The following is a response to Dr. Jeffrey Davis’ Cumberland Times-News editorial of Nov. 16 (“Confederate Flag brochure tries to rise again”) from the Cumberland Historic Cemetery Organization.

Once again we have Dr. Davis railing against conservative values, American history and Christianity. It appears Dr. Davis has made this his second career as he continues to attack our organization, my 10-year old son and myself for attempting to help, at our expense, the local Board of Education aid in educating local children.

At this point most readers probably realize the issue concerning our Confederate flag brochure with the Board of Education. We have created a new 2010 flag brochure which contains information, as Dr. Jeffrey Davis says it does, on the Confederate flag heritage and history along with our current U.S. flag and flags of the American Revolution.

The purpose of this brochure is to give an appreciative history of our great nation’s republic and to help diminish the unfounded racial connotations to some of the Confederate flags. Dr. Davis appears fixated with the beautiful picture of Saint Andrew on the back of the brochure but his statement reveals he does not even know who Saint Andrew is. We believe it is all the more reason we need the brochure, to educate.

Under the Saint Andrew picture it simply states the following: “Did you know? Saint Andrew was crucified by the Romans on an ‘X’ shaped cross for being a Christian? The Saint Andrew cross is in the pattern for many Confederate flags.” This is a simple historical fact.

Another issue Dr. Davis appears to be upset about is the CHCO corporate seal. This is a scene from an oil painting created by our late cofounder Katherine M. Wolford. Mrs. Wolford, a local public school teacher and artist, was very instrumental in the early days of the founding of the CHCO.

In her original painting of the seal is a scene of an historic Cumberland cemetery with The Narrows in the background.

Naturally when one looks at an older cemetery anywhere in the United States scenes of religious monuments can be viewed, and Dr. Davis, in the western world most of those monuments are of the Christian and Jewish faith, like it or not.

Our seal upsets Dr. Davis as much as his unfounded knowledge of the Confederate flags. Dr. Davis’ organization, Citizens for a Secular Government, seem so preoccupied with the foundations of our organization and we thank them for their interest in view of the fact that there has been more attention and demand for our brochures and historical flags with sales the highest since our founding in 1983. Also we have had more hits on our Web site in 2009 than ever.

In conclusion, we would like to inform the public it was Dr. Jeffrey Davis who threatened legal action against the county commissioners in 2004 if they did not remove the Ten Commandments monument from the county court house lawn.

Due to the commissioners’ cowardice the monument was removed to a dog pen. However after protest lead by our organization, along with many citizens and the two clergymen who have backbone, Rev. Ron Yost and Rev. Robin Kirchner, the monument was placed back in its original site.

Recently Dr. Davis has proposed a constitution monument to be placed at the same location by his group. Currently that monument is on hold as Dr. Davis continues to attack the CHCO, American history, and Christian-Jewish values. How much more will the public swallow of his nonsense?

Edward W. Taylor Jr.

President, Cumberland Historic

Cemetery Organization, Inc.