Staunton Vindicator

The Vindicator will once again be only two pages long this week because much of the staff is away at Harper's Ferry, while the editor is busy with State army business.

Urges readers to remain patient in their quest to discover what policy Virginia will adopt in the present war. The state is resisting aggression, so it will not adopt an aggressive policy toward the North.

Warns that it is the duty of every man to prepare for war.

Urges readers to realize that every vote cast against the Ordinance of Secession, which will be voted upon on the 4th Thursday in May, is "an invitation to Lincoln to march his army of cut-throats and robbers into and through Virginia!" The paper believes that a negative vote is a treasonous act.

Claims that many residents of the deep South are showing great affection for Virginia and her current plight. Soldiers are pouring into the State to help aid Virginia's defense.

The ladies of Staunton are busily making clothing for the local volunteers.

The Vindicator reprints an article from the New York Herald that states that Northern cities are filled with "the most reckless, desperate men on the face of the earth." These men desperately want to conquer and plunder the South. The Herald believes that, as a result of such men, "The character of the coming campaign will be vindictive, fierce, bloody and merciless, beyond parallel in ancient or modern history."

The wheat crop appears very promising.

The State Convention has decreed that all Volunteer officers above the rank of Captain will be replaced by new appointments made by the Governor. Major Gen. Kenton Harper has thus been removed and his replacement is Col. T.J. Jackson of the Virginia Military Institute.

Criticizes the N.Y. Commercial Advertiser for its lies. The paper claimed that Richmond residents "placed a Negro astride of the Statue of Washington!!" Another New York paper grossly exaggerated Southern casualties at the bombardment of Fort Sumpter.

Calls on Southerners to stop purchasing Harper's Weekly because the magazine has called for the conquering of the Confederacy and the freeing of the slaves.

States that Great Britain and France want the South to part from the North peacefully and without bloodshed. The Dispatch compares this "civilized" desire with the barbarism of the North, which is "not only insisting upon blood, but sending their worst criminals, thieves, cutthroats and murderers, sworn to give no quarter."

G.S. Raymond, former foreman of the Staunton Shoe Company, wrote to the Boston Journal informing them that the paper was mistaken in its report that the Massachusetts shoemakers had been imprisoned in Staunton. Some of the men had not been able to take the train because Gov. Letcher had taken control of the railroad for the military, but the shoemakers were free to go whenever they could. They did receive state protection while they were stuck in Staunton.

Urges local farmers not to plant an extensively large corn crop because farmers in the cotton states are devoting much of their land to staple crops.

Jane Schreckhise died on May 2 at age 52. She was a member of the Lutheran Church.

The Staunton Town Council passed an ordinance allowing it to issue bills of small denominations.

List of election commissioners and officers, by precinct: Court House, No. 1 -- Joseph Smith; Franklin M. Young; Thornton Berry; Henry Harrison; Col. Wm. P. Tate; Henry H. Peck (officer); District No. 2 -- William W. Donaghe; John Trimble; Albert J. Garber; C.T. Cochran; William H. Slanker; Robert W. Stevens (officer); Middlebrook -- William R. Dunlap; S. X. Kerr; William Thompson; James A. G. Scott; Elijah Hogshead; William H. Bell (officer); Craigsville -- David Kunkle; Robert Young; Luke Woodward; R. S. Craig; John Lockridge; G. W. McCutchen (officer); Greenville -- William F. Smith; William Hess; John Merrett; John Shulz; Lewis Bumgardner; John Towberman (officer); Stuart's Draft -- Hugh G Guthrie; J.W. Hunter; John Brooke; Adam McChesney; Jacob Van Lear; William L. Hunter (officer); Waynesboro -- John J. Bell; William W. King; Hugh McClure; Samuel Coiner, Sr; Dr. Cyrus Alexander; Wm. Chapman (officer); Fishersville -- Franklin McCue; John Hamilton; J. G. Guthrie; Samuel McCune; D. W. Coiner; Elijah Bateman (officer); New Hope -- George C. Robertson; Jacob Coffman; Nathaniel Kerr; Samuel Coiner, Jr; James N. Gentry; J. D. Hanger (officer); Mt. Meridian -- James W. Crawford; Benjamin Byerly; James Johnson; John A. Patterson; Abraham Mobler; Benjamin Craig (officer); Mt. Sidney -- William S. Hiser; Addison Hyde; J. M. McCue; Thomas Burke; Charles K. Hyde (officer); Springfield -- S.W. Bolen; Theophilus Gamble; John A. Patterson; Josiah Neff; John Rimel; Andrew Crist; (officer); Mt. Solon -- Daniel Forrer; A. R. Bell; James T. Clarke; John J. Cupp; David Kyle; Jos. F. Hottel (officer); Churchville -- James Wilson; Bailey Dunlap; Henry Sterrett; J. W.Huff; H. Bare; R. P. Eubank (officer); Swoope's Depot -- Samuel H. Bell; Washington Swoope, Sr; George Shuey; Jacob Baylor; A. G. Wayland; A.B. Lightner (officer); Midway -- Wm.T. Rush; John Carson; A. M. Moore; James Henry; Jamison D. McGuffin; John H. Rush (officer); New Port -- A.W. Anderson; James Buchanan; James J. Martin; Dr. John McChesney; Thomas Steele; J. E. Echard (officer); Deerfield -- William Guy; W. W. Montgomery; Renix Hodge; J. Mann; Dr. McCutchen; Ed Montgomery (officer); Sherando -- Benjamin F. Lewis; William Grass; M. K. Manley; Samuel A. Hunter; Daniel Shaw; M. M. Moffett (officer); Parnassus -- James Byers; Martin Whitmore; Enos Sillings; Abraham Huffman; George Orebaugh; John Hogshead (officer)