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Made possible by the generous, community minded support of American Public University System. (apus.edu) Sentiments and views portrayed in this series do not in any way reflect the modern-day 21st century policies of the University, but are offered to encourage fact-based discussion on the evolution of the foundational values of the United States.

PAGES

About Us https://civilwarscholars.com/about-us/

At Flickr.com
https://civilwarscholars.com/at-flickr-com/

In January, 2023 the counted number of views to the estimated 21,000 collages and images in this collection passed 110,564,980 views and continues to receive a minimum of 50,000 views daily – Jim Surkamp

At youtube.com
https://civilwarscholars.com/at-youtube-com/ (Scroll down for a complete listing of all videos and their links and total running times)

County fights https://civilwarscholars.com/county-fights/

Library of Congress

Southwood Farm – Kearneysville, WV – HABS – loc.gov

County homes 1860
https://civilwarscholars.com/county-homes-1860/

County-born soldiers (both sides):

https://civilwarscholars.com/county-soldiers-both-sides/

References (with live links to sources): 91,711 words

https://civilwarscholars.com/references/


POSTS CHRONOLOGICALLY

Library of Congress
National Geographic Magazine

POST: A Cradle of American Values: The Lower (northern) Shenandoah Valley in 18th Century
1914 words

https://web.archive.org/web/20190710015354/https://civilwarscholars.com/2011/06/540/

Harpers New Monthly by Meyer Brantz

POST: Mr. Hall Showed Us How to Make Things – Lots of Them, and Quickly by Jim Surkamp 2668 words

https://web.archive.org/web/20190710014718/https://civilwarscholars.com/2011/06/mr-hall-showed-us-how-to-make-things/

Mary Bedinger Mitchell 1870s

POST: Mary Bedinger Mitchell Remembers Shepherdstown & Copenhagen
11,410 words

https://web.archive.org/web/20190710023214/https://civilwarscholars.com/2011/06/mary-mitchell-remembers-shepherdstown-copenhagen/

SERIES: A. R. H. RANSON LIFE IN JEFFERSON COUNTY, VA IN THE 1850S (WITH DICK AND GEORGE FLAGG)

William Sidney Mount
From Confederate $100 Dollar Bill Note

POST: Farm Life 1850s – A.R.H. Ranson Tells, Opines
5839 words

https://web.archive.org/web/20190710015217/https://civilwarscholars.com/2011/06/the-unreconstructed-a-r-h-ranson-of-charles-town/

This is taken from one of six essays written for Sewanee Review from 1913 to 1915 by Ambrose Robert Hite Ranson (1831-1919). called “REMINISCENCES OF THE CIVIL WAR BY A CONFEDERATE STAFF OFFICER” about his growing up years living at his family home, Gap View, and his experiences during the Civil War as a Confederate officer. His observations are very informative about daily life pre-war amid unacceptable observations condoning the enslavement of other human beings. His account is still important in its rendering of daily work on a farm in the 1840s and 1850s in Jefferson County, Virginia, one of the most agricultural counties in the Virginias. These conditions were substantially different in the northern Shenandoah Valley when compared to the brutal monocultures in the deep South. Enslavement in Jefferson County, based on writings of those – white and black – who lived here then – was one of diverse work, the pervasive fear of being sold south, pockets of profound cruelty, and the tantalizing nearness of the option of escaping to freedom.

VIDEO: Ambrose Ranson’s Perspective Where Others Do The Work. TRT: 6:44.

POST: Ambrose Ranson Remembers Jefferson County in the 1840s & 1850s (1)

https://web.archive.org/web/20190710015957/https://civilwarscholars.com/2014/03/ambrose-ranson-remembers-jefferson-county-in-the-1840s-1850s/

POST: Ambrose Ranson Remembers Jefferson County in the 1840s & 1850s (2)

https://web.archive.org/web/20190710013720/https://civilwarscholars.com/2014/03/ambrose-ranson-remembers-jefferson-county-in-the-1840s-1850s-part-2/

VIDEO: Ambrose Ranson Remembers Jefferson County in the 1840s & 1850s Part 2. TRT: 8:16.

