WAR YEARS

College Grove was true to Tennessee’s nickname, the Volunteer State, when the Civil War began in 1861. Almost all of the students and teachers of the Carey-Winn Male Academy joined the Confederate Army.

Mrs. Carey was left at home in what is now known as the Scales house next to the Church of Christ. About the third year of the war, a badly-wounded Union soldier, headed north to Nashville for medical attention, fell from his horse in front of the Carey home. Although Mrs. Carey’s loyalty was to the South, she sent for help, took the soldier into her house, and cared for him. He did not live, and was buried in her backyard. Later, his body was removed to the National Cemetery in Nashville. This kindness proved valuable to Mrs. Carey when later she went to a northern prison camp in Illinois to seek the release of her husband. He was paroled to his wife because of her unselfish deed.

College Grove went through the Reconstruction Period just as all Tennesseans did. The first few years after their return, Confederate officers were denied the right to vote. This fact was of much concern. The story has been passed down that one veteran came into College Grove to the polling place, and when he could not vote he went home, got his gun, returned, and demanded that right. Later, this ruling was changed, and the veterans again became the leaders of the community.

College Grove also sent its share of soldiers to other wars. A few of the World War I Veterans who liked to get together in the Grove and tell their stories were Jim De Ogilvie, Jesse Seat, Hawley Wilson, Howard Landis, Powell Covington, Wilson Dowdy and Jack Dobson. One story repeated often involved Mr. Seat and an airplane. Of course, the airplane was a “new invention” then, but both sides had an “Air Force.” Mr. Seat, serving in Germany, was a telephone lineman on a pole making repairs when he saw one of these new-fangled things coming. He did not know and did not wait to find out if it was friend or foe, he simply fell from the pole.

During World War II, many young men and women answered the call to military service in Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, and bases in the United States. People at home lived with shortages, rationing stamps, Army maneuvers in the area, and important factory and farm work.

Later, there were those who fought in Korea and Vietnam, and some chose the Military Services as their career. All served their country with distinction.

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