Miss Olivia H. Whitaker was hostess to the Frank M. Parker Chapter, U.D.C., on February 22nd, the meeting having been postponed on account of so much sickness in the vicinity. Several letters of importance were read and voted upon.
The Chapter voted to order four dozen iron markers to be placed on the Veterans’ graves at Whitaker’s Chapel and on the graves of Veterans in the country near here. Several members promised to make pillows and cases to be sent to the sun parlor at the Confederate Woman’s Home. Members who have not already done so, are asked to please let the Treasurer have the yearly dues or, 50 cents U.D.C. Taxes, anyway, which should have been sent in not later than March 1st, as per our State President’s request. An urgent plea from the State Chairman of the Jefferson Davis Monument was read, asking for contributions to be sent at once for the completion of this memorial. Work on the monument had to stop for lack of funds. The monument is now 218 feet high and when completed it will be 351 feet. So while the machinery is there the Daughters want to finish the job, and have the unveiling on Jeff Davis’ birthday, June 3rd, 1923. If each member of this Chapter would give 25 cents, we would have our quota, or if each member in the State would give 50 cents, our pledge of $1,000 would be paid.
“The Southern people cannot afford to neglect the spot where Jefferson Davis first saw the light. The monument is an appropriate memorial to their leader during their time of trial. When they honor his name they honor also the mighty host of men and women whose self-sacrifice and devoted heroism were so inspired by his transcendent leadership; by his grandeur in victory; by his sublime martyrdom in defeat.” All Southern people should lend a helping hand. The State offers some attractive prizes for this year. This Chapter offers $5 to the daughter who writes the best essay on “The Life and War Record of Colonel Frank M. Parker.”
At the adjournment of the meeting a delicious salad course was served, the hostess being assisted by Mrs. C.W. McGwigan and Miss Ruby Whitaker.
From page 5 of The Progress, Enfield, N.C., Friday, March 2, 1923.
Find a Grave website has listings and some photos for those buried at Whitakers Chapel Cemetery in Enfield. Here are two photos for Benjamin Baker, born June 17, 1826, and died May 3, 1901 at age 74. The inscription on the stone reads “There is sweet rest in heaven.” You can see a confederate flag placed in front of the stone in the first photo and the metal marker in the second. The photos were added to the website by B.B. Roberts.
To learn more about Whitaker’s Chapel, a Methodist Church, see Whitaker’s Chapel - GCAH.
To learn about Billy Beavans, who was killed during the Civil War and is buried in Whitakers Chapel Cemetery, go to www.findagrave.com/memorial/101295676/william-beavans.
William "Billy" Beavans, (Smilin Billy Beavans) a Confederate soldier from Halifax County, N.C., served with the 1st North Carolina Infantry Regiment, Company I, and with the 43rd North Carolina Infantry Regiment, Company D. He was wounded at Snicker's Gap, Va., on 18 July 1864 and died of his wounds at Winchester, Va., on 31 July 1864.
The original diary is located in the North Carolina collection at UNC-CH library which consists of William Beavans's diary, January 1861-July 1864, which includes intermittent entries written at home in Halifax County, N.C., and during the Civil War while campaigning in Virginia with the 1st North Carolina Infantry Regiment in 1861, and with the 43rd North Carolina Infantry Regiment, 1862-1864.
The Confederate forces were lined up at Snicker's Ford facing a strong concentration of federal troops. Billy, who was a cannoneer, was directing the firing of his cannon when he felt a smashing blow against his right leg. He fell to the ground, stunned and helpless. His commanding officer, his cousin George Wills, heard his name called out from the darkness and upon searching the area, found Billy lying on the ground trying gamely to smile his usual smile.
The diary documents weather, reading, drilling, troop movements, and other matters, and includes drafts of love letters and poems; remarks about the women Billy courted; and memoranda regarding ordnance, mess accounts, and finances. Also included are a letter to Maggie Beavans, Billy's sister, commenting on the conscript law, measles, and camp life, and two letters of Maggie and her friend Fannie regarding friends, relatives, and sweethearts killed in the war.
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