Episodes Nearest to February 12, 1872: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. The founding of Lander University
    date February 12, 1872map ANDERSON, South Carolinatags Williamston, Lander, college, founding

    On August 25, 1873 Luther Hawkins wrote in a letter to his betrothed, Mary Roe, “Going to have a big day at Williamston on Wednesday laying the corner stone of the female college.” The female college Hawkins refers to was the Lander University, founded in 1872 by Reverend Samuel Lander as a private school for women.

     

    During the town planning for Williamston, two lots were reserved...

  2. Newspapers after the Civil War
    date March 14, 1872map CLARKE, Virginiatags Arts/Leisure, Economy, War

    On March 14, 1872 The Clarke Courier Newspaper printed an article concerning the failure of the mail for the past two weeks. Not receiving the mail was a source of great concern to the citizens of Clarke County, Virginia. The newspaper stated we would almost prefer to go without our super than fail to receive that excellent newspaper-a better is not to be found in all the country- The Baltimore...

  3. Ku Klux Faction in Florida Democratic Club Exposed
    date November 24, 1871 to November, 1871map LEON, Floridatags Politics, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations

    Hon. Horace Maynard, the Chairman of the Sub-Ku Klux Committee of Florida, faced a difficult predicament in late November of 1871. The members of the Young Men's Democratic Club of Leon County, Florida, were in extreme state of alarm and this was brought to the committee chairman's attention. They were worried about the recent outing of the Ku Klux division of their political club before...

  4. Destroying the Ku Klux Klan in South Carolina
    date November 22, 1871map YORK, South Carolinatags Crime/Violence

    On November 22, 1871, The Farmer's Cabinet reported that one hundred and two members of the Ku Klux Klan had been arrested, two hundred more members confessed to involvement and were at large on parole, and about one hundred and fifty went into hiding in the woods around Yorkville, South Carolina.

    Men continued to confess and beg for mercy. This was due in large part to the...

  5. Christian Brothers University Established
    date November 19, 1871map SHELBY, Kentuckytags Church/Religious-Activity, Education, Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    The Brothers of the Christian Schools had tried to establish Catholic education in Memphis in 1864 but were unsuccessful because epidemics of yellow fever had killed much of its clergy in Galveston and New Orleans. In 1871, the Chicago fire made it possible for a college to be established in Memphis because the fire destroyed the Brother's Academy in Chicago. The Memphis order now had enough...

  6. Silas McDowell's Discovery of Native American Burial Relics
    date June 16, 1872map MACON, North Carolinatags Agriculture, Arts/Leisure, Health/Death, Migration/Transportation, Native-Americans

    On June 16, 1872, Silas McDowell plowed with a team of oxen through his field in Macon County, North Carolina. McDowell's plow struck the side of a heavy object and he dug through the ground to discover a burnt clay sepulchre. He pulled a small portion of an arm out of the dirt and waited for a scientist to properly disinter the entire sepulchre. The sepulchre was a long slab, almost seven...

  7. Chicago Fire
    date October 8, 1871 to October 10, 1871map COOK, Illinoistags destruction, fire, Chicago, Illinois, 1871

     

    On the evening of October 8 1871, a small bright spark quickly engulfed Chicago’s entire West Division. Elias Colbert an editor for the Chicago Tribune newspaper recounts the progress the fire made while peering through his telescope from the rooftop of the TribuneBuilding.

    Colbert attempts to gather statistical facts on the losses generated by the great conflagration...

  8. The Great Chicago Fire
    date October 8, 1871 to October 10, 1871map COOK, Illinoistags fire, Chicago

    In order for fire to die, there needs to be water, and usually, lots of it. Chicago in 1871 had a serious lack of water and a desperate need for it. It was hot and dry and Chicago was in the midst of a draught; the worst weather for a fire to occur. Early autumn was no different from the previous summer; the hot air still lingered and small fires often started. The draught was so bad that between...

