scotty Scott
Memorial Day Reflections
Screven County recently
lost its last World War II
veteran. Able Seaman Harry
Tell Hodges of the U.S. Mer
chant Marines. That’s the
end of an era, folks. True,
we still have Robert Waters
among us, but Robert was
in the Occupation Army of
Germany in the early fifties,
and never served during the
war. Please keep in mind that
during World War II, over 16
million Americans served in
the military, so naturally hav
ing them in our presence for
almost 77 years is significant.
The Korean War, and yes,
I will always refer to both
Korea and Vietnam as wars,
because our gallant men and
women were being wounded
and killed. That’s a promise I
made to an old veteran, and I
always try to keep my word.
Anyway, there was just under
seven million American men
and women who served dur
ing the Korean War period
from 27 Jun 1950 through
31 Jan 1955, and according
to my count, we still have 28
Screven natives who served
during that time still living,
though not all in Screven
County. To those 28, may
God continue to provide
you with good health and
prosperity. A very good
friend of mine, Dennis Wig
gins, had both a maternal and
paternal uncle serve during
Korea as a U.S. Marine, with
his paternal uncle, Wallace
Wiggins, being one of the
“Frozen Chosen” in the First
Marine Division. His other
uncle, Herman Smith, was a
Marine Artillerist in Korea. I
can hardly imagine how they
kept their sanity, much less
their humanity!
Now for the scary, sad part;
Vietnam. Approximately
2,700,000 American men
and women served in Viet
nam, during the Vietnam
War. And due to cancer from
Agent Orange and suicide.
our Korean War veterans
may outlive our Vietnam
veterans. Unpopular and
unwelcome upon returning
home, many of these veterans
are still bitter. And so they
should be. However, I would
like to let all these men and
women now that the Veterans
of Foreign Wars Post 7116
and American Legion Post
116 are readily available to
help any of those in need.
Local veteran Phil Martin
serves as the Post Service
Officer for both these orga
nizations, and per his own
words: “I may quit both the
VFW and American Legion,
SEERAMBLINGS page 6
Unearthing Camp Lawton
Dr. Ryan McNutt, Ph.D, FSAScot, R.RA.
“Lawton Established”
Letters to the editor of The Sylvania Times are wel
comed and encouraged. These are pages of opinion,
yours and ours.Letters to the editor voice the opinions
of the newspaper’s readers. The Sylvania Times re
serves the right to edit any and all portions of a letter.
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Letters should be limited to 400 words and should
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Wednesday. Email Letters to the Editor to: thesylva-
niatimes@gmail.com
September 17th marks the
date that General Winder,
head of Confederate Prisons
in Alabama, Georgia, and
South Carolina, visited Camp
Lawton for the first time.
Work had begun on the camp
earlier, and occupation of the
site by Confederates, prison
ers of war, and enslaved Af
rican Americans had already
begun in August. Over the
next several columns, we’ll
explore on a week-by-week
basis the settlement and oc
cupation of Camp Lawton
through prisoner of war dia
ries and Confederate sources,
paltry though they may be.
While Winder was just ar
riving, work had been well
underway since August, with
much of the heavy, back
breaking labour of clearing
the area of timber, digging
the trenches for the stockade,
leveling, and moving earth
for the roads and access
routes likely being performed
by impressed enslaved Afri
can Americans from the sur
rounding plantations.
Impressment of slaves for
heavy manual labour was
a standard practice by the
Confederate military, despite
the protests of planters who
argued it affected their prof
its. In the case of Lawton,
a 20th century account as
serted that 500 alone helped
build the earthwork fort, and
every slave owner in the
area was supposed to send a
slave to help build the stock
ade. In 1860, Burke County
was the second largest slave
holding county in the en
tire state of Georgia: out
of a total population of ap
proximately 17,000 people in
Burke County, some 12,000
were enslaved souls. Civil
ian overseers of this work
were supposedly Daniel and
William Warnock, and in ad
dition to the enslaved labor,
they were assisted by several
hundred Union prisoners of
war from Charleston and
Savannah, seemingly ‘me
chanics’ which was a catch
all term for anyone who was
a skilled manual laborer,
including pipe fitters, brick
layers, and carpenters.
