U.S. Civil War?

Why is this period called a Civil War? By definition, a Civil War denotes an attempt by two parties to control the government. Obviously, this was not a Civil War. Some people refer to it as the War of Northern Aggression. In truth, that's what it was, but on a larger scale it was the War for Southern Independence. It was no different from the Revolution, or War for American Independence. The facts are simple. The Radical Republicans (now the Democratic Party), through the election of Abraham Lincoln. threatened the freedoms of the nation, especially in the South. The Southern States agreed that this act was the final stage in a series of political coups to remove power from them. Feeling no longer represented in the government, they seceded in an attempt to form their own government and nation, exactly as the Continental Congress had done to Britain. As for the North, they have no reason to call it a war at all. They never declared war, they fought to save the Union, exactly like the British did. They drew first blood. Ft. Sumter was bloodless, no deaths, and merely an attempt by South Carolina to regain control of their own land. Lincoln had been advised by the SC Gov't. to evacuate the fort in January. It was only attacked after South Carolinians discovered Lincoln's attempt to re-supply the fort via the "Star of the West". When the ship was spotted outside Charleston Harbor, the Rebels opened fire. Lincoln calculated this move, knew the South Carolinians would fire, and thereby provoked them to start of the war. The blood is all on his hands.

Lincoln is glorified as the greatest President behind Washington. In the pages to come, you will soon see what a devious, lying, law-breaking man he really was.

The Roswell Mill Workers

In the 1840's, Roswell King from Brunswick, Ga. moved inland to Roswell to create a textile mill on the Vickery Creek, a tributary of the Chattahoochie, mainly to get away from the ocean weather. His son Barrington, along with newly arrived shoe manufacturer Charles Dunwwoody, created the City of Roswell employing over 300 people in their mills.

By the time the War came along, the mills had been converted into tent fabric manufacturers. On July 5, 1864, the U.S. Cavalry comandeered Roswell. On July 7, Sherman ordered the mills burned and all workers transported under guard to Marietta. They arrived in Marietta on July 12th, over 400 women and countless children. They were immediately sent north via train to Louisville, KY and Indiana. Many died on the way. Most were never heard from again.

Men returning home from the war found their families gone, with no official mention of where. One man re-married, assuming his wife was dead. She had been left by the Union to fend for herself in Chicago. It took her 7 years to "walk" home to Roswell, children in tow.

Can you imagine going off to war, returning home, and finding all the women and children gone? And for what? Making tent fabric. I'm pretty sure we won't meet Mr. Sherman beyond the pearly gates.

This is not the only incident of this nature done by the Union. But, this one caught the publics attention as an outrage, North and South, and probably would have been reversed had Sherman not gone onto victory shortly thereafter and removed this so-called "blemish on his record" from the public eye.

North Point Online

Powerful....The power and grace of God, taught through the amazing works of Paul, and explained to the masses in an easy to understand manner by Andy. I feel as though I've been born again, again!

The Hightower Trail

I know all Atlantans are familiar with the name Hightower. Did you know it was an Indian trail leading from Augusta, through Social Circle (where it meets with the Cherokee Trail), heads smack through Dunwoody to Roswell, and finally to the Cherokee and Etowah settlements in Northwest Georgia. In fact, this became one of the main trails by which the Metro counties became settled.

The trail winds past Peeler Rd. onto Happy Hollow, through Kingsley, across Mt. Vernon into Dunwoody Club Forest, right past Mon & Dads House through the woods onto Bend Creek, crossing Dunwoody Country Club, Spalding, across Northridge, through Huntcliff, to a river crossing called "Shallow Ford" and onto Azalea Dr. It heads to Marietta from this point.

If you know the historical markers in town, now you know why Maj. Gen. James McPherson left Marietta, crossed the river, and marched through Dunwoody towards the battle of Cross Keys (East Atlanta). It was a well-established trade route by 1864.

"Ianisms" - Part I

Last night laying in bed trying to get him to go to sleep....

IT: Daddy, what's mommy doing?
KT: She's downstairs picking up the food you left out and putting it away.
IT: I'll go start an investigation!

IT: There's this guy Cyborg who punches, and shoots out of his arms.
KT: That's pretty cool.
IT: Yeah, he was built with technology!

IT: What are we doing tomorrow?
KT: Hiking and swimming.
IT: What about the next day?
KT: You're going to visit Ashley and Corrine.
IT: I like them. I haven't seen them in 15 years!

The wonderful mind of a 5 year old boy...

