CALCASIEU GREYS -- May 2015

Capt. Bryan Camp Cmdr., Dr. Andy Buckley
Presented Bryan Camp's History Medal to
John Thomas Stewart of DeRidder High School.

NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of Captain James W. Bryan
Camp 1390 will be held from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, May
12, at Joe’s Pizza and Pasta Restaurant at 1601 Ruth
St. in Sulphur, La. Our speaker will be Compatriot
Charles Richardson, who will speak on : “The Legacy of
Governor Francis T. Nichols: Louisiana War Hero and
Reform Governor.” Please come and enjoy great
Confederate fellowship and excellent food.

2015 Capt. J. W. Bryan Meeting Dates & Location
(Please mark these dates on your calendar.)
May 12 --Joe’s Italian Restaurant – Sulphur
June 9 --Logan’s Roadhouse – Lake Charles
July 14 --Joe’s Italian Restaurant – Sulphur
Aug. 11--Logan’s Roadhouse – Lake Charles
Sept. 8 --Joe’s Italian Restaurant – Sulphur
Oct. 13 -Logan’s Roadhouse – Lake Charles
Nov.10 -Joe’s Italian Restaurant – Sulphur
Dec. 8- Annual Christmas Party (TBA)

SESQUICENTENNIAL EVENT
The Sons of Confederate Veterans will host a national
Confederate Heritage Rally at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 30,
2015 at the Confederate Monument in front of the Caddo
Parish Court House in Shreveport. Let’s have a big turnout
from Captain James W. Bryan Camp. For details check out
the web site at http://confederate150.com/2015.html.
More information is also available on Page 2 of this
edition of Calcasieu Greys.

Finding Your Way Home
Commander Column May, 2015

Camp Cmdr. Dr. Andy Buckley

     By the time our May edition of the newsletter is sent
to our membership, we will have presented 19 students in
13 area high schools with our 2015 SCV James W. Bryan
History medal. The reception has been overwhelmingly
well received. As of Tuesday, May 5th we have only Bell
City, Grand Lake, Hackberry, and Johnson Bayou
remaining on the list. I would love for any of our
members to travel with me to these schools. Bell City will
be Monday, May 11 and Johnson Bayou, Thursday, May
14. I have not heard from the other school principals.
     At LaGrange, Starks, Barbe, and Sulphur we
presented medals to both regular history and advanced
placement history students. Actually Sulphur nominated
four students, two from regular history, one from
advanced placement history, and one from gifted history.
We are grateful approximately $344.00 dollars has been
given toward the history award medal and certificate
project. All expenses for the artist renderings, certificate
folders, and plastic boxes were paid by a generous donor.
     We need twelve (12) financial sponsors from our
membership for the balance of the expense of $335.00
for following schools: La Grange; Sulphur, Starks; De
Qunicy; Vinton; Washington-Marion; Sam Houston;
Barbe; Hackberry; Johnson Bayou; Grand Lake; and
Saint Louis Catholic. Our Adjutant Luke Dartez will
answer any questions you may have about the cost of the
medal and certificate and how you can help.
     Please make every effort to be present for our next
two monthly meetings during the months ahead. We’ll
have great programs presented and will plan for our
annual placing of flags on Confederate graves in
Calcasieu Parish on the Saturday, May. We have just two
monthly meetings (May, June) before our 100th anniversary
of the South’s Defender’s Monument at the Calcasieu
Parish Court House in Lake Charles. Can we count on you to
help us in these two events?
Upcoming Programs and Speakers: Mark your calendar
and bring a friend.
     May 12 Joe’s Italian Restaurant Sulphur, Charles
Richardson: “The Legacy of Governor Francis T. Nichols: Louisiana
War Hero and Reform Governor.”
     June 9 Logan’s Roadhouse Lake Charles, Dr. Andy
Buckley: “Confederate Cavilers and Crackers; the South’s Population
at the Outbreak of the War Between the States.”
     July 14 Joe’s Italian Restaurant Sulphur, Fred Adolphus,
“How Southern Armies Acquired, Maintained, and Utilized Horses.
     August 11 Logan’s Roadhouse Lake Charles, Brandon
Shoemaker, Director of the Calcasieu Genealogical Library
on Pujo Street will speak on a War Between the States topic
related to research.
     September 8, Joe’s Italian Restaurant Sulphur, Dr.
Tommy French of Baton Rouge and longtime SCV member,
will speak about the exploits of his CSA Ancestor.
      When I joined the SCV in 2010 several of our longtime
members gave this advice: “Attend the meetings you can,
participate as much as you can, and have fun.” I think I have
only missed one Lee-Jackson Banquet due to a family
vacation and have been present for every monthly meeting
(60) since I joined. I have volunteered to do as much as I
have been asked to do and more. Without question I have
had the greatest time of my adult life. It has been fun! My
only regret is not joining the SCV 15 years ago.
     If each of us will commit ourselves to attending every
meeting we can, volunteering to do everything we can, and
enlisting as many new members as we can, our camp will
continue to proper. The result will be new members who
want to have fun celebrating our Southern culture and
history, and honoring our CSA ancestors. Nothing unusual,
nothing extraordinary, just fun. The catch is every member
must participate. Remember, the James W. Bryan Camp is
made up of our members, all of us. You make a difference,
as always!
Thanks for the good response at the recent Niblett's Bluff
Park Festival.
Dr. Andy Buckley, Commander

