Episodes Nearest to June 1, 1845 to May 1, 1847: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. Savannah Reverend Addresses Religious Conditions of Slaves
    date May, 1846map CHATHAM, Georgiatags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Reverend Dexter Clapp of Savannah, Georgia got word of a question put forth in a newspaper, presumably by a Northerner, about the religious condition of slaves in the South. Clapp felt compelled to write a letter to the editor discussing his opinion on the matter. He stated that much of what he had to say was probably not known in the North, but was common knowledge in the South, or at least in...

  2. Whigs: Nationalism & Publication
    date June 1, 1846map Washington City, District of Columbia, NEW YORK, New Yorktags Political Parties, Government, Politics

    Although the Whig Party was already in trouble by the late 1840s, they remained vocal on a host of issues through print publications, such as The American Whig Review. One particular article of interest was written in June of 1846 and dealt with “Supply and demand,” which the author believed “must ever be the governing rule of prices.” The article also discussed how speculation...

  3. Hundreds of Mormons in Honolulu en Route to California
    date June 20, 1846map TERRITORY, Territorytags Utah, Hawaii, Migration, Mormons

    It was June 20th, 1846, when the ship Brooklyn arrived in Honolulu, Oahu. Its passengers were hundreds of Mormon immigrants en route to California from New York led by a man named Samuel Brannan. The people of Hawaii were intrigued and confused by these new people, especially such a vast amount. The unknown elements were filled in by a history of the Mormon religion and its people.

    The...

  4. Construction Begins on Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West, Florida
    date July 1, 1846map MONROE, Floridatags War

    The first federal building to be constructed on Key West, which is the southern-most point of the United States, Fort Taylor was begun in July of 1846. The fort was built in order to protect the natural harbor of Key West and was named for General Zachary Taylor, who was commander of American forces in the Mexican-American War which had also begun that year. Although the fort was all but destroyed...

  5. African Americans Drinking during Church Service
    date 1846map CULPEPER, Virginiatags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations, Slavery

    The white population of Culpeper County, Virginia was dismayed when their church services were inexcusably disrupted by the boisterous activities of some African Americans. As a petition to the State Legislature, drafted by a number of the county's white citizens in 1846, states, their worshipping services are of late so interrupted by drinking, particularly by Negroes on the Sabbath, that they...

  6. A Murderous Education
    date 1846map ADAMS, Mississippitags Education, Government

    Around 1846, the students of Centenary College decided to take a stand. Fifty-three of the pupils signed a petition for the removal of a professor from their institute of higher education. In adding their names to the list, the students accused Professor Jones of, participating in ... the shooting of the boys Unfortunately, the petition gave no further explanation of the alleged incident. However,...

  7. Retrocession of Alexandria from Washington, D.C. to Become Part of Virginia
    date July 9, 1846map FAIRFAX, Virginiatags Slavery

    On July 9 Alexandria “retroceded,' or returned as a formal part of Virginia after being ceded from the state to create a portion of Washington, D.C. in the year 1790. Alexandria was home to a flourishing slave trade at this time, and Southern congressmen wanted to protect it in the face of growing pressure from Northern abolitionists to ban slavery in the nation's capital. Upon the...

  8. A Woman's Dominance in Marital Relations
    date July 14, 1846map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags Women

    Horatio B. Bucktrout, the preacher in charge of Norfolk's M.E. Church South, wrote to Jordan Powell of Baltimore regarding issues that arose from the death of Powell's brother. In a letter addressed July 14, 1846, Bucktrout revealed that Godfrey Powell had just died, and a woman claiming to be his wife was attempting to claim his estate. Bucktrout wanted to know if this woman truly was Powell's...

  9. A Volunteer's Story
    date July, 1846map ANNE ARUNDEL, Marylandtags Diplomacy/International, Health/Death, Politics, War

    Joseph McNeir was a volunteer soldier during the Mexican American War. McNeir had maintained correspondence with his family throughout his time in service. The letters often discussed the life that Joseph McNeir lived during his service as well as how many volunteers were there to serve. McNeir gave intimate details of how the war was going, the expected daily events, and where the soldiers were...

