Major W.H. Howdy Martin Camp #1241 SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS Athens, Texas

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1 Major W.H. Howdy Martin Camp #1241 SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS Athens, Texas V O L U M E 4, I S S U E 4 A P R I L H O W D Y H E R A L D William Harrison Howdy Martin THE CHARGE TO THE SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we submit the vindication of the Cause for which we fought, to your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier s good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles he loved and which made him glorious and which you also cherish. Remember it is your duty to see that the true history of the South is presented to future generations. Lt. General Stephen Dill Lee General Commander United Confederate Veterans April 25, In 1861 during the War Between the States, William Harrison Martin enlisted in the Confederate Army and served in Company K of the 4th Texas Infantry that was assigned to Lee s Army of Northern Virginia. Martin gained his nickname because of his refusal to salute superior officers. Instead, he would politely tip his hat and say howdy. According to the Texas Historical Commission, Howdy Martin fought in the Eastern theater of operations in all of the fighting. After the signing of the surrender terms at Appomattox, Major Martin and Captain W. T. Hill led the remaining members of Hood s Texas Brigade back to the Lone Star State. He was born September 2, 1823, in Twiggs County, Georgia, to Benjamin and Charlotte Martin. His early schooling was in Alabama where he was admitted to the Bar. In 1850 he moved to Athens, Texas, and started a law practice in Henderson County. He represented Freestone, Limestone, Henderson, and Navarro counties from 1853 to 1858 in the Texas Senate. Answering the call, he raised a company of volunteers that became a part of Hood s Texas Brigade. In April, 1864, he was promoted from captain to major. After the war, Martin was elected district attorney. He married Martha E. Gallimore of Navarro County and the couple had seven children. He was later elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1887 and served in the 50th and 51st Congresses before retiring again to his farm near Athens. Howdy Martin was a member of the Hill County Camp of Confederate Veterans when he died at his final home in Hill County on February 5, A lawyer, a Confederate officer who served the entire Civil War and a congressman, at 76 years old Major Howdy Martin was buried at the Hillsboro City Cemetery. Read more about Howdy Martin s life, family and career on our camp website. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less. General Robert E. Lee

2 M A J O R W. H. H O W D Y M A R T I N C A M P # P A G E 2 Spotlight on Our Camp 1. Our April 12, 2016 SCV Camp Meeting was held at the Calvary Baptist Church Gym with Commander Jimmy Abney presiding. 2. 1st Lt Cmdr Ron Freeman led the pledges and salutes to the flags and reading of the Charge to the SCV. 3. Chaplain Jim Day gave the invocation and blessing for the food. We had 28 guests and members present to enjoy our pot luck menu of various Italian dishes. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meal. Our May menu focus is hamburgers/hotdogs with condiments, side dishes and desserts. Above left: Cmdr Abney welcomes our guest speaker Compatriot Rick Williams of Longview. 4. Cmdr Abney introduced our guest speaker, Compatriot Rick Williams of the General John Gregg Camp #958 in Longview. Everyone was reminded that Williams designed and made our four Howdy Camp banners. Tonight he spoke on the Virginia Military Institute s role in the Battle of New Market Virginia. He personally photographed his pictures of the VMI while touring the College. His enthusiasm and knowledge of the history of this institute was very evident during his presentation. Our members and guests greatly appreciated him sharing his love of the true history of the War of Northern Aggression. 5. Adjutant/Treasurer Don Bentley read the minutes of our March meeting as well as the financial report. Both were approved as presented by the membership present. 6. Adjutant/Treasurer Don Bentley proposed our May meeting menu to include hamburgers and hotdogs. He passed around a sign-up list. It was well received by those present. 7. In other business, Commander Abney asked for 5 members to attend the June SCV Reunion in Kerrville on June 3-5. Members planning to attend were Cmdr Abney, Adjutant/Tresturer Bentley, 1st Lt Cmdr Freeman, Chaplain Day, and Quartermaster Miller. 8. Cmdr Abney reminded everyone that April 26th is Confederate Memorial Day. Volunteers agreed to meet on Thursday, April 14th at 10:00am at the Athens City Cemetery for our 3rd annual placing of a Battle Flag on each Confederate Veteran s grave. Sixty-two CSA Veterans are listed on the Cemetery Memorial Wall. 9. Cmdr Abney presented to Quartermaster David Miller a Certificate of the Last Roll Call in memory of Compatriot Hody Porterfield who passed away on March 17th. 10. Chaplain Jim Day was presented a Guardian Certificate by Compatriot Phil Davis, Chairman of the Guardian Program and member of the SCV Camp #2109 Upshur County Patriots in Gilmer. Right: Quartermaster David Miller receives a Last Roll Call Certificate honoring Compatriot Hody Porterfield from Camp Commander Jimmy Abney.

