In The Weeds, 9/18/12: 1862 Gainesville Hangings Commemorated

    A local group comprised of professors from North Central Texas College, The Clark Family and the Texas State Hist0rical Association will present a program dedicated to the commemoration of the mass hangings of suspected Union sympathizers in Cooke and surrounding counties during the Civil War.

You can read more about the hangings here and we have a couple books available in the Special Collections Dept. here at the Fowler Library for your perusal:

Tainted Breeze by Richard B. McCaslin, professor of History at UNT and speaker at the event, and…

George Washington Diamond’s Account of The Great Hanging At Gainesville, 1862 edited by Sam Acheson and Julia Ann Hudson O’ Connell.
The event is open to the public and here is the text of the email we received:

“The Clark family would like to extend a warm invitation for you to join them on October 13, as they will now host commemorative events to honor the 150th anniversary. Several days ago, the Texas State Historical Association and North Central Texas College, deemed they would like to participate and co-partner with the Clark family in remembering Cooke County’s Civil War experience. 

 

 

Remembering Our Past, Embracing Our Future

October 1862 – 2012

October marks the 150^th year since the Great Hanging at Gainesville. The Clark Family in collaboration with the Texas State Historical Association and the Honors Program at North Central Texas College, invite you to join them for commemorative events, special guests and catered luncheon on

 

Saturday, October 13, 2012 at the Civic Center

311 S. Weaver St, Gainesville, Texas

 

8:30am – 12:30pm	Speakers – Richard McCaslin, Leon Russell, Ron Melugin and L.D. Clark
12:30pm	Catered Luncheon by Rohmer’s Restaurant $7.00 adult, $3.00 children under 10
3:30pm – 4:30pm	Clark Cemetery Intersection Clark Rd and CR220 Sons of the Union Veterans-Color Guard/Rifle Ceremony
5pm	Clark-Carri Farm  (1/2 mile from the cemetery) 629 Clark Rd  Gainesville Hor d’ oeuvres & Bonfire   Special Guests Richard McCaslin, PhD is the University of North Texas Department of History Chairman.  He earned his BA from Delta State University, MA from Louisiana State University and PhD from The University of Texas at Austin and has authored Tainted Breeze: The Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas, 1862. Leon Russell, born in 1928, three miles East of Gainesville considered it home until enlisting in the Army Air Corp at the age seventeen 17. Fueled by his motivation and complete disapproval of the cloak of secrecy surrounding the hangings, and the lack of the proper recognition of the injustice to the slain and their families, he successfully influenced the city of Gainesville to allow the first commemoration in Georgia Bass Park in 2007. His mission was to honor those citizens who tragically lost their lives in 1862.   Ron Melugin,  Professor of Government, NCTC; chairman of Cooke County Historical Commission; research responsible for 15 Texas Official Historical Markers in Gainesville; author of Heroes, Scoundrels and Angels: Fairview Cemetery of Gainesville, Texas. L.D. Clark earned his BA, MA, and PhD from Columbia University. He had a long career of teaching English at the University of Arizona, The University of Nice and Korea University.  He is the author of A Bright Tragic Thing and Civil War Recollections of James Lemuel Clark. Mr. Clark is the grandson of James Lemuel Clark and great-grandson of Nathaniel Miles Clark, victim of the Great Hanging. ** New Book** – The Texas State Historical Association will unveil its newest publication, The Great Hanging at Gainesville, 1862: The Accounts of Thomas Barrett and George Washington Diamond, with an Introduction by Richard McCaslin and Afterword by L.D. Clark. (Combined accounts of Barrett and Diamond )

 

 

RSVP – before October 5, 2012 to:  NathanielClarkfamilyreunion@gmail.com or colleen.carri@gmail.com

 - posted by Chuck.