Saturday, Ian and I were driving home from dinner in my truck. He asked me if a certain house was for sale that he saw. I said "no" and he asked how I knew. I explained to him that houses for sale had signs out in front of them. "Well, I need to buy one" , he said, "so when I move out I'll have my own place." I asked him when he planned on moving out. "As soon as I'm big like you, but i need to get the house now", he responded. I told him that he didn't need to worry about that until he was out of school and working. "Will that house still be for sale?", he asked. I explained that it probably would not be, but many others would be available. He paused for a moment and then asked "Can we buy me a car?"

So, who burned Atlanta?

Historians will have you believe that the Rebels fired Atlanta completely destroying the City. Ken Burns epic Civil War Film is full of errors and most Histories I have read are incomplete or Union biased. The facts are as follows:

On Aug. 31, 1864- Rebel sappers set fire to the depot and ammunition dumps they could not remove in time before Union occupation. The fire and explosions unfortunately reached the Atlanta Gas Works, setting a good portion of the town ablaze.

Sept. 2, 1864- The Mayor of Atlanta, Calhoun, formally surrenders to the Union army. The army occupies Atlanta on that date. The fires are quickly extinguished. More than 90% of Atlanta remains.
Sept. thru Oct. - Union forces put Atlanta under military rule. Sherman sets up headquarters and devises his plans for the destructive March to the Sea.
Nov. 7, 1864- Sherman orders all civilians to leave town. Looters, Union and Civilian wreak havoc upon the abandoned homes and businesses.
Nov. 13,1864- Union Sappers set Atlanta on fire. The City is a total loss.
Nov. 15, 1864- Sherman marches away from Atlanta. Sherman wrote that day:

... We rode out of Atlanta by the Decatur road, filled by the marching troops and wagons of the Fourteenth Corps; and reaching the hill, just outside of the old rebel works, we naturally paused to look back upon the scenes of our past battles. We stood upon the very ground whereon was fought the bloody battle of July 22d, and could see the copse of wood where McPherson fell. Behind us lay Atlanta, smouldering and in ruins, the black smoke rising high in air, and hanging like a pall over the ruined city. Away off in the distance, on the McDonough road, was the rear of Howard's column, the gun-barrels glistening in the sun, the white-topped wagons stretching away to the south; and right before us the Fourteenth Corps, marching steadily and rapidly, with a cheery look and swinging pace, that made light of the thousand miles that lay between us and Richmond. Some band, by accident, struck up the anthem of "John Brown's soul goes marching on;" the men caught up the strain, and never before or since have I heard the chorus of "Glory, glory, hallelujah!" done with more spirit, or in better harmony of time and place.

So, there was over 2 mos. Yankee occupation before the town was destroyed completely.

Summer Reading

Have you read this summer? My brother and I joined a program at the library to read as many books we could this summer. Every book you read was a point, and when the program finished, you spent your points at the library store. You could get a lot of things like pencils, crafts, autographed books, and more. My brother read 155 books, and I read 230 books. We had fun reading books this summer,and spending our points at the library store. My brother drew a picture from his favorite book he read this summer. He sent it into the Courier News Paper, and they put it into the paper. He won a gift certificate to Barnes & Nobles. I sent in a review of my favorite book I read this Summer to the Courier News, and they put it in the paper too. I won a Barnes & Nobles gift card.

North Point Online

Week2 was inspiring. Paul answered many questions I have been dealing with among non-believers and their associations with Jesus and Various Religious Practices. And, Andy explained it so well, I now have the answers I've been searching for to refute ideas and hopefully help others with. (Yeah, I hate to end a sentence with a preposition, but I'm tired). All in all, another gem by NPCC.

I hope Russell had an easy time with tonight's webcast!

Great Golf...The Solheim Cup

This is the second Solheim I have seen and it ranks right up there with the men's Ryder Cup. The golf has been very competitive on a narrow course. The excitement in these matches seems to be more like Olympic events in which you root for the country as a whole and each player roots for the team. Unlike the Ryder Cup, the women are more emotional which endears you to them that much more. Currently the match is tied at 8-8 with 6 of 12 matches favored to each side. It's so close, you really get excited watching.

Good luck ladies, and GO USA!

Well, the ladies did it with an impressive 12-8 victory.

There ain't no cure for the Summertime Blues!

