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OFFICIAL DISPATCH FOR THE MAJOR THOMAS J. KEY CAMP #1920 KANSAS DIVISION, SCV • JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS

VOL. 18, NO. 10 October 2017

The Commander’s Corner Thomas J. Key Camp Commander, Jim Thornton Should you take a vacation or road trip through and are anywhere near Lexington, Virginia, I would like to suggest a tourist attraction that should not be missed or skipped over. This is the House.

My wife and I recently took a lengthy vacation and drive through Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia as we made our way to visit my wife’s brother and his family. One of our goals was to drive the entire 106 mile length of through the Shenandoah Valley and National Park. On our way, our Google Trip Advisor suggested the Stonewall Jackson House in Lexington, Virginia. Wow, was it worth the time.

I received quite an education on the man. While we are all very familiar with his life, accomplishments, and tragic death during the war, how many of us really know the man behind the soldier? At this historic site, special emphasis is placed upon Jackson's life as a professor, church leader, businessman, husband, and community leader during the decade that he lived in Lexington and taught at Virginia Military Institute before the War for Southern Independence.

The house, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is furnished with period pieces, including many of Jackson's personal possessions, and is open to the public for guided tours of the period rooms. The house is owned and operated by Virginia Military Institute. Jackson and his second wife, Mary Anna Morrison, lived in the brick and stone house before the war.

Thomas Jonathan Jackson lived in Lexington from 1851-1861, while he was a professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy and an instructor of artillery tactics at Virginia Military Institute. Jackson and his wife, Anna, as she was called, purchased their home on Washington Street in 1858. The two settled in and made a home for themselves. Jackson enjoyed caring for his own home and cultivating the kitchen garden located behind the house. Apparently, from what I learned on the tour, Jackson was quite the gardener and often invited his visitors to walk through his vegetable gardens and discuss his gardening techniques.

Religion, devotion to God, and education were paramount to Jackson. It was his belief that an education should be tailored to an individual student’s interests and talents. In an 1858 letter to his sister on display at the home and museum, Jackson wrote, “I regard it as a great error to require a child to study what his mind is not capable [1] of appreciating. The tendency is to diminish his fondness for study; to give him a vague way of thinking, since he is not accustomed to see the precise point; and by overtasking the mind, his health both of body and mind are endangered.” What a philosopher this man was.

You cannot know Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson without learning about his life before the war. Discover the true man who became a military legend. The Stonewall Jackson House in Lexington, Virginia is the only home Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson ever owned. Take time to visit sometime. You will not be disappointed and you will come away admiring the man even more. I did. .

Deo Vindice!

Your Commander, Jim Thornton

The Telegraph Key

The Telegraph Key is a newsletter published for the Major Thomas Key Camp #1920 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV). The SCV is a non-profit organization with a patriotic, historical, and genealogical orientation and is not affiliated with any other organization. Opinions in this newsletter reflect the views of the writers and are not necessarily a statement of the views of the SCV, the Kansas Division, the Kansas Brigades, nor any other camp. Comments and articles are solicited.

Key Camp Website Resources

Key Camp: www.MajorKey1920ksscv.org SCV National: www.SCV.org Kansas Division: http://www.ksscv.org/

Key Camp Officers

COMMANDER 1ST LT. COMMANDER 2ND LT. COMMANDER Jim Thornton John Weir Scott Lalumondier

ADJUTANT CHAPLAIN NEWSLETTER EDITOR Steve Crawford Carl Linck Garrett Hayden

The Key Camp will meet on Thursday, November 2nd, at Zarda Bar B-Q on the southwest corner of 87th and Quivira in Lenexa, Kansas at 6 p.m. for dinner and conversation, with the official meeting at 7 p.m.

Our featured speaker for the evening will be Compatriot Lane Smith who will be providing us a presentation on “States Rights”.

Join us for camaraderie, dinner, and education. As always, your wife or significant other is welcome.

Don’t forget to bring a prospective recruit!

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR By Garrett Hayden

With it nearly being Halloween, I find myself thinking about the fun thrills and frightening things that are supposed to accompany this holiday. The symbols we see that should be macabre and unsettling have become cartoonish and a source of joy. The witches that used to be so greatly feared, they were sought out and many were put to death on just the suspicion of practicing witchcraft. The vampires, ghosts, and skeletons that represented our fear of the undead, are now silly shadows of their former selves, displayed in windows and used to sell candy. This is an example of how symbols and their meanings can change. What was once a symbol of fear, hate, and evil are now celebrated as things that bring joy and happiness.

Today’s society relies more heavily on symbols now than it ever has in the past; whether it be traffic lights, brand logos, or even the power button on the technology we use, symbols are everywhere, and all contain greater meaning than words could concisely convey. For us in The Sons of Confederate Veterans, these symbols are that of The Confederate States of America. As you know, these symbols instill in us a sense of pride, devotion, and duty to the honor, ideals, and morals that our ancestors fought and died for. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many in the rest of society.