  9. THE RIGHT OF CHASTISEMENT: Fulgham vs. the State of Alabama
    date October 6, 1871map MONTGOMERY, Alabamatags Church/Religious-Activity, Crime/Violence, Law, Women

    The role of women in antebellum Alabama was ambiguous. Prior to the Civil War, women were keepers of the home. The average, middle-class women raised the children, kept the home and prepared the meals. Both before and after the Civil War, women were subservient to men and their marriages were entirely patriarchal.

    Of course, there are exceptions to every rule - George Fulgham's wife was...

  10. The Freedman's Bureau is abolished
    date June 28, 1872map Washington City, District of Columbiatags African-Americans, Education, War

    The Freedman's Bureau, officially known as the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, was created on March 3rd, 1865 to aid refugees of the U.S. Civil War as part of the U.S. government's effort to aid and assist its meager population. The Bureau also controlled and managed controversial or uncharted U.S. lands, but its main job was as an asset to newly freed slaves. These newly...

  11. A West Virginians Bookkeeping
    date 1872map JEFFERSON, West Virginiatags Agriculture, Economy, Migration/Transportation

    Migrants headed to the frontier in the nineteenth century were eager to work. Many, unable to immediately settle down and begin anew, worked on farms they encountered in order to make money. On the other side were the farmers who could charge these migrants room and board and pay them set wages to do the work around their farm. Franklin Osburn not only ran a farm but also a country store on his...

  12. Northern Neck of Virginia Desires Immigrants
    date 1872map HENRICO, Virginiatags Agriculture, Economy, Politics, Migration/Transportation, Slavery

    The Board of Immigration from the counties of Richmond, Westmoreland, Lancaster, and Northumberland assembled to compose their forthcoming pamphlet enticing immigrants to their regions of Virginia: ...our earnest desire is to attract to it and immigration not only from the northern and north-western states, but also from Canada and Europe. This immigration will bring the industry and capital requisite...

  13. Northern Neck of Virginia Desires Immigrants
    date 1872map RICHMOND, Virginiatags Agriculture, Economy, Politics, Migration/Transportation, Slavery

    The Board of Immigration from the counties of Richmond, Westmoreland, Lancaster, and Northumberland assembled to compose their forthcoming pamphlet enticing immigrants to their regions of Virginia: ...our earnest desire is to attract to it and immigration not only from the northern and north-western states, but also from Canada and Europe. This immigration will bring the industry and capital requisite...

  14. The Queen of Puddings
    date 1872map RICHLAND, South Carolinatags food, cook book, Recipe

    “I have often been asked what is the difference between puddings and custards, as, in the receipts usually give in cookery books, there seems but little distinction made.  My classification is simply this: Puddings are baked without crusts and usually in deeper vessels; are generally served hot and eaten with sauces.  Custards, on the contrary, are, as a general thing, baked in rich paste, and...

  15. Women's Rights Activist Experiences Effects of the Communication Revolution
    date 1872map COOK, Illinoistags Juries, Powerful Women in History, Communication Revolution, Female Authors, Women

    During the first of three visits to America in the fall of 1872,  Emily Faithfull, an Englishwoman and women's rights activist described the problematic state of affairs that existed in the American government. During her stay, she closely followed the news articles published in the The New York Daily, The Boston Herald, and The Chicago Tribune, which all related stories...

  16. Two African Americans Hung in St. James Parish, Louisiana
    date September 21, 1871map ST JAMES, Louisianatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Health/Death, Law, Race-Relations

    Led up the stars to the wooden platform, shackled and eerily subdued, two

    unnamed African American men marched solemnly to their deaths. The guards shoved them into place while the executioner waited with anticipation for his cue to drop the platforms supporting the prisoners' feet. The sheriff and jailer looked on with authoritative indifference; death for these two men was drawing...

