To: The Sasser List From: Glenn E. Perry Among the various stories I heard from Lisle Hale during my visit to Blackwater in November, one of the most memorable relates to my great great grandfather, Jesse Sasser. As for the chain by which the account was transmitted, Lisle explained that, "Grandmother Sasser [I will have to ask who this was] told Mom, and Mom told me." The story was that when Jesse was in the Union army and expected to come through his home area he sent word to his family designating a spot in the woods for them to wait. He was to give a particular kind of whistle (bird call?) as he passed by so the baby, Frances Evelyn "Eb" (who later married George Glass), could be held out for him to see. The family did as Jesse suggested, and so Aunt Eb would later be able to say that her father had seen her although she never saw him. While to some this may sound more like a fairy tale than oral history, it could very well be true. The Wilderness Road, along which the two rival armies alternately advanced and retreated, was only about two miles away from Jesse's home, and one can imagine that Union sympathizers in particular went over to Mt. Olivet or Robinson to greet their troops as they marched by. To the extent that the story is credible, it may give us some indication of the date Jesse enlisted, that is, before Aunt Eb was born (March 9, 1862). ***************************************** Glenn E. Perry Department of Political Science Indiana State University Terre Haute, IN 47809 USA E-Mail: psperrg@scifac.indstate.edu (812)237-2505 (office) (812)234-5661 (home) ****************************************