The Days of a Man 1912 



It was evident, of course, that the passage of half a 

 century would have obscured or obliterated most of 

 them, but something should be attempted, I thought 

 - the sooner the better, for every year's delay 

 meant the loss of records. 



The economic side of the problem I entrusted to 

 ^ n Edward Krehbiei of the chair of European 

 History at Stanford, assisted by Laurence L. Hill, 

 one of his students. Their exhaustive survey of Cobb 

 County in northern Georgia, a region desolated by 

 the war, brought interesting facts to light; but as 

 only one section could be thoroughly covered because 

 of limited time, the report has never been published. 

 On the completion of Krehbiel's work in Georgia, 

 I joined the two men in Fredericksburg, Virginia, 

 where we began a thorough canvass of the harassed 

 county of Spottsylvania (the center of three of the 

 most devastating campaigns) with a view to finding 

 out whatever possible of the effects of the war on the 

 Harvey population. We were now ably assisted by Dr. Harvey 

 Jordan Ernest Jordan, professor of Anatomy in the Univer- 

 sity of Virginia, a high authority on Eugenics and 

 probably a distant cousin of mine. Being in doubt 

 as to the reception my studies might meet in Virginia, 

 and thinking that a member of the State University 

 staff would perhaps open doors otherwise closed, I 

 had asked his collaboration. I may say that my 

 fears were groundless; everywhere we met with 

 perfect courtesy and cooperation. 



From our studies in different districts we framed 

 certain tentative generalizations. These we referred 

 for judgment to all surviving officers of the Confeder- 

 ate Army with whom we were able to enter into 

 correspondence. From fifty-five of them we received 



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