"All Quiet Along the Potomac To-night"—Proof that it was Written by Thaddeus Oliver, of Twiggs County, Georgia.
We have received from Rev. Hugh F. Oliver, of Augusta, Georgia, a lengthy communication in proof of the claim that the poetic gem, "All Quiet Along the Potomac To-night," was written by his father (Thaddeus Oliver), and we regret that our space will not allow us to publish the paper in full.
Mr. Oliver, after introducing two very sweet poems of his father to show that he was capable of writing this one, proceeds with the following proofs:
1. He gives incidents in early betrothal of his father to "Mary"—in his weded life—and in the circumstances under which he left home for the army, to show that he had enacted the poem in his heart's experience long before it was actually written.
2. He gives copious extracts from his father's letters to his mother, to show that long before the poem was written he had put the same sentiments into prose—that he claimed the authorship of the poem before it was ever in print—and that after it was printed he again and again reiterated his claim to its authorship.
3. Mr. Oliver then gives, as settling the question, the following letters:
Letter from Frank Daves.
Mr. Hugh F. Oliver, Madison, Ga.: Dear Sir—In reading your article claiming "All Quiet Along the Potomac," for your father, Thaddeus Oliver, I notice that you request all persons who can throw any light on the subject to do so at once; therefore I make the following statements. I do not profess to have any acquaintance with the facts myself, but I have a friend, A. Shaw by name, for whose word I have the greatest respect, who has put me in possession of a train of facts which convinces me that Thaddeus Oliver is the author of the poem.
Mr. Shaw was a member of a Texas regiment, and was in camp with the Second Georgia at the time of the writing of the poem. A few days after the poem was written, he was on a visit to Mr. Oliver, and the latter, while turning over some of his clothing, drew a piece of paper from the pocket of a coat and presented it to Mr. Shaw. This paper was the original manuscript of "All Quiet Along the Potomac." Mr. Shaw, who is the possessor of a brilliant memory, read the poem over a few times, and afterwards rewrote it from memory, making but two or three mistakes in
