Historian says Civil War stories can ‘help to draw us together’

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Plymouth Township-based author and historian Jack Dempsey has written 10 books, seven of them on the Civil War.

Dempsey said he can trace his interest in the war to when he was 3 years old and was boosted up onto a monument of Stonewall Jackson at Manassas National Battlefield Park for a photograph.

“By the third grade, I was entranced by the history of the Civil War,” he said.

That interest only ramped up during the centennial anniversary of the war, which the country celebrated from 1961 to 1965. Kids across the nation celebrated by donning Union and Confederate caps, depending on their allegiance and, of course, geography.

In his undergraduate years at Michigan State University, Dempsey took classes under Professor Frederick D. Williams, a historian and author of “Michigan Soldiers in the Civil War.” While pursuing a law degree at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.,Dempsey’s interest continued to blossom.

“Because of the location, I was able to travel to nearby Civil War battlefields and parks,” he said.

When middle age snuck up on Dempsey, he said he asked himself, “What do I want to do now?” For him, the answer was simple: “Dig into the history of the Civil War.”

The author points to the rise of the internet and digitization as a boon to Civil War research.

“I can sit at my desk and access sources like the New York Public Library, the Library of Congress and Newspapers.com,” he said. “In fact, the best part of writing is the research.” He laughed about going down “rabbit holes,” which are every writer’s bane.

He was particularly interested in Michigan’s role in the Civil War. About 10 years ago, he visited Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit, where numerous Civil War soldiers are buried.

“The gravesites provide a three-dimensional reality for me and are very moving,” he said.

While at the cemetery, he discovered the grave of William Dollarson and recognized the name from a letter he had previously come across. It was written by “Michigan’s premier figure in the antebellum era,” Alpheus Williams, who was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the war.

Dempsey was curious about Dollarson’s role in the war, and that curiosity continued for years.

When the Michigan Civil War Association began publishing books based on often-obscure sources like letters, journals, diaries and ephemera, Dempsey decided to integrate Dollarson’s story into the third book in the series, called “Warriors for Liberty.”

“The hardest thing about writing the book was finding source material,” Dempsey said. “And I hope that this is not the final word on him.”

Williams had called on Dollarson to join his staff as a chef, one of the many skills Dollarson had learned after escaping slavery in Louisiana. Dempsey learned another of the skills was shepherding escaped slaves as part of Detroit’s robust Underground Railroad network.

“One of the things that attracted me to Dollarson’s war service was his courage,” Dempsey said.

Here was a former slave returning to service in the Deep South, which would put him in a precarious position.

 “Even his fellow soldiers encouraged him to return to Detroit, for they feared he could be captured and returned to slavery,” Dempsey said.

One story Dempsey retells in the book is Dollarson’s refusal to whip another slave, a woman, for his master and how that led to his escape.

Dempsey also relates the feelings he had when standing at the graves of William, who is not designated as a Civil War veteran, and his wife, Maria: “The observer cannot help, standing graveside, possessing the knowledge about the role of the liberator played by William and supported by his wife, to be drawn to a knee, or both knees if physically able, in awe and appreciation for the courage, sacrifice and love represented in those names.”

Dempsey said stories of individuals like Dollarson “help to draw us together as a society” across political divides.

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