Date: July 20, 2008
To: NCSouth@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [NCSouth] Re: Gravestone Dedication for Black Confederate
Last week's headstone dedication for black Confederate Weary Clyburn
in Monroe NC has drawn a lot of media attention. Articles from the
Greensboro (NC) News & Record and the Charlotte (NC) Observer follow.
_______________________________________
http://www.news-record.com/content/2008/07/17/article/colored_confederate_has_his_day_in_monroe
'COLORED CONFEDERATE' HAS HIS DAY IN MONROE
By Donald W. Patterson
Staff Writer
Friday, July 18
updated 1:40 pm
Mattie Clyburn Rice of High Point will take part in an unusual
ceremony today, but then, she's an unusual woman.
She's the 87-year-old daughter of Weary Clyburn, a "colored
Confederate," a slave who served in the Civil War.
"His is a hero's service," said Earl L. Ijames, a curator at the N.C.
Museum of History. "Him serving is really an incredible story."
Rice feels the same.
That's why she's agreed to allow the Sons of Confederate Veterans and
the town of Monroe to honor her father's memory this afternoon.
SCV officials say it's rare for their organization to pay tribute to
a former slave.
"They are few and far between," Michael Chapman, commander of an SCV
group near Monroe, said of today's ceremony. "If a family doesn't
want their (relative) honored, we are not going to do that."
Equally rare will be Rice's participation. Nationwide, records show
that only 30 daughters of Confederate veterans still survive.
Officials with the United Daughters of the Confederacy could not say
how many are African Americans.
What's important to Rice is that after decades of searching, she's
been able to document her father's past.
Rice and her family have declined requests for interviews, saying
they would talk about Weary at a news conference after the ceremony
in Monroe.
"She's not the kind of person who wants the limelight," Ijames
said. "I told her this whole event vicariously honors the thousands
of 'colored Confederates' who served in various capacities and never
had a voice to express it."
As a child growing up on a Union County farm, Rice listened to her
father's stories about the war.
For years, Rice had tried to find records to support her father's
claims and convince her own daughters that their grandfather had
served in the Confederacy.
Then, three years ago, she found the man who had the answers.
"It's such a special story the way this unfolded," said Ijames
(pronounced Iams). "I don't believe in coincidence. I think it's the
Lord orchestrating stuff."
Records show that Weary Clyburn was born about 1841 on the plantation
of Thomas Clyburn in Lancaster County, S.C.
Thomas Clyburn had a son, Frank, who was about two years younger than
Weary.
"They were best friends and grew up together," Ijames said. "That's
not an uncommon story."
In 1861, Frank joined what would become Company E of the 12th S.C.
Volunteers. Soon after, Weary escaped the plantation and joined
Frank, serving as his bodyguard.
Twice, Ijames said, Weary saved Frank's life. Once, Frank had been
wounded in a battle near Charleston and later during fighting near
Petersburg, Va. Both times, Weary carried his master off the field
under fire.
Ijames believes Weary probably fought alongside Frank because Rice
described her father as an expert marksman.
Weary also recounted that he performed personal services for Gen.
Robert E. Lee, a claim that Ijames said has not been confirmed.
However, Frank, an officer, and Weary served under Lee throughout the
war, and Weary would name one of his sons Lee.
After Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Frank and Weary walked back to
Lancaster County together.
After the war, Weary worked as a sharecropper and painter. Frank
became a state senator.
About 1920, Weary moved to Union County. In 1921, his wife, Eliza,
gave birth to a daughter, Mattie.
The birth certificate listed Eliza's age as 32; Weary was in his late
70s.
It was his second marriage.
In 1926, when he was 85, Weary applied for and received a Confederate
pension. The application described him as "too old to work and too
proud to beg or steal."
The amount of the pension isn't known, but it would have been his
first governmental compensation for his war service.
After her father's death in 1930, Rice treasured a picture he had
given her. Historians believe it shows Weary in 1913 at the 50th
Gettysburg reunion.
On his lapel, he's wearing what appears to be a Confederate veterans
medal.
As Rice looked for documentation of her father's past, Ijames had
been researching "colored Confederates."
"It may raise an eyebrow," Ijames said of the phrase, "but
historically, it is accurate."
