IN-PERSON: The Elderwise classroom at the Vineyard Church
Special Note from Instructor:
April 9, 1865: Appomattox
History in Time and Place
When I began to update the “ Blood, Ghosts and Glory” slide show for Elderwise,
I realized the significance of the date, April 9, 2025,
160 years to the day General Lee surrendered to
General Grant. Appomattox played a larger and larger role; certain
individuals appeared and reappeared throughout the story. New names
blended with the old and the story took a different path; one which I had to
follow. Gone were some of the Michigan stories and new stories replaced
them. I learned much and I hope that you will enjoy the change in focus
~~~~Rochelle Balkam.
President Lincoln could not have known how significant a role Michigan would play when he issued his call for volunteers in April of 1861. “Thank God for Michigan,” he later proclaimed. Four years later on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, Michigan would once again play a part. George Armstrong Custer received the flag of surrender, and another Michigan hero pursued the president of the Confederacy as he fled in his wife’s cloak. In the final days, Michigan’s 24th Volunteer Infantry, part of the “Iron Brigade,” accompanied President Lincoln’s funeral train home to Springfield. Civil War stories are a part of Rochelle Balkam’s heritage, with ancestors playing a role. Her research began with the discovery of a little-known figure, Sarah Edmonds/Franklin Thompson, whose autobiography presents a complex picture of identity. The journey took her to Spotsylvania, where her great-great-uncle earned the Kearney Cross for valor by saving the unit’s flag. Finally, during a visit to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, an incident occurred which may have brought her face to face with the ghost of her great-great-grandfather. Rochelle Balkam taught history and government at Ypsilanti High School for 36 years. She taught Michigan history at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) for 27 years and at the University of Michigan for four years. Rochelle holds an MA in history and an MS in historic preservation from EMU. She is president of the Michigan One-room Schoolhouse Association, and previously served on the board of the Historical Society of Michigan and as a member of the Washtenaw County Historic District Commission.
