Janice Oliver passed away July 19, 2020 at UT Health East Texas –Pittsburg, at the age of 68. Her funeral service was Saturday, July 25, 2020 at 11:00 a.m at Union Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, Pittsburg, Texas with Rev. B.R. Hargest as eulogist and burial was at Union Chapel Cemetery under the direction of Johnson Funeral Home, Pittsburg, Texas.
Continued from the file of John C. Porter. Mr. Porter tells of a drought in 1860 which caused a very hot summer. “During the summer, a great many houses and towns burned up in this state, caused by the heat setting some combustions, or the then servile population were influenced to set them. This, together with the election, caused intense excitement-the men, old and young, talked nothing else but politics, secession and war. At the first excitement, there was a variety of sentiments, some were hot-headed Secessionists, fire-eaters, kill ten to one, going if they had to crawl, have it over with, etc. Some few were Union, while others were more reasonable and wished to contest our rights in the Union, which all can now see would have been best. But when people get excited on any subject, they have less sense and reason than any of God’s creation. The Secessionist, however, had the ascendency, and it became unsafe for one who did not fully coincide with their views to express himself; in fact, a number of good men in this state were hanged, for no other reason than they did not agree with the masses in opinion. Times grew more exciting, as the time drew near for the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln-soon after which the states began to secede, South Carolina leading the way, which is a matter of history, I need not rehearse it here. In September, A. D. 1861, I think it was, my brother Hezekiah and five other young men from our neighborhood, sent their names to the tenth Texas Cavalry Regiment, of which Col. Lock was the commander. Alex Arp (Captain Charles Alexander Earp) as he is generally called, was the Captain of the Company. After remaining in the state a month, the Regiment was reorganized for Confederate service, dis banded, returned home for a short time, then rendezvoused at Coffeeville, Texas. The Regiment soon took the line of march to Arkansas. On the way my brother was taken sick of measles, (which killed quite a lot of men during the time of the war. Glenda) together with two comrades, to wit-Perry Cherry and Bolivar Lilly. They were left to partially recover, and then started to catch up with the command, They traveled one day, which caused a relapse, and he died that night, it being March 6, 1862, age twenty years, one month and ten days. Comment is useless upon the troubles we saw at this time; no one can imagine, unless it was one who had realized similar losses.”
Ed Sterling wrote this column for almost three decades, so let’s open by celebrating his contributions to the Texas Press Association and its members. Ed was the calm, steady voice keeping us informed and interested.
On July 22, Power Showcase, a national event featuring the country’s most prolific young baseball players, announced that 13-year-old Pittsburg native Landon Graham was selected for the All-America team. The event will take place November 6-8 and will feature more than 120 of the country’s top hitting and pitching prospects, ranging in age from ten years to high school seniors.
A big question on everyone’s mind of late has been the upcoming high school football season. The Texas University Interscholastic League (UIL) gave answers to that question, as well as others, in a July 21 announcement. The announcement set guidelines for all fall sports, as well as band activities.
