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ANDERSON COUNTY – On September 21, Anderson County Manse Jolly Camp #6, Commander Ron Wilson, Adjutant Joey R. Preston, and SCV life-time member and Camp #6 charter member Michael Barnes presented Ed Girardeau with a medal and certificate honoring him as an original Son of Confederate Veterans. Born Wallace Edward Girardeau, he is a WWII vet (US Army) and is the last living child of a confederate soldier in Anderson County. In addition to the medal and certificate, Camp #6 also assisted in placing a confederate marker upon the grave of his father, Morris Girardeau. In July 2007, camp members Chase Heatherly (Vice President of Palmetto HS student body) and Michael Barnes, in spite of 106 degree heat, placed the marker on Girardeau’s grave.
Ed Girardeau’s father, George Maurice (Morris) Girardeau was born in October, 1842 in Charleston County, SC. The son of John Bohun Girardeau (1798-1852) and his second wife, Morris enlisted on May 9, 1861 and served in the 2 South Carolina Infantry. Later, he served in Manigault’s Battalion, South Carolina Artillery until he was discharged in May, 1865 in Bentonville, NC. He died in Greenville County on February 15, 1925 when Ed was three years old.
Morris, a school teacher in Mills Mil, Greenville, SC, met and married his first wife, Rosalie Boyd in Greenville, SC on December 21, 1892. Later, he married his second wife, Air Alis Gilbert who later gave birth to Ed.
The parents of Morris Girardeau (grandparents to Ed) were of French Huguenot descent and, by the time of their son's birth on James Island (across the Ashley River from Charleston), were possessors of a rich colonial ancestry, which included at least one Revolutionary War hero. John Bohun (a planter) and Claudia Freer (his first wife) were solid Presbyterians of the Scottish type. George Maurice's half-brother was John Lafayette Girardeau (1825-98), a well- known Presbyterian minister. Rev. John Girardeau actually delivered a sermon attended by Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Rich with heritage, Anderson County won the bid to host the 2010 Sons of Confederate Veterans National Reunion. The convention will take place in July 2010 at the Civic Center of Anderson.
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