Episodes Nearest to January 7, 1826: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. Creditors, Debtors and Land Disputes
    date January 7, 1826map WASHINGTON, Virginiatags Economy, Law

    Mathew Buchanan's letter in 1826 nervously mentioned intelligence that Thomas Edmiston's heirs were trying to take over his land in Washington County, Virginia. He would not give up his land without a fight, but one small problem arose. He had no proof that he owned it. Buchanan found out that land dealings could get nasty. Initially, he had partnered with Thomas Edmiston to purchase a piece...

  2. Virginia Gazette: Epic of a Small-Time Newspaper
    date January 7, 1826map FAUQUIER, Virginiatags African-Americans, Agriculture, Arts/Leisure, Economy, Race-Relations, Slavery

    A man swept into a dimly lit tavern and muttered, "Whiskey," in a hoarse voice before collapsing into a creaky wooden chair. On the table next to him lay a folded newspaper with the day's date. He snatched up the paper, the Virginia Gazette, and began leafing through it. He nodded to himself when he read that in North Carolina some planters held a contest to see whose slaves could...

  3. Methods of Shipment and Transportation throughout the South
    date November 21, 1825map ADAMS, Mississippitags Migration/Transportation

    The country is new, timber plenty, cheep, convenient; and consequentially we have, on good terms, the best materials for building bridges and causeways stated the author of a Mississippi newspaper article. People began settling throughout the east coast, transforming transportation into an extremely important part of life. Consequently, as the economy began to bloom, items needed to be brought to...

  4. “Reverend Proudfit argues for the use of the Bible in Common Schools”
    date March 1, 1826map ONTARIO, New Yorktags Church/Religious-Activity, Education

    During the Second Great Awakening, there were many religious figures who transformed the way the general population thought about religion and its social practices. Much of the new religious thought came from upstate New York from areas called “burned-over districts,” because of the frequency with which they experienced religious revivals, or transformative incidents, which changed a person’s...

  5. A New Route to New Orleans
    date October 24, 1825map HINDS, Mississippitags Government, Migration/Transportation

    In late October of 1825, Secretary of War James Barbour wrote from Washington to the governor of Mississippi soliciting his help. Two military surveyors were to examine a new route from Rock Fish Gap in the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia through Knoxville, Tennessee and down through the state of Mississippi on towards New Orleans. These men, Captain Poupin, a topographer and engineer and his...

  6. The Backcountry of Central Mississippi
    date October 16, 1825map MADISON, Mississippitags Agriculture, Health/Death

    In a letter to his brother, Dr. Philip Klipstein the postmaster of New Baltimore Virginia, Elijah Thomhill recounted the perils of Mississippi living: Times now are very sickly, ie it was in the latter part of the summer but it is now getting more healthy. I have had a spell of the ague and fever. John also has been sick- George has been sick with the bilibious(?) fever and been well almost ever...

  7. Daniel Raymond and Anti-Slavery Maryland
    date September 24, 1825map BALTIMORE, Marylandtags Anti-slavery, Maryland

     

    In Maryland in 1825, an anti-slavery candidate emerged from the city of Baltimore named Daniel Raymond. Seeking a position in the Maryland General Assembly, Raymond was highly publicized in the anti-slavery circles in Maryland. One such publication, the Genius of Universal Emancipation and Baltimore Courier touted Raymond’s disdain for slavery and his support of gradual emancipation....

  8. Liberation of Slaves and Colonization in Liberia in 1825
    date September 3, 1825map PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvaniatags Slavery, African-Americans

    In 1825, Christian groups and colonization societies in America advocated for freed African Americans to colonize land in Liberia as an alternative to emancipate slaves in America. Religious groups expressed their sentiments in publication including the Christian Register, which published an article in an issued dated September 3, 1825. The article argued for the transportation of slaves to...