To many, our symbols are seen the same way as the witches and undead were. They see these symbols, and us by extension, as evil, hateful, and malevolent entities. They believe, and would have others believe, that we are at best misguided and fighting for oppression. They see us as hateful because of the myth that our ancestors fought for the sole purpose of keeping and mistreating slaves, and that we honor them because of these beliefs. They perceive our intent as malice, expecting us to strive for a world that punishes and condemns any values that are different to ours. In many ways, the symbols we hold in such high regard have become the modern day boogeyman. People live in fear of these symbols and the people who rally beneath them, believing them to be heartless monsters. But this makes sense, people fear the unknown, and they fear what they don’t understand. For generations now, there has been a fixed narrative of the Civil War, and why it was fought. Along with this narrative has been the representation of the characters in the narrative, with the idea of the “noble” North and the “wicked” South. This leaves the average person with a skewed and incomplete version of events.

What’s worse is that ignorant people with false senses of entitlement have hijacked our symbols to spread hate and discord, and rather than condemn and educate the populace of the actual meaning and history our symbols, many people, including the media often conflates all who associate with The Confederacy into one group. This is just one of the struggles that we face today, but in many ways, it is the largest.

I know that none of what I said was new information to any of you, but I bring up the parallel between our symbols and those of Halloween in order to help make sense of how we can change what our symbols mean and show that it has happened before, though in our case it won’t be to make our symbols silly cartoon mockeries, but to restore them to the standing of respect they deserve in the eyes of society. That being said, how are we supposed to do this?

The solution is simple, but definitely not easy. Like the witches of old, it’s the ignorance of the people that causes the fear. The unwillingness to accept something that is new, outside of their beliefs, and different to what they have been taught as common knowledge, makes it easy for them to reject it and lay the blame for the shortcomings of society at its feet. We already do a lot to educate and attempt to change the perception of us and our ancestors, but it seems that every time we make progress, a group brandishing our symbols comes out to prove the media and the ignorant correct. So we must go one step further and take control of our symbols and how they are used. Condemn the hate groups for using the symbols of our ancestors to rally for their cause. Without this change of perception, and our loud opposition to the misuse of our symbols, the change in society

[3] can never happen. When we stay silent when a group, such as the Aryan Nations, defiles the Battle Flag, it makes it much easier for people to generalize.

Society needs to be enlightened to the truth. Many will fight it, but the change will come, albeit slowly. People stopped burning “witches” when they were better educated and realized that no such creature existed. People stopped fearing the undead as we gained more knowledge of the natural world. In this manner, people will be more accepting of our views and history when they understand the truth of our cause.

During my musings, I had the thought that the only thing that might actually frighten a Confederate soldier would be his being remembered as a hateful monster. On the other hand, the most terrifying thing to a Union soldier would be meeting that Confederate soldier.

PRESENTATION OF WAR SERVICE MEDAL TO COMPATRIOT PAUL D. ALLEN By Jim Thornton

The War Service Medal is to honor people of Confederate descent who have served in our country's military service during wartime. Men and women of Confederate descent who served honorably for at least 90 days during the war- service periods defined in US Department of Defense directives and American Legion guidelines. Eligible service positions are the same as those for the National Defense Service Medal.

At the Key Camp meeting on October 5, the Sons of Confederate Veterans War Service Medal was presented to Compatriot Paul Allen, recognizing his service to the nation during the Vietnam War era.

Compatriot Paul D. Allen entered active United States military service as a Private in the United States Marine Corps on 11 July 1974 and was honorably discharged on 10 July 1977 as a Corporal. Compatriot Allen continued to serve our nation as part of the Marine Corps Reserve Forces Administrative Activity until 29 April 1980.

Compatriot Allen rendered military service in the United States and Japan, beginning with his enlistment in Kansas City, MO until his discharge from the 32nd Marine Air Base Squadron, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing in Beaufort, SC.

It is the Key Camp’s privilege and honor to present to Compatriot Paul D. Allen the Sons of Confederate Veterans War Service Medal for services rendered during the Vietnam War era.

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THORNTON GAP: TACTICAL MOUNTAIN PASS THROUGH By Jim Thornton

Thornton Gap is a wind gap located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia separating the Shenandoah Valley from the Piedmont region of the state.

Thornton Gap was named for an ancestor of Key Camp Commander Jim Thornton, Francis Thornton (April 7, 1711-April 14, 1749), owner of the land to the east and the "F.T. Valley." In 1740, he built a mansion in the Piedmont region near Nethers in Rappahannock County. In 1746 the colony of Virginia was petitioned to build a road across the Buffalo Mountain, and through the gap to "Mr. Thornton's Mill." The privately-owned Thornton's Gap Turnpike Company was formed to build a road over the mountains at Thornton's Gap. The toll road opened in 1806.

During the Civil War, the Great Valley of Virginia was known as the "breadbasket of the Confederacy" and so was the scene of intensive military action and much destruction. But the Blue Ridge Mountains witnessed only limited military actions and few depredations as the Union and Confederate armies merely passed through on their way to larger confrontations. Thornton Gap was one of the passages through the Blue Ridge Mountains between the Shenandoah Valley and the Piedmont region of Virginia used by Confederate General Stonewall Jackson to move his troops during his Valley Campaigns of 1862 during the War for Southern Independence. Following the Battle of Sharpsburg, General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia passed through Thornton Gap as it withdrew south. General Richard Ewell’s corps crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains at Thornton’s Gap in July 1863 during the withdrawal following the Battle of Gettysburg.

