In Celebration of Jonesville’s 200th Birthday the Jonesville Historical Society and the Bicentennial Committee
Presented
Divided Loyalties
A Readers Theatre Production based on The Voices Trilogy of Allen Paul Speer III at Jonesville First United Methodist Church 7 p.m. Saturday, March 5, 2011
The Play
Written by Allen Paul Speer III utilizing passages from his three books on family, local and regional history--Voices From Cemetery Hill, Sisters of Providence and From Banner Elk to Boonville-- the play re-created in one act the thoughts and times of Speer’s great-great aunts and uncle, Ann, Jennie and Asbury Speer, who were students at the Jonesville Academy prior to the Civil War when Brantley York was a teacher. The academy, which stood where the church is now, enjoyed a widespread and fine reputation, attracting students from throughout the South. Allen Speer grew up in neighboring Boonville in the 1960s. He and his wife, Janet Barton Speer--both professors at Lees-McRae College- starred in the presentation and afterward led a question and answer session dealing with the time when religion was fundamental; and loyalties, north and south, among friends and between family members, were divided--and the underground railroad was the track north to freedom.
Musical Program, Exhibit & Book Signing
Beginning at 6 p.m., Ruth Crissman renderd on the church’s grand piano a medley of songs and hymns that became popular in the mid-19th century, 1840-1870. In the fellowship hall, where Dr. Speer was available to autograph his books, Academy, Civil War and Town history were on exhibit. The year 2011 not only marks the town’s bicentennial, but also the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the War Between The States. The town and academy were sacked by Yankee troops in April 1865 during the closing days of the war. The academy was never to regain its antebellum prominence.
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