Living History: The daily life of Brother Jonathan.

Although the local area has always provided history enthusiast with a seemingly endless resource of sites, tales, and memorabilia of the American Civil War, the same cannot be said for the earlier time periods.  The life and times of Brother Jonathan's generation were all but lost in the upheaval of the War Between The States.  The devastation of that conflict along with the impoverished and disenfranchised South left little ability or desire to remember anything of the past other than the shock of what southerners had recently been through.  Growing up in Mississippi not far from the Natchez Trace, all our history, at least as far as my grandmother relayed it, began and ended with "the War."  More precisely, a single battle of that war, Shiloh.  Our family had fought for the Confederacy and had suffered greatly.  In my youth I experienced what today is only odd nostalgia to most and simply can't be understood by others; I hated the North.  Northerners were in every sense damn Yankees and I shared the harsh feelings of generations of southerners toward anyone from "up north."   

My third Great Grandfather Elias Mitchell Panell. 
He served in the 31st Mississippi Infantry until captured
outside Macon, Georgia in May of 1865.

Of course I grew up and grew out of those feelings oddly enough  because of the sadness I felt at belonging to a  defeated people.  Much like the defeatism of the Scots or the American Indian,  for generations true southerners have always carried a certain amount of melancholy deep inside for the Lost Cause. However, I was patriotic and have always been enchanted by our Founding Fathers.  Seeking to "belong" somewhere in the efficacious experiment that was America, I discovered that Plymouth Rock, Jamestown, the American Revolution, the Old Northwest, the War of 1812; this was my history too!  More knowledge brought more curiosity in an ever expanding love of history, world history, but most especially, our history, American history.  In time I even gained a healthy dose of respect for those men in blue who suffered through and endured our great Civil War trying to defeat the men who were trying to defeat them.

While serving in the United States Coast Guard, I had the blessing of my last duty assignment being that of Yorktown, Virginia.  Ah, Virginia, my home of homes.  A history lovers paradise, I lived and worked in Williamsburg until moving to Tennessee in 1996.  In 1994 I was hired by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to be an interpreter in their military program.  However, it was only seasonal and there was no guarantee that I would be retained once the tourist season began to slow so, on the day that a Mr. Dale Smoot called to announce the good news that I had won out over the competition, I reluctantly declined.  I felt bad then for letting Mr. Smoot down and I have always wondered how life would have been different if I actually could have made a living doing what I love, history.

Fast forward to the year 2011 on the eve of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812.  In the spring of that year I met two men who shared a passion for the history of the Natchez Trace both of whom would become good friends.  Daniel Kimes, Chief Park Ranger for the northern district of the Natchez Trace Parkway, and Tony Turnbow, local historian and at that time President of the Natchez Trace Parkway Association.  Each man had his perspective on local history and lore of the Trace and the communities that dotted the area along the old road.  We hit it off immediately and began conspiring to pull off the first official event in the U.S. for the Bicentennial of the War of 1812 with the National Park Service living history event held at Gordon's Ferry on the Natchez Trace Parkway in Tennessee in May of 2012.  It was a resounding success!

Early War troops in their 1810 uniforms march out to colors on the Natchez Trace.

Building on the momentum of the Gordon House event, we then dedicated a monument to the soldiers of the War of 1812 who passed along the Trace during the war. 

The only monument along the 444 mile parkway
dedicated to the soldiers that march along
its length to defend the country during the War of 1812.

Now, in the fall of 2014, our activity has become less sedentary as we move beyond the camps in preparation for the climax of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812, the Battle of New Orleans.  It promises to be a grand affair!  However, not the beginning of the end of our living history, but rather the end of the beginning.  Brother Jonathan has much to say about those early days of the American Republic and the old Trace over which he walked has many secrets yet to be revealed.  This page, Living History:  The daily life of Brother Jonathan, is dedicated raising awareness of the efforts of those modern-day incarnations of volunteers educating the public to the life and times of Brother Jonathan through living history. 

Our current group of living historians congregate locally under the recreated Columbia Light Infantry which, although independent, musters as Tennessee Volunteers under the larger umbrella of the Living History Program of the Natchez Trace Parkway Association.  Any inquiries to the unit may be directed to Jeff Brewer at clinfantry@att.net. If interested come explore with us. 

 “The only thing new in the world is the history you do not know.” - President Harry S. Truman