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Published in the Tribune and Herald Leader Press (LaCrosse, Wisconsin), Sunday,
March 29th, 1931.
Interesting Character of Vernon County
By ROBERT C. DUNN
COLONEL REUBEN MAY, a typical southern gentleman, was, perhaps, never the toast
of the south, but he became an acknowledged figure among the pioneers of Viroqua
where he lived from the time the Civil war ended until his death in 1902. During
all of those years he clung to those habits and customs so typical of the south,
adapting them to this more northern clime. In the minds of men, who today
remember him as they saw him when they were youngsters about Viroqua, Colonel
May was a huge strapping fellow—a man with a bit of the dash of the south, a
romantic figure. They remember him as they used to see him riding about his
great 700 acre farm four miles west of Viroqua on what is now highway No. 56.
In our mind there is a bit of stirring oratory, first, given by one who has
already been forgotten, which gives a mental image of this man and his life. The
opening words of that bit of oft repeated oration tells of Colonel May, for he
was of the new south before it was born. If memory serves faithfully the name of
the oration is The New South, and it starts thusly: "There was a
South of slavery and tradition. That South is dead. There is a South of Union
and Freedom. That South, thank God, is living, breathing, growing every hour."
That was Colonel May, according to the picture given by relatives and friends
who knew him well. He was living, he was breathing, he was growing every hour.
There is romance in those words. Just so there was romance in the Colonel and
his life.
Home Among Strangers
The oration goes on: "Dr. Talmadge has painted for you, with a master’s hand,
the picture, . . . " and so today is an attempt to paint the picture of this
man, practically driven from his home in the south as he built and progressed in
this, a practically new country, among almost a strange people.
It is only fair to present the picture of Colonel May as he appeared most
characteristically of the south. He wore a large-brimmed, black, soft felt hat,
and coat and waistcoat were of fine material. The coat was a long black Prince
Albert, hanging nearly to his knees. Riding breeches were what he wore for the
most part about the farm, with high leather riding boots. And he was always
astride a fine thoroughbred horse he called Prince.
The story is told that he slept with a revolver under his pillow at night, and
that he somewhat feared reprisals from his Kentucky relatives. He had two large
wolf hounds and wolf hunting was a favorite sport of his, for there were many of
them about the neighborhood at that time. It is said that he was an especially
kind master and treated his farm hands kindly. But he was dignified and a bit
aloof of mien. He was near six feet in height and broad-shouldered, though his
sons were bigger than he.
His title of Colonel is not a sobriquet. He was fully entitled to it. He
enlisted in the Union army and first served as Lieutenant Colonel of the 8th
Kentucky Volunteer Infantry and later as Colonel of the 7th Kentucky Volunteer
Infantry. Colonel May’s parents came to Kentucky from Virginia and the Colonel
was born in Pike county, near Catlettsburg, June 23, 1815. On March 5, 1835, he
was married to Miss Emma Honaker, whose family moved to Vernon county in 1857.
It was his entrance in the war with the Union forces that led eventually to his
coming to Viroqua. Relatives and neighbors depraved his property, killing and
carrying off his livestock and burning his barns. His wife with her children set
out for Viroqua, knowing she would find safe harbor where her family was already
safely ensconced. She bought the property that has ever since been known as the
Colonel May property for $1,000, so the story goes. She moved her little family,
minus the head of the home, who was still away fighting for his country, to a
little house on the place. There they remained until shortly after October 5,
1864, the date the Colonel was mustered out of the army, when he came to his new
home. Colonel May fought in the battle of Perryville, Laurel Hill, Stone River,
Murfreesboro, the Siege of Vicksburg, Jackson, Miss., Comut. [?] River, La.,
Semmes Post, and Yellow Bayou. He was wounded at Murfreesboro and laid up for
four months. His son, Tom, was also wounded in the war, losing one eye.
On his arrival here, he built the house that still stands, a low, rambling
structure, typical of southern plantations. What appears to be the main part of
the house is really the newest part, for it was apparently built by putting two
smaller houses together. The front of the house is extraordinarily wide and
there are two wings to the rear. Where one wing was added it was apparently put
together without removing either of the outside walls and as a result, the wall
between the rooms is between a foot and a half and two feet thick.
