Clarence PRIEST

Notes:

PRIEST, CLARENCE C. (Pvt.) enlisted 6 Aug.1898 3rd. Battalion. lst Volunteers Infantry Ocala, Fla. dismissed 27 Jan.1899 in Huntsville, Ala.

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How Papa came to volunteer to fight in the Spanish-American War.
by Emily Priest Brockman

Papa and two of his brothers attended a party in Pedro, Fla. A recruiter for the Army was there and the three brothers promised to report to an office in Ocala the following morning. The next morning the two brothers "would have none of it" but Clarence was still determined to go. When he told his father of his intentions to join the army and asked if his brother, John, could use their buggy and the family mare "Old Bess" to drive him to Ocala (about 10 miles) his father, who had volunteered for the Civil War, said "No".

After Clarence retorted "I can walk it by 10 o'clock", his father, Lum, relented and John drove him to town. "Ma and sister Fannie followed me to the end of the family field crying their eyes out", Clarence said.