Jane Rutledge had known since 1862 that her husband
and brother-in-law would not be coming home. She had, nevertheless, continued
to hope that her eldest son would return when it was over. “It’s beginnin to
look like the boys will be coming home soon,” she had told one of her neighbors
just last week. And then, there was that knock at the door.
2 “Mam, you don’t know all of us, but we served with
your boy in the 12th Alabama Cavalry,” Nathan Basham began. “This is
Andrew Odem, George Widener and Hezekiah Frost,” he introduced. “Mam, we just
wanted you to know how much we thought of John, and we sure are sorry that he
died,” Nathan concluded.
3 “When did he die?” Jane demanded. “It was at the end
of March near Salisbury, North Carolina,” Andrew volunteered. “We hadn’t had
much good to eat in several weeks, and he was awful weak and sick,” Hezekiah
explained.
4 “Were you boys with him when he passed?” she asked.
“I was,” Nathan told her. “I was with him when he took his last breath.” “I
want to thank y’all for stopping by to tell me,” Jane managed before she closed
the door.
5 She sank down into the closest chair, laid her head
over onto the table and began sobbing. A few minutes later, Lucinda walked into
the room.
6 “Mama, what’s wrong?” she asked. “John is dead,”
Jane said flatly. “He’s not gonna be comin home,” she added with a finality
that made her daughter shiver.
7 Lucinda crossed the floor between them and embraced
her mother. “I love you, Mama,” Lucinda whispered. Jane finally stopped sobbing
and looked up at her daughter. “I guess we’d better get some supper cooked,”
she said as she patted Lucinda on the arm.
8 That night, they ate some pinto beans and cornbread
for supper in complete silence. William and Franklin had been looking forward
to their big brother’s guidance and help with the work, but even the little
ones had some sense of just how desperate their situation was.
9 After all, they had already lived over two years
without a man in the house. They all knew that there was little food and no
money, and many of the family and friends whom they might have resorted to for
help in more normal times were in similar circumstances.
10 Hence, although the war had disrupted life all over
the country, it is hard to exaggerate the ruinous current state of the Southern
economy and culture. Confederate currency was worthless. Many of the South’s
major cities had been destroyed. Race relations were unsettled.
11 And, on the farms and plantations, many of the
fields remained empty and untended. To survive, the entire family worked long
hours in the fields and concentrated on enlarging their flocks and herds
through breeding within their own stocks and in cooperation with those of their
neighbors.
12 Jane made dresses for the girls and pants and
shirts for the boys. She became an expert in patching and mending clothes. To
make extra money, she also sewed for her neighbors.
13 Then, early in 1867, there was one small glimmer
that life might eventually return to its normal rhythms. A local neighbor boy
named Jack McAnally began calling on Lucinda and going through the motions of a
traditional Southern courtship. They were both nineteen years old, and they had
both lost family members in the war.
14 “May I call on your daughter?” Jack asked Jane with
his hands folded behind his back. “I guess, that’d be all right,” Jane replied.
“Y’all can sit on the porch and talk,” she added to make sure he understood the
parameters of the process.
15 They were married in a simple ceremony that
December. Jack even helped William and Franklin with the crop the following
year. In another year, the couple welcomed a little girl into their new
household. They named her Tea.
16 “I know you’re worried about everything, Mama,”
William told his mother. “But we’re gonna be all right,” he reassured her.
17 “You’ll be starting a family of your own soon,” she
smiled. “Not too soon,” he told her. “And, when I do, I’m not gonna forget
about you, Franklin, Martha, Elijah, Louisa and Melva!” he declared. “Thank
you, son,” she smiled; but she couldn’t hide the weariness and worry that had
enveloped her from his keen eyes.
18 Early in August of 1870, a stranger approached the
house. He was carrying what looked like two or three large ledger books. “That
must be the census marshal,” William told his mother. “I heard that they was
comin,” Jane replied.
19 “Hello, my name is David Day, and I have been
designated by the Secretary of the Interior to take your information for the
federal census,” he began when he reached the porch. “What information?” Jane
demanded.
20 “Well, let’s begin with your name,” he answered.
“I’m Jane Rutledge, and this is my boy William,” she told him. After obtaining
the names of the other children, he asked about their ages and place of birth.
“What is your profession, occupation or trade?” he asked next.
21 Jane studied his face as if she was trying to
figure out what he was asking. “I mean what kind of work do you do?” he
clarified. “I clean, cook, sew and take care of these children,” she told him.
“Keeping house,” he mumbled to himself as he scribbled something on the paper
before him.
22 “Can you read or write, Mrs. Rutledge?” “I never
had the time for such as that.” The census taker sighed and checked the box
indicating that she was an idiot.
23 “These folks are just about the most ignorant
people I’ve ever come across in my entire life!” he thought to himself. He had
checked that box for just about every adult in this part of Morgan County.
24 Then, after reading most of the information back to
them, he asked if everything was correct. “I guess that sounds right,” Jane
told him. “Well, thank you for your time, Mrs. Rutledge,” he told her with a
condescending smile, turned and quickly walked back toward the road.
25 “I didn’t much care for him,” William said as they
watched him leave. “He don’t know nothin about us,” his mother told him. “But,
Mama, he asked all them questions,” he protested.
26 “He knows the answers to his questions, but he
don’t know nothin about who we are,” she insisted. “Anyway, I got taters to
peal, and you need to water that stock,” she concluded.
27 With that, William turned and walked toward the
barn. Even so, he couldn’t shake the feeling that that man had shamed them. “He
thinks he is so high and mighty,” William mumbled to himself as he kicked at
the red dirt beneath his feet.
28 Now these are the generations of Alfred Franklin
Rutledge:
29 Alfred married Jane Harrison and had children: John,
Lucinda, Alfred, Mourning, William, Franklin, Martha, Elijah, Eliza and Rilda.
30 Lucinda Rutledge married Jack McAnally and had
children: Tea, Albert, Edward, Pearl and Ernest.
31 Albert McAnally married Mattie Vann and had
children: Gordon, Nannie, Clarence, Floyd, Raymond, Roy and Charles.
32 Albert’s brother, Edward McAnally, had a son named
James.
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