  17. Sugar Cane on Small Farms in Louisiana
    date July 17, 1872map ASSUMPTION, Louisianatags African-Americans, Agriculture, Economy, Slavery

    With the end of slavery, the large sugar plantation of Louisiana suffered major setbacks in output. Slavery had powered the profitable sugar industry in the Delta region, but with its abolition, many planters were left with huge plantations and acres of fertile land, but no labor to cultivate them. Soon, many Southerners realized this trend and began to sell pieces of their land so that a network...

  18. Lawlessness and terrorism in Wilson County, Tennessee
    date September 7, 1871map WILSON, Tennesseetags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations

    Described as a well-liked African American in the community, Isaac Creek was attacked in his cabin in the middle of the night by a group of armed white men. Creek fatally shot Thomas Lyons after refusing to surrender to the prowlers who attempted to burn down his cabin. The Williamson County Journal's editor reacted with rage at what he viewed as intolerable lawlessness on the part of the...

  19. Mollie Netherland's Death
    date September 20, 1872map HAWKINS, Tennesseetags Arts/Leisure, Church/Religious-Activity, Health/Death, Migration/Transportation, Women

    On the afternoon of September 20, 1872, Mollie Netherland, a 22-year-old woman from Hawkins County, Tennessee, rode out from the town of Rogersville with a gentleman friend. On their return to town, her horse became frightened and unmanageable. The horse ran away, but Netherland's friend could do nothing to stop the horse. While Netherland managed to cling to the saddle for almost a mile, she...

  20. Centrist Pary Reaction to Ku Klux Klan Activity in Mississippi
    date 1871map HINDS, Mississippitags Crime/Violence, Race-Relations

    In 1871, the Governor of Mississippi, James Alcorn, was a member of the Centrist Party. The Centrist Party was a faction of the Republican Party emerging in the South at this time. The Centrists believed that it had to seize voting initiative and control the middle of the political spectrum. Centrists believed that the political disabilities imposed on former Confederates by the Reconstruction Act...

  21. Southern States Convention of Colored Men
    date 1871map RICHLAND, South Carolinatags African-Americans, Race-Relations

    By 1870, southern black leaders were convinced that the black vote was worthless if black life and property rights were not respected. Outraged at the Republican Party's failure to protect their civil rights and promote blacks for office, many leaders debated withdrawing from the party at the Southern States Convention of Colored Men in 1871. The Convention called on the national government...

  22. European Immmigration to the South
    date 1871map AUGUSTA, Virginiatags Agriculture, Economy, Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism, War

    After the Civil War, there was a vast migration of Southerners to Northern States. Many parts of the South were ruined by the Civil War because most of the battles occurred in southern states. The population in the south decreased significantly by the end of the Civil War because of death and because many African-Americans left the south.<br />In order to raise the population, many southern...

  23. Irish Laborers on Southern Plantations
    date 1871map GLYNN, Georgiatags Agriculture

    Black laborers were not the only group employed by whites to take on grueling plantation work. The Leigh plantation on St. Simon's Island off the Georgia coast had for several years employed a gang of Irish labourers to do the banking and ditching on the Island. Francis Butler Leigh, the white matriarch of the plantation, observed that she was surprised at how the Irishmen worked well and faithfully,...

  24. Women's Roles in the Rambin's Household
    date September 29, 1872map DE SOTO, Louisianatags African-Americans, Education, Women

    Running the Rambin household, Sally Young Rambin wrote to her sister on September 29, 1872, kept her far too busy to be a regular correspondent. Rambin explained to her sister that the effort she put into cooking, housework, and the washing caused her to seldom feel like writing. Rambin put special emphasis on the fact that she did her own washing, because many women paid others to do their washing...

  25. Horace Greeley Visits Southern States
    date June 21, 1871map AUGUSTA, Virginiatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, War

    Horace Greeley, a Northerner from New York and Republican, took a tour of the American south in 1871 and then returned to New York to deliver an address of his trip to the Union Republican General Committee. Greeley said that the purpose of his trip was to vindicate the North from the popular opinion that the North was trying to oppress the South and to explain to southerners that the northerners...