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,...
In 1838 Iveson Lewis Brookes received a letter from his cousin, P.B. (signed with only initials) informing him that his nephew, P.B.'s son, might be moving to Augusta, Georgia for a job. Augusta was near the plantation Iveson was managing for his son in Jasper and Jones counties. We can tell from the letter that Iveson and P.B. were not particularly involved in each others' lives because...
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...
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...
Finally, Daniel Wiggins decided to take a chance. After numerous invitations from an old Annapolis, acquaintance, Thomas Randal, the wheelwright and millwright from Maryland made the trip south to assess Jefferson, Leon, and Gadsden counties for himself. Wiggins needed a boat, a train, and a horse carriage to complete the 900 mile journey from Annapolis to Belmont, Randall's plantation just...
As a result of increasing tensions and violence between Missouri Mormons and other populations, Governor Lilburn W. Boggs issued a decree calling for their removal, and , if necessary , extermination. People charged the Mormons to be blasphemous, and suspected a Mormon plot to take over the country. When the state of Missouri failed to protect their settlements, Mormon leaders such as Sidney Rigdon...
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...
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...
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...
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...