Below is the original General Orders documentation of how the local
South Carolina National Guard received it's name: The Wood's Rifles..
The Gaffney SCV camp was chartered by the Sons of Confederate
Veterans under the name of Moses Wood.
South Carolina National Guard received it's name: The Wood's Rifles..
The Gaffney SCV camp was chartered by the Sons of Confederate
Veterans under the name of Moses Wood.
The Moses Wood Monument was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
During the summer of 1994, Ms. Sandra H. Dill hosted a Confederate Flag
Dedication at her home on South Johnson Street in Gaffney, S. C. Present
were members of the Pickens Camp #71 in Easley, S. C. that included Reenactors
from that area and also members of The United Daughters of the
Confederacy, both of Gaffney, S. C. and Fort Mill, S. C. along with local
people who came out to participate in this dedication and social representing
the old South.
Commander Leroy Caudell was the speaker and dressed in the uniform of
a Confederate General, he gave a program that left everyone in awe. Copies
of his speech was printed and passed out to all. The late “Red” Spencer
played Dixie on the Harmonica, as tears ran down the faces of those
assembled. The Confederate Flag was dedicated and affixed to the porch
column. Secession punch and Confederate sugar cookies were served to the
guest.
After the Service, everyone retired to the indoors to cool off, as the weather
that day proved to be quite warm.
Commander Caudell and Jordan W. Dill then discussed the possibility of
establishing a SCV Camp in Gaffney. Caudell voiced the opinion that a
Camp could be chartered within months.
Dill then began organizing by running an ad in local papers announcing the
desired establishment of a heritage organization. A date was set forth and
eleven men, including Dill met at Ms. Dill’s home. The name, Moses Wood
was put forth as the Camp’s namesake and adopted by the group. The
Pickens #71 Camp sponsored the Moses Wood Camp, and all members
applied for membership into the Pickens Camp, until the new camps number
could be ascertained. That being done, the new Camp became #125.
The New Moses Wood Camp #125 was charted on January 6, 1995
The Pickens Camp #71 gave seed money in the amount of $100.00 to Camp
Moses Wood #125 and Mrs. Christine Caudell presented to the Camp a hand
made reproduction of a Charleston Depot Battle Flag of the Confederate
States of America A total of nine Compatriots then transferred their
membership to the Moses Wood Camp #125.
William Tiller was elected the first Commander, Jordan W. Dill was
elected the Lt. Commander, Vernon Sanders (then Mayor of Gaffney) was
elected to the post of Adjutant and Rev. Paul Noe was elected Chaplain.
Other members present during the Charter meeting were Richard Thomas,
Keith Yow, Charles Alexander, Joe Hartzog and Gary L. Snead.
The first few meetings were held at the home of Ms. Sandra Dill. Over the
years, the Camp has met at many locations.
In 1996 Jordan W. Dill was elected Commander and he retained that office
for the next twelve years, growing the Camp and establishing a good
relationship between the Moses Wood Chapter of the United Daughters of
the Confederacy and the Moses Wood Camp #125 Sons of Confederate
Veterans. From 1995 to the present, Confederate Memorial Day services
continue to be held at the local Confederate Soldiers Monument in
downtown Gaffney, with an annual picnic to follow.
Dill led the fight to have a Flag Pole erected at the Soldiers Monument,
which came before City Council and brought out the media from three
networks. Seeing this as an advantage to smear the Flag and enrage the
Blacks, the Media tossed the NAACP into this request and the upshot was
the Flag Pole request was turned down. A letter writing campaign in the
early days to keep the Flag on the Capitol dome at the State House in
Columbia, S. C. worked for years and made one term Governors out of
several politicians. This was a State SCV effort. Camp Moses Wood #125
has had over 100 compatriots to join the ranks during the last fourteen years,
and some members fall along the wayside, while a number Compatriots have
passed away. (Camp Re-Enactors performed Confederate Rites by request of
a passing members family.) Today, the total membership in good standing
averages around 72 members, one Associate member and three cadets.
In 2005, Camp Moses Wood #125, then in the Second Brigade, hosted the
Lee-Jackson Banquet for the Brigade.
Camp Moses Wood #125 was awarded the Robert E. Lee Outstanding
Camp Award in 2006, during the State Convention in Beaufort, S. C.
With the encouragement of Leroy Caudell, a Building Fund was begun in
2003. The Camp is in an ongoing effort to locate a permanent home at this
time and continues to be dependent on the hospitality of others.