One of these laborers may
possibly have been the un
fortunate Augustus Chapman
of the 27th Massachusetts,
Infantry. From Ludlow, Mas
sachusetts, he joined up (or
was drafted) in December
1863. By May 1864 he was
captured, taken at Drewry’s
Bluff, Virginia. On Septem
ber 10th, 1864, Augustus
Chapman was possibly one
of the first to die at Camp
Lawton—his records are
confusing as to whether or
not he died at Lawton or
Andersonville. The prisoners
of war who helped build the
stockade likely had many
motives, not the least of
which was access to better
rations, more freedom of
movement, and life outside
the stockade. A particularly
attractive aspect for those
who were interred at Ander
sonville.
In a quite regular occurrence
for Camp Lawton, most of
the correspondence from
General Winder reflects the
logistical catastrophe that
dogged the Confederacy,
and indeed Camp Lawton.
Winder oscillates over the
course of the week of the
17th between grand prom
ises (the stockade would be
finished in the week), to the
crushing realities of lack of
labour, transportation, mon
ey, and supplies. Three days
after promising a finished
stockade, he was begging for
$250,000 and complaining
about progress. Next to none
of the Confederate auxiliary
facilities seemed to have
been constructed, the stock
ade remained open, and few
facilities to feed, house, care
for, or succor the prisoners.
Yet, shadows were already
lengthening across Lawton,
and indeed Millen. On Sep
tember 22nd, General Wil
liam T. Sherman had written
to the US Sanitary Commis
sion, discussing prisoners
being shifted to Millen from
Camp Sumter. Lawton was
now in Sherman’s sphere of
operations. . .
Pastor Bill Kent,
Memorial Baptist Church - Sylvania, GA
Cherishing the Cross
Relationships are like
a building. Both persons
influence whether the bond
is sturdy and lasting or the
foundation crumbles. We
draw closer together by posi
tive thoughts, encouraging
words and helpful actions.
In contrast, we separate from
each other with negative feel
ings, uncaring words, and
careless actions. If we take a
person for granted, don't lis
ten to them and ignore them,
then he or she will probably
leave, and we may sing a sad
song about lost opportunities.
The sunshine, rain, veg
etables, and animals demon
strate God's abiding love for
us. The sacrifice of Christ
at Calvary is the greatest
demonstration of love. After
Jesus died on the Cross, we
should never doubt his com
mitment to love us forever.
However, our love for Christ
is sometimes as flimsy as a
Styrofoam cup. If we cor
rectly survey the Cross, then
we agonize because our sin
nailed Jesus to those wooden
beams. "But He was wound
ed for our transgressions. He
was bruised for our iniqui
ties; the chastisement for our
peace was upon Him, and by
His stripes we are healed,"
(Isaiah 53:5).
If we love Jesus, then we
want to please him and we
honor Christ by serving oth
ers. If we use God's grace
like an unlimited credit card,
then we take God for granted
and we behave like an unbe
liever. It is much better to
appreciate the Lord's mercy
and live for Jesus daily. "For
you, brethren, have been
called to liberty; only do not
use liberty as an opportunity
for the flesh, but through love
serve one another. For all the
law is fulfilled in one word,
even in this: You shall love
your neighbor as yourself,"
(Galatians 5:13-14).
When the Apostle Paul
spoke about cherishing the
Cross, he turned his back
on his old way of life. Je
sus turned him around and
helped him live by a higher
standard. As Paul got closer
and closer to Heaven, he
lived more and more for
Christ, he resisted the Devil
and he called on others to
join him in following Jesus.
"Brethren, I do not count
myself to have apprehended;
but one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are be
hind and reaching forward to
those things which are ahead,
I press toward the goal for
the prize of the upward call
of God in Christ Jesus,"
(Philippians 3:13-14).
SamEades....
Joe Brady
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