APPEAL FOR HERITAGE RALLY
Compatriots:
     The 2015 Louisiana Division Sesquicentennial Event will
be held on Saturday, May 30, 2015, and will coincide with the
2015 Sons of Confederate Veterans National
Sesquicentennial Event to be held at the Caddo Parish
Confederate Monument on the grounds of the Caddo Parish
Confederate Monument on the grounds of the
Caddo Parish Courthouse in Shreveport.
     The program will kick off at 11 a.m. from
Historic Oakland Cemetery on Milam Street with a
3-4 block march to the courthouse. Parking will be
available at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium
located at 705 Elvis Presley Blvd. and the 1st
United Methodist Church at 500 Common St.
If anyone needs more precise directions, please
contact someone with the Taylor camp that lives in
Shreveport (cause I am way down here in Baton
Rouge and haven't been to Shreveport in 15 years).
I encourage all Louisiana Division members to
make every effort to be present for this historical
event.
     "He who feels no pride in his ancestors is
unworthy to be remembered by his
descendants" Major David French Boyd, 9th
Louisiana Infantry, Confederate States Army
"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does
not mean to stand by the President." Theodore
Roosevelt
     "Any man who thinks he can be happy and
prosperous by letting the American Government
take care of him better take a closer look at the
American Indian" Henry Ford
CHIP LANDRY
Southeast Brigade Commander
Louisiana Division
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Chairman,
Louisiana Division Sesquicentennial Committee

SOUTHERN CROSS GRAVE MARKERS
     The Southern Cross of Honor, also known as
the “SCV Iron Cross,” will always be the defining
symbol to honor the graves of Confederate
Veterans.
     Each marker is a two-sided solid cast iron
replica of the medal and measures 14” x 14” plus a
ground spike 14” long and weighs approximately 17
pounds. These high-quality castings will weather to
a natural surface rust but require no long-term
maintenance. SCV Iron Cross grave markers are
cast exclusively by Clarsksville Foundry – one of
the South’s oldest, on-going metal foundries dating
to 1847 – that cast cannons and munitions for the
Confederacy.
     Over the years, thousands of these markers
have been placed on Confederate graves; however,
thousands more are deserving of this sacred tribute.
     SCV Camps receive a 25 percent discount upon
ordering a minimum of 10 markers directly from the
Frank P. Gracey Camp 225 Commander, Don Horton.
Retail Price: $108.50 per marker; Discounted price: $82
per marker (plus shipping). For further information or to
place an order contact Don Horton at (931) 542-0140 or
by email: drhorton40@bellsouth.net.
     Individual units can be purchased on the National
SCV website: www.scv.org.

STATE CONVENTION COMING UP
Compatriots,
     It is once again time to join together for our Louisiana
Division Reunion.
     This year we will meet in Monroe on May 23. We are
going to meet at the Courtyard by Marriot Hotel which is
a new facility.
     The Division Executive Council meeting will be on
the night of the 22nd at the same facility at which all are
welcome to attend.
     The hotel has a block of rooms set aside for the Sons
of Confederate Veterans with a room rate of $119 per
night for a king or queen double room. The phone
number for the hotel is 318-388-0034 for reservations.
Ask for the Sons of Confederate Veterans rate.
     I hope that you will all attend. I also ask that you will
attend the awards banquet on the night of the
23rd beginning at 6:00 P.M. The meal will be catered by
Kayla's Kitchen from West Monroe. The buffet style
meal will consist of: brisket or pulled pork, twice baked
potatoes, green beans, and corn casserole. For desert
there is peach cobbler. Tea to drink or water.
     Our speaker that night will be Ronnie Kennedy
speaking on "Our past and our future." I feel sure that
you will want to be there as Ronnie is always interesting
and entertaining.
     Thank you and I look forward to seeing you there.

Thomas E Taylor
Commander, Louisiana Division
Sons of Confederate Veterans
tcrusader@juno.com
318-376-2898

Capt. Bryan Camp Cmdr. Dr. Andy Buckley
presented the Bryan Camp's U.S. History Medal
to Destiny Mock at DeQuincy High School.

