MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON
MONDAY, APRIL 24, 1961
Robert E. Lee Joins the South
By MERTON TAKERS
TIPI Correspondent
The man on the railroad
platform at Alexandria, Va.,
waiting for a Richmond train
on Monday morning, April 22,
1861', wore a high silk hat and
neat civilian dress, but he
stood erect with a bearing
that bespoke military service.
At 54, Robert Edward Lee
Was starting a new career,
and starting It with heavy
heart. Two days before he had
cut the ties of a quarter of a
century by resigning his com
mission as. lieutenant, colonel
In the U. S. Army.
His had been a. brilliant ca
reer - honor cadet at West
Point1, ''.later Its superintend
ent; engineering genius of the
Mexican War who had won
the plaudits of Gen. Winfield
Scott; a man "worth 50,000
soldiers" and whose life should
be insured by the government
for $5 million a year, Scott
said. For all that, his , salary
In that quarter-century never
was more than $1,024 a year.
Family Rich in Heritage
Lee was 5 feet, 11 inches
tall. His trunk and head gave
, the impression of masslveness.
.' In April '61 he Wore a dark
- mustache, his brown-hair was
graying, but the silver was
noticeable only.' a few .'feet
away. The beard, which ev
ery school boy knows, he
grew in future campaigning,
( He came to the station that
morning from Arlington Hall,
a many-pillared mansion atop
q ma across me roiomainrom
Washington and crammed
with relicts of George-.Wash
ington, to' mat nouse, wmcn
he never would know again
as home, he had come acourt-
lng Mary Ann Randolph Cur
tis, a daughter of Washing
ton's adopted son and an heiress.
He was. a son of one of
. Washington's generals, Light
Horsi Harry Lee. He had been
born to the Virginia . purple
not far . away at Stratford
Hall. His forebears had help
ed to forge the nation with
Jefferson, . Henry, Franklin
and Madison. But the Lees
had fallen on bad times and
when young Robert paid court
to Mary it was as a suitor rich
in heritage and poor in purse.
Lee had come to Washing
ton in March from Texas
where he was lieutenant col
onel of the 2nd Cavalry, so
called "Confederate cadre"
because' it was organized by
Jefferson. Davis when he was
secretary of war and contain
ed a heavy percentage of
southern officers. a
Decision Is Difficult
The Union was breaking up.
Many army officers were re
signing and going South. Lee
had to make up his mind. He
went to see old Francis P.
Blair, who lived in the Blair
House on Pennsylvania Ave.
in Washington and whose pub
lic services dated back to the
Jacksonian era. The meeting
was at Blair's request and
occurred April 18, 1861. Blair
offered to Lee, on President
Lincoln's behalf, command of
the Union armies then begin
ning to take shape. Lee with
held his answer, went to see
his old friend. Gen, Scott, and
rode back to Arlington.
The next night in his own
room- he made his decision.
"Mrs. Lee heard him pace the
floor and at last drop to his
knees in prayer.
'After midnight, -he ,came
down and showed her a letter
to,NGeni ; Scott resigning his
commission in which he said:
"Save In defense of my na--
tive state, I never desire again
to draw my sword." ... . j
Named Major General
Lee was no secessionist. He
was against slavery, believing
it hurt the masters more than
the slaves. But he had a deep
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Library Services For Senior Citizens Reviewed in County
A 7
loyalty to his state, a common
trait of the day.
The next day, Sunday after
church, Lee met three strange
men, presumably messengers
from Richmond. On Monday
he was ready to go to Richmond.
Mrs. Lee, a chronic sufferer
from arthritis, remained at
Arlington and began to box
the Washington mementoes to
send deep, into Virginia, for
Arlington was in sight of the
White House and a prime
federal target. ,
That evening in Richmond
Gov. John Letcher made Lee
a major general commanding
all the states forces. .(The
state's "arsenal" at the mo
ment consisted of 60,000 mus
kets, 54,000. of them flintlocks,
and 200 kegs of powder.)
Lee had no more than sat
down at his desk in his one
room office when a delegation
invited him to appear before
the secession convention.
There the convention presi
dent, John Janney, eulogized
him in language even more
flowery than was common In
that day.
'Yesterday, your mother,
Virginia, placed her sword in
your hand ; we know . ; .
you will draw it only in her
defense, and that you-will fall
with it in yoUr hand rather
man tnat tne object for which
it was placed there shall fall,"
Janney said, -V
Lee replied briefly. "I
would have much- preferred
had - your choice fallen on
an abler man," and accepted
the trust.