The property, when Colonel May owned it, amounted to nearly 700 acres. He
employed six or seven men throughout the year besides his sons, and at harvest
time had a regular army of hired labor. One of the notable incidents of his life
on this farm was the finding of lead on the property. He expended nearly $4,000
in sinking shafts and making diggings, and mined enough lead to bring him in
about $800. The mines are still visible from the highway on the left of the road
going west from the farm home. They are atop the bank of the first left hand
turn.
Some claim that Colonel May was one of the first in Vernon county to raise
tobacco, and J. D. Honaker, of Viroqua, a nephew of the Colonel, declared that
the Colonel raised one crop shortly after arriving here, but did not attempt it
again for years, one of the reasons being that there was no market in or near
Viroqua.
He had eight sons, Richard dying some time prior to 1884. The other boys were
Zwing, William, Tom, Bascomb, Lonnie, Bob and Hugh. Lonnie, Bob and Hugh are
still living in California. Lonnie lived in Viroqua until last fall when he
moved to the west coast to join his brothers. He also had five daughters.
Colonel May was an eloquent speaker and had a remarkable and wonderful voice
that could be heard, it is said, at a distance of four blocks. He was a democrat
at first, and after serving as a member of the state assembly, ran for state
senator and was defeated. That was in 1875. When the Greenback party was formed
a few years later he became a member and ran for governor on that party’s ticket
in 1879. His wife died in 1881 and on February 28, 1883, he re-married taking as
his wife Mrs. Phebe A. Aiken, nee Dolliver.
Throughout his life he was a Methodist, and was known to be a religious man. He
took good care of his family and became a figure of prominence in the community.
Home Still Stands
His home stands today a monument to his integrity and work. It is but a shell of
its former self. Its walls are sagging, its basement walls are crumbling away.
Except for a few coats of whitewash and fresh wall paper, it has not been
materially changed since the Mays lived in it. The Louis Thompson family, of
which Mrs. Thompson and two of her sons are left on the
farm, have occupied the place for the past 27 years.
At the rear of the house an outer shed stands just as it did years ago except
that it is much the worse for age. On the ridge is the same old dinner bell
which the Mays used to call the men from the field for meals. Further back is an
old shed, and beside it is a large iron kettle probably used years ago for
boiling down sap or some other use. To the rear and left of the house as one
faces the road are the remnants of the old Col. May school. It formerly stood
100 or 150 yards further east in a field that is now cultivated, and even 25
years ago the children of the district attended the school. About 25 years ago a
new school was built 200 yards east of the old location, and eight or 10 years
ago the present modern school house was built, about the doorway of which is the
legend, “Col. May School District No. 7.”
Decoration Day Services in Viroqua
From the Vernon County Censor, Wednesday, June 2, 1886.
The programme arranged for Decoration day services in this city was somewhat
broken into by a rain storm that set in early in the morning and continued
beyond the hour of assembling at the Post hall. A fair sized crowd was present,
however, and marched to the Methodist church where services were held, and a
very interesting programme carried out, among the pleasing features of which was
the quartette by Messrs. Blake, Auringer, Charles, Stricker and Avery, and the
recitation by Ms. Nettie McMichael of the poem "Cover Them Over." Col. R. May
delivered the address, which we are permitted to publish in full. After the
services at the church the graves of the fallen heroes were decorated by the
young ladies and firing party. It is to be regretted that the day was such as to
keep so many people away, for arrangements had been made with more pains than
ever before for the observance of the day.
Col.
