Succession cockades in rural areas

[dolphinbelle78]

I was wondering if civilians in the extreme rural areas of former Virginia, now West Virginia would have worn cockades and for how long after the war began would they continue to wear them. I'm not exactly sure how long it took for news to spread through these areas, therefore any estimations would be wonderful.

Thank you,
Denise

P.S. Also anything about the sucession aprons are up for the same manner of question.

[Mint Julep]

It is spelled s-e-c-e-s-s-i-o-n. Jeez.

[Dbackfed]

Didn't those people become West Virginians after they were Virginians? So they went from one type to the other in succession? :razz:

[PetePaolillo]

I was wondering if civilians in the extreme rural areas of former Virginia, now West Virginia would have worn cockades and for how long after the war began would they continue to wear them. I'm not exactly sure how long it took for news to spread through these areas, therefore any estimations would be wonderful.

Thank you,
Denise

P.S. Also anything about the sucession aprons are up for the same manner of question.

Are you speaking of that part of Virginia's secession from their State of Virginia or Virginias secession from the Union in relation to the badge question? People displaying Union secession type pins and aprons would most likely be rare and not very popular in that part of VA in my opinion. Secession was hardly a success, so the spelling of the word is very important there ;)

A decent article recently published worth a read.
http://dailymail.com/ap/ApTopStories/201106220387

[dolphinbelle78]

Sorry, SUCESSION. A mere slip of the fingers. (FYI, I spelled it right in the P.S. ;-P ) I am speaking of Virginia's sucession from the Union. My family and I are Southern sympathizers and will be attending a reenactment on an original battlefield so I would like to be as accurate as possible. The battle occurred in September of 1861 and the area as a whole has been slow to modernize with the times, so I would figure this would be the case for way back when as well. That is why I was wondering if they still would have been wearing their cockades in September.

Thank you,
Denise

[Elaine Kessinger]

We can not assume that an area that is rural now was just as rural then, simply because it "moves slower than the times" now. Harper's Ferry was a transportation hub and industrial center in the 1850s. It would feel very much like a busy small city in period, rather than the quaint rural backwater it feels like today. With an active canal system and rails system, as well as a network of accessible rivers... "news" and goods traveled fairly quickly to all parts of the mid-Atlantic (Western Virginia included)

As to whether a patriotic display in the form of cockades and specialty aprons are appropriate, it will depend on whether the army you'd care to support is the one occupying the town at the time and how long they've been there, whether your neighbors are supporting the same army you are or have a "bone to pick with you," and how much you'd care to risk being turned in to the occupying provost as a possible spy when the opposite army comes to town.

If you'd care to tell us all the specifics... what event, what town it takes place in, who's in power in the area, and which side you'd care to support (okay, ya covered that.. Confederates) ... then we can better advise you on the specifics of whether to wear your patriotic display or not.

[PetePaolillo]

and once again...:( the word is SECESSION (derived from the Latin term Secessio) is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals

[billwatson2]

I remain simply astonished.

The succession will take place when Prince Charles becomes King, if Elizabeth ever dies. So far as I know he will not wear a cockade.

So far as secession cockades, local museums and libraries and newspapers of long standing are a much better place to look. It is surprising how many little papers across the country spent the money to microfilm their holdings back in the 1980s when they thought journalism had a future as the official record of a community's life. If you check, you may find that a local paper not only has its own stuff on microfilm, but also holds film from other papers that preceded it, including those published during the war. I have seen directions for making a palmetto cockade published in such a newspaper. Their presence could have been mentioned in any number of contexts in the months ramping up to December 1860, at rallies and political meetings and parades, much as Lincoln's "Wide Awakes" were described with their black capes and torches.

It is a lot more effort than asking a question on an internationally read cyber forum, but it is a lot more likely to get the information you want.

The broad answer is that word of the various emblems for and against disunity spread far and wide and whether you wore one or not depended on how fervent you were and how likely it would be that a secession cockade would get your nose punched or your dance card devoid of checkoffs at the next local fling.

[dolphinbelle78]

Ok, LOL, time to beat me with the rayon snood of shame. I can't believe I keep spelling that wrong. I will try to look up some newspapers from that time. Thank you for all your answers, when I get more information about the battle and the area at that time, I will re-ask the question at that time.

