J. L. M. CURRY’S WOMEN CONSTITUENTS
[J. L. Underwood.]
Hon. J. L. M. Curry had ever since the war with Mexico been the idol of his district in Alabama, which kept him steadily in the United States Congress and sent him to the Confederate House of Representatives. Toward the latter part of the war in the Congressional campaign Mr. Curry found an opponent in Mayor Cruickshank, of Talladega. The latter skilfully played upon the hardships and hopelessness of the war and in some of the upper mountain counties considerable opposition to Mr. Curry was developed. At a gathering of the mountaineers, largely composed of women, Mr. Curry was appealing with his usual favor to his people to continue their efforts to secure the independence of the Confederacy and not to listen to any suggestion of submission to the Northern States. About the time his eloquence reached its highest point, up rose an old woman and hurled at him what struck him like a thunderbolt:
“I think it time for you to hush all your war talk. You go yonder to Richmond and sit up there in Congress and have a good time while our poor boys are being all killed; and if you are going to do anything it’s time for you to stop this war.”
In a moment up sprang another mountain woman. “Go on, Mr. Curry,” said she. “Go on, you are right. We can never consent to give up our Southern cause. Don’t listen to what this other woman says. I have sent five sons to the army. Three of them have fallen on the battlefield. The other two are at their post in the Virginia army and they will all stand by Lee to the last. This woman here hasn’t but two sons and they had to be conscripted. One of them has deserted and it takes all of Lewis’s Cavalry to keep the other one in ranks. Go on, Mr. Curry. We are with you.” And Curry went on, more edified by this last woman’s speech, said he afterward, than any speech he ever heard in his life.