POST: Ambrose Ranson Remembers Jefferson County in the 1840s & 1850s (3)

https://web.archive.org/web/20190710021040/https://civilwarscholars.com/2014/03/ambrose-ranson-remembers-jefferson-county-in-the-1840s-1850s-3/

VIDEO: Ambrose Ranson Remembers Jefferson County in the 1840s & 1850s. Part 3 TRT: 7:19.

POST: George Flagg’s Stagefright – 1850s – Jefferson County, VA by Jim Surkamp

https://web.archive.org/web/20190710014521/https://civilwarscholars.com/2014/03/george-flaggs-stagefright-1850s-jefferson-county-va-by-jim-surkamp/

VIDEO: George Flagg’s Stagefright – 1850s – Jefferson County, VA by Jim Surkamp. TRT: 9:17

Flickr.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimsurkamp/sets/72157641430682544/


by Julian Scott Smithsonian American Art Museum

POST: African-American Dick Morris and his “Owner” Ambrose Hite Ranson by Jim Surkamp (Same as video, slightly changed title). 2907 words.

https://web.archive.org/web/20190710022725/https://civilwarscholars.com/2014/03/african-american-dick-morris-and-his-owner-ambrose-hite-ranson-by-jim-surkamp/

VIDEO: Dick Morris and Ambrose Ranson by Jim Surkamp TRT: 15:41
https://youtu.be/6rpD4sCcATM

Flickr.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimsurkamp/sets/72157642317237773/

SERIES: “THIS MOST EXTRAORDINARY & INTELLIGENT BLACK MAN – MARTIN DELANY” – President Abraham Lincoln, upon meeting Delany at the White House in February, 1865

WHILE POSTS AND VIDEOS ARE PRESENTED IN HISTORIC, CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, WE TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY, FOR THE RESEARCHER’S CONVENIENCE, TO INCLUDE HERE ALL THE EVENTS OF MARTIN DELANY’S LIFE 1812-1885.

Major Martin Robison Delany – Massachusetts Historical Society

From an extensive researcher’s website by Jim Surkamp that had been maintained by West Virginia University Library:

http://web.archive.org/web/20110311052746/http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/delany/home.htm

http://web.archive.org/web/20031025161435/http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/delany/

http://web.archive.org/web/20110305144957/http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/delany/masint.htm

http://web.archive.org/web/20110130191709/http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/delany/maspt1.htm

http://web.archive.org/web/20110303021438/http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/delany/maspt2.htm

http://web.archive.org/web/20110130173343/http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/delany/maspt3.htm

FLICKR IMAGES: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimsurkamp/albums/72157628428691207

Charles Town and Martin Delany Pt. 1 by Jim Surkamp (Originally mid-1980s) September, 2008 TRT: 6:51
Video link: https://youtu.be/HgH7Oi5nzCQ

Charles Town and Martin Delany Pt. 2 by Jim Surkamp (Originally mid-1980s) September, 2008 TRT: 6:28
Video link: https://youtu.be/zH7w9G2opmI

MARTIN DELANY SERIES – FULL LENGTH VIDEO 11 CHAPTERS:

Martin Delany – 1 by Jim Surkamp TRT: 5:38

Martin Delany – 2 by Jim Surkamp TRT: 4:55

Martin Delany – 3 by Jim Surkamp TRT: 5:22

Martin Delany – 4 by Jim Surkamp TRT: 7:22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoov745rJIQ

Martin Delany – 5 by Jim Surkamp TRT: 6:34

Martin Delany – 6 by Jim Surkamp TRT: 5:32

Martin Delany – 7 by Jim Surkamp TRT: 2:20

Martin Delany – 8 by Jim Surkamp TRT: 4:17

Martin Delany – 9 by Jim Surkamp TRT: 5:37

Martin Delany – 10 by Jim Surkamp TRT: 6:01

Martin Delany – 11 by Jim Surkamp TRT: 4:29

POST: Martin Delany: To Be More Than Equal
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/martin-delany-to-be-more-than-equal/
6982 words