In 2007, Camp Moses Wood #125 presented a Gaffney High School Senior
Cadet with the H. L. Hunley Award for outstanding achievement. Through
the years, Camp Moses Wood #125 has donated to the Cherokee Children’s
Home, Meals on Wheels and other civic organizations that were of need.
In 2007, The Camp began a program to donate books to the local Carnegie
Library.
Camp Members have marched in the local Veterans Day Parade.
The Camp has nine Guardians and in 2008, First Lt. Commander Wade
Scruggs has been appointed Project Director of the Guardian Program for
the Third Brigade and he along with other Camp Compatriots is
documenting every cemetery in Cherokee County. They are averaging
twenty to twenty five cemeteries per month.
In 2007, the Camp elected Mark Sheppard as the Camp Commander.
Sheppard is also Lt. Commander of the Third Brigade and on the S.C. SCV
Awards Committee.
Local Artist, Mac Davis sketched a pen and pencil drawing of the Winnie
Davis Hall of History, located on the campus of Limestone College.
The print is being sold by Camp Moses Wood #125 with all proceeds being
donated to the restoration of this historic building. Commander Sheppard
and Camp Lt. Commander Marshall Cooper have worked tirelessly in this
effort and are to be commended.
For the last four years, Moses Wood Camp #125 has taken an active role in
the Ghost Walk, sponsored by the Cherokee Historical and Preservation
Society. (CHAPS) and for the last three years have taken part in the
Veterans Appreciation Day Program at the American Legion Hut. Also
members of the Camp sponsor an encampment of Living History at the
Gaffney Middle School in April.
Chaplain Gary L. Snead ,(Received Chaplain of the Year Award in 2000)
along with Camp Compatriot Scott Sparks and other friends of the Camp,
are members of the History Alive Troupe that tours schools around in the
area, touching the lives of thousands of students with the true history of the
South, with their living history presentations.
Camp Moses Wood #125 has a website which is ccscv.com and the
Webmaster is Compatriot Butch Wylie. Sandra H. Dill-Little edits the
Camp Newsletter ‘The Rebel Yell’. The Newsletter has won many State
Awards, including First Place in 2008
The Lee-Jackson Banquet held every year in January is a highlight of the
Camp’s many activities, where awards for special achievement are handed
out to deserving members and a celebration of the birthdays of General Lee
and General Jackson is topped off by the lighting of a birthday cake in their
memory.
In 2006 the Department of Transportation named the Camp as the
outstanding group of the year for the Adopt-A-Highway Program in
Cherokee County. Adjutant Robert E. Little who is the Camps program
director for this project and his wife, Sandra Little accepted this award
during a banquet in Columbia, S. C.
Camp Moses Wood #125 always has compatriots that attended the State and
National Conventions and are extremely proud to host our Colors as we
show our support of The Cause that was Just.
Over the many years that the Camp has been in existence, we have been
privileged to host many wonderful and qualified speakers. As a Camp we
have grown in the true History of the South. We have made many friends
while developing support systems. We look forward to the future, as we
remember the past and all those that went before us, who gave there all. We
have found strength in our numbers and as diverse as we are as individuals,
we have come together in support of each other.
Lest We Forget
Current Officers & Staff
Commander
Lt. Commander Third Brigade
Mark Sheppard
Past Commander: Jordan W. Dill
Adjutant
Quartermaster
Robert E. Little, III
Lt. Commander
Marshall Cooper
First Lt. Commander
Grave Registration Project Director
Wade Scruggs
Color Sgt.
David Bivens
Judge Advocate
Recruitment Officer
Doug Lee
Sgt. Of Arms
Keith Carroll
Chaplain
Gary L. Snead(
WebMaster
Butch Wylie
Editor: Sandra H. Dill-Little (Received Ladies Appreciation Medal)
Camp Photographer
Jeff Griffith
Quartermaster
Scott Millwood
Written by: S. H. Dill-Little
Editor/ The Rebel Yell
July 30, 2008
History of the formation of Camp Moses Wood #125
Take a look at the photos below of a few of the Moses Wood Camp members and family
during some of the camps functions and activities. Looks like their all enjoying celebrating
their southern heritage. Just look at what you started Mrs. Sandra Dill-Little !!!
during some of the camps functions and activities. Looks like their all enjoying celebrating
their southern heritage. Just look at what you started Mrs. Sandra Dill-Little !!!