The Civil War Vet

Walter met a Civil War veteran when Walter was about 14 years old. His parents took him to an all-day singing at a church between Montevallo and Centerville and the veteran was there. He was in his nineties by then, Walter estimated. The veteran's name was Mr. Honeycutt and he was seated in the shade of a tree so that people could come to meet and talk to him. My grandparents took Walter up to shake his hand and talk to him. Walter said he didn't really know what to say to him, so he asked him what battles he was in. The vet answered, "I weren't in no battles, sonny. I were a guard in 'S-a-i-lma' (Selma)."

In case some of you young readers or city-folks don't know what an all-day singing is, it is an annual church event that occurred in small, country, protestant churches. The church would invite many gospel singers and singing groups to come to their church for the day. After regular Sunday service there would be "dinner on the ground" which is another way of saying a picnic-style potluck somewhere outside on the grounds around the church. After the dinner was eaten, everyone would go back inside and participate in a gospel-style singing. This was before air conditioning, so the churches would be hot. The windows and doors would be opened to let in some air and most people had paper fans to fan themselves. Sometimes the groups would sing without the congregation joining in and sometimes they would invite the congregation to sing with them. Usually there were several groups that would take turns leading the singing. People from other country churches within several miles would come to the singings. They were usually held on the same Sunday of each year, such as the third Sunday in July for Enon Baptist and the second Sunday in June for some other church, etc. It was weekend entertainment for people back then. Since there was almost always a small cemetery associated with the each church, the grounds of the cemetery would be cleaned up before the singing because families would bring flowers to put on the graves of family members before the singing. Many rural churches have maintained part of this tradition, but now it is called "homecoming" instead of all-day singing. It usually no longer lasts all day and the dinner is in a "fellowship" hall in the air conditioning.