Description:

Civil War

2pp AM on lined pale blue paper measuring 7.875” x 12” dated October 27, 1862 and addressed to Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown. The petition, inscribed and undersigned in a clerical hand by forty-six women living along Long Swamp Creek near Jasper, Georgia, implored the governor to exempt one William E. Padgett from conscription into the Confederate Army. Docket information confirms that the letter was answered, and includes the note: “Conduct very commendable but has no power to send Com. unless elected to some office”. In near fine condition, with expected paper folds. Minute wear and isolated minor browning appear along several edges.

In April 1862, the Confederacy authorized a conscription act that forced all white men in sound health between the ages of 18 to 35 to serve in the military for three years. On September 27, 1862, this mandatory service law was extended to those up to age 45, including William E. Padgett. The women may have been emboldened to petition the Georgia Governor as he had openly criticized the April 1862 conscription law. According to the wives, Padgett should be counted among the men who performed indispensable tasks. The ladies of Pickens County begged the Governor “to keep him [Padgett] from going to Camps”.

The concerned wives wrote: “ … he [Padgett] has been A friend to us in preparing provisions for us ever since our husbands has ben in the Army”. Padgett was an invaluable member of their wartime community of women, children, and “a few old men”. The 1860 census reveals that while there were some slaves in Pickens County, they only amounted to about 5% of the population, so the women could not rely on slave labor. Padgett operated a large farm that produced up to 50 bushels of wheat which would remain unharvested if he was forced to enlist. He sold the women crops at fair prices, and sometimes traveled to obtain corn and salt for the community. In addition, Padgett was an estate administrator, legal guardian, school district treasurer, and unpaid mailman, traveling back and forth from Jasper, the nearest town. If he was conscripted, “he will leave no one … thar ar not hear to leav the men is all gon from this Creak … ”

The petitioners were women named Malinda, Samantha, Rhoda, Manervy, Lucinda, Rebecker, Martha, Milla, Emaline, and Narcisus. They came from the Denesmore, Smith, Elrod, Sharley and other county families. Seven of the petitioners were Padgett’s female relatives. “When you [Governor Joseph E. Brown] was A Candidate he [Padgett] went his length for you night and Day So please grant us this faver and obleage your friends … Please Mr Brown giv us an answer Son and Direct it to William E. Padget Jasper Pickens County Ga”, the ladies entreated.

Joseph E. Brown (1821-1894) served as Georgia’s Governor between 1857 and 1865. Although Brown had strongly advocated for secession in 1861, he resisted Confederate policy pertaining to inscription and impressment. By 1864, Brown called for the South’s surrender since most of Georgia lay in ruins after Sherman’s March to the Sea.

William E. Padgett (1825-1893) was about 37 years old in 1862. Whereas he was exempt from service following the April 1862 conscription law, the amendment that passed five months later made him eligible. It is likely that Padgett did have to serve in the war, though historical records indicate that he survived.

An outstanding letter documenting the Civil War home front in rural Georgia!

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