Dressed in a Confederate uniform, Dwayne Burns of Brookhaven signs in at the Descendants of Southern Patriots’ first meeting.(Melanie Duncan Thortis/The Vicksburg Post)

More than 75 people from around Mississippi joined a new club in Vicksburg Saturday night at the Battlefield Inn as the Descendants of Southern Patriots met for the first time after four years of planning and organizing.

Organizers Lamar Roberts of Vicksburg and Chuck Bond of Mendenhall realized several years ago that there was not a group that allowed families to meet together to help preserve the Confederacy.

“We’re kicking this off for genealogical and historical purposes,” Bond said. “It’s to keep our ancestors remembered.”

Although the group does not plan to take anything away from other historical groups, Roberts does have plans to emulate the group after organizations such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans and Daughters of Confederate Veterans. He said that many of the members of the Descendants of Southern Patriots will cross over with the other two clubs.

“It’s something else to honor our Southern heritage,” he said. “We’re not in competition with anyone, we just want to compliment. We’re another voice to defend our Southern heritage.”

Roberts and other organizations want Descendants of Southern Patriots to have more of a family appeal than the gender-based groups of Sons of Confederate Veterans and Daughters of Confederate Veterans.

“We want something all-encompassing,” said Roberts, who said he has 42 traceable Confederate ancestors. Part of the group’s goal is to encourage members to research family histories, census records and military records to find more ancestors.

Other goals are restoring grave sites of veterans and soldiers and making sure the true history of the Civil War is taught in high schools, universities, on the Internet and on television programs.

Although the group has started off small with most of its members from Southwest Mississippi, members hope it will be nationwide.

“Right now, our country needs patriotism,” said Bond, who said he has 31 traceable Confederate ancestors who lived in Mississippi in 1861 when the state seceded.

Drew Hall, 16, a junior at Clinton High School, is a member of Sons of Confederate Veterans. “I believe that we need to keep it going,” he said. “This is a good organization that spreads the rightful meaning of events during the Civil War. We honor our ancestors while we celebrate.”

Membership in the group requires authenticity of ancestry to someone who fought for the Confederates or an ancestor from a Southern colony who fought in The Revolutionary War.

It is open to members of any race 12 or older. Dues are $20 for an individual and $30 for a family. For more information, contact Roberts at 638-6500.