So far, his research has turned up more than 250.
"Frank wasn't the only officer who brought his slave with him,"
Ijames said. "It was a common occurrence."
Ijames still marvels at the day in August 2005, while he was still
working in the Office of Archives and History, that Rice wandered in.
She had traveled to Raleigh with two of her daughters in search of
her birth certificate. But those documents are kept at the state
Health Department.
"It was so hot outside, I didn't have the nerve to tell her she was
in the wrong place," Ijames recalled.
While Rice cooled off, Ijames struck up a conversation. When he
learned her maiden name was Clyburn, he asked, "on a whim," if she
knew Weary Clyburn.
"Lord, have mercy," Rice responded. "How do you know my daddy?"
"Your daddy?" Ijames replied. "You wait right here."
He hurried off to get Weary's pension records, and Rice soon had her
answers.
"Lord, have mercy," she said. "I've been searching for 75 years for
records on my daddy."
This proved what she had been telling her family for years.
"The daughters were aghast," Ijames said. "For families (like
theirs), there tends to be a lot of discussion about whether this
(kind of information) should be made public. I got the feeling the
same thing went on in their family."
When the Sons of Confederate Veterans told Rice they wanted to honor
her father, she agreed.
Today, there'll be a parade, honor guard and the reading of
proclamations. The group also will place a small Veterans
Administration stone at Weary's unmarked grave in Hillcrest Cemetery.
In a news release, the group said it wanted to honor Weary "for his
faithful friendship, heroism under fire and the devotion to the
principles in which he believed."
Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-
record.com
_______________________________________
http://www.charlotte.com/union/story/719208.html
CONFEDERATE ARMY VETERAN - AND SLAVE
Wary Clyburn is honored as Civil War hero in ceremony.
Cliff Harrington
Wary Clyburn, the Confederate army veteran, puts a new face on an old
standard for which we can measure our character. He was brave and
loyal.
Clyburn was a slave.
He was born about 1841 in Lancaster County, S.C., records show. He
died in 1930 in Union County, where he moved after the war.
He was honored as a Civil War hero Friday during a ceremony at
Hillcrest Cemetery in Monroe. Members of N.C. Sons of Confederate
Veterans sponsored the event, along with the City of Monroe. Mayor
Bobby Kilgore declared it Wary Clyburn Day.
It should be noted that official documents spell his first name
several ways: Werry, Weary and Wary. His daughter, Mattie Rice, says
the correct spelling is Wary.
The Lancaster, S.C., plantation where he was born was owned by Thomas
Clyburn. Government records from 1850 show that Thomas Clyburn owned
more than 17 slaves, infants to age 60.
Earl J. Ijames, curator for the N.C. Museum of History, said there's
no way to know how many slaves served in the Confederate army. "They
weren't counted because they didn't have full rights and were not
paid," he said.
Clyburn didn't allow the slaves he owned to be sold or split up,
Ijames said. "That shows some conscience on the part of Thomas
Clyburn."
He also pointed out this conscience was within the context of
slavery, one of the cruelest practices in American history.
Ijames said many believe Wary Clyburn had grown up with Thomas
Clyburn's son, Frank Clyburn.
Rice, who was born in 1922, confirmed that claim last week.
"We talked a lot about the war," she said. "… He told me he just went
to war with this fella he grew up with. He said his family wasn't
treated like the other slaves around there."
Ijames said during the slavery era, it was not unusual for slaves and
owners' children to grow up together and, in some cases, develop
relationships and feel loyalty to one another.
Wary served as bodyguard for Capt. Frank Clyburn in Company E of the
12th regiment from South Carolina. He carried Frank on his shoulders
to rescue his boyhood friend from intense fighting. He also served as
a special aide to Gen. Robert E. Lee, according to documents that his
daughter has.
Even today Wary Clyburn gives us a clear role model of honor and
bravery under the most trying circumstances. Few things have
challenged the human spirit more than enslavement and war.
Through Mr. Clyburn we get a snapshot of the complex relations that
existed during that time. He was loyal to the men who had shown him
kindness and that loyalty carried over even into a war where they
could have been cast as enemies.