3 M A J O R W. H. H O W D Y M A R T I N C A M P # P A G E Cmdr Abney also noted the following dates for us to remember: April 15 th -17 th - Mexia Battle Grounds Reenactment April 26 th - Confederate Memorial Day. Our Camp proudly places Battle Flags on Henderson County Graves. Cmdr Abney has Battle Flags and Chaplain Day has flag pipes for all our members to use. April 29 th -30 th Re-enactment at Jefferson, TX.. June 3 rd -5 th - SCV State Convention Kerrville, TX. We have 5 votes and need members to plan now to attend. Visit their website for more information Sunday, June 12 th Good Game Cemetery Annual Reunion. Our camp has been asked to host a memorial service. Contact Bunny Freeman for more information. July 13 th -17 th st National SCV Reunion in Richardson, TX. The Captain James Douglas Camp 124, Tyler is co-host. or contact Dennis Brand in Tyler at We need to assist the host camp with taking tickets, registration and giving directions at the convention area. 12. Advisor Jan Giles announced an OCR Chapter is being formed to support the Howdy Martin Camp. 13. Cmdr Abney called for names for our camp Prayer List. Prayer was requested for Chaplain Jim Day, Sharon Williams, Rick Williams, Mike Buchannan, Bentley family, our Elections, our Military, June Reunion. 14. Before adjourning, Chaplain Day gave the benediction and lead in the singing of Dixie. Left from the Right: Guardian Program Chairman Phil Davis presents Chaplain Jim Day certificates for the six CSA Veterans whom he pledged to visit each grave and provide any immediate maintenance including a new Battle Flag when needed. See Chaplain Day for Guardian Applications or other information. Standing with Day is his wife, Teresa. Photo by Luke Freeman Below: Howdy Camp Compatriot Buster Horn and his cannon Liberty played a big role in the battle reenactment at the Confederate Reunion Grounds in Mexia this past weekend. Compatriots Steve and Bryan Dale Sifers were part of Buster s Cannon Crew. Thank you Bryan for submitting this hard-to-get SHOT!

4 MAJOR W.H. HOWDY MARTIN CAMP #1241 PAGE April 12, 2016 Howdy Camp Meeting Howdy Camp members and guests enjoyed our Italian pot luck dinner menu which included two spaghetti dishes, vegetables and casseroles, French loaf bread, and multiple desserts and drinks. Our meetings are a delightful time of good food and great fellowship. 4

5 MAJOR W.H. HOWDY MARTIN CAMP #1241 PAGE Howdy Camp April Guest Speaker Compatriot Rick Williams G e n e r a l J o hn Gre g g S CV Ca mp # 9 5 8, L o n g v i e w, T X Howdy Camp guests and members enjoyed Compatriot Williams presentation on the Virginia Military Institute. He has toured this campus more than once while on vacations. He shared with us his collection of slides for added emphasis for his story about the role of the VMI in the War of Northern Aggression. His research touched on the lives of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, a famous Jewish Confederate Soldier and artist Moses Ezekiel, and the ten cadets who died in the Battle of New Market. He noted 274 very young teenagers were called to provide support to defend the Shenandoah Valley against General Grant s Union forces. Six of these young cadets are buried on the VMI Campus near a statue named Virginia Military Institute Mourning Their Dead and they are honored with a ceremony annually. The movie Field of Lost Shoes tells the story of these courageous young soldiers as they charged across a muddy field and lost their shoes. It is the 2014 Winner of the Best Dramatic Feature. 5

6 M A J O R W. H. H O W D Y M A R T I N C A M P # P A G E 6 April is Confederate History Month Our own Howdy Martin made front page news on April 9, 1964 in the Athens Daily Review From above: EDITOR S NOTE: This is the first in a two-part series on Henderson County participants in the Civil War. At this time, the second part has not been located.