Our Camp Namesake

CAPTAIN JAMES WESLEY BRYAN

Capt. James W. Bryan, circa 1890

[Excerpted from the Southwest Louisiana Biographical and

Historical by Wm. Perrin, New Orleans, La. 1891]

CAPT. J. W. BRYAN, Lake Charles Capt. J. W. Bryan is

descended from good old Irish ancestry, but the family has been

so long in this country, and become so thoroughly

Americanized, that few of the Irish traits now appear upon the

surface. One characteristic that remains, however, is that of

sterling honesty. His great-grandfather O'Brien immigrated to

America when a boy and settled in Virginia; married and raised

a family there. Luke Bryan, one of his sons, and the grandfather

of the subject of our sketch came to Louisiana early in life and

married Miss Rebecca W. Berwick, in 1802: from her family

Berwick's Bay derives its name. One of the sons born to them

was John Bryan, the father of Capt. Bryan, who was reared and

educated there. In early manhood he married Miss Nancy A.

Lyons, and, about 1832, settled in Calcasieu parish. In 1839 he

removed to Texas, and resided there until his death, in 1844,

when the family returned to Calcasieu parish. Here Mrs. Bryan

was married a second time, to Mr. Jacob E. Harmon, by whom

she had three children.

Capt. Bryan, whose name stands at the head of this sketch,

was born in this parish, December 28, 1834. Early educational

facilities were limited, and he belongs to that very numerous

class of prominent men who owe their education to their own

aspirations and unaided exertions to rise above the station in

which they were born to one of greater exertions and more

extensive and higher usefulness. Up to the time of his mother's

death, young Bryan spent his time farming and attending the

country schools, when here were any to attend, which in his

early days were few and far between. Not content with an

occupation in which his chances for development and

usefulness were so restricted, he determined to obtain a mental

discipline which would fit him for literary pursuits.

In this good republican country of ours, where organic laws

denounce hereditary patents to nobility most men indulge the

vanity of pride at achievements so marked and great as those

which lead and direct a Clay or a Lincoln from the humblest

walks of life to the highest position in the councils of the

nation. The great ambition of young Bryan was to fit himself

for literary work. To this end he attended school and

pursued a literary course, teaching and studying

alternately, until he attained the age of twenty-five years.

His course had not yet been completed when the civil

war came on and caused such confusion and

derangement in all the affairs of life. Laying aside all

selfish claims and personal desires, that he might serve

his country- unfettered, he quit school and in 1861

organized the militia of Calcasieu parish, for the purpose

of home protection. Early in 1862, being called on for

four companies, he organized the four volunteer

companies, and within twenty days from the time of

receiving the requisition, he was on the march to

Opelousas with these companies to report for duty,

from whence the command proceeded to New Orleans,

and thence to Camp Moore, and it was there that the

Twenty-eighth Louisiana Infantry, under Col. Allen

Thomas, which distinguished itself in the Battle of

Chickasaw Bayou, and the memorable Siege of

Vicksburg, which began on the 21st of May and was

raised on the 4th of July. During the siege Capt. Bryan,

being the ranking officer of his regiment, commanded it.

Col. Thomas having been promoted to brigadier general.

Capt. Bryan sheathed his sword when the cause was lost,

returned home and cast about him for "ways and means

"" to repair the ravages of the war. He resumed teaching,

which he continued for about four years, the last three in

the town of Lake Charles, studying and improving his

mind in the meantime. In 1869 he opened a mercantile

business in the' town, which he followed up to 1884. In

1871 he became editor and proprietor of the Lake

Charles Echo, which he conducted with great ability

until the 14th of March, 1890, when he sold the paper

and retired from its editorship. Under his management

the Echo became one of the ablest and most popular

country weeklies in Louisiana and contributed greatly to

the building up and development of Lake Charles and

Calcasieu parish. For some time Capt. Bryan has been

engaged in the real estate business. He has always taken

an active interest in the local affairs of the town and

parish, and he is especially noted for the interest he has

manifested in school work. To him, perhaps, more than

any one man is due the credit of the efficient school

system of Lake Charles. At different times Capt. Bryan

has served as mayor and councilman of the town, and

several times has represented his parish in the board of

police jurors, as well as General Assembly of the State.

Capt. Bryan was married to Miss Delia K. Singleton,

September 9, 1869.

They have three promising sons and five bright and

lovely daughters. The eldest of the latter is the wife of J.

C. F. Kyger. President of the Commercial College, of the

Baylor University, Waco, Texas.

[Editor’s note: Capt. Bryan died June 17, 1897 in Lake

Charles, La. and was buried in Orange Grove Cemetery.

He was so beloved and honored by the community that

the businesses closed for his funeral.]