  9. Ice as a New Commodity
    date May 18, 1826 to May 19, 1826map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags Economy, Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    Alexander Gall advertised his ice delivery service in Portsmouth's American Beacon and Portsmouth Daily on May 18, 1826. Gall's advertisement ran in the local newspaper for a month. This allowed for the news of Gall's service to effectively spread among the people of Portsmouth. Gall brought ice to the homes of his customers in a horse-drawn wagon. Gall delivered ice daily to...

  10. Caution to Purchasers of Negros
    date May 20, 1826map JACKSON, Mississippitags African-Americans, Race-Relations, Slavery

    In an 1826 article, an Alabama newspaper warned readers and slave buyers of an untrustworthy slave trader who dealt in kidnapped free blacks. Victims were found in Mississippi, greatly abused or dead. The slave trader had even captured a young free black boy from his parents. The free men informed a gentleman, at whose house he stopped, that they were free born, and begged his interference to...

  11. A General Assortment of Spring and Summer Goods
    date May 20, 1826map ALBEMARLE, Virginiatags Arts/Leisure, Economy

    In the beginning of the 1820s, Albemarle County merchants advertised all year round of large stocks of staples they had for sale at Reasonable Prices, Bacon, cured in the manner for family use, nice white corn meal, and Barrels Brown sugar different quantities are just a few examples. By 1826, a new kind of merchant had come to town. John Cochran & Co. took up occupancy in a well-known building...

  12. The Impact of Illness
    date August 22, 1825map RICHMOND, Virginiatags Health/Death

    When Nancy Carr, the grand-niece of Thomas Jefferson, wrote to her good friend Elizabeth Coatler, of Spotsylvania, on August 22, 1825, the tone of her writing was a somber one. Carr had just returned from nursing her cousin, Maria, who was sick with a fever. The threats of illness and death were prominent in her words. At this time, the term "fever" was used to describe almost every kind of dangerous...

  13. Died on the Fourth of July: Thomas Jefferson’s Last Will and Testament
    date July 4, 1826map ALBEMARLE, Virginiatags Death, Debt

    Thomas Jefferson- the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, and father of the University of Virginia- died at 12:50 p.m. on July 4, 1826 at the age of 83 in his beloved home of Monticello.  Newspapers were filled with remembrances of that special day in American history, and Jefferson’s role in it, making this day a memorial to the man even...

  14. Marriage as an Institution in the Antebellum South
    date 1825map HANOVER, Virginiatags Church/Religious-Activity, Women

    Helen Lane and Arthur S. Johns requested the presence of John Ambler and his family to their Tuesday morning wedding in the area of Louisa and Hanover counties. The bride's family sent out the invitation and they requested that the Ambler family attend the wedding. The ceremony was scheduled for Tuesday morning at nine am.

    Weddings traditionally took place within the community and then...

  15. The Birth of the Petersburg Benevolent Mechanics Association
    date 1825map DINWIDDIE, Virginiatags Economy, Education

    A cold January day in 1825, 32 Petersburg men gathered in a Petersburg Tavern with the future on their minds. The skilled merchants of Petersburg formed the Benevolent Mechanics Association. They were made up of a variety of skilled craftsmen which included tailors, blacksmiths, watchmakers, bookbinders, tanners, and more. The first initiative of the Association was purchasing a library for apprentices...

  16. Plantation Women
    date 1825map FELICIANA, Louisianatags Women

    Life on a plantation during the nineteenth century has been dramatized by the movies today to show a picturesque world. In reality, it could be a very harsh world to live in where the profits were not always as high as expected and tragedies often occurred. Caroline Merrick remembered a very early childhood that was fraught with such tragedy. At an early age on a plantation in Louisiana, her mother...

  17. Ghost Story: The Strange Case of the McChesney Household
    date 1825map AUGUSTA, Virginiatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations, Slavery

    It was 1825, and strange happenings were occurring around the house of Dr. John McChesney in Augusta County, Virginia. According to the Annals of Augusta County, a historical record of the County, it all had started when Maria, one of Dr. McChesney's enslaved children, came to dinner one night very much frightened, apparently having been chased by an old woman with her head tied up....