7 MAJOR W.H. HOWDY MARTIN CAMP #1241 PAGE Howdy Martin Camp Remembers Hen d er s o n Co u n ty Co n f ed era te Vetera n s 1st Lt James Avruett Athens City Cemetery Rev J. W. Johnson King Cemetery, Aley, TX Northwest Henderson County 2nd Lt John W Ballow Athens City Pioneer Cemetery Section B D. A. Ard Athens City Cemetery Section P Left: Durham Avant and Right:: William P. Avant Providence Baptist Church, Tool Cemetery Sergent Asa E. Ayers Athens City Cemetery Section A James A. Boyd Athens City Cemetery Section L Editor s Note: It is my hope that this page in your Howdy Herald Newsletter will be filled each month of pictures or lists of CSA Veterans who are honored by SCV Compatriots as Guardians or by regular placing of Battle Flags. Please me all of the CSA Veterans you have honored. As Commander Abney said, our Camp has Battle Flags and First National Flags and Howdy Camp Flag Pipes for your use to respectively honor our CSA Veterans. 7

8 M A J O R W. H. H O W D Y M A R T I N C A M P # P A G E 8 From the Commander Greetings, I hope you enjoyed our April camp meeting as much as I did. It was well attended and if you didn t get to come, you missed a truly wonderful program and an extra nice meal. I want to extend my sincere appreciation to our 1st Lt Commander Ron Freeman for his diligence in securing excellent speakers for our meetings. I have learned so much recently about our Southern history right here at home. When you see Ron, I know you too will want to tell him how much you have enjoyed our speakers. Compatriot Rick Williams brought with him a story and slideshow of the Virginia Military Institute and the Battle of New Market. We could all quickly feel his love for the lives of the many Southern heroes who were at the VMI during various times of the War of Northern Aggression. Commander Jimmy Abney Williams emphasized the passion of the young cadets who responded to their call to duty with ten giving their young lives to The Cause. If you missed hearing him, you could learn more about the VMI by watching at home the movie, Field of Lost Shoes. Thank you Compatriot Williams for your presentation that made a significant impression on me and I am sure many others, It seems my theme for this report is bragging so I have another thought to share. On Thursday after our meeting, myself and seven members plus two lady advisors all met at the Athens City Cemetery. In about two hours we successfully found 59 Confederate Veteran graves and paid tribute to them with a new Battle Flag in recognition for their service. After we visited just a little, Color Sargent Terry Teems played Taps before we left. Compatriots, it felt good seeing all those beautiful flags flying as we drove out the gates. I encourage you to take a few minutes and drive by to see for yourself. The South is not dead. Through the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the South is alive and those ancestors who paid the ultimate price whether laid at rest in Athens, Texas or the Virginia Military Institute will never ever be forgotten! See you at our May 9th Camp Meeting! Your Commander, Jimmy Abney Keep Your Flag Flying! Howdy s Flag is framed and is proudly displayed at the Henderson County Historical Museum located at 217 North Prairieville Street in Athens. At the August Camp meeting, members voted their approval to special order a reproduction of the flag for use at various Howdy Martin Camp events.

