LADIES and LEGACIES
Remembering three courageous heroines during
Women's History Month
Published in the Spotsylvania
Presbyterian Church Post
by Michael Aubrecht, Copyright 2007
MARY ANN
MONTGOMERY: Like many great men, behind
Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest was an
even greater Christian woman whose name was Mary
Ann Montgomery. Spiritually, Mary had a great
influence on her husband, who was perhaps one of
the most revered and feared participants in the War
Between the States. After struggling to deal with
the Confederacy's defeat, as well as its
devastating effect on the South during the
Reconstruction Era, Forrest dissolved his
affiliations with several extremist groups
including the Klu Klux Klan, and made a concerted
effort to shake his persona as "That Devil
Forrest." Mary Ann used her strength of faith to
overcome her husband's anger and resentments.
Forrest himself recounted her influence to a friend
saying, "Major, I am not the same man you were with
so long and knew so well. I hope I am a better man
now than then. I have been and am trying to lead
another kind of life. Mary has been praying for me
night and day for all these years, and I feel now
that through her prayers my life has been spared
and I have passed safely through so many dangers."
After his wife had convinced him to attend a sermon
on a Sunday morning in 1875, Forrest sat and
listened as the pastor read from Matthew 7:24-27,
which presents Christ's lesson on the difference
between a "passive or non-believer" who builds his
house upon the sand - and a "devout believer" who
builds his house upon the rock. When he had
finished, Forrest went forward, shook the
preacher's hand and said in reference to the man
who built his house on the sand: "I am that man."
The prayers of Mary Ann were answered. Nathan
Bedford Forrest had come to Christ! He realized
that all of his accomplishments, all of his
victories and all of the religion in the world
could not make him right with the Lord. Only
Christ, the one foundation, could. From that day
until his death in 1877, the "Wizard of the Saddle"
lived each and every day for his Lord and Savior.
If not for the unwavering loyalty and devotion of
his wife, who knows what kind of man Forrest would
have become.
MARY ANNA MORRISON:
During the summer of 1857, the
"future" Confederate General Thomas Jackson met a
minister's beautiful young daughter named Mary Anna
Morrison. She was a North Carolinian and like him,
she lived for the glory of God. If anyone could
have filled the void left by his first wife Elinor
Junkin's passing, it was Mary. After a short
courtship, the two were married and settled into a
modest house in preparation to start a family. Less
than one year after their wedding, Thomas and Mary
were blessed with a baby girl they named Mary
Graham. Despite a safe delivery, the infant
developed an illness and passed away a few weeks
later. At the time, it seemed incomprehensible that
another childbirth catastrophe could occur in his
lifetime. First, Thomas' mother passed away giving
birth to his stepbrother. Then his first love and
unborn son failed to survive delivery. Now his
newborn daughter had been taken just a few weeks
into her precious life. Despite his grief, Jackson
steadied his spirit and believed that his time as a
father would come. For most broken-hearted parents,
the loss of a child is unbearable. For Thomas and
Mary, it was a call to faith. They immediately
turned to their Lord and the healing power of
prayer. Both were Sunday school teachers and were
committed to daily study of the Word. This routine
would be repeated every day for the rest of their
lives, whether they were together or apart.
Following her husband's premature death and burial
in Lexington, Virginia, Mary returned to her native
North Carolina to raise their daughter Julia in
peace. Faithful to the very end, she never
remarried and wore the customary widow's weeds for
the remainder of her life. After the untimely death
of her daughter, who was still in her
late-twenties, Mary took to the task of raising her
two grandchildren and writing her memoirs as the
wife of one of America's greatest generals. In
1898, she became the founder of the Stonewall
Jackson Chapter of the United Daughters of the
Confederacy in Charlotte, North Carolina and
participated as an honorary president before
reuniting with her beloved Thomas and their
daughter in 1915.
EMELINE PIGOTT: In times of
war, the act of espionage can become as valuable an
asset to an army as its troops. History has
recorded the legendary "cloak and dagger" episodes
of many spies who put themselves in harm's way in
order to support their "causes." During the Civil
War, many women acted in this capacity, gathering
information and insights from (and for) their male
counterparts. One of the most revered of these
undercover agents was a North Carolinian named
Emeline Pigott. On the farm where she lived, ran a
creek and just on the opposite side from the creek
bank camped the soldiers of the Confederate 26th
North Carolina Division, whose duty was to defend
Carolina's coastline. It was here that Emeline
volunteered her services to the Confederate States
of America, helping the sick and wounded and at
times even nursing the wounded back to health in
her home. In addition, as the war progressed, she
forwarded mail for the soldiers and stashed food,
medical supplies and clothing in hollow trees
designated for this purpose, to be picked up by
them. As the conflict continued, Emeline began to
gather intelligence information from Union soldiers
that were sometimes entertained in her home. Legend
has it that she would conceal as much as thirty
pounds of supplies and documents while wearing an
oversized hoop skirt. In 1862, the troops of the
26th North Carolina departed for the battlefields
of Virginia, but Pigott stayed behind and continued
to spy on the occupying Federal forces. Three years
later, she and her brother-in-law, Rufus Bell were
accused of espionage and arrested by the U.S. Army,
who prosecuted them as spies. Both were taken to
the Federal prison in New Bern, where they were put
on trial, summarily convicted and finally sentenced
to death. Mercifully, a short time later, her
sentence was mysteriously suspended and she was
released on parole. Following the end of the War
Between the States, Emeline spent countless hours
sharing the tales of her exciting exploits as a spy
for the Confederacy. Passing away in 1916, she
never revealed the circumstances surrounding her
miraculous release, but gave credit to the Lord for
blessing both her and her captors with
mercy.
Excerpts taken from Michael's
upcoming devotional entitled "The Southern Cross:
50 Inspirational, true-stories from the Civil War."
This not-yet-released book features 40 vignettes,
10 essays, 5 period sermons, and over 60
photographs.
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