Dear friends,
Before I explain the subject line, let me briefly introduce myself. My name
is Derick Hartshorn and I live in Conover, NC, with my wife, Lana. I am
the page owner for Catawba and Burke counties and Assistant State
Coordinator of the NCGenWeb I am trying to create a strong Confederate
presence on both pages that I have control over and have tried to place a
good deal of information on both of them. You may or may not already be
familiar with me and the NC Confederate Guide which I continue to work on:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nccatawb/guide.htm
My pages include Catawba (
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nccatawb/ ) and
Burke (
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncburke/ ).
I am addressing you as an CV camp member and Southerner at heart, by birth
or conviction. I am associated with the USGenWeb Project, an all-volunteer
Internet association of genealogists and historians. It is my conviction
that this Project presents the best opportunity to work together to
indentify the heroic 121,038 North Carolina soldiers that served the Cause
(see:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nccatawb/vancesp.htm ). I have tried to do
my part and have currently identified 1,818 troops that served from Catawba
County. Of these men, 574+ paid the untimate price (
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nccatawb/troops.txt ). So far, as Catawba County
is concerned, this has been a one-man project. Since North Carolina has 100
counties, It would be great if we could work together to accomplish this
task with the folks that are "County Coordinators" for the 100 NC counties.
Our main page is located at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncgenweb/ and you are
invited to make contact with your NCGenWeb home county coordinator.
I urge you to work with us, and together, and share your time, knowledge
and the desire to see this monumental project reach fruition. If you would
like your county's troops memorialized for all time, this is the perfect
opportunity--and it won't cost a dime, unless, of course, you want to go on
a book-buying spree.
You're probably wondering what my motive is. I have asked myself the same
thing. I have a powerful desire to provide a part of what the USGenWeb
supports: free and accurate information. Since I can't begin to do it all
myself, I'm reaching out for help. For so long, we have each been
contributing in our own way, to the best of our abilities. When North
Carolina Troops were first organized, they planned for sixty regiments of
infantry, six regiments of cavalry, three regiments of artillery, two
regiments of reserves, for a total of 71. It would be a tribute to them if
we could organize in the same uncomplicated manner. Could we not have a
county commander responsible for the initiation of such a project? Nothing
happens unless someone is willing to make the first move--and I'm doing
it--proposing that the NC Camps of the SCV rise to occasion, just like our
ancestors did, and take an active role in recording the history of the
South's greatest soldiers--the Tar Heel Boys!
Before I close, please be aware that the NCGenWeb currently has a web site
devoted to the cause. It is called North Carolina and the Civil War and it
is at
http://angiesplace.behosting.com/roots/ncrebel.htm . The page owner
is Angie Rayfield and she has done a marvelous job. Jeff Weaver and the
American History and Genealogy Project also has a great page
at:
http://members.tripod.com/~roots_and_branches/civilwar/ncrebel.htm
".........and in all the qualities which mark self-sacrifice, patriotism
and devotion to duty, North Carolina is entitled to stand where her troops
stood in battle, behind no State, but in the front rank of the
Confederation, aligned and abreast with the best, the foremost and the
bravest......"
(Gov. Zebulon Baird Vance, Col., 26 Regmt., NC Troops, Governor of North
Carolina, 1862-1865)
Deo Vindice,
Derick S. Hartshorn