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Seventy Years In Dixie
Recollections and sayings of T.W. Caskey and others.
406 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1893
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About the author
Fletcher Srygley
1 bookFletcher Douglas Srygley (1856–1900) was a preacher, writer, and controversialist in the American Restoration Movement.
Srygley's greatest contributions to the Restoration Movement were not his sermons but his editorials for various restorationist papers. After his death, it was commented that "powerful, because honest earnest, intellectual, sincere, scriptural, and logical, in the pulpit, he was more and most potential in wielding the pen. He was a clear, concise, convincing writer. To say he was peerless in his specific sphere is to speak the simple truth in disparagement of none."[4] Srygley was noted in his writings for his wry wit and controversial, often aggressive nature. While his writings touched on the full scope of the issues facing the movement in the late 19th century, his main focus was on the constitution of the New Testament Church.
Srygley wrote for a time for the Old Path Guide, a religious paper owned and edited by F. G. Allen. The Kentucky paper was founded in order to occupy a moderate ground between the extreme liberal and conservative papers which dominated in the North and South following the Civil War.[5] Thus, when the controversial issue of missionary societies erupted in the church, Srygley wrote on the side of moderation and refused to condemn the societies.
Srygley's greatest contributions to the Restoration Movement were not his sermons but his editorials for various restorationist papers. After his death, it was commented that "powerful, because honest earnest, intellectual, sincere, scriptural, and logical, in the pulpit, he was more and most potential in wielding the pen. He was a clear, concise, convincing writer. To say he was peerless in his specific sphere is to speak the simple truth in disparagement of none."[4] Srygley was noted in his writings for his wry wit and controversial, often aggressive nature. While his writings touched on the full scope of the issues facing the movement in the late 19th century, his main focus was on the constitution of the New Testament Church.
Srygley wrote for a time for the Old Path Guide, a religious paper owned and edited by F. G. Allen. The Kentucky paper was founded in order to occupy a moderate ground between the extreme liberal and conservative papers which dominated in the North and South following the Civil War.[5] Thus, when the controversial issue of missionary societies erupted in the church, Srygley wrote on the side of moderation and refused to condemn the societies.
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March 19, 2015
T. W. (Thomas Withers) Caskey (1816-1896) was born in Maury County, TN, the youngest of four children born to Thomas and Mary (nee Coffee) Caskey. His mother died in giving him birth. Young Thomas grew up in what was then known as the wild west, raised as a Presbyterian. Still in his teens, he struck out on his own, moving over to Alabama and Mississippi . In Claiborne County, MS, he met and married a young woman by the name of Lucy Jones in1837. He studied to become a Methodist minister. But becoming dissatisfied with Methodism, he left to begin his association with those in the church of Christ. For a time he pursued a career as a blacksmith. Around 1841 the family moved over into the small West Alabama settlement of Gainesboro, where Thomas worked with a group of Christians. While there Lucy with struck with an illness that ultimately took her life on October 20, 1843. For a time he also preached in Memphis, TN, and Paducah, KY. In 1845 he married Harriett Elizabeth Foreman Ferguson and in 1849 they moved to Jackson, MS.
Caskey involved himself with politics. He strongly felt that the Civil War was never a question about slavery, but about states’ rights versus the rights of the centralized government. When the war broke out in 1861, he was appointed chaplain of the Eighteenth Regiment of Mississippi Volunteers and became known as the “Fighting Parson.” After the close the Civil War, he moved to Meridian, Mississippi, working with the church there. While in Mississippi he made many trips for weeks at a time throughout Texas. He would return only for short periods of time before returning to the Lone Star state. Finally the family moved to Texas, living for a time in the city of Sherman. They lived a only few years in Sherman before moving to Fort Worth, and he preached for a church there the last few years of his life. During a trip back to Mississippi and while visiting in his old home in Meridian, Caskey got sick. One of his sons still lived in Jackson, and he went there to stay with his family until he finally slipped away on August 10, 1896.
The book Seventy Years in Dixie by F.D. (Fletcher Douglas) Srygley (1856-1900) is filled with stories written and provided for the most part by Caskey. The action is told as if Caskey himself were speaking. Srygley admits that some of the events described were added from his own experience or things told to him by others but claims that everything recorded is true. It gives a very accurate first-hand picture of social life and customs in the ante-bellum South with details about the condition of poor white, and to a degree black, people in “Dixie” especially in rural portions of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi. One may not agree with all of Caskey’s statements and observations about slavery and the Civil War, but it should be understood that what he had to say was not written to justify these things but simply to explain what happened. He did state, “The war was a mistake and a failure” (p. 353). Caskey and Srygley were members of the churches of Christ, but little or nothing is said about what is often called “the Stone-Campbell religious heritage” in the book.
Caskey involved himself with politics. He strongly felt that the Civil War was never a question about slavery, but about states’ rights versus the rights of the centralized government. When the war broke out in 1861, he was appointed chaplain of the Eighteenth Regiment of Mississippi Volunteers and became known as the “Fighting Parson.” After the close the Civil War, he moved to Meridian, Mississippi, working with the church there. While in Mississippi he made many trips for weeks at a time throughout Texas. He would return only for short periods of time before returning to the Lone Star state. Finally the family moved to Texas, living for a time in the city of Sherman. They lived a only few years in Sherman before moving to Fort Worth, and he preached for a church there the last few years of his life. During a trip back to Mississippi and while visiting in his old home in Meridian, Caskey got sick. One of his sons still lived in Jackson, and he went there to stay with his family until he finally slipped away on August 10, 1896.
The book Seventy Years in Dixie by F.D. (Fletcher Douglas) Srygley (1856-1900) is filled with stories written and provided for the most part by Caskey. The action is told as if Caskey himself were speaking. Srygley admits that some of the events described were added from his own experience or things told to him by others but claims that everything recorded is true. It gives a very accurate first-hand picture of social life and customs in the ante-bellum South with details about the condition of poor white, and to a degree black, people in “Dixie” especially in rural portions of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi. One may not agree with all of Caskey’s statements and observations about slavery and the Civil War, but it should be understood that what he had to say was not written to justify these things but simply to explain what happened. He did state, “The war was a mistake and a failure” (p. 353). Caskey and Srygley were members of the churches of Christ, but little or nothing is said about what is often called “the Stone-Campbell religious heritage” in the book.
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