Veterans, War and Women in High Places

A special friend is veteran, Ash Rothlein, who served in World War II. His mission to honor those who died in that war, is moving along swiftly. I hope to join him and many others at the memorial service in June of 2014 for the 75th anniversary of D-Day. For five years Ash has devoted all his time to a mission that has evolved into far more than he had expected with cooperation from leaders of military organizations, government and other veterans. Nearing 90 years old, Ash has a soaring spirit and a big heart that overflows with love and gratitude for those who lost their lives so that we can all be free.

Veterans Day, which we observed recently, brings to mind those I know and those I love who served our country in war time.

One of my uncles served in World War I. Many of my cousins served in the army and navy during WWII. My brother, Ray Council, and brother-in-law, Stan Hunter also served. Cousins I never met were killed during that war. I observed the never-ending grief of their parents. 

Both my husband and my sister's husband served in the military during wartime. In our world, war is constant. In some land at this moment, men, women and children are being murdered, hacked to death, blown to pieces and being tortured for no reason. Most of them are caught in a battle not of their making.

As the holidays approach my heart aches for those who have lost young loved ones in the horror of war. Those young men and women will not have the life their mothers dreamed for them. I'll never forget seeing my parents' tears when my brother left home to serve in the military. I am forever grateful that he survived his military years.

I believe if we had more women in government, not only in this country, but in other countries around the globe, there would be more use of diplomacy instead of arms to settle disputes.

Former US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, believes that more female leaders included with the men who make major decisions affect the outcomes in very positive ways.
See her talk  at TEDtalks.com.

John Cecil Council, Confederate War Veteran, POW at Shipp Island

John Cecil Council, born in Barbour County, Alabama in 1833, was my great grandfather. He was the son of Temperance Weaver Council. John, in 1845, was one of the first settlers in Wakulla County Florida. He, along with his mother, his sister Susan Council Lott and her husband either traveled with the Pelts and Poseys or arrived about the same time and settled in Crawfordville, Florida. John Cecil acquired a good bit of land around the county. He married Frances DeLaura Posey who birthed a large family before she died.

John then married Missouri Redd. She was referred to as Miss Missouri. The two of them raised a second large family.


At the age of 28, and with children at home, John joined the Florida Militia during the Civil War. He was captured off the coast near his home while fishing to provide food for his unit. The Union ships took him and others captured with him to Shipp Island, off the coast of Louisiana.

When the southern prisoners first arrived on Shipp Island, there were no barracks, only tents, no protection from the wind, rain and large mosquitoes that carried disease. John Council took a leadership role among the prisoners and set about building their own huts and shelters.

Back home Fanny, his wife, along with a black woman helper kept the farm going and raised the crops and hogs and cattle. She picked the cotton and had it bailed. Fanny's first born was a daughter, Georgianne Council. Like her mother, Georgianne was strong and resilient. She knew how to use a gun and tramped through the thick woods to kill game for the family.

She lived a long life. A one hundredth birthday party was held for her and written about in the Wakulla County newspaper, but I hear from cousin Sandra that her birthdate might be in question. No matter. Aunt Georgianne was a real pioneer woman who could do the work of any man and actually the work of more than one man from what I've heard. More about her later.

John Cecil Council was highly respected in his community. He helped found a church and was a leader of the church. He lived a long life and fathered his last child when he was in his early seventies.

Over the years I've researched this great grandfather of mine, and I met his youngest daughter as well as hundreds of his descendants. I have copies of his military records, his pension papers, his last will and testament. I've collected stories I've heard about him and hope to one day put them together for my family members.

John Cecil's oldest son, Tom, was my grandfather. Tom and his wife Sarah (Sallie) head the family I write about in Profiles and Pedigrees, Thomas Charles Council and his Descendants.

In this marriage, Tom died young and left Sallie to carry on without him. Tom and Sallie raised ten children, Mae, Charlie, Maude, Oleo, Horace and Hortense (twins), Lillian, Annie, and Coy. Another son, John Henry, died at the age of fourteen from malaria.

I have cousins in Tallahassee and in Crawfordville who I hope will come to the mountains this spring so we can catch up on all the family stories.



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Every year in Wakulla County Florida, Crawfordville, to be exact, at the old home place of the Council family, a reunion is held. It is the Council Family Reunion where all those who are related to John Cecil Council (1833-1910) are welcomed with a fish fry on Saturday night. The mullet is fresh from the nearby bay or gulf, cooked by experts and served with good coleslaw, grits and hushpuppies. I haven't been there in quite a few years, but if I close my mind I can still smell those fish frying, the aroma filling the sultry evening air even though it is October.
I remember the tales my father told about the fish fries of his youth on the beaches in Florida. Fishing was and still is a mainstay of the lifestyle for those who live along the coast.
My great grandfather, John Cecil Council, a member of Captain Milton's Independent Cavalry Company, Florida Volunteers, was captured by the Union Army October 19. 1864 while fishing off the coast near St. Marks.
His duty was to help supply food to the soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy.
He was taken to Ship Island off the coast of Missippi where he was held as a prisoner until the end of the war. He walked all the way back to his place in Wakulla County.