May's Address
Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen: We meet today to commemorate the death and
sufferings of our late comrades, and to decorate their graves with the sweet
flowers of spring, which is our sacred duty. The widows and orphans, sisters and
brothers, fathers and mothers, all have loved ones who are to-day mourning their
loss. Those patriotic dead whose graves we have just decorated with sweet
flowers and evergreens, gave their lives upon the altar of their country's
cause, made the sacrifice for the benefit of the living. The Grand Army of the
Republic and Woman's Relief Corps have been and are ever ready to drop the tear
of sympathy for the loyal dead, and they are vying [?] with each other in acts
of fraternity and charity in behalf of the afflicted and disabled soldiers, the
widows and orphans of the loyal dead. Had it not been for the Union soldiers
this government would have been divided, hence we are indebted to them for the
privilege of meeting together to-day for the purpose of decorating the graves of
the loyal dead in commemoration of their sufferings and the services performed
for their government. While we are not able to benefit the dead, we can hold
sacred their memory, and keep that memory ever dear and green in our hearts.
History fails to record the many acts of valor and the hardships of camp life
and daring feats performed upon the many hard-fought battlefields, while the
life blood was ebbing from wounds received, limbs being torn from their bodies,
eyesight lost, the sense of hearing destroyed; instant death, and still more to
be dreaded, the prison life with all its horrors. We remember the sufferings of
our comrades in hospital, in prison and on the battle field. Our minds go back
to the many long marches over roads deep with mud, and after long marches lie
down on the cold and wet ground to rest tired nature with a little sleep. Yes,
our minds go back to the many battle-fields which were covered with our dead and
dying. Our official reports show at least half a million of brave boys who gave
up their lives on battle fields, in hospitals or southern prisons, as a
sacrifice for our country. I think of Shilo, of Island No. 10, of Stone's River,
of Vicksburg, Port Hudson, Gettysburg, the Rappadan, and on that line to the
front of Richmond, Petersburg and the final surrender of Lee's army at
Appomattox Court House; and all the minor battle fields left many of the brave
boys in blue mangled, dead and dying. At night details with lanterns and
stretchers looking up the wounded, many times the rain pouring down in torrents
to add gloom to desolation and suffering, some regiments losing as high as fifty
percent of those engaged in battle, and a few regiments losing as high as
seventy-five percent killed and wounded. Many who were made prisoners were
doomed to a loathsome prison life and a horrible death.
We are led to ask the question, what was the cause of the rebellion that led to
so much suffering and the destruction of life?
In the settlement of the colonies by the people of Europe, the wealthy of the
old country were permitted by their government to invade Africa and make slaves
of the blacks, bring them to America, and the business was kept up until 1808,
when the Constitution of the United States made that date that the end of the
traffic from Europe, but the system of slavery was recognized by the states and
the United States. It was fostered by the laws of the United States, by the Dred
Scott decision of the supreme court; was recognized by the political parties and
made a part of their platform. Even the Republican party, that nominated Mr.
Lincoln and elected him, said in its platform that it would not interfere with
slavery where it then existed, but would prevent its extension, hence the south
had nothing to fear from the administration of Mr. Lincoln, but his election to
the presidency transferred the patronage of the Government to the northwest,
hence the political power and the offices had passed from them, which was the
prime cause of the rebellion, but they made slavery the pretext. Under the
pretext that slavery was to be abolished by the Republican party, and that Mr.
Lincoln was an enemy to slavery, the southern states demanded a division of the
United States upon the Mason and Dixon line, and when the administration refused
to permit a division the southern statesmen fired the hearts and frenzied the
brains of the people upon the plea that the election of Mr. Lincoln meant the
sacrifice of all property in slaves. They had their army organized; they raised
the palmetto flag, and fired on the stars and stripes, the emblem of liberty.
The result was four years of suffering, death and carnage. Now we hear a few
people ask to have all of those four years of darkness forgotten, and say that
we ought to forget the past. As well might the Christian churches be asked to
forget the crucifiction of our Savior. We may forgive, but never, no never
forget the sacrifice. Let us teach the citizens, and especially the boys and
girls who are very soon to take our places in this nation, to continue to keep
the memory of those brave and loyal men and women, who sacrificed their all for
this government's good, bright and burning upon the altar of their hearts. Then,
in closing the memorial services of the day, let us bid dust and ashes of the
honored and loyal dead rest in peace. Let those of us who survive them prepare
for that reunion beyond the grave, where there will be no sound of the bugle to
arms, but the association of comrades with each other and their loved ones
throughout great eternity.
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