February 1860

Cold. Went to town. Heard that [William] Pennington was elected Chairman [Speaker] of the [U.S.] House [of Representatives]. Mary Griffing was here [with others]. We played cards, danced, blindfold. Broke up about 12 o’clock. Had such a pleasant time.

February 3, 1860

[Willoughby] Babcock and I got into a dispute concerning the inferiority of the nigger. Babcock denies an assertion of mine with some spirit & his eyes flashed as if mad. He is a rout abolitionist or in principle will say the nigger’s a brother equal in mind but his theory is not his practice.

Evening got a letter from Camden. [McCandless] wants me to come immediately. I shall start as soon as I can. Got a trunk, satchel, and cap for $3.62 of Hymes. [1]

February 6, 1860

Went to town. Got a likeness & photograph & many other things. Called at Aunt Betsy [Platt’s], [William] Smyth’s, [James] Rankine’s, [Nathaniel] Davis’s. Got 2 volumes of Virgil [2] of him…. [in evening,] went to town with my trunk & called to Aunt Lucy Fiddis’.

February 7, 1860

Tuesday. At 2 o’clock in the morning, I started for Camden, South Carolina. [My brother] Steve went over to the depot with me. I had a pleasant ride. There was considerable snow down by the Delaware [River]… That is a very rough country. The hills rise in some places perpendicularly over the river & were considerable with ice. It was quite warm.

I got into New York [City] about 12. I left my trunk in Jersey City & went over into New York [City]. New York is a city that did not come up to my expectations, but the [Hudson] River is broader than I thought. I got my books but had not time to go to Mrs. Rice’s. My fare to New York [City] was $5.25. I got a ticket in New York for Wilmington [North Carolina] which cost $19.80. My books cost ___.

I started from New York at six. At Trenton where we crossed the battlefield, the train went very slow. Arrived at Philadelphia about 10 in the evening, crossed the [Delaware] river in the ferry boat & rode in the omnibus to the west end of the city for the cars. I was intensely tired so much that I could not sleep.

Wednesday. Arrived in Baltimore a little before 4 o’clock a.m. Before getting into Baltimore, we crossed [the Susquehanna River] in a ferry boat. The evening & morning were very cold. Arrived in Washington a little before daylight. I could not see the capitol plainly. Took the steamboat for Aquia Creek, the distance being 15 miles. Saw Mount Vernon [going] out. It did not look as well as I thought. It was very cold on the river. Richmond [Virginia] is a beautiful place. It seems to have been built on more hills than Rome. There is a beautiful statue of someone on a horse. [3] Got into Petersburgh [sic] about 5 in afternoon.

Erecting the Monument to George Washington in Richmond, 1859
"...There is a beautiful statue of someone on a horse..." -- RLG

February 9, 1860

Arrived in Wilmington [North Carolina] Thursday morning about half past 5. Crossed [the Cape Fear River] in a ferry boat to the cars. The morning was very cold but it was quite pleasant the rest of the day. There was nearly as much snow in Virginia as in New York. Some in South Carolina. In South Carolina we passed through miles & miles of swamp land, densely filled with timber and brush. In North Carolina there was a great many yellow pine, chipped for making turpentine. There were vast fields of cotton in South Carolina, but the old stalks remaining. In some places the niggers were plowing with one horse or mule.

Arrived in Kingsville [via the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad, distance 171 miles] about 4 in the afternoon. Then took up cars for Camden & got there about 6 pm. Went to the [Mansion House] hotel & then went to Mr. L. McCandless’ [house]. He was not in & returned to the hotel but about eight [o’clock] his assistant came down & I went up to his house & stayed a short time. Stayed at the hotel all night.

The Mansion House on the southwest corner of Broad and DeKalb Streets was the only hotel operating in Camden, SC in 1860. It was managed by E.G. Robinson, a native New Yorker.

February 10, 1860

Wrote a letter to mother. Went to the school & remained there. The boys are wild. Afternoon Mr. McCandless’ negro brought up my baggage. I am to board with him & have his assistant for my chum. After paying up, had $0.25 left. Unpacked my trunk & find all things safe.

February 11, 1860

Had nothing to do. I read some Latin, wrote a letter to [Cousin] Lucy [Fiddis], & commenced one for home. Felt rather homesick.

February 12, 1860

February 13, 1860

Today was the first day of my teaching. I got along very well – at least I thought – during the forenoon. But in the afternoon came the tug of war. I asked the class both in Latin and Greek questions they could not answer. They were none of the best scholars by any means for such a man [with a reputation] as Mr. McCandless ought to invoke. But in the evening he said that some different arrangements must be made for I was wholly incompetent to go on with the class. He would have dismissed me immediately but his tender feelings condemned the idea. He said he would make arrangements with me till the first or middle of April to hear other classes, but [only] at the rate of $400 a year! I am feeling very miserable & have cursed the day that I wrote to him accepting the situation. I am alone among strangers & without money. But I will try to put trust in God & do my best. Sent a letter for mother today.

