Meekins continues Civil War history project that began in 1862

State historian Chris Meekins was at Museum of the Albemarle last week to discuss a state-led project that began during the Civil War and continues 163 years later.

Meekins, an Elizabeth City native, was the speaker for the museum’s “History for Lunch” program, “NC Troops, 1861-65: A Roster — The Ongoing Project to Identify Service” on Wednesday, Sept. 18.

Meekins is an editor of the Civil War Roster Project, which is overseen by the N.C. Division of Historical Resources within the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Meekins and fellow editor Carly Beehler are continuing the years-long research project, which includes the publication of the series’ latest volume in February.

Meekins previously worked nearly 20 years as a research and records archivist for the state before being appointed to his current position.

“The state of North Carolina’s ongoing efforts to document the service of American Civil War spans the timeframe that begins during the war itself and continues to the present day,” Meekins said.

There have been four efforts by the state to document the names of North Carolinians who served in the Civil War, both for the Confederacy and the United States, he said. The latest and longest of those efforts is the current project, “NC Troops, 1861-65: A Roster,” according to Meekins.

Each project built on the progress of the previous attempt to document North Carolinians’ participation in the war. The first project was titled “A Roll of Honor” and was the inspiration of Robert L. Beall, a member of the North Carolina House of Commons from Davidson County, Meekins said.

Beall introduced a series of resolutions in December 1862 that thanked North Carolina women who were sending goods to soldiers.

“If you’ve done any research or looked at newspapers from 1861-1862, you’ll see ladies aid societies who were knitting socks, putting together blankets and sending those care packages to the locally recruited company or regiment and then the officer or captain of that regiment would send a letter back to that local newspaper thanking the ladies of Pasquotank County for the socks they sent,” Meekins said.

The “Roll of Honor” included nine volumes of the names and information of fallen soldiers from as late as October 1864, according to Meekins.

A few years later, editors of newspapers from around the state got involved in chronicling the names and information of North Carolinians who fought in the war. One of those editors was William Henry Bernard of the Wilmington Star, who wanted to raise awareness of North Carolina’s contribution to the war effort.

“Thus far our state has not received evenhanded justice as to the war,” Bernard wrote at the time, according to Meekins. “The state should gather up the records of the war to present a correct narrative of North Carolina’s service.”

Bernard cited the July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg to illustrate his point.

“We do not believe that there are five men beyond the limits of our own state who know precisely what part North Carolina soldiers bore in that tremendous fight,” Meekins quoted Bernard as saying.

In the days following the Battle of Gettysburg, Virginia newspapers were filled with glorious stories of Virginia soldiers — to the lament of North Carolina’s combatants, Meekins said.

According to the webpage for “NC Troops, 1861-65: A Roster,” the series consists of 22 volumes but work is ongoing. The project was created in 1961 by the state’s Office of History and Archives and the N.C. Centennial Commission to commemorate 100 years since the start of the Civil War.

The most recent volume in the series is Volume 22, which was published in February.

“Volume 22 focuses on naval service, including information about sailors, Marines and the Charlotte Navy Yard,” Meekins said. “Yes, there was a navy yard in Charlotte where there is no water.”

Meekins called Volume 22 a “turning point in the series.”

“We will continue and as it had been planned in 1960 to turn the focus on the service of those men in the United States forces,” he said. “The new series will be Series 2 and Volume 1 will start with the United States Navy. From there, Series 2 will document the African American regiments and the white regiments from eastern and western North Carolina.”

For more information about the Civil War Roster Project, visit the project’s webpage at www.dncr.nc.gov. At the home page, select “History” from the “About Us” drop down menu, then click on “History” and finally “Historical Publications.”