Tag Archives: plantations

30 December 1864: “Our expedition so far has been attended with the most complete success. The Rebels having lost Savannah…”

Item Description: Letter dated 30 December 1864 from Jonathan L. Whitaker to his wife Julia A. Wells Whitaker. Jonathan L. Whitaker was a physician from Orange County, N.Y. He served as a United States Army surgeon at a hospital at … Continue reading

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12 December 1864: “instead of the sympathy of people farther south, who have never known the terrors of Yankee rule, we get only eviscerations”

Item Description: This letter, written by Octavia Otey to her sister Ella, describes the hardships they faced on their Mississippi plantation, Green Lawn, throughout the year of 1864. Octavia defends her signing an Oath to the United States saying that she … Continue reading

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4 September 1864: “if they intended to act in violation of the Constitution”

Item Description: Diary entry, dated 2 September 1864, written by William King. King was a plantation owner from Cobb County, Georgia. He remained alone on his plantation to protect his property and slaves from depredations by federal forces. Item Citation: … Continue reading

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2 September 1864: “he now thought it too sad a War, to increase its terrors more than can possibly be avoided”

Item Description: Diary entry, dated 2 September 1864, written by William King. King was a plantation owner from Cobb County, Georgia. He remained alone on his plantation to protect his property and slaves from depredations by federal forces. Item Citation: … Continue reading

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31 August 1864: “My woman Angelina gave the little boy Wilson a most unmerciful thrashing.”

Item Description: Diary entry, dated 31 August 1864, written by John Houston Bills. Bills was a Tennessee planter who was active in the Democratic Party, the Freemasons, a temperance society, and was a friend of President James K. Polk.  Diary … Continue reading

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17 December 1863: “I can tie my mustache in a bow-knot under my chin and am very handsome generally (see enclosed carte-de-visite).”

Item description: Letter, dated 17 December 1863, from Benjamin Lewis Blackford to his mother, Mary Berkeley Minor Blackford.  The letter is written from his camp on Topsail Sound, and it is he expresses his disgust with Wilmington residents, who have … Continue reading

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1 October 1862: “When there we will seize the negroes at night & leave immediately with them for the mouth of the River & there set sail for the Bertie shore, & thence direct to the up-country.”

Item description: Letter, 1 October 1862, from William S. Pettigrew (1818-1900), Haywood Plantation, Chatham County, N.C., to his sister, Anne B. S. Pettigrew (1830-1864), Raleigh, N.C. In the letter, William Pettigrew explains his reasons for not enlisting in the Confederate service … Continue reading

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15 September 1862: “the ronaways is plenty in this naber hood…”

Item description: Letter, 15 September 1862, from Milton McGahey to William A. Graham. It is believed that McGahey was acting as overseer for one of Graham’s plantations at the time of the letter. He reports on the condition of crops … Continue reading

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27 June 1862: “he says he fears a famine for the country. isn’t it a fearful prospect?”

Item description: Letter, 27 June 1862, from Jane Caroline North Pettigrew (wife of Charles Lockhart Pettigrew) to her brother-in-law, William S. Pettigrew. The letter illustrates how dispersed the Pettigrew family has become at this point in the war. The writer, … Continue reading

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