  10. Attorney C.S. Palmore's Search for Legatees
    date March 1, 1846map FAYETTE, Tennesseetags African-Americans, Health/Death, Law, Slavery, Women

    On March 1, 1846, C.S. Palmore, an attorney in Fayette County, Tennessee, wrote a letter to one of his colleagues. Attorney Edward Brown received the letter from Palmore in Ballsville, Virginia. Palmore boasted the supremacy of the state of Tennessee to the state of Virginia. I will say nothing about the fertility of our soil and other advantages afforded here to the young and enterprising, Palmore...

  11. Transportation in 1846; A Journey From Boston To New York
    date January 30, 1846map SUFFOLK, Massachusettstags Migration/Transportation, Railroad

    In 1846, the United States of America was on the precipice of vast change in the way the citizens of the country transported themselves throughout the country.  In the west, gold was being discovered in California, ushering in a mass population rush towards the west coast and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  In the east, much of the routes between cities were still interconnected by dated means of...

  12. Senator Martin Gives Speech Denouncing Liquidation of Bank of Tennessee
    date January 22, 1846map WASHINGTON, Virginiatags Economy

    In early 1846, the Bank of Tennessee- which was located in the state capital of Nashville- had run into great debts and was facing liquidation, which would be disastrous for many of the Tennesseans it served. State senator Martin gave an impassioned speech against this bill for liquidation being debated in the Senate, and this speech was reported in the Nashville Union late in January. Martin...

  13. Address to an Edgecombe Patriot
    date January 18, 1846map EDGECOMBE, North Carolinatags Politics, Migration/Transportation, War, Women

    On January 18th, 1846, the ladies of Edgecombe county held a ceremony to honor the volunteers of the Mexican-American War. Ever since the blood of American soldiers had been shed in Texas, the call of patriotism compelled many Americans towards war. In Edgecombe, patriotic banners and speeches had been prepared for the men who would soon be off for Mexico. Present at the ceremony was a renowned...

  14. Martin, A Slave Boy:  A Story of Ellis Gray Loring and Caroline Weston
    date January 18, 1846map SUFFOLK, Massachusettstags Female Aboltionists, Slave, William Lloyd Garrison, Abolishment of Slavery, Women

    On January 18, 1846, Ellis Gray Loring wrote a letter to female abolitionist Caroline Weston, pertaining to a slave boy, Martin. Ellis Gray Loring was born on April 14, 1803. After passing the Bar, Loring became a lawyer for the poor and those oppressed of their rights. In January of 1832, Loring was part of the founding of the New England Anti-­-Slavery Society in the African Baptist church in...

  15. Slaves Wanted for Work in Coal Pits of Midlothian, Virginia
    date January 13, 1846map CHESTERFIELD, Virginiatags African-Americans, Slavery

    An article in the Richmond Whig calling for “coal pit hands' who would work for the coming year was published on January 13. The Midlothian Coal Mining Co. was seeking “able-bodied, healthy, well-disposed Negro men' who would work in their coal mines, and the company would pay the masters who hired these men out as well as giving the slaves an opportunity to earn their own money....

  16. Slave Owner Uses Modern Medicine to Treat Malaria
    date September 21, 1846 to September 26, 1846map ORANGE, North Carolinatags Science/Technology, Medicine, Slavery

             In late September 1846 several slaves from the Fairntosh plantation in Durham, North Carolina fell sick with malaria. Their owner, planter Paul Cameron, tells his father Duncan how he provided medicine for his sick slaves as well as the traditional herbs and teas.

    “Since that time we have a great deal of chill and fever at the mill quarter in [unintelligible] I have made the...

  17. A Northerner in Norfolk
    date January 1, 1846map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags Economy, Slavery, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    When one moves from Brooklyn, New York to Norfolk, Virginia during the mid-nineteenth century, culture shock is to be expected. Clement D. Newman experienced this effect when he made this relocation in 1845. Newman recounts the social life of his new town to his father in a letter dated January 1, 1846. Though Newman surely liked the town of Norfolk, he admitted that the manners and customs are...

