J. Keith Jones

Good day hanging out at the House of Boyd tent at the Stone Mountain Georgia Highland Games. Talked to a lot of people stopping by with Boyd ties about the Boys of Diamond Hill. If you were not there, you missed a great day at a fun event. See you all in either Elberton or Abbeville, details to come.

Reminder to my friends who are in the Scottish games circuit or in the Atlanta area, I will be signing books on Saturday (Oct. 15) at the Stone Mountain Highland Games as a guest of the House of Boyd Society. I will be sharing stories about the Boyd family from Abbeville County, South Carolina from my book, “The Boys of Diamond Hill.”

I want to thank them for sharing their tent with me. It shows what a fine family the Boyds continue to be. Come on by and say hello.

I have been invited to be a featured author at the Olde South Thanksgiving and Harvest Festival on the square in Abbeville, SC on November 19, 2011.

It will be good to be there in the town that the Boyd brothers of “The Boys of Diamond Hill” called home.

The festival will begin the afternoon before on Friday November 18 at about 4:00 with a musical at the Trinity Street Stable just off the square from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm. Saturday, there will be free events all day plus a ball from 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm for which there is a charge as there is for the musical on Friday night, but most of the events are free, so come on out. There will be reenactors both days and other entertainment. See the full schedule here.

Come on out and see me, I should be set up on the square and will be selling my books. If you are native that the Abbeville area, you just might have ancestors mentioned in “The Boys of Diamond Hill.” Drop by. I’ll enjoy discussing it with you.

I hope to see you all out this weekend for a great event at Bennett Place State Park. They will be sponsoring one of their signature events called, The Road to Secession, kicking off their observance of the Sesquicentennial of the War for Southern Independence.

I will be speaking on Saturday at 3:30 and Sunday at 1:00 on the part played by Daniel and Pressley Boyd and their unit, the 7th South Carolina Infantry during the first year of the war.

For a taste of this, check out my Sesquicentennial series on the Boyds.

This description comes from their site:

October 8-9 Bennett Place Historic Site. Road To Secession.

This is a signature event of the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War commemorative series. In July 1861 the first major battle of the American Civil War was fought in Manassas , Virginia. The new Confederacy won the battle, and new recruits from the local communities began to swell the ranks South and North. Experience what life was like for the people of Piedmont North Carolina during the beginning months of the American Civil War. A recruitment station and encampment will be established on the grounds of the Bennett Farm, much like camps organized throughout North Carolina and the South, recruiting men to defend the Southern cause. Nineteenth century civilian interpreters will enlist in the army and be transformed into soldiers. Stump speeches, patriotic music, and other relative activities will demonstrate the spirit of the Southern cause. Civilian interpreters will also exhibit the domestic chores such as cooking, sewing and gardening as their husbands and sons headed off to war. Program is Saturday 10am-4pm and Sunday 10am-3pm. Admission is FREE and donations graciously accepted. For More Information Contact: 919-383-4345 or bennett@ncdcr.gov.