The Leslie McCandless Schoolhouse, ca. 1930's
Built in 1850 and moved from its original location on Laurens Street near the end of the century.

February 14, 1860

Rainy day. Heard the classes in English branches that McCandless gave me. I did not hear any in Latin or Greek. If I stay till the 1st or the middle of April I can scarcely make enough to carry me home with the deducted salary he proposes to give me. I noticed today that almost – in fact all – of the textbooks used in the South are from the North & they have an inveterate hatred to all books that speak derogatorily of the South. Sent a letter to [Henry] Handerson asking him to help me to secure a place to teach.

February 15, 1860

Very pleasant & warm today. Same course in school as yesterday. I would take it very well if McCandless would not interfere. But he is continually finding fault with me. I could [not] do anything to suit him. My position is worse than a slave. McCandless – when he gave me to understand that he did not want my services in Latin or Greek – said he would try to get me a place in a family [as a private tutor]. Whether he will or not, I do not know.

February 18, 1860

Rainy. Went about the place some. Saw the monument to DeKalb. [4] It is not very high, but is about 5 feet square – an obelisk. It is old and grown over in some places with moss. The court house is a fine building.

The Court House in Camden, South Carolina before its restoration
"...the court house is a fine building" -- RLG

February 19, 1860

Sunday. Went to church. Bishop [Thomas Frederick] Davis preached. He is nearly blind but intends to have an operation performed soon. He is about six feet high, has a large head, high forehead and retreating – much more than Dr. [Benjamin] Hale’s. He preached a very good sermon but not such a one as I had expected. [5] He is below Bishop DeLancey.

February 20, 1860

…We had a new student today, rather old. He is from Arkansas. He was a school teacher there & is very ignorant. The scholars make some of the most laughable mistakes imaginable & it is with difficulty that I can keep from laughing.

February 22, 1860

…The ladies are playing & singing up in the parlor. Miss [Lucy Ann] Fisher, the [21 year-old] teacher of French in the Female school [run by Mrs. McCandless], was here to tea. She is not very good looking. Teaching is a slave’s life, I must confess – especially when one is not considered anything & is continually found fault with. I never say much at the table – not to the lady teacher, nor will I. Mr. McCandless never does & thinking so little of me as he seems to do, I am loathe to try to appear differently.

The Camden Female Seminary operated by Mrs. Fanny C. McCandless. The portico of the McCandless Residence where Goodrich boarded from February to May, 1860 appears at the extreme left.

February 23, 1860

…The more I see of McCandless, the less I like him. He has given me nearly all the youngest & most stupid boys in the school & it is very hard work. I do not teach either German or French, Latin or Greek – nothing but the English branches or nothing beyond reduction in arithmetic. I hear reading, spelling, annals in history, mental arithmetic, geography, differentiation, grammar & two classes in arithmetic as far as fractions. I hear eight classes besides the little boys who make about 3 classes. I do not care very anxiously to stay here.

February 24, 1860

…Received a long letter from home. Bob Herrick died at Albany [6] and they said Kansas was a free state, though I have not seen a paper since I have been here.

February 25, 1860

…Went to the Cornwallis house. It is an old square building 3 stories including the basement. The rooms are lofty and heavily corniced. There are two porticos in front, one above the other. Went to the [old Quaker] cemetery. There is a monument to Lieut. Cantey who was killed in the Mexican War. [7]

The Cornwallis House outside of Camden, South Carolina, ca. 1860
"...an old square building 3 stories high [with] two porticos in front, one above the other" -- RLG

February 28, 1860

I was obliged to keep a boy today to reconcile his lesson. I was sorry that I did for it made me feel very bad.

[1] Julius and Bennet Hymes were merchants in Owego in 1859. These brothers, natives of Germany, were 33 and 21, respectively at the time.

[2] Virgil was the classic textbook for teaching Latin at the time.

[3] The statue Goodrich noticed while passing through Richmond was of George Washington riding a horse that was erected in 1859.

[4] Johann de Kalb (171-1780) was a German soldier and volunteer who served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. At the Battle of Camden on 16 August 1780, DeKalb’s horse was killed under him and he tumbled to the ground where he was shot three times and bayoneted repeatedly. He died three days later while being held as a prisoner of war in Camden, South Carolina.

[6] Robert R. Herrick, a twenty year-old student at the Albany Law School, died in February 1860 after 12 days of "putrid sore throat." [Source: U. S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules 1850-1880] Robert was from Athens, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, -- a few miles down the Susquehanna River from Owego, New York.

[7] This is probably Second Lieutenant James Willis Cantey who was killed at the Battle of Chapultepec during the Mexican War.

The 1860 U.S. Census for Camden, South Carolina records the following occupations among its residents:

The Diaries of Ralph Leland Goodrich, 1859-1867