9 M A J O R W. H. H O W D Y M A R T I N C A M P # P A G E 9 Adjutant/Treasurer Don R. Bentley As the old saying goes, I ve got some good news and I ve got some bad news. Let me tell you the good news first. These articles appeared on the USA Today Network. At a time when some cities and states are removing monuments to Confederate soldiers and Confederate battle flags, members of three Confederate groups in Alabama are planning to erect a monument featuring a large Confederate flag in front of one of the nation's oldest state-sponsored historically black colleges Don R. Bentley here, the Tallassee Tribune reported. According to the Tribune, leaders of the Tallassee chapter of Sons of Confederate Veterans, Tallassee Armory Guard and First Capitol Flaggers announced at a meeting this week that donations had been given to support the building of the site, which will be located along Interstate 85 on land donated by a Montgomery doctor. The group wouldn t provide the name of the doctor because it didn t want people to pitch a fit. A leader of the Tallassee Confederate Veterans group, Dana Jones, told the newspaper the flag pole would be 50 feet tall and that she hoped everyone can see it. When WACQ-AM owner Fred Randall Hughey told the gathered crowd where the flag would be located directly across from Alabama State University a loud cheer went up. When asked about the message the flag s location might send, given the current racial climate in the country, Jones said her group had no intentions of antagonizing. We are descendants of Confederate veterans, she said. Our lives matter just as much. USA Today Network Josh Moon, Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser (2/15/2016) That s the good news. This camp and other supporters are truly standing up for Dixie. It is something that we all must do as Sons of Confederate Veterans. Why? Now the bad news! Calls to remove the Confederate battle flag often considered a symbol of slavery from government buildings and colleges grew louder over the summer after the shooting of nine people at a historically black church in Charleston, S.C. The suspected gunman, Dylann Roof, posted online pictures of himself holding the Confederate flag. The June 17 shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church spurred calls from around the country to remove the Confederate flag from prominent places, including the statehouse grounds. A week after the shooting, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley had the flags removed from the capitol building. Bentley called it the right thing to do. Colleges and universities in the South also removed the flag from campus, including the University of Mississippi. When Ole Miss took the flag down in October, it became the fourth public university in Mississippi to do so. In December, the New Orleans City Council voted to remove four Confederate statues. There was no timetable to remove the statues, but at the time Mayor Mitch Landrieu said the monuments represented the wrong side of history and should be relocated to a Civil War museum after removal from public places. Contributing: WWL-TV, New Orleans; The Associated Press. Ironically, Gov. Robert Bentley (no close kin to me as far as I know) recently is allegedly in deep trouble over some type of sex scandal. He did resign his position. Maybe he should have spent more time focusing his attention on standing up for Dixie instead of focusing his attention on his female assistant. That s what I would call the right thing to do not only for the Governor.but for us as well! Don R. Bentley Adjutant/Treasurer

10 MAJOR W.H. HOWDY MARTIN CAMP #1241 PAGE 10 Howdy Camp Compatriots....Caught on Camera Athens City Cemetery on April 14, 2016 Front row Left: Ron Freeman, Commander Jimmy Abney, Jim Day Back row Left: Terry Teems, David Miller, Luke Freeman, Don Bentley, Steve Sifers For the third year, Howdy Compatriots proudly placed 59 Battle Flags on the final resting place of local CSA Veterans in the City of Athens Cemetery. Color Sargent Terry Teems played Taps before we left. It was a great day of fellowship with each other as we worked together to honor our brave Confederate Ancestors.