What is it about Summer that makes it the popular favorite of seasons? It's too hot to enjoy the outdoors, the AC bill is out of this world, the kids have nothing to do, the wife is doing her best to entertain them, and I'm so exhausted from working outside in the heat I'm useless at night. Samantha reads...over 200 books so far this Summer. Ian has read over 100. They've been to the beach (shore) at least a dozen times. Movies, pool, you name it. But, there's just too much free time for them in the Summer. In the old days, we'd play outside all day long. Now, kids have to be watched or they disappear for good. They don't know any better, but it hurts my heart that they aren't allowed the freedom to enjoy childhood the way we did.

Personally, I'd rather freeze than sweat. When (if) I retire, I hope it's in Maine, or Scotland.

North Point Online

It was a great treat to tune in to NPOnline tonight. The music was really good, and the series by Andy looks really promising. Tonight's sermon was was given in a manner easily understood and presented challenges in a subtle, nonthreatening manner to all who listened. The scripture of Paul's meeting with King Agrippa was told in a nice, precept fashion showing all the details and accuracies of the story to his contemporaries as well as all of us.

This has given me an inspiration to create a pamphlet which I will create and forward to my Bible-oriented family for editing.

If you have a chance, visit NPCC and listen to the 1st part of the series "Losing My Religion".

Fun Pictures

What do you see? A skull, two people? Maybe an old, and young lady. Or an old man, and a mother and her child.

Climbing & Hiking

The kids have really been anxious to hike and climb this year. Luckily, there is a crag nearby we go to often. There are some good scrambling climbs, an miles of hiking trails. Ian is an awesome climber at age 5. He's totally fearless so I often have to chase him to keep him from falling. Samantha is a great climber as well. Although, her selection of girly shoes are not adequate for climbing and she often is seen sliding down on her butt to get down from a climb. We like to go from October thru April because of the lack of vegetation (i.e poison ivy) and insects. They are both insectophobes. One bug can cause a panic that quite frankly has me wondering about their safety ( as well as their sanity).

This Fall, I'm taking them to the Gunks (Shawangunk Mtns., NY) for the first time. That should be fun.

Explore The Gunks

Welcome To Our New Blog

Hi, I'm Samantha. Like my dad said in his previous new blogs, my family just started this. My cousins have blogs too, so we decided to make our own blog. This is a really fun thing, and I hope you enjoy it.

Do you think this picture is moving?

The illness I live with....

This is no cry for pity's sake or attempt at garnering attention. I just thought you may want to know what I live with everyday...

Along with the chronic sinusitis and headaches I live with, I also have a chemical deficiency in my brain which will progressively worsen over time. I am heavily medicated and can perform and function normally thanks to the medicine. This was misdiagnosed for 3 years and finally corrected in 2004. So, it's been 8 years now.

The good news: It will not kill me!

What I live with everyday are acute and chronic issues.

1- I must take a 2 hour nap every day due to the drowsiness effects of 3 daily pills. Plus, I sleep 7 hours at night. That's 9/24ths of my life unconscious.
2- I cannot stand to hear any loud noises, especially kid's screaming or drums being played. It causes a kind of panic attack where I get hot, tense, uncomfortable, and lose cohesion. The first time this happened I thought I was going insane. Coughing 3 or more times produces the same effect.
3- My peripheral vision can cause the same panic disorder. It happened once going through a tunnel because of the lights at regular intervals passing by. Another time was on a ride at Hershey Park with Samantha. It was one of those swinging pirate ships, and the peripheries got me bad. All I could do was stare at Samantha, and count to 10 over and over until the ride ended. I also have milder attacks at work sometimes climbing extension ladders. No more amusement parks, climbing, etc. for me. Thank God (and the Scots) for golf!
4- I'm getting stupider, if that's possible. I posted a 179 on an IQ test administered to me in 1999. Since then, I have dropped 30 pts. My memory is getting worse, my reflexes are slowing, and I'm only 44. So, one day when I start babbling like an idiot (too late) you'll know why.
5- Other medicinal side effects...incurable blackheads, a withdrawn attitude, lack of energy, blah, blah,blah....at least I'm not off my nut! ; )
6- No caffeine (very little actually) and no alcohol (I had my share in my younger days anyway). Caffeine in large quantities causes panic attacks, alcohol causes seizures. Needless to say, I've been dry and sober for 7 years now! That in itself is a huge plus.

I think that's all. So if you notice I seem detached, lazy, etc., now you'll know why!

Hello and welcome!

Following in my little brothers giant footsteps, I've decided to open a blog so we can share our lives a little better with the one's we love. Hopefully, we can showcase the talents of the young ones here, as well as update you on the current welfare of the clan. It should prove to be a rewarding experience that we hope you will enjoy. So, welcome to you all and may God Bless you!

Kevin, Joanna, Samantha, and Ian Todd