His actions show he had a deep understanding of what it meant to be a
man of character.
I can't honestly say I understand Mr. Clyburn's depth of loyalty and
bravery. I can say it's a shame history hasn't given us a better
recording of others like him.
Wary Clyburn, the Confederate army veteran, puts a new face on an old
standard for which we can measure our character. He was brave and
loyal.
Clyburn was a slave.
He was born about 1841 in Lancaster County, S.C., records show. He
died in 1930 in Union County, where he moved after the war.
He was honored as a Civil War hero Friday during a ceremony at
Hillcrest Cemetery in Monroe. Members of N.C. Sons of Confederate
Veterans sponsored the event, along with the City of Monroe. Mayor
Bobby Kilgore declared it Wary Clyburn Day.
It should be noted that official documents spell his first name
several ways: Werry, Weary and Wary. His daughter, Mattie Rice, says
the correct spelling is Wary.
The Lancaster, S.C., plantation where he was born was owned by Thomas
Clyburn. Government records from 1850 show that Thomas Clyburn owned
more than 17 slaves, infants to age 60.
Earl J. Ijames, curator for the N.C. Museum of History, said there's
no way to know how many slaves served in the Confederate army. "They
weren't counted because they didn't have full rights and were not
paid," he said.
Clyburn didn't allow the slaves he owned to be sold or split up,
Ijames said. "That shows some conscience on the part of Thomas
Clyburn."
He also pointed out this conscience was within the context of
slavery, one of the cruelest practices in American history.
Ijames said many believe Wary Clyburn had grown up with Thomas
Clyburn's son, Frank Clyburn.
Rice, who was born in 1922, confirmed that claim last week.
"We talked a lot about the war," she said. "… He told me he just went
to war with this fella he grew up with. He said his family wasn't
treated like the other slaves around there."
Ijames said during the slavery era, it was not unusual for slaves and
owners' children to grow up together and, in some cases, develop
relationships and feel loyalty to one another.
Wary served as bodyguard for Capt. Frank Clyburn in Company E of the
12th regiment from South Carolina. He carried Frank on his shoulders
to rescue his boyhood friend from intense fighting. He also served as
a special aide to Gen. Robert E. Lee, according to documents that his
daughter has.
Even today Wary Clyburn gives us a clear role model of honor and
bravery under the most trying circumstances. Few things have
challenged the human spirit more than enslavement and war.
Through Mr. Clyburn we get a snapshot of the complex relations that
existed during that time. He was loyal to the men who had shown him
kindness and that loyalty carried over even into a war where they
could have been cast as enemies.
His actions show he had a deep understanding of what it meant to be a
man of character.
I can't honestly say I understand Mr. Clyburn's depth of loyalty and
bravery. I can say it's a shame history hasn't given us a better
recording of others like him.
**************************************************
Ceremony pays homage to a Civil War veteran
BY BILLY BALL
Staff Writer
MONROE
“You are not forgotten.”
So spoke a Civil War re-enactor, one of many gathered in Hillcrest Cemetery Friday, as he poured water from a canteen on Weary Clyburn’s newly dedicated grave, a tribute to the black Confederate soldier buried in Monroe. The soldiers were there with historians, Monroe civic leaders and about 75 locals to honor Clyburn, who, until this week, was buried in an unmarked grave covered only with a broken block and a flag.
Clyburn’s new grave is enclosed by a white chain, white rocks and an engraved headstone.
He was a slave from South Carolina during the war, but he fought with Confederate soldiers alongside his master’s son.
Born sometime around 1841, he died in Union County in 1930.
Historians say he wasn’t paid for his service until four years before his death.
A local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and its chief, Michael Chapman, ran the ceremony, as Clyburn’s dozen or so relatives huddled under a nearby tent.
His daughter, Mattie Clyburn Rice of High Point, was scheduled to attend, but canceled late because of illness.
“This day is the culmination of her life’s work,” said Keisha Hooks-Lee, Clyburn’s great-granddaughter.
Raleigh historian Earl Ijames said Clyburn ran away from his master’s Lancaster County, S.C., plantation to join the fight.
