One of the essays in
Discovering North Carolina (see more here) contains excerpts from the journal of
Catherine Ann Devereaux Edmondston.
There are entries from Election Day 1860 when she was sure Lincoln
wouldn't be elected. Then there is the grievous disappointment
expressed nearly three weeks later. The diary entries give glimpses of
the home front from the perspective of a lady from the planter class in
Halifax County.
After Robert E. Lee surrendered in April 1865,
Mrs. Edmondston writes that she had "reduced [her]self, to an utterly
paperless condition." Except for her journal which she must have hidden
pretty well.
She writes:
"Every letter I
possessed, letters which I had cherished as my heart's blood, mementos
of those I had loved & lost years ago, literary memoranda, excerpts,
abstracts, records of my own private self examinations, poetry - all,
all destroyed..."
Why?
"...the thought of
seeing them in Yankee hands, of hearing them read in vile Yankee drawl
amidst peals of vulgar Yankee laughter, or worse still, of knowing them
heralded abroad in Yankee sensational newspapers, restrained me!" [She
had thought of snatching out
one letter from the packet that contained letters to and from her husband.]
"This
has been the fate of thousands of my fellow countrywomen, for the
Northern journals teem with private papers stolen from Southern
Households & published to a vulgar curious world as specimens of
Southern thought, Southern feeling, & Southern composition." (pg.
50)
1 comment:
Interesting. I don't think I've heard of northern newspapers publishing southern letters and journals.
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