  18. Reconciling the Peculiar Institution
    date December 26, 1845map JONES, Georgiatags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Race-Relations, Slavery

    In December of 1845, Reverend T.M. Wilkes wrote a letter to Reverend Iveson Lewis Brookes proposing that funds be raised to secure a new Baptist missionary to preach in Jones County, Georgia. Brookes was asked to continue paying 100 to sustain the preaching activities at his Jasper County plantation and to give an additional 100 to secure the second missionary. Wilkes, also a reverend, assured Brookes...

  19. Sam Forwood's Fatherly Advice
    date October 8, 1846map CLARKE, Alabamatags Agriculture, Health/Death, Economy, Education

    On October 8, 1846, in Clark County, Alabama, Sam Forwood wrote a letter to his sixteen-year-old son, William Stump Forwood, who was living in Maryland with his grandmother for schooling.Young William had been questioning what occupation he should pursue, and his father had several points of advice. Sam advised his son to pursue the profession of medicine. As Sam explained it, becoming a doctor...

  20. Bad Medicine and the use of Galvanism in the Cameron Plantation letters at Stagville
    date October, 1846 to 1846map ORANGE, North Carolinatags Galvanism, slavery,, plantation, slaves

    There is numerous life situations featured in the letters of the Cameron Plantation. The focus of interest here is the life of the enslaved people as seen through the eyes of the Cameron family. Of course because of this we must interpret based on what we see in the letters. There are real human issues. These include affection, sickness, disease, travel, and home life just to name a few. The goal...

  21. The Good Slave
    date October 28, 1846map GREENE, Alabamatags Slavery, Antebellum America, Paternalism

    Slavery is anathema, but it was not always so.  It was quite possible for well-meaning and rational people to practice and defend the “peculiar institution.”  Slaveholders sustained themselves with the firm conviction that they were doing right by the poor, benighted souls in their charge.  In this way, masters could claim they were compassionate angels of mercy--providing discipline, moral...

  22. A Country Wedding in 1846
    date November, 1846map ORLEANS, Louisianatags Arts/Leisure, Church/Religious-Activity, Women

    One November afternoon, Eliza Moore Chinn McHatten Ripley and her brother Dick set off for a farm not too far outside of their home in New Orleans. This short journey became a longer one as transportation troubles and creek flooding slowed them down. Eventually, Eliza and Dick found a place to stay over for a night before continuing on their way the following morning.

    They finally reached...

  23. A Street Affair in Richmond
    date October 29, 1845map RICHMOND, Virginiatags Crime/Violence

    T.C. Reynolds of Richmond, Virginia had a penchant for being hotheaded at times.Reynolds claimed that Barksdale committed an affront against him through a public insult, thereby forcing his hand to violence in order to restore his own honor.Reynolds went so far as to take out a broadside in the newspaper in order to publicly clarify his grievances, namely, that Barksdale had avoided receiving written...

  24. The 50 Dollar Reward for Harry the Runaway
    date December 12, 1846map DAVIDSON, Tennesseetags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations, Slavery

    On December 12, 1846, Landon Harrison ran a wanted advertisement in The Nashville Daily Union. Months later, on Saturday, March 27, 1847, the Daily Union continued to run the advertisement. One of the slaves on Harrison?s plantation ran away, and Harrison entered a wanted ad in hopes of having him found and returned as soon as possible. In order to ensure the slaves safe return, master's...

  25. A Bitter Winter
    date November 4, 1846 to January, 1847map TERRITORY, Territorytags Crime/Violence, Health/Death, Migration/Transportation, Native-Americans, Women

    The winter of 1846 was physically, emotionally and mentally draining for twenty year-old Mary Ann Graves, a member of the group of emigrants now infamously known as the Donner Party. As one of the survivors of this horrible episode in history, she wrote a letter to Levi Fosdick on May 22 of the following spring recounting her experiences. Her concluding remark was "I have told the bad news, and...