Project Moving On, and a Story -The Lt. Colonel

Two weeks ago, I began a project on Tyvek (see here) and showed the materials to be used on it. I have worked on it as I could and here are some update photos. I have actually done a lot more since I took these pictures but I haven't photographed them yet. But at least you can see how it's proceeding!

There are several paint layers on it now, and it's evolving, as these projects often do, into something completely different than I had in mind when I began. I will update soon!

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The Lt. Colonel

52nd in the Tuesday Story Series

My father was born in South Carolina and my mother in Pennsylvania, so I have ancestors who fought on both sides during the Civil War. On my father's side, among many relatives who fought, one was his great grandfather who was a Lt. Colonel in the Confederacy. 

Born one of eleven children, Daniel Livingston married Narcissus Fanning and they had  ten children, one of whom died in infancy. The only photo I have of them shows him in his uniform, and her in a simple dress with a thin kerchief around her neck. She looks forlorn and tired, even more so than subjects of photos from that era usually do. During the years I was doing research on the family line, I was contacted by someone who claimed that he was descended from Daniel and his wife's sister. I had noticed that this sister was living with them when one of the census records were taken, so it could very possibly be true. With DNA testing available now for genealogy testing, it would be easy to find out. If it were true, that could explain why she appears the way she does.

Daniel joined the CSA as a Captain in Company B, Unit 1, Hagood's SC Infantry. He was wounded in Second Manassas and Sharpsburg. A story has been passed down that he was severely wounded during the Manassas battle and was found by a Virginian family and taken back to their home and nursed back to health. In gratitude, he named his seventh child after the family and the town they lived in - Quincy Fairfax Livingston. A family named Quincy living in Fairfax VA hasn't yet been located but it could still be possible.

If you have read anything about the armies during the Civil War, you will know that they do not reflect the US Army as it is now. On both sides, the men were free to leave after their three month subscription, or leave when it was time to plant or harvest. Officers were elected by their men, or named so by commanding officers who perhaps had favorites among the men they commanded. It was a loosely organized group on either side. I found letters my grandfather wrote requesting supplies and his handwriting was beautiful, which indicates that he had an education. At some point, the men he commanded complained about him after he was promoted to Lt. Colonel and he resigned his post. On the surface, that doesn't reflect well on him, but as I have read and studied that period, it was not an uncommon occurrence. After he left on 3 Mar 1864, he joined a local garrison in South Carolina, which was glad to have him.

I found his obituary in a small South Carolina newspaper, the Southern Christian Advocate, written by his pastor, George H. Pooser. It reflects the life of a man who earned respect, even though he had made mistakes. I think it's a reflection we would like to speak of ourselves when we are gone - that we suffered the frailties of our human form, but in the end we were "prepared for the change" as we go forward into eternity.

“Livingston SC- 

Col. Daniel Livingston was born in Orangeburg Co. SC Nov 27, 1827 and died Oct. 28, 1881. He was married to Miss Narcissa M.C. Fanning, April the 5th, 1849, joined the Methodist Church at the Boiling Springs Camp meeting and made a profession of religion six years ago. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant- Colonel in the Confederate army, was a man of strong attachment and warm friendship. Like other men, he had his faults, but he had the gift of drawing others to him. He was attacked with paralysis about five years ago, but recovered partially from it, so that he was able to go about until last March, when he was stricken down and confined to his bed almost constantly until he died. I visited him frequently during his last illness, and he assured me on several occasions that he was prepared for the change; as he did members of his own family before he breathed his last. He leaves a widow and blue (?) children, with a large circle of relatives to mourn his loss. Said one who knew him well, “Colonel Daniel Livingston will be missed.” He bore his sickness of seven months with much fortitude and patience, and his remains now repose at Hebron Church, Edisto Circuit.” G. H. P. 

Come see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!