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Know Your Neighbors: Jon Thompson Still Brings History to Life With Civil War Teachings

The retired Lee Burneson Middle School teacher said his interest in the Civil War all started with a stack of old war-time letters.

Jon Thompson has quite the story to tell. 

Years ago, a family member handed him a stack of 75 war time letters written by Private Alfred Weedon, Jon Thompson’s great-great grandfather who served as a union soldier through most of the Civil War. 

Thompson transcribed the 19th-century correspondence and brought them into where he worked as an educator for almost 40 years. He started teaching Civil War history to his English students toward the end of the school year. 

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The students took to it, so to go a step further, he and some colleagues decided to put on the first annual Blue and Gray Civil War ball in 1990. 

After 20 years, the ball is still going on and offers students a greater perspective on how people lived in that period. Students dress the part, learn how to waltz, act out plays and venture to the Gettysburg battlefield in Pennsylvania to gain a better appreciation of those who fought in the war. 

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These days, Thompson is studying to become a certified guide at Gettysburg to teach tourists about one of the most pivotal battles in the war that unfolded in July of 1863, he said. 

Below is an excerpt by Weedon that was sent to Thompson’s great-great grandmother on April 14, 1865, which – unbeknownst to the private – was written on the day of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. 

“…It is a hard matter to get the majority of our friends at home to appreciate us. They can see reason for congratulations only when they receive a benefit. This is very natural and now I will remark that the greatest earthly benefit that a soldier can receive is the success of his country’s cause. A true soldier and Patriot does not expose his life for the love of money; he does not face the death-dealing cannon and the far more destructive rifle, forsooth, to gain the admiration of a vain and vulgar world; but he faces death because it is his duty to protect this God-given Heritage, and to perpetuate our free institutions for our posterity for ever.”

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