Order From Chaos '
The ' ceremony over, Lee
saw Vice President Alexander
H. Stephens of the Confeder
acy who was concerned over
Lee's rank. The Confederacy
at the time offered no rank
above brigadier general. Vir
ginia technically was not yet
a member of the Confederacy.
There migh.t be a clash of
ranks. Lee understood and
told Stephens not to worry,
that his rank would not be
allowed to interfere. In a few
days Virginia gave the Con
federacy control of - its mili
tary forces.
Lee assembled a small staff.
one. of them, John Washing
ton, great nephew of Gen.
Washington, and started out
to bring order out of the mili
tary chaos. His time was lim
ited. A federal invasion could
be expected anytime ; after
May,. 28, the.-.date when the
state would vote on secession,
already an accomplished fact.
He shored up the defenses of
the lower James river, the
water gateway to Richmond
and . where the federals still
held Fortress Monroe. He sent
rapidly gathering military
companies to Harper's Ferry
and to Manassas to protect the
northern line. '
Grant Seeks Appointment
Soon after the Confederacy
took over he had the military
situation as well in hand as
was possible amid the confu
sion. Also by that time anoth
er army man - an ex-captain
-was writing to the adjutant
general m Washington look
ing for a job.
Having served 15 years in
the Regular Army, including
four years at West Point, and
feeling it the duty of every,
one who has been -educated
at government expense to of
fer their services . '. . I have
the honor, very respectfully,
to tender my services, until
the close of the war, in such
a capacity as may be offered."
The letter was stoned 'U. S.
Grant." He thought he was
competent to be a colonel, he
wrote.
Lee would surrender to this
U. S. Grant, a lieutenant gen
eral, just four years and many
battles later. Grant would rise
one rank at a time, starting
at the level of ills own estima
tion, colonel, but in the serv
ice of the State of Illinois.
not the Regular Army. He
went to the post office every
day lor a month for the an
swer that never came.
ms letter was round in a
War Department pigeon hole
only after Grant became Pres
ident and had it searched out.
Special library services to
senior citizens and other
privileges for library patrons
have been reviewed during
National Library ' week . by
spokesmen of the' Public Li
brary of Medford and Jackson
county. '
Senior citizens, persons at
least 69 years old, may now
have books mailed to them
free; as well as be provided
with materials to return the
books by mail postage-paid.
Books not returned within
the two-week loan period will
automatically be renewed.
Telephone renewals are
also accepted, according to
MacLaren School Escapees Caught
Portand - (UPD r Three es
capees from the MacLaren
School for Boys near Wood
burn were apprehended here
Oregon Has Chance For Education Grant
Salem - (UPD - Dr. Leon P.
Minear, state superintendent
of public instruction, said Sat
urday the chances of Oregon
getting a multi-million dollar
private grant for education
appear "increasingly favora
ble." '
Minear reported on a trip
to New York to confer with
officials of the foundation
where application has been
made.
Saturday night. ;.' .
Portland police brought the
boys into custody. The youths,
one 15 and two 16-years-old,
were in possession of a car
stolen at North Bend Satur
day morning.
They escaped from Mac
Laren April 14.
- Police said they found two
revolvers and a hunting knife
in the car's glove compart-
'ment.
library officials. Books may
be requested by telephone, by
mail, or in person either by
senior citizens or by someone
else for a senior citizen.
Book lists are to be pre
pared regularly and distrib
uted to the senior citizens. In
addition, a brochure listing
information concerning this
service is to be distributed by
local groups interested in the
problems of senior citizens.
Persons at least 65 years of
age wishing to take advantage
of this library service should
contact the library for addi
tional information.
Included in the services of
the local library is an ever
increasing record collection,
Records also are being accu
mulated so Branch libraries
throughout the county will
have records shelved. -
A union catalogue with the
Ashland library has recently
been completed, making avail-
Portland Gas Price
Drops To 16.9 Cents
Portland-IUPD- Bill Hauck's
"Flying A" service- station
slashed regular gasoline prices
to 16.0 cents a gallon Friday.
The price was still in effect
today with business picking
up.
Hauck said he took the ac
tion to "shock" dealers to end
the current gas price war be
ing waged here.
Pearson, Barton
'Most Effective'
Salem - (DPD - Sen. Waller
J. Pearson (D-Portland) and
Rep. Clarence Barton (D-
Coquille) have been judged
the two most effective mem
bers of the 1061 legislature in
a poll of the legislative press
corps.
The poll, conducted by the
Oregon Statesman, gave
Pearson six votes for most
effective senator and Barton
four votes for most effective
representative.
