Episodes Nearest to May 16, 1836 to June 1, 1839: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. Keeping the Family Together
    date December 3, 1837map CAMPBELL, Virginiatags African-Americans, Race-Relations, Slavery

    "If you can't send all, pray be so good to send for me and my son Harrison," Matthew Watts wrote to his mistress Elizabeth Brown in December 1837. Owned by a wealthy family in Kentucky who sent him to Virginia for a brief period of time, Watts awaited the opportunity to return home with his son for over a year. During his time in Campbell County, he "lost" his wife and daughter...

  2. The Murder of Elijah Lovejoy
    date November 7, 1837map MADISON, Illinoistags Abolitionism, Elijah Lovejoy

     

    On November 7, 1837, Elijah Lovejoy sought to defend his new printing press from a proslavery mob. Lovejoy, a Presbyterian minister and editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Alton Observer, had already lost three other printing presses to such mobs. Lovejoy was set on keeping this one safe.

    Word of the printing press's delivery soon spread across the town of Alton, Illinois....

  3. Major Townsend's Letter
    date December 21, 1837map MOSQUITO, Floridatags Politics, Native-Americans, Race-Relations, War

    Major Edward Davis Townsend was in an alien land. He had made it a long way from his home in Boston to be a surveyor for the city of New Smyrna on Florida's frontier, and he missed all the pretty girls greatly. In a letter to his mother, Eliza Gerry, he described his new environment. He asked her to imagine to yourself me with my jacket off, covered with mosquitoes and sand flies, trampling...

  4. A Breach of Contract in Apprenticeship
    date January 10, 1838 to January 17, 1838map BERKELEY, Virginiatags Economy, Race-Relations

    When Robert Gregory, most likely a white man, entered into a contract with Michael Whissler, a young man most likely white, both thought they were getting a good deal. In return for Gregory giving Whissler six months of schooling, he would work for Gregory and learn the House Joiner's business. However, Whissler left town after one month. Then, on January 10, 1838, Robert Gregory ran an advertisement...

  5. Angelina Grimke and Her Secular Language of Rights
    date October 2, 1837map WORCESTER, Massachusettstags Angelina Grimke, Secularism, Anti-slavery, Religion, Women, women's rights

    In 1837, Angelina Grimke authored a series of letters to Catharine Beecher on the topic of the cultural roles of women as they relate to their social, economic, and political rights. One was reprinted in Women's Rights Emerges within the Antislavery Movement, 1830-1870 by Kathryn Sklar. In the letter retitled by Sklar as, “Human Rights Not Founded on Sex,” Grimke argues that...

  6. Establishment of Wake Forest College
    date January, 1838map WAKE, North Carolinatags Church/Religious-Activity, Education

    Baptist educators create the Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute in 1834. In 1838 it is rechartered as Wake Forest College and is moved to its current location. In this time period during the south, the three major evangelical sects , Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians , founded various colleges; the purpose of these endeavors, as stated by the president of Emory College, was to be “the...

  7. William's Love Letter
    date February 15, 1838map FRANKLIN, Alabamatags Migration/Transportation, Women

    It was only one day after Valentine's Day, 1838, and twenty-one year old William Byrd was missing his future wife, Mariah Hawkins Massie. Away at Lagrange College in Franklin County, Alabama, it is possible that William had not seen Mariah in quite some time. Possibly being wrapped up in the spirit of the holiday, William sat down to write Mariah a letter. Already betrothed, William pleasured...

  8. A Typical Monday for Mary Austin Holley
    date February 26, 1838map TERRITORY, Territorytags Arts/Leisure, Education, Slavery, Women

    In her diary Mary Austin Holley jotted down the events of her afternoon with friends. She enjoyed pleasant conversation as well as the beautiful surroundings. She made note of the impressive collection of books, and in particular the various curiosities displayed throughout the parlor. Holley's friends, Mr. and Mrs. Wharton, boasted all sorts of fascinating relics, once owned by famous figures...