It has even been surmised that a path through Thornton Gap was proposed as an alternate escape route for John Wilkes Booth and his conspirators during the Lincoln assassination. This was even mentioned during the trial of the conspirators and presented as evidence in the form of a letter to Booth.

Thornton was one of many passageways that led across the Blue Ridge. Two others were the Gordonsville Turnpike that crossed the Blue Ridge at Fishers Gap and Swift Run Gap Turnpike that crossed at Swift Run Gap. Today, many of these historic routes are maintained as fire roads or provide limited access for administrative purposes. Prior to the building of Skyline Drive by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression, the lost town of Beahm was located at Thornton Gap. The Appalachian Trail also passes through Thornton Gap. Thornton Gap is now the site of the mountain crossing of U.S. Highway 211. It is located at the border of Page County and Rappahannock County.

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KEY CAMP RESPONDS TO BOY SCOUT TROOP REQUEST FOR MINE CREEK INTERPRETIVE LESSON By Paul Allen

On Saturday, October 14, 2nd Lieutenant Commander Scott Lalumondier and Compatriot Paul Allen arrived at Mine Creek State Historic Site at approximately 8:00am to spend the day with a group of Boy Scouts who were camping since Friday on the adjacent, privately owned Foundation land. Seventeen scouts ranging in age from 10 to 17 and their four adult leaders were eager for a tour of the museum and battlefield.

Following a briefing to the scouts of the 1864 engagement at Mine Creek by Tami, the site director, Scott, with assistance from Compatriot Paul Allen, discussed the Key Camp small arms display and other equipment of a Civil War soldier from Scott's reenactment collection. Scott enlivened his presentation with personal stories from reenactments he has participated in. Using the museum cannon, Scott described the duties of each member of an artillery unit.

While the scouts were watching the museum video about the battle, Scott and Paul talked to other visitors to the museum who drifted in from a crafts festival in nearby Mound City.

After lunch, the scouts got out their wooden simulated guns and Platoon Commander Scott arranged them in formation and taught them some movements from the Manual of Arms and Close Order Drill for a march to the Confederate Monument, after which they hiked through the woods to the ford where Sterling Price's wagons crossed Mine Creek. Scott paused at each historical marker along the way to discuss the progress of the battle. The scouts were planning on conducting their own battle reenactment, but an approaching storm vetoed the plan.

The scouts were captivated by the Key Camp's hands-on weapons display and couldn't get enough. In fact, the scout leaders want to repeat the experience next year. Scott's original intention was to camp with the scouts, but storms were expected by 6:00pm so the scouts broke camp and took shelter in a nearby church.

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KEY CAMP TACKLES CARPENTRY AND LANDSCAPING By Jim Thornton

On Saturday, October 21, two (2) members of the Major Thomas J. Key Camp #1920 took on the annual fall work day at Mine Creek Battlefield. Commander Jim Thornton and 1st Lt. Commander John Weir traveled to the battlefield and completed two projects for site director Tami Neal.

The first assigned task involved some carpentry skill as Jim and John repaired and stabilized the display case in the visitor center. The four support struts under the case connecting the legs to the body of the case had become completely detached from the body. Utilizing longer screws and new attachment points, the support struts were reattached and the display case leveled up. All other joints were examined and tightened up as well, giving a nice, stable display case for the visitor center artifact collection.

Next, Jim and John performed some landscaping work on the lawn outside the back of the visitor center. During the Heritage Day Festival, heavy rain and thunderstorms had rolled through during the day resulting in severe damage to the lawn as the exhibitors left deep tire ruts as they loaded up their vehicles at the end of the day. Utilizing heavy rakes, shovels, and landscaping tools, Jim and John repaired and filled in the tire ruts and smoothed over the lawn. They also repaired areas damaged by fire pits dug by the exhibitors. It should be mentioned that Tami pointed out to us that the Key Camp and Third Missouri Artillery Unit followed instructions and had a proper fire pit and correctly doused it and replaced the sod at the end of the day. The fire pit damage needing repair was caused by the Union boys. After repairing the tire ruts and fire pits, the lawn was over seeded with new grass seed with a drop spreader provided by Jim.

Finally, a visit was paid to the Confederate Monument and Memorial. John washed down and scrubbed the monument clean of debris and bird droppings. Both men tidied up the boxwood beds and the grounds around the memorial and the meditation benches.

Mission accomplished. Tami is already planning a project for us in the spring of 2018. She expressed her deep gratitude and thanks for the support provided by the Key Camp and the Sons of Confederate Veterans to the Mine Creek Battlefield Historical Site.

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The Key Camp is proud to take part in many perpetual service projects throughout the year. Upcoming 2017 Events

Ottawa Veterans Day Parade Saturday, November 11th 10:00am to 3:00pm Ottawa Upcoming 2018 Events

Lee Jackson Banquet Saturday, January 27th Abdallah Shrine Temple Shawnee Mission

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