Thank you all,
Denise

[billwatson2]

Whew. Thank you for being able to still smile. :-)

[dolphinbelle78]

If you can't laugh at yourself, someone will ALWAYS be willing to do it for you. From what I have found so far, the two bordering counties (Fayette and Kanawha)were southern sympathizers and the little battlefield and area farms (Carnifex Ferry in Nicholas County)are located smack in the middle. From what I have read, Fayette county actually refused to send a respresentative to either Wheeling convention. Kanawha county seemed torn b/c of its river meeting up with the Ohio river, however, I have read there was a militia formed from the heart of Kanawha who fought for the south. From this I am reading that as previously stated, unless you wanted "your nose punched or your dance card devoid of checkoffs at the next local fling" I need to display my SECESSION (I know, I know...FINALLY LOL) cockade and my southern patriotic apron. However, I am going to triple check my results. The small problem I am finding is who is laying claim to the newspapers from that time. Virginia or West Virginia. Thank you for all of your help.

[Elaine Kessinger]

West Virginia became a state in 1863. Until that time, both pro-South and pro-Union will still consider themselves "Virginians."

Each newspaper had it's own "slant" courtesy of the owners, the editors, or the customers voting with their feet. It is likely that each side will read a different area newspaper. Check the newspaper archives for specifics.

..and it's not so much a "punched nose or empty dance card" like you would find along the east coast.... it's outright arrest of the menfolk, burning of or forcing you out of the home, seizure of or vandalism to property, a failure of the community to do business with you... even if it means you are starving, poisoning your water source... (the types of neighbor-vs.-neighbor feuding that would cause the Great Family Feud in the next decade) ...and telling the local power of your sympathies so you and ALL your extended family and associates would be harassed as spies and traitors. (Granted... give it a few days or weeks and the other side would gain power and you can turn them in...)

My advice to you is... if you aren't supporting the local choice with the passion of a zealot, then best to not wear patriotic items and try to "pass under the radar."

[Spinster]

And thus arises the concealed symbol-the little flag sewn on the petticoat, or the underside of an apron, a small self-satisfied mark of belief.

How many women kept quiet, silenced by culture and social mores, we will not know. In recent months, I've found a particular cockade oddly useful. While a documented Union cockade, it is enigmatic in it's appearance--stark black, with a skull and 'Death to Traitors' in the center.

It requires only a tight lipped silence if I am questioned in the course of events.

We must comphrehend how vulnerable women were economically and socially when male protectors were absent. While we would like to think "well I would be brave and speak out" the reality of being suddenly in charge of a household in politically uncertain times often requires silence.

[19thCenturyMan]

West Virginia became a state in 1863. Until that time, both pro-South and pro-Union will still consider themselves "Virginians."

It didn't stop with the creation of the new state. Having grown up in West (by God) Virginia, I can tell you that with or without the "West", we are still Virginians.

One early suggestion was to name the new state "Kanawha". That idea didn't go far; no one wanted to be called a "Kanawhian".

After JFK's death, someone made the idiotic suggestion that WV be renamed "Kennedy". That was even less popular than "Kanawha". Nobody wanted to be called a "Kennedian"... sounds too much like "Canadian".

Montani Semper Liberi

[Tarky]

Sorry, SUCESSION. A mere slip of the fingers. (FYI, I spelled it right in the P.S. ;-P ) I am speaking of Virginia's sucession from the Union. My family and I are Southern sympathizers and will be attending a reenactment on an original battlefield so I would like to be as accurate as possible. The battle occurred in September of 1861 and the area as a whole has been slow to modernize with the times, so I would figure this would be the case for way back when as well. That is why I was wondering if they still would have been wearing their cockades in September.

Thank you,
Denise

Hello, From research the Virginians wore two types of cockades, a blue cockade with yellow ribbons, and the black and white of their, "2nd American Revolution of 1775-1861". They also used a Virginia "Minute Men" cockade. This was the blue cockade of South Carolina with a Virginia buton.

I am right now writing a book on the subject-- just a pamphlet-- should be out in a few months if the creek dont rise!

Tarky
CSuniforms

Author Cadet Gray Butternut Brown.