"Right Liberal Contribution"

I enjoy reading how delighted the ex-Confederates were to raise money for their Confederate soldiers’ homes.

In October 1902, as Kentuckians were grasping for every dollar to pay for the opening of the Kentucky Confederate Home, W. J. Stone of Kuttawa sent in a check for $27. The Little River Baptist Association was in session, he explained in the letter accompanying the check. They were holding a tent meeting in a grove near Stone’s farmhouse. The plucky ex-Confederate walked into the tent and asked to speak to the Baptists on behalf of the Kentucky Confederate Home. He received $35 in cash and pledges.

“I thought this was a right liberal contribution,” Stone wrote, “considering that the crowd had been so thoroughly drummed for money for missions.”

(Stone’s letter is available on microfilm in Special Collections at the Kentucky Historical Society.)