  9. The Duel
    date February 24, 1838 to March 16, 1838map WARREN, Mississippitags Crime/Violence, Law, Politics

    William Graves and Jonathan Cilley were men of honor. Both were members of the twenty-fifth congress of the U.S. House of Representatives. Graves represented Kentucky, while Cilley was from Maine. The two men certainly were not enemies, so the nation was shocked when Graves killed his fellow congressman. The conflict arose when Graves delivered a letter to Cilley from Col. James Watson Webb, a newspaper...

  10. Women In The Education Arena
    date November 9, 1837 to July 4, 1838map HAMPSHIRE, Massachusettstags Emma Willard, Mary Lyon, Northeast, Women's colleges, Female Seminaries, Education, Women

    On November 9th, 1837, Mrs. Pamela Burr wrote a letter to Mary Lyon, a leader of the women’s rights leader and educator, urging her to consider her two daughters for admission to Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. The letter describes the qualifications of two young girls, Caroline and Mary Burr, in detail. Mrs. Burr says that she is not extremely wealthy but could pay tuition...

  11. Controversy Surrounding the Panic of 1837
    date February 14, 1838 to March 31, 1838map WARREN, Mississippitags Economy, Government, Law, Politics, Migration/Transportation

    John F. H. Claiborne, a Democrat from Natchez, Mississippi, was aghast to hear the news that rumors were circulating that he supported Henry Clay. He immediately wrote the Vicksburg Register a letter on February 14, 1838 to refute these claims. In his letter Claiborne enumerated the many ways that Clay had threatened the interests of his great state. He is the father of the tariff, Claiborne...

  12. Dissent Among Southern Evangelicals: To Secede or Not?
    date March 10, 1838map WAKE, North Carolinatags Civil War, Government, Religion

    T. Meredith did not know that in less than three decades he would be in minority opposition to secession. Editor of The Biblical Recorder and Southern Watchman, a weekly newspaper “devoted to religion, morality, literature, and general intelligence,” and circulated throughout North and South Carolina, he urged readers to follow Martin Luther’s example of seeking “strength elsewhere...

  13. Mortgaging Property
    date April 8, 1838map LAFOURCHE, Louisianatags Agriculture, Economy, Slavery

    In April of 1838, George Guion wrote to the Thibodeauxville Branch of Union Bank of Louisiana asking for a loan of 5,000 in addition to a 10,000 mortgage he already had from the bank on his plantation and slaves. Guion wrote that his plantation had increased in both size and productivity since his first application for a loan due to the fencing of his land, the erection of a cotton gin and a gristmill,...

  14. A Dissenting Voice
    date July 9, 1837map DUVAL, Floridatags Education, Politics, Women

    Unmarried and living on the La Grange plantation in northeast Florida, Ellen Brown could no longer tolerate her brother's inconsistencies on matrimony. Mannevillete Brown believed marriage to be an ultimatum-the great aim of women and last public act before retreating into domestic life. But Mannevillete also spoke of marrying for money, station, and power. How did he then reconcile his speech...

  15. Conversion from the Presbyterian Church to the Baptist Church
    date 1837map WILKINSON, Mississippitags Church/Religious-Activity, Slavery

    Unlike the Presbyterian or Episcopal Church, the Methodist Church in the 1830s did not require that its clergy be educated. In fact, education was sometimes frowned upon, particularly on the frontier where ministers rode around preaching to small communities. These ministers, called circuit riders, led a particularly dangerous life traveling through undeveloped areas. Because of the lifestyle of...

  16. The Alston-Ward Duel
    date 1837map LEON, Floridatags Crime/Violence

    At long last George T. Ward would have his satisfaction. Ward blamed his younger brother's death on Augustus Alston. Ward's anger had been building for months but soon he would have a chance to quench insatiable desire for revenge. The venue was none other than Tallahassee's unofficial dueling ground Houston's Hill. For Ward, Alston's actions disrespected his family and violated...

  17. The Great Fire of Charleston and its Cultural Awakening
    date April 27, 1838map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Arts/Leisure, Church/Religious-Activity, Economy, Slavery, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    On April 27, 1838, an enormous fire broke out in Charleston, South Carolina, around 9:00 pm. It raged until noon the next day, damaging over 1,000 buildings. It ruined many businesses, a new hotel, several churches, a new theater, and the entire market except for the fish section. Many houses were burnt to the ground. In efforts to put the fire out, all the water in the city pumps was used. In addition,...