  18. Transportation of US Mail Between Baltimore and Philadelphia
    date 1825map BALTIMORE, Marylandtags Government, Migration/Transportation

    On January 29th, 1825, Postmaster General John McLean wrote a letter to Henry Clay, Speaker of the House of Representatives, explaining the horrible traveling conditions that had to be endured to carry the mail between Baltimore, Maryland, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. McLean discussed the horrendous traveling circumstances during the winter and spring seasons when crossing the different rivers...

  19. Affairs of the Creek Indians
    date June 21, 1825map BALDWIN, Georgiatags Crime/Violence, Native-Americans, Race-Relations, War

    Few men had the leadership skills of General William McIntosh. His illustrious military career included leading the Creeks against the British in the War of 1812, defeating the Upper Creek Indians against their Lower Creek foes in the Creek Civil War, and heading a national police force to continue the fight against the Upper Creeks. Yet, these military conquests also created many enemies, especially...

  20. Reverend L. D. Dewey Writes to Support Colonization
    date June, 1825 to 1825map BALTIMORE, Marylandtags Slavery, Race Relations

    As the Reverend L. D. Dewey wrote to Reverend W. M'Kenney from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, he reflected upon his observations from the African colony he had just visited. The letter he produced in June 1825 portrayed sentiments expressed throughout the nation at the time on African colonization. He described the colony of Haiti in the most positive light, depicting the colony as a haven...

  21. Land Disputes and Family Assistance in Appalachia
    date August 4, 1826map WASHINGTON, Virginiatags Economy, Law

    Mathew Buchanan was broke. If he was unable to raise money soon, he would lose his Washington County, Virginia land in 1826. Buchanan was never officially part of the contract involved with the original purchase, but instead claimed to have paid a friend informally for a piece of the land. Unfortunately, he did not have the money to repurchase the land in a fully legal manner now that his original...

  22. Creek Attack
    date May 25, 1825map BALDWIN, Georgiatags Crime/Violence, Native-Americans, War

    In late April 1825, with the murder of William McIntosh and his brother Samuel Hawkins fresh on his mind, Benjamin Hawkins carefully rode his horses back towards his hometown of Montgomery, Georgia, in the fear of suffering a similar fate on his brother. Suddenly, he came upon a party of twenty Creek Indians within ten short steps of their horses. Frightened, a cousin of Hawkins? abruptly fired...

  23. Lear's Plan for the Education of Blacks
    date September, 1826map ALBEMARLE, Virginiatags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Education, Migration/Transportation, Slavery

    B.L. Lear administrated a large fund for the education of slaves that had been established by General Thaddeus Kosciusko, a famous Polish hero in the American Revolution. Upon Kosciusko's death in 1817, he had left the fund to his longtime acquaintance and fellow son of liberty, Thomas Jefferson. In September 1825, B.L. Lear wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson Randolph, grandson of Jefferson...

  24. Foundation of the Bible Society in Monticello
    date September 26, 1826map JASPER, Georgiatags Church/Religious-Activity

    P.W. Gautier proudly wrote to the Georgia Statesman on September 26, 1826, proclaiming the establishment of auxiliaries of the American Bible Society throughout the counties that surrounded Monticello, Georgia. The Society sought to circulate the Bible without note or comment to the community. Gautier explained that the Society was simply answering the demands of the people of the area who deserved...

  25. Christian Women and Fashion
    date April, 1825map SUFFOLK, Massachusettstags Church/Religious-Activity, Women

    In an 1825 essay entitled "The Female Character," a Dr. Springs wrote "a Christian woman ought to be distinguishable by her simplicity." The desire for simplicity was a common trend seen in many Christian communities in the early to mid 1800's. For many, clothing choice reflected how a woman was viewed by her society. In early American Christian towns men wanted their wives and daughters to...