11 M A J O R W. H. H O W D Y M A R T I N C A M P # P A G E 11 Tr u e C o n f e d e rate Histo r i c a l Fa c t s D o n R. B e n t l e y (Part 1 of a 3 part series) W hat we see happening in the United States today is an apt illustration of why the Confederate flag was raised in the first place. What we see materializing before our very eyes is tyranny: tyranny over the freedom of expression, tyranny over the freedom of association, tyranny over the freedom of speech, and tyranny over the freedom of conscience. In 1864, Confederate General Patrick Cleburne warned his fellow southerners of the historical consequences should the South lose their war for independence. He was truly a prophet. He said if the South lost, It means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy. That our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the war; will be impressed by all of the influences of History and Education to regard our gallant dead as traitors and our maimed veterans as fit subjects for derision. No truer words were ever spoken! History revisionists flooded America s public schools with Northern propaganda about the people who attempted to secede from the United States, characterizing them as racists, extremists, radicals, hatemongers, traitors, etc. You know, the same way that people in our federal government and news media attempt to characterize Christians, patriots, war veterans, constitutionalists, et al. today. As Sons of Confederate Veterans, we need to understand that the only people in 1861 who believed that states did NOT have the right to secede were Abraham Lincoln and his radical Republicans. To say that southern states did not have the right to secede from the United States is to say that the thirteen colonies did not have the right to secede from Great Britain. One cannot be right and the other wrong. If one is right, both are right. How can we celebrate our Declaration of Independence in 1776 and then turn around and condemn the Declaration of Independence of the Confederacy in 1861? Talk about hypocrisy! In fact, southern states were not the only states that talked about secession. After the southern states seceded, the State of Maryland fully intended to join them. In September of 1861, Lincoln sent federal troops to the State capital and seized the legislature by force in order to prevent them from voting. Federal provost marshals stood guard at the polls and arrested Democrats and anyone else who believed in secession. A special furlough was granted to Maryland troops so they could go home and vote against secession. Judges who tried to inquire into the phony elections were arrested and thrown into military prisons. There is your great emancipator, folks. Before the South seceded, several northern states had also threatened secession. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island had threatened secession as far back as James Madison s administration. In addition, the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware were threatening secession during the first half of the nineteenth century--long before the southern states even considered such a thing. People say constantly that Lincoln saved the Union. Lincoln didn t save the Union; he subjugated the Union. There is a huge difference. A union that is not voluntary is not a union. Does a man have a right to force a woman to marry him or to force a woman to stay married to him? In the eyes of God, a union of husband and wife is far superior to a union of states. If God recognizes the right of husbands and wives to separate on the grounds of sexual immorality (and He does), to try and suggest that states do not have the right to lawfully (under Natural and divine right) separate is the most preposterous proposition imaginable. People say that Lincoln freed the slaves. Lincoln did NOT free a single slave. But what he did do was enslave free men. His so-called Emancipation Proclamation had NO AUTHORITY in the southern states, as they had separated into another country. Imagine a President today signing a proclamation to free folks in, say, China or Saudi Arabia. He would be laughed out of Washington. Lincoln had no authority over the Confederate States of America, and he knew it. Don t you find it interesting that Lincoln s proclamation did NOT free a single slave in the United States, the country in which he DID have authority? That s right. The Emancipation Proclamation deliberately ignored slavery in the North. Do you realize that when Lincoln signed his proclamation, there were over 300,000 slaveholders who were fighting in the Union army? Check it out. One of those northern slaveholders was General (and later U.S. President) Ulysses S. Grant. In fact, he maintained possession of his slaves even after the War of Northern Aggression concluded. Recall that his counterpart, Confederate General Robert E. Lee, freed his slaves BEFORE hostilities between North and South ever broke out. When asked why he refused to free his slaves, Grant said, Good help is hard to find these days. The institution of slavery did not end until the 13th Amendment was ratified on December 6, Speaking of the 13th Amendment, did you know that Lincoln authored his own 13th Amendment? It is the only amendment to the Constitution ever proposed by a sitting U.S. President. Here is Lincoln s proposed amendment: No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give Congress the power to abolish or interfere within any state with the domestic institutions thereof, including that a person's held to labor or service by laws of said State. You read it right. Lincoln proposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution PRESERVING the institution of slavery. This proposed amendment was written in March of 1861, a month BEFORE the shots were fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. (Part 2 in next month s newsletter) Standing Up for Dixie, Don R. Bentley Adjutant/Treasurer

12 M A J O R W. H. H O W D Y M A R T I N C A M P # P A G E 12 April is Confederate History Month! Eric in Canton has supplied our Howdy Camp with flags for several years. Prayer Requests Health issues: Local Needs and Our Nation * Jim Day * Our next meeting May 9th * Sharon Williams * Pray for the June SCV Reunion * Rick Williams * Pray for all upcoming elections A reminder of our Second Monday Camp Meeting is published in the Athens Daily Review in its Community Calendar each day for the week prior to our meeting! * Bentley Family * Pray for our military * Mike Buchannan, Annette Green s brother Howdy Martin Camp meetings are on the Second Monday of each month. We meet at the Calvary Baptist Church Gym in Athens on the corner of Hwy 175 East and Crestway Drive. Notice of our camp meetings may be found listed in the Athens Review Newspaper in the Community Calendar section. Meetings begin at 6:30pm with a pot luck dinner furnished by members followed by a short historical program. Guests are welcome and you may bring your family. WELCOME TO THIS MONTH S ISSUE OF THE Major W H Howdy Martin SCV Camp1241 HOWDY HERALD NEWSLETTER It is our goal to share the news of all members of our camp in such a way that this newsletter and all that follow will honor and pay respect to all past and present family of our great Southern States. Members are encouraged to bring to our camp meetings articles for submission to this publication. The deadline for entries is the Monday following our regular 2nd Monday camp meeting. Jim Day, Editor/ Chaplain 7751 CR 3713, Athens, TX