SERIES: THE JOHN BROWN RAID OCT., 1859, AND ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE – WITH INDEPENDENT HISTORIAN, DENNIS FRYE

John Brown – circa 1856
Source: Boston Athenaeum
Author: John Bowles

POST: John Brown Plots A Gov’t with Martin Delany
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/john-brown-plots-a-govt-with-martin-delany/
4502 words

POST: Free, Black Families in Jefferson County, Va., Towns 1860
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/free-black-families-in-jefferson-county-va-towns-1860/
550 words

POST: 7 Biggest “People-Owners,” Jefferson County, Va. 1860
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/7-biggest-people-owners-jefferson-county-va-1860/
660 words

POST: 575 Enslaved Counted in 1860 as “Escaped”
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/589-enslaved-counted-in-1860-as-escaped-by-jim-surkamp-on-june-17-2011/
698 words

POST: Fifteen Set Fires a Sign of Slave Resistance?
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/fifteen-set-fires-a-sign-of-slave-resistance/
5733 words


POST: Dennis Frye -“Did John Brown Have A Military Plan?”
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/did-john-brown-have-a-military-plan-dennis-frye/
866 words

Dennis Frye – Shepherd University

VIDEO: Dennis Frye -“Did John Brown Have A Military Plan?” TRT: 5:25 https://youtu.be/0r5JzYXOAr4


POST: Dennis Frye -“Why Was Jefferson County a Crucible of the Civil War?”
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/why-was-jefferson-county-a-crucible-of-the-civil-war-dennis-frye/
728 words

VIDEO: Dennis Frye -“Why Was Jefferson County a Crucible of the Civil War?” TRT: 4:53 https://youtu.be/67JGmRYyLUo


POST: Dennis Frye -“Why Did Virginia Try John Brown?”
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/why-did-virginia-try-john-brown-dennis-frye/
710 words

VIDEO: Dennis Frye -“Why Did Virginia Try John Brown?” TRT: 4:03 https://youtu.be/o1-Kn3qENeY

POST: Jefferson County, Virginia 1860 – A Profile of Prosperity
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/jefferson-county-virginia-1860-a-profile-of-prosperity/
2061 words


POST: Dennis Frye -“Was John Brown Insane?”
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/was-john-brown-insane-dennis-frye/
530 words

VIDEO: “Was John Brown Insane?” – Dennis Frye TRT: 4:45
https://youtu.be/wqYia06HiAA


POST: Dennis Frye -“Did John Brown Elect Abraham Lincoln President?”
501 words
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/did-john-brown-elect-abraham-lincoln-president-dennis-frye/

VIDEO: Dennis Frye -“Did John Brown Elect Abraham Lincoln President?” TRT: 3:23 https://youtu.be/h6SJwnpBcbA


POST: Dennis Frye – “Did Virginia Realize They Would Host the Civil War?”
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/did-virginia-realize-they-would-host-the-civil-war-dennis-frye/
550 words

VIDEO: “Did Virginia Realize They Would Host the Civil War?” – Dennis Frye TRT: 3:27
https://youtu.be/zcRbPnO5ZUY

POST: Shepherdstown, Va. – July, 1860 – Drumbeats By Jim Surkamp
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/shepherdstown-va-july-1860-drumbeats-by-jim-surkamp/
1638 words

P. Douglas Perks

POST: P. Douglas Perks- Jefferson County, Va. late 1850s – Clouds of War
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/p-douglas-perks-november-1860-jefferson-county-votes/
729 votes

VIDEO: P. Douglas Perks- Jefferson County, Va. late 1850s – Clouds of War TRT: 7:17 https://youtu.be/W0c4Ir6DPpQ

POST: Dennis Frye – “What Was Virginia’s Opinion of Secession?”
https://civilwarscholars.com/uncategorized/what-was-virginias-opinion-of-secession-dennis-frye/
707 words

VIDEO: Dennis Frye – “What Was Virginia’s Opinion of Secession?” TRT: 5:28 https://youtu.be/kjgoy9PraTg