Dixie remembrances for January

My Orthodox brother and Dixie compatriot Walt Garlington has given me permission to cross-publish his monthly “Remembrances,” which will be posted at the beginning of each and every month throughout 2023. Garlington, a chemical engineer turned writer, is editor of the website Confiteri: A Southern Perspective and has had his essays published at the Abbeville Institute, Reckonin’, and even a couple at Dissident Mama.

As a contributor to the Ludwell Orthodox Fellowship, Garlington also compiled “Saints for Dixie,” another monthly installment that published throughout 2022 at the fellowship’s website SouthernOrthodox.org. I will be linking to those “Saints” blog posts in conjunction with Garlington’s “Remembrances.” Enjoy!

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Dear friends, if you have time, please pray for these members of the Southern family on the day he or she reposed.

Jan. 1st

Francois Valcour Aimé, one of Louisiana’s noblest sons.
https://64parishes.org/entry/valcour-aime
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6679407/francois-gabriel-aime/photo

Hank Williams, the country music legend.
https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/what-makes-this-musician-great-hank-williams/

Jan. 3rd

Rev Robert Lewis Dabney, an influential leader in the South both behind and outside of the pulpit. [Editor’s note: Dabney’s photo is top-left in the feature image.]
https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/review/dabney-on-fire/

Jan. 4th

Gen Francis T. Nichols, a Confederate general in the War between the States who lost an arm and a foot defending his homeland.  After the unpleasantness came to an end, he became a reforming governor in his home State of Louisiana, waging another mighty battle — this time against the corrupt Louisiana Lottery.  He later sat on the bench of the Louisiana Supreme Court.
https://64parishes.org/entry/francis-t-nicholls
http://www.la-cemeteries.com/Governors/Nicholls,%20Francis%20T/Nicholls,%20Francis%20T.shtml

Jan. 5th

George Washington Carver, the famous Tuskegee researcher who found many new uses for the South’s agricultural produce.
https://www.biography.com/scientist/george-washington-carver
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/179/george-washington-carver

Jan. 6th

Judge Robert Baylor.  ‘Robert Emmett Bledsoe (R.E.B.) Baylor (1793-1874) was a lawyer and politician who represented Alabama for one term in the U.S. Congress. He is much better known as the principal founder of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and as a member of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas from 1841 to 1846. He was influential in moving Texas from an independent republic to statehood.’
http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3693

Jan. 8th

Prof. Thomas Landess, a recent defender of Southern ways.
https://theimaginativeconservative.org/author/thomas-landess
https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/blog/author/thomas-h-landess/
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/13/tom-landess-rip/

Jan. 14th

Grace King, ‘New Orleans novelist and historian Grace King made the city and state of her birth an abiding theme in her work. Prolific in several genres—short fiction, the novel, memoir, biography, social and cultural history—King published her work in major national magazines.’
https://64parishes.org/entry/grace-king-3
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6420504/grace-elizabeth-king/photo

Jan. 19th

Arthur Gaston, a successful black businessman in many fields in Alabama and a successful though quiet worker for desegregation.
http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2062

Jan. 23rd

Lucius Q. C. Lamar, a fine Southern statesmen of the 19th century who held a number of posts throughout his life:  college professor, US Congress and Senate, Confederate colonel, foreign diplomat, US Supreme Court, and more.
https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/lqc-lamar/

Jan. 28th

Zora Neale Hurston, Alabama-born and Florida-raised, she played a leading role in the Harlem Renaissance and was a prolific writer.
https://www.zoranealehurston.com/about/

Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are! Anathema to the Union!

Resources:
Akathist for the Repose of the Departed: This can be offered up in prayer for both Orthodox and non-Orthodox who have departed.

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♱ St. Genevieve of Paris, 3/16 January

As a child St. Geneviève met St. Germanus of Auxerre (31st July) who foretold her future sanctity, and at the age of fifteen, she received monastic tonsure. St. Geneviève had the gift of clairvoyance, which at times led many around her to persecute her until the Bishop of Paris came to her defense. When Paris was under attack by the Franks and later by Attila and the Huns, St. Geneviève encouraged those defending the city, and organised groups to pray for God’s protection. St. Geneviève reposed in 500, and ever since has been considered the special protectress and patroness of Paris.

Resources:
What is a saint?

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