13 M A J O R W. H. H O W D Y M A R T I N C A M P # P A G E 1 3 This Chaplain s Message is dedicated in memory of Brother Len Patterson for his years of service to his Lord and to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Our Camp #1241 has been honored to receive permission from Ms Patterson to reprint Brother Len s messages that were written from his heart to share his testimony of salvation through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Window Dressing! My wife is our "in-home" decorator. She fills our home with a wide and varied assortment of bric -a-brac, knick-knacks, wall hangings, and what-not. She has stuff on every table, mantle, wall, and in every corner. Our kids refer to my wife's decorator items as "do-dads," and my father used to call them "dust collectors." Of course, they make our home attractive, but they don't really serve any useful daily purpose. So, they're what most people call "window dressing." When I was in Bible school, occasionally one of the ministerial students would get an opportunity to lead services in a local church which was without a pastor. Any time you preach in a church that doesn't have a pastor, you are subject to being asked back for consideration. The following Monday we would ask him how things went. Then he might say, "They're not looking for a pastor. They just want someone to marry their young, and bury their dead." This is called "show and tell." They want a pastor to "show" up on Sunday so they can "tell" people they have one. But to them, he really doesn't serve any useful purpose. Now, the pastor's purpose is to teach the Scriptures and lead the congregation to a better and more meaningful relationship with our Lord. But if they're not interested in studying the Scriptures, and are quite satisfied with their relationship with God, then they don't see a pastor's real purpose. For the most part, he's just window dressing. The same can be said of SCV Chaplains. Chaplains in the SCV serve a useful and vital purpose. They are ministers and servants of the Lord. The Apostle Paul writes, "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle to all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." (2 Tim. 2: 24-26) Perhaps the primary responsibility of the Chaplains in the SCV is to help every member see and understand that not only is their life without Christ hopeless, but that the only hope for the Sons of Confederate Veterans to overcome the opposition we face, and succeed in our commitment to the Charge, is an abiding faith and trust in God by His Son Jesus Christ. As this is realized, we will understand the importance of SCV Chaplains. They are absolutely necessary to the success and well being of the SCV, and not just a pretty window dressing. May our Lord bless the Chaplains of the Sons of Confederate Veterans as they serve Him in seeking the spiritual well-being of it's members. Bro Len speaks at the Confederate Veteran s Memorial Plaza Dedication

14 M A J O R W. H. H O W D Y M A R T I N C A M P # P A G E 1 4 William Harrison Martin Old Howdy Bill Martin, Attorney State Senator Captain Co. K 4th TX Inf, CSA Major, 4th Texas, CSA District Attorney U.S. Congressman, Texas Husband, Father, Grandfather Great Grandfather Above: Major W. H. Howdy Martin Above: Howdy s Grave, Hillsboro City Cemetery, Hillsboro, TX. Right: Howdy s Marker is located in Athens on Hwy 19 South in the Confederate Park. Camp Officers 2016 Commander Jimmy Abney 1st Lt Commander Ron Freeman 2nd Lt Commander Jim Ogburn, MD 3rd Lt Commander Luke Freeman Adjutant/Treasurer Don R. Bentley Chaplain Jim Day Color Sgt Terry Teems Sgt at Arms Gaylon Patterson Quartermaster David Miller Webmaster Michael Burton Historian Luke Freeman Aide de Camp Jesse Giles Surgeon Aaron Freeman The Sons of Confederate Veterans is a genealogical-historical non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history and honoring the memory of our Confederate ancestors. Opinions expressed by individual writers of the Howdy Herald Newsletter are their own and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Howdy Martin Camp #1241 Athens, TX. We reserve the right to edit all submissions due to limited space for such material that honors and supports The Charge given to us in the year 1906 that may be found herein. This Newsletter is compiled and submitted to our Webmaster as nearly the same date as possible immediately following our Camp s monthly meeting.