Robert D. Fyffe.

by Terry Foenander.

In a message sent to the Noxubee, Mississippi Message Board, at Rootsweb.com, dated Saturday 11 March 2006, James Mason Gray, a member of the American Civil War Round Table of Queensland, and notorious for twisting the facts, and claiming credit for the work of many others, had stated, incorrectly, that, “I am a former resident and now live in Australia.   Since arriving here I have built a Memorial Website dedicated to all the Civil War veterans buried in Australia and New Zealand, [here the URL of his incredibly inaccurate web site is shown] and in my research I have discovered Robert D. Fyffe, 1^st sergeant in company B, 4^th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, buried in Foster, Victoria, Australia.”

This statement includes a number of inaccuracies and falsehoods, which are the trademark of Mr. Gray in all of his work.

We will now place the facts of the matter, in relation to Mr. Gray, and the so called burial site of Robert D. Fyffe.

Mr. Gray arrived as a settler in Australia, from the United States of America, in the year 2000.   He showed no interest in the American Civil War veterans buried in Australia and New Zealand until at least late 2004, and by early 2005 was sending out requests for data on the veterans to a number of the original researchers on this subject, including this author.   So his statement that he started working on the veterans since arriving here is at least four years off the mark.   Additionally, his statement that, in his “research” he had discovered Robert D. Fyffe, buried in Foster, includes at least a couple more falsehoods, as the name of Robert D. Fyffe came from listings compiled by Mr. Barry Crompton, of the American Civil War Round Table of Australia, and not from any so called “research” work of Gray’s.  Additionally, the statement that Fyffe was buried at Foster in the state of Victoria, is totally inaccurate, as we had already known, so, as usual, Mr. Gray had made up his own assumptions, without checking the facts.   The listings of persons buried at the Foster Cemetery, in Victoria, shows no one of that name buried there, and no one with the surname of Fyffe buried in Foster.   If Mr. Gray had done some homework, and also taken the trouble to respect the wishes of those who had originally supplied him with all the data (which wishes included a request not to use any of the data for his own selfish motives), he would have known that Fyffe was only a possibility and not an actuality.   It was indicated that Fyffe had a brother who resided in Auckland, New Zealand, so research should have commenced from that angle, once it was found that Robert D. Fyffe was not buried at Foster.   Furthermore, the statement that Fyffe had served in the 4^th Mississippi Infantry Regiment was only an assumption, and should not have been taken as a gospel fact. [The person who served in the 4th Mississippi actually had the surname of Fife, and there were also eight persons named Robert Fife who served during the war, but all this was never taken into account by Gray, as usual.]

How a letter to the editor of the Confederate Veteran magazine, from New Zealand resident, A.C. Fyffe, in the issue of March, 1914, and stating that "My brother, Robert D. Fyffe, was a member of one of the bodies of Mississippi Rangers at the siege of Vicksburg. I was a youth when he served. I should like to have some information in regard to him, whether he be living or dead; and if dead, where he died and when" could be interpreted as Robert D. Fyffe being buried at Foster, in Victoria, Australia, is beyond the comprehension of any person with a reasonable sense of logic. Then again, it is understandable, as the person who made such an interpretation was none other than the well known Mr. Gray. At no time does the correspondent state that his brother, Robert, had been residing in, or was ever in Australia. The assumption could only be made by none other than the king of errors, James Mason Gray.

Further along, in his query, Mr. Gray states that “The National Park Service does not have him listed on the Soldiers and Sailors website, but he is found on the 4^th Miss Inf Rgt. Rosters.   I have already filed a complaint with the NPS.”   This shows the extent of Mr. Gray’s knowledge of the National Park Service web site, and shows that, as usual, Mr. Gray does not bother to check the facts or read the statements placed at web sites, in publications, and elsewhere, or probably just tends to ignore these statements.   If he had bothered to read the introductory notes to the NPS web site, Mr. Gray would have realized that the compilation of the material is a work in progress, and there are still a very large number of names and data to be placed online.  What he hopes to achieve by filing a complaint for something that is properly explained in the introduction is beyond comprehension, but it is a well known fact that Mr. Gray does not bother listening to anyone, or to read the facts shown.

And finally, in his query on Fyffe, Mr. Gray ends the query with the statement: “Once I have all the information, I want to see that he has a headstone placed on his gravesite.”   Once again, this shows his ignorance of the rules and regulations of these matters, as it is a well known fact that Mr. Gray has been applying for headstones and grave markers for a lot of graves that already have such markers, even if these original grave markers do not include Civil War service details.   The regulations shown on the Veterans Administration forms are clear enough to every man, woman and child who can read and write, and it clearly states that no markers are to be applied for, if a grave is already marked in any way.   It is fairly obvious that some degree of dishonesty is being practiced, as one needs to state, clearly, on the application form, when applying for a marker, whether the grave is already marked in any way.   Yet gravestones and markers were already applied for in several previous cases, including the well known one of John Henry Graydon.   There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that these dishonest practices will be continued for some time to come.   

Page Created August, 2008.