To read more on the Darthula Ross case study, click here.
One way to gain an insight into an ancestor’s life is to view historic newspapers. Alabama Archives have digitized Civil War era newspapers, which is a tremendous resource. This collection contains newspapers from the entire state, including some from Lauderdale and Limestone County. Reading these newspapers can help place Darthula in context and history.
The digitized Lauderdale County newspapers include the years of the Civil War and Reconstruction, from 1861-1874. The newspapers included in the digitzed collection are the Florence Gazette, Lauderdale Times, and the Florence-Times Journal.
Florence Gazette, February 1861. In the far right column there is a list of elected representatives selected to attend a state convention to discuss succession.
Table of Contents
Questions
When I began my reading of these newspapers, I was looking for any mention of the Ross and Langford families. I also wanted to find the names of the military units and where they fought. There are a number of allied families that I was also interested in and I watched for anyone with matching last names.
Civil War Newspapers Reveal History
Reading through these papers chronologically reveals a lot of what life must have been like. Prior to the official start of the war, there is a clear division between those for and against hostilities and succession. The newspaper seems to support succession and reports positively for representatives that voted for it.
The paper has a lot of political reporting, but once succession and hostilities start the paper is in full support of the war. There was a belief that the South could sustain themselves independent from the rest of the country. There were drives to collect supplies for the soldiers. Poems and songs written to celebrate the patriotism* of the volunteers. The people of Lauderdale County truly believed they would win.
With in about one year of the war starting, you can see clear signs that war was not going well and that life had turned very hard. The Northern side had cut off supplies. Those supplies impacted both soldiers and citizens. There were shortages for just about everything including paper. The newspaper reduced in size and the editor is begging for funds to purchase paper from other sources.
Many of the young men of the county quickly joined various military units. The Florence Guards is one unit that formed from locals. This unit was eventually absorbed by other larger groups. Tracing what happened to the men in these groups is hard because most of the Alabama units were reformed after battles due to losses.
The newspaper listed the names of soldiers of some of the units but not all. Generally, the commanding officers were listed. Alabama soldiers fought in Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia. It is not known how many Alabama men joined the fight and the records are incomplete. The newspaper does provide some insights, including some casualty lists.
The newspaper appears to have stopped publication by 1863 and restarts in 1871. It also appears the paper changes ownership as the title of the paper changes.
Conclusion
The Civil War and Reconstruction newspapers for Lauderdale County do not mention any Langford or Ross individual. It did discuss some of the military units, but the record is likely incomplete. The newspaper did provide insight into life in the beginning of the Civil War.
*Describing Confederate soldiers as patriotic may be controversial. In the minds of the people of that time, they were patriotic to their cause for self-determination. That self-determination included the ability to choose slavery. We can look back to that time with a different perspective and question the idea, but the people historically viewed themselves as patriotic. Articles from the newspapers tell this story.
