George Williams writing letters in the adverse conditions of the Civil War exemplify his Christian-led faith, since he and all of those fighting were up against the same enemy. The same thing existed in combat conditions in the Civil War as does with the soldiers who are currently fighting in the middle east. They all experience the feelings of it is either you or me, now which one of us goes.

The many letters that George Williams wrote to his family always expressed his concern for everyone at home. The health of each family member was a vital concern to him. He also expressed concern about the animals that he was also forced to leave when called into combat. He mentioned each cow by their name and asked his family to take time to tell him how things were going on at home.

He mentioned in the letter what he would be doing for the next three weeks, while his letter was making its way home. It looks to me that it took about three weeks for the letters to make it to his home, and then it would be another three weeks before he received his answers from his family.

As I read and study these old letters, I find myself there with him as he writes, under the weather conditions as well as the advancement of the enemy. He writes that he was in Virginia, North Carolina and then eastern Tennessee. He finally fought in Texas. He met his death in Waco, Texas some three weeks after the war ended on the eastern coast region. News of the end of the war took a long time to make it to Texas.

The well-disciplined soldier began every letter as if it was going to be the last one written by starting off with, "Greetings, to you as I now seat myself to answer and write you. How are you, I am still alive and well."

The photo is of Private George Williams. It is a copy of an old tin type that appears to be black and the image cannot be seen. With modern technology, the image has been enhanced and the photo of George Williams can be viewed. I think this photo was made in Georgia before his family began their journey to the Black Jack neighborhood.

During the time when George Williams and his family settled in the Onega area, the land was good for grazing livestock. My experience with raising farm animals while I was growing up was to cherish and love the animals that we would milk. We learned that if we took good care of our animals they would in turn provide for us.

If I ever got mad at our cow, Old Humpy, and kicked her, all other cows in the herd became rebellious and turned against me and would not yield to my commands. Old Hump was an old cow with a hump back that was ugly. None of my brothers and sisters would have anything to do with her, and when she was mad at me and I refused to milk her, my Daddy would have to milk Old Hump. To watch my Daddy milk a cow was a comedy within itself, because he squeezed the old cow’s udders with a delicate procedure that Old Humpy enjoyed.

My refusal would always result in me having a hard time sitting down after my Daddy finished with Old Hump.

If you knew the livestock, and knew them by name, they would in turn love you and not go too far from the fold, even though there were no fences. I remember calling the cows, and they would come in. But if I tried to rush them, they would always show me that I was just a kid and I’d have to walk a mile to gather them up.

Cherokee Heritage Day, April 17 – The local Cherokee Heritage day is slowly coming around the corner. As a fund raiser for the Cherokee District, they are selling raffle tickets for a Pendleton blanket. The blanket is on display in the hardware store and will be raffled off on April 17. The event will be educational and will display and show many of the customs that took place during the late 1800's in our local history.