Notes & Queries

Notes & Queries EDITED BY BOYD B. STUTLER 517 Main Street Charleston, West Virginia THIS DEPARTMENT IS DESIGNED as an open forum for researchers into Civü War themes and readers of CivÜ War History, for questions on and discussions of phases of the Great Conflict and its personnel. Also, we welcome newly discovered or unrecorded sidelights of the war. Contributions are invited; address Notes and Queries Editor. QUERIES No. 36—Was StonewaU Jackson a Mason: Several unconfirmed stories have come down through the years relative to the Masonic membership of Thomas J. (StonewaU) Jackson, but actual record of bis affiliation with the Order is lacking. It is well known that his father, Jonathan Jackson, and several other near relatives were officers or active members of Herman Lodge, A.F. & A.M., at Clarksburg, (W.) Virginia. It is further a matter of record that after the death of Jonathan Jackson in 1826, when the future Confederate General was two years old, his affairs were in such shape that the widow turned to Herman Lodge; the fraternity responded by furnishing a cottage and other material assistance ., Several instances are cited in Civil War memoirs strongly indicating Masonic membership; Simon WoU in his Presidents I have Known says that when he was captured by Confederates while driving a wagon loaded with suppUes for prisoners of Banks' Army, he asked to see the commanding officer, General Jackson, to whom he gave the sign of distress. He further asserts that Jackson answered the sign, set him free, and furnished an escort to see him safely to the Union lines. It has been suggested that he was made a Mason in a traveling miUtary lodge, probably 341 342BOYD B. STUTLER during the period of his service in Mexico, but if so no record of such membership is known to me. Research into the records of lodges near his places of residence after he attained manhood has not uncovered proof of affiliation. As the question stands, evidence of membership in the Craft is purely circumstantial, but as R. M. Needham, Lancaster, Ohio, points out, the same situation is true of Marquis Lafayette, with the added knowledge that he was received as a Mason in good standing as a visitor in certain lodges, documentary proof of which is available. However, in unpublished sections of letters from Jackson to his sister, Laura Jackson Arnold, there are statements that suggest some very close association with the Masonic order. On August 3, 1853, he mentions a dependent, and some hope of securing help from the lodge at Staunton, Virginia. On November 30, 1853, he again writes his sister that due to unexpected expenses the lodge had not paid the money, and he further observes thathe (Jackson ) would be in Richmond this winter and intended "to bring her case before the Grand Lodge of the State." Again in a letter dated February 14, 1854, he brings up the subject. It seems Ukely that he would not have been so interested in a purely lodge matter were he not a member. Again the evidence is purely circumstantial. Query: Was Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson ever a member of the Masonic order, and if so, where and when? Roy Bird Cook. No. 37—Confederate Emigration to South Africa: I am most interested in obtaining any references to migration from the South—particularly ex-Confederates—to South Africa immediately after Appomattox. I vaguely recaU having heard about several Confederates who moved their famüies to the Transvaal, later casting their lot with the Afrikaans in their war for independence. It is possible, of course, that the whole thing is a figment of my imagination, but perhaps some of the readers of Civil War History are in position to provide me with some information on this point. F. R. Dykstra. No. 38—Use of Grape and Canister: A favorite way, it seems, of describing a Civü War battle has the combat troops "facing a storm of canister and grape;" or as noted in the March number of this magazine: "Grape and canister scour the ground." For use against troops grape shot with its larger but fewer shots would seem to be relatively less efficient than canister. A 12-pounder would...