Others, In order, were Sen
Anthony Yturri (R-Ontario),
Speaker Robert Duncan (D-
Medford), Senate President
Harry Boivin (D-Klamath
Falls). Mention went to Reps.
George Layman (R-Newberg),
Rushed to us from
Sunny California
'specially for you .
T
able to users of both libraries'
volumes listed only Dy one oi;
the libraries. ;
Although the Medford-sys-4
tern withdrawal cards have;
been honored for several)
months in Ashland, for ..thai
first time in several years a
free interchange of borronf
ing privileges is being - re
sumed at the Rogue Rivef.
branch. T' i C 4
Library personnel have" re-'
minded residents that volumes
not in the county libraries',
may be obtained by the Mea;
ford library from the Oregon
State library. Requests of this
type are filled without charge.''
Book patrons may also bbr:
row or return books to Shy
branch in the county. -
I Jllllllll ? " ' fill
Q';
40 Years Serving--The
Northwest
NEW CALIFORNIA
White Rose
U.S. No, 1
These
' famous
"long whites'' arc a sure sign
of spring . . . flakey thin skins,
a new low price. . ; ",'"'
Parsleyed potatoes offer three-way appeal; they have
an Irresistible fresh taste, they're downright pretty,
and they're mighty thrifty. Serve some tonlghtl
Grapefruit
II .bs. 4fc
Marshseedless Sun
kilt "Desert Crown".
8-lb.
bag
llaarl I AltllAA Large, firm
bail hoiiuvtf
solid heads.
49c
29c
Cucumbers V.'.?.
crunchy;
perfect slicers
Yellow Onions g$?a
each IOC
3 ibs. 25c
CRISCO
WESSON
CANNED
your favorite
OIL
MILK
Your favorit for
cooking or salads
lb.
Can
Quart
Carnation
Bordans,
Sago
Tall
Cant
79
29
Hot Sauce DHe' on 3 f.r 29c Ice Milk
Lucerne
Frozen Dessert
Utah
49c
flliaasa I f Van Zee
VIIO930 kuai
Bread
Why Pay More?
NEW Skylark
Western Farms
69 c
large
loaf
35c
Wyler's
Mix
Skylark Bread
Cigarettes Vilte orKing si
"Eft9 35c
Ctn.
$1.79
Coffee SlffiT1'1 2 ,b, $1.00
10c
59c
59c
Beef-Noodle Soup
Reddi-Whip
Mazola Oil
Instant
Topping
lbs.
2-oi.
Pkg.
6-OI.
can
A real
low price
It.
BEST
FOODS
MAYONNAISE quart
Mu Made Mayonnaise
FAMOUS KRAFT SALAD DRESSINGS
French or Miracle French 8.01 29c 16-oz. 47c
Casino French Dressing
24-oz.
jar
39c
8-oi. bottle
Italian or Catalina
Roka Blue g.0,. 45c
. 8-o j. bottle
Low Calorie
French ,
8-oi.
39c
39c
43c
1 Do II
Reg. 75c ... for all
your washday needs.
. Gets clothes really
white.'
Giant pkg.
White Magic IV,
giant
pkg.
45c
3 VALUABLE COUPON ,. . . NO CASH VALUE . C
This Coupon Is Worth
TOWARD THE PURCHASE OF
mwm
Boneless, cooked, no waste
each. (Expires 42761)-
Regularly $2.49 with this coupon $1.99. 3 pounds
3 VALUABLE COUPON . . . NO CASH VALUE
Zee Dinner Napkins
Blue Bell Potato Chips
Snow's Minced Clams
Kaiser Quilted Foil
Trend Dry Detergent
C-20 Detergent
2
3 39c
Triple
Pak
7'i-oi.
can
25.fr.
roll
69c
31c
35c
Cap't. Choice
8-oi.
Chicken Turkey Beef 12-oi. pkg.
15c Off Pack
WE GIVE
2,2S'39c
ft 80c
LOOK WHAT A DOLLAR BUYS AT SAFEWAY!
Breaded Fish Sticks
Chefs Tamales
Del Monte Sausage Rolls
All Beef Sausage Delicately seasoned
Prices effective Monday, April 24 thru Wednesday, April
26, at Safeway in Medford. We reserve the right to limit.
pkg. TV
nrirJ"
Mb. roll J Match 'em , :
1 -lb. each
mm
-' H. D. CHRISTENSEN
Victor Atiyeh (R-Portland), F
GOLD BOND STAMPS
F. Montgomery (R-Eugene)
and William Holms trom (D-
Gearhart).
o
- . , '.-.. kt::::.