“Might Weary Clyburn finally be a man, and not three-fifths of a human?” Ijames said. “Absolutely.” Monroe Mayor Bobby Kilgore read a statement proclaiming Friday “Weary Clyburn Day” in the city.
Clyburn, according to Kilgore was a “legend” and a “hero” for his service.
“I don’t know how many people would do that,” Kilgore said.
“ ... He needs medals on top of medals.”
Cannon fire shook the ground following the ceremony and a bagpiper played “Dixie,” moments after Clyburn’s relatives laid flowers on his grave. “It’s been an emotional day,” Chapman said.
**************************************************
Duty. Honor. Confederacy.
Published Thursday, July 24, 2008
by Kimberly Harrington, For The Charlotte Post
MONROE – At first glance, it’s an unlikely combination. A black family seated under a tent facing a line of Civil War re-enactors, proudly holding Confederate flags and gripping their weapons.
But what lies between these two groups is what brought them together: An unmarked grave about to get its due, belonging to a slave who fought for the Confederacy.
Weary Clyburn was best friends with his master’s son, Frank. When Frank left the plantation to fight in the Civil War, Clyburn followed him.
He fought alongside Frank and even saved his life on two occasions.
On July 18, the city of Monroe proclaimed Weary Clyburn Day; an event that coincided with the Sons of Confederate Veterans convention in Concord.
The N.C. Division of Sons of Confederate Veterans (James Miller Camp 2116) honored Clyburn, who died March 30, 1930, with a memorial program at Hillcrest Cemetery in Monroe and unveiled a new headstone for his unmarked grave.
“It’s an honor to find out we have a gentleman who served ... with loyalty and devotion to his friend,” said Commander Michael Chapman of the local SCV chapter.
“I’m happy to be here. It’s a glorious day,” said Mary Elizabeth Clyburn Hooks of New Jersey. “I just think it’s beautiful these people chose to celebrate my grandfather’s bravery and courage. It’s just overwhelming.”
Missing from the event was the woman who helped bring the pieces together, Mattie Clyburn Rice of High Point, who remembered the stories her father shared with her as a child.
Rice was hospitalized the morning of the ceremony.
Rice remembered being at her father’s funeral, said Earl Ijames, a curator at the N.C. Office of Archives and History. “He told her stories, and being able to verify those stories brought this event together,” he said.
Ijames met Rice when she was at the state Archives Office looking for her birth certificate in August 2005. She was in the wrong department and he struck up a conversation with her. Ijames asked Rice her name and upon hearing Clyburn, asked if she had ever heard of Weary Clyburn.
“She looked straight at me and said, ‘That’s my daddy,’“ he said.
Ijames has been researching “colored Confederates” for the past 14 years. According to Rice, he said, Clyburn’s father sharecropped and painted after the war. He moved from Lancaster County, S.C., and eventually settled in Union County.
Rice moved away but relocated to North Carolina three years ago to take care of her nephew.
An impressive crowd gathered at the gravesite to pay tribute to Weary Clyburn. Civil War re-enactors, dressed in full regalia, came from overseas and states as far away as California and Pennsylvania to the program.
“We’re here to honor Weary Clyburn, but really, the honor is ours,” said N.C. SCV Commander Tom Smith. “The Sons of Confederate Veterans honors our own and he’s one of our own. We need to do more of what we’re doing now."
Weary Clyburn was one of thousands of slaves who served in the Confederate Army, Ijames said. There’s no way to quantify the number of slaves who served. “But it’s in the thousands, easy.”
People today often wonder why slaves fought for the Confederacy. Ijames said the only course they had to freedom was through the Confederate Army. “Why not go and defend what they know versus running away and going to the unknown,” Ijames said. “A lot of us automatically assume the war started to free slaves. That’s not true. It was a war to preserve the Union as the way it was.”
Slaves were not allowed to fight in the federal army, Ijames said. Those that made their way behind Union lines were still considered slaves.
Clyburn escaped the plantation and made his way to Columbia, S.C., where he met up with Frank in boot camp. “They were best friends,” Ijames said.
Felicia Bryant, Clyburn’s great-granddaughter, agreed. “They were really good friends and that trumped everything else.”
On The Web: http://www.thecharlottepost.com/index.php?src=news&refno=1005&category=News