  18. A Brush with Cannibals
    date June 12, 1837 to June 13, 1837map TERRITORY, Territorytags Government, Law, Migration/Transportation, Native-Americans, Race-Relations, Women

    The trek by wagon train to Texas was one fraught with danger. Trail roads were rough, there were high rivers to cross, diseases to contend with, and of course the possibility of meeting up with Indians. Mary Maverick was making such a journey in the summer of 1837. She was traveling by wagon train from her home in Alabama to the new land of Texas. One day when her party was moving camp, 17 Tonkawa...

  19. Federal Government Conducts Removal of Cherokee Indians
    date May 23, 1838map WAYNE, Tennesseetags Health/Death, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations

    On December 29, 1835, chieftain Major Ridge and his faction , only a minority of Cherokees - signed The Treaty of Removal, ceding all of their territory east of the Mississippi river for 5 million and pledging to move within two years. However, by the May 23rd, 1838 deadline, few Cherokees had actually evacuated. As a result, the United States Army forcibly removed the remaining Cherokees in what...

  20. Sally Smith Pays Up
    date May 11, 1837map FAUQUIER, Virginiatags Health/Death, Law, Women

    James T. Ball and his wife Margaret P. Ball met Sally Smith at the Circuit Superior Court of Law in Fauquier County to settle the controversy over the will of Willis G. Smith, for which Sally Smith was administrator. The Balls did not think that they had been given the proper amount they had been bequeathed in the will. In the case, the court ruled that Sally Smith pay the Ball's nothing,...

  21. Judge Douglas' Loss
    date May 10, 1837map ST JOHNS, Floridatags Economy, Law, Politics

    Three thousand five hundred dollars gone. In 1837, 3,500 dollars was a lot of money. Converting the sum to real 2005 terms, it would yield almost 69,000 dollars. The Panic of 1837 rendered every penny worthless. Judge Thomas Douglas of the Florida Supreme Court had been one of the wealthy class sponsoring the flurry of charters that brought unstable banks into existence, and now their failure meant...

  22. Branding
    date June 16, 1838map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Law, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Under Virginia law, it was legal to brand slaves on the hand until 1838. Branding on the hand was particularly important as an effective way of ensuring the failure of any future attempt at escaping bondage. On June 16, 1838, The Colored American reported that the court of Norfolk Borough had removed those odious relics of the barbarous age, the shackles and staples by which the hand of the criminal...

  23. A narrative of the adventures and escape from American Slavery of Moses Roper
    date 1838map LANCASTER, South Carolinatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Health/Death, Law, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Moses Roper was born in North Carolina, but after being sold several times, he ended up in South Carolina in Lancaster and also spent time in Cashaw County. Born a mulatto, he experienced both the advantages of being too white and also the disadvantages of being too black. For example, while slave traders attempted to sell him, he suffered because he was considered too white and spent time in horrible...

  24. Jonathan R. Davis Journey to Milledgeville, Georgia
    date 1838map PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvaniatags Arts/Leisure, Migration/Transportation

    Before leaving for Milledgeville, Georgia, Jonathan R. Davis of Gadsden, South Carolina had to do some calculations. While planning for his trip he took out his 1838 edition of Mitchell's Traveller's Guide through the United States. The brown three by five inch book contained the mileage for all common stagecoach routes in the country as well as information on the few established...

  25. Yellow Fever Responsible for Christian Miltenberger's Success in 19th Century New Orleans
    date 1838map ORLEANS, Louisianatags Health/Death, Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    Situated at the intersection of Royal and Dumaine Street in the heart of the New Orleans, the Miltenberger House still stands as a testimony to one immigrant's accumulation of wealth and to medical advancements in the South during the 19th century.

    Little was known about yellow fever, especially ways to prevent or treat this disease. Almost annually, it seemed, the Gulf Coast and in...