>From: "Guy Potts" <[email protected]> >To: "Martha" <[email protected]> >Subject: Seven Springs >Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 17:51:12 -0800 >X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180 >X-Virus-Scanned: Symantec AntiVirus Scan Engine >X-Junkmail-Status: score=15/70, host=mr14.mrf.mail.rcn.net > >Saw this today in the News-Argus online and sent it to the Wayne list >and wondered if you'd be interested in sending it to the ones for Lenoir >and Greene - sounds like fun - Guy > >An 1862 Christmas on hand at the River House SEVEN SPRINGS -- The public >is invited to the River House this weekend to celebrate Christmas the way >it was celebrated in 1862 and to participate in a Civil War memorial service. > >At 6 p.m., visitors can take a trip back in time and sing Christmas carols >beside a campfire behind the River House at 100 Main Street in downtown >Seven Springs. The caroling will be led by Paige and Liz Dawson of Seven >Springs. > >Two Civil War cannons will fire during Saturday night. The Andrews Battery >of Goldsboro, under command of Danny Davis, and the 27th N.C. Infantry, >under command of Leslie Creech, will camp behind the River House Saturday >night. The public can tour several living history sites and hear and see >presentations showing how the soldiers spent their Christmas. > >And at the Seven Springs Museum other living history presentations will >show how the families and children on the homefront celebrated their >Christmas. In the museum amother will read Christmas stories to children. > >The presentations will continue until the people stop coming. The Civil >War re-enactors will remain encamped all night, and visitors can come and >go as they like. > >Other features Saturday night will be a outdoor Christmas tree decorated >with hardtack, a flour mixture dried like a large cracker. During the war, >the soldiers would often use it in the field. It would softened up in coffee. > >The hardtack will be cut in different shapes and hanging on the tree, >which will also be decorated with dried apples and oranges and garlands of >cranberries and popcorn. > >The 1862 Christmas is sponsored by the Seven Springs Area Historical >Society and the Andrews Battery Civil War Historical Association. > >At 2 p.m. on Sunday, the town will observe the 142nd anniversary of the >Battle of Whitehall with a memorial service. This will be the town's third >memorial service held to commemorate the battle. > >The honor guard will be the 27th N.C. Infantry. The cannons, fired by >Andrews Battery, will sound off three times during the ceremony. The >speaker will be Glen Fields, a member of the Historical Society and >long-time resident of Seven Springs. > >The public is welcome, and refreshments will be served after the service. >Bobby Mozingo, who lives at the river house with his wife, Karen, is a >member of both re-enactor units and a third one. > >Historical markers for the Civil War Trail are being erected at Whitehall >Landing on West River Street. The Civil War Trail starts in Virginia and >Maryland with red, white and blue historical markers along the highways >and at historical sites. Kinston is getting eight, Seven Springs one and >Goldsboro two. > >The markers tell the story of the Civil War. Seven Springs will be marked >as a Civil War historical site on a map at the N.C. Visitors Centers. The >town will also appear on a brochure directing tourists along the Civil War >Trail. > >"This is the first year it's been in North Carolina," said Mrs. Mozingo. >The first one in the state went up at Morehead City to explain the >Burnside Expedition between New Bern and the coast. Foster's Raid was >between New Bern and Goldsborough Bridge from Dec. 11 to Dec. 21 in 1862. > >"The overall objective was thinking they could pull Confederate troops out >of Petersburg so that Union forces would have a better chance of >destroying Lee's army, which did not work," said Mozingo. "All of these >Foster's Raid signs should be up by the end of March. Next is the Carolina >Campaign, which brought the end of the war." > >The Mozingos are co-chairmen of the Seven Springs Historical Society. They >said that, although the museum is being used this weekend, it will not be >ready until spring for a permanent opening. > >Bobby Mozingo's ancestors, the Whitfields, founded Whitehall, which later >became Seven Springs. "You won't run into many people around here who are >not related to us," he said. > >Mrs. Mozingo's mother used to talk about Seven Springs a lot. Her mother >told her on the fourth of July there wasn't anywhere to go but to Seven >Springs. > >They say the town has a rich history. At one time, it had three hotels, >the Seven Springs, the Sewell and the Ninth Spring. > >When John Lawson stopped at the village along side the river in 1710, they >say, the Indians were found running a trading post. They were trading with >white people, and everybody brought their sick to the "healing waters." > >By Bonnie Edwards - News-Argus - December 8, 2004 02:00 PM