This account begins with recollections from the May Day Ceremonies, the date still celebrated as Memorial Day in South Carolina. The events and impact before, during, and after of the arrival of General Sherman in the town of Cheraw South Carolina. The author born 1919, remembers marching as a school child with Confederate War veterans who were leading a parade to the Confederate cemetery at St. David's Church in Cheraw, South Carolina for the Tenth of May Ceremonies. This was the date of the death of General Stonewall Jackson. South Carolina and North Carolina used this date for their Memorial Day-not May 30th, which is the national holiday. Her account of Sherman in Cheraw and The Aftermath begins with recollections from the Tenth of May Ceremonies. Her stories and photographs are from primary sources - family letters, diaries and other writings - so that the voices from the past take part in the telling of the stories, which are raw with the feelings that many Southerners have passed along for several generations. "I am happy that these feelings are at long last behind us. But I realize that as far as this latest generation is concerned, that story of the Lost Cause Movement seems to have been forgotten. That is the purpose of this little book." The author believes that Cheraw was the epicenter of the Lost Cause Movement though she acknowledges she cannot prove this assertion. Many of her stories reveal the robust spirit of strong Southern women who belie the persistent myth of the passive, obedient Southern belle. The people, Sherman and his men encountered in Cheraw were anything but docile, and these stories reveal a defiance that lasted decades. The author's passion for architecture comes through these pages with numerous photos of beautiful homes and buildings that show why the town's nickname is "the Prettiest Town in Dixie." Though her stories focus on Sherman in Cheraw, the author's love of genealogy, music and history can be seen in stories about the town's history.
About the Author: Adeline Godfrey Merrill was born in Cheraw, South Carolina in 1919. She is an author and editor of numerous publications, including A Personal History of F.G. Burroughs Family (1997), All in One Southern Family (1996, in 2 volumes), and editor of Lucille Burrough's Diary-Journal of 1911-The Grand Tour (1994). She wrote an article on Hurricane Hugo published in Carologue (1992, and was a catalyst in the 1995 renaming of the Cheraw Municipal Airport, in honor of Patrick Lynch Bellinger, a founding father of military aviation. The author was dubbed a "Women of Letters" by Charles R. Anderson, former professor of American literature at Johns Hopkins University and a noted literary critic, author and scholar. She combines an extraordinary commitment to family and community and tells history by way of stories that resonate with people from all walks of life. She is the Mother of five, Grandmother of five, and Great Grandmother of five, and resides in Charleston, South Carolina.