January 1860

[Tells of going to Binghamton on the train to sell framed pictures with Peck] I went in almost at the first house from the depot & the woman – a miserable specimen of her sex – ordered me out saying, “Out with you. I don’t want any of you round here.” Upon remonstrating with her, she said she did not want any nasty peddlers in there and then shut the door in my face. The next house I went to the woman – the only one there – was pleased with the picture, but did not feel able to get it. About every other house I got a sorry rebuff. Some would not even look at the picture. All the time I felt chagrined and mortified but a kind of determination backed by obstinacy revved me up. The politeness which I received at some places alleviates in a measure the real insolence of others. I worked assiduously for some time but my case was too heavy. I could not stand it so I went to a hotel, took a large picture, but a fellow there wished to trade of 2 rings for my picture in a frame. One was broken, the other was plain but this did not look to be good & so he declined. He said the two [rings] were worth $6.00 & got a lot of fellows to say [they would pay him $50. I declined & left. Hard times was all the word at every place.

January 15, 1860

…I hope I can get that place in Camden, South Carolina, but it is very doubtful. [1]

January 17, 1860

Went to hear Bayard Taylor lecture. He is a fine looking man, rather tall -- 6 feet I should think -- & well formed straight limbs. [He has] a high & long head, not very large, a rather full forehead & not very high & a little narrower than his face at the cheek bones. His face is not square, but a slight oval. Hair dark & curling slightly. Mustache & a thin beard. He delivered well but there was a kind of huskiness in his voice. He spoke without notes in a quiet way. His subject was the life in the North. The farther you are north till you get to the far northern region then the people degenerate. The far northern Swedes possess the real berserk fury of the forefathers. They are generally tall, well built, light hair, red cheeks, a clean sparkling eye, blue as the heavens above them…. Kissing is not the far northern custom.

Bayard Taylor
"...a fine looking man, rather tall, [who] spoke without notes in a quiet way" -- RLG

January 19, 1860

Saw Wash Gladden. Said he had left the school, had a license to preach, [&] was going to Chicago in a few weeks.

January 23, 1860

January 24, 1860

Wrote to L. McCandless [2] accepting his offer. Went to Mr. Rankine. He advised me to go.

January 31, 1860

[1] To obtain the teaching position in Camden, South Carolina, Ralph was requested to respond to the advertisement by submitting a resume in any language (other than English) of his choosing. In responding, Ralph wrote the following in rather broken German:

Dear Sir. Your nice letter from the 12th of this month was received and I answer in the German language. I have taught as a home teacher for a young lad. He is being prepared for college. My mountaintop is 5 foot 4 inches, weight 130. I was 23 last August. My personal appearance would be difficult to describe. I can’t think that I am either beautiful or ugly. My hair is neither red, nor flaxen, nor black, but it is brown. I have a wide nose but it has to be good. – Ralph Goodrich [Box 1, Ralph L. Goodrich Collection, Arkansas History Commission]

[2] Alexander Leslie (“Mack”) McCandless was born about 1820 in New Jersey. According to one source, McCandless was "taken from the Charleston, South Carolina Orphan House by those who perceived the latent talents of the boy and given a thorough education, graduating from the South Carolina College in 1838. When he began teaching the next year [in Camden, South Carolina], he was only eighteen years old. From 1839 to about 1846, McCandless taught the "Classical English School" in the Pine Grove Academy in Camden. From 1846 to 1849, McCandless conducted the Orphan Society Schools in Camden, marrying another teacher -- Miss Frances ("Fanny") Augusta Coleman -- in 1848. Fanny was a graduate of Patapsco Collegiate Institute of Baltimore, Maryland where she was the pupil of Mrs. Emma Hart Willard, the celebrated educator and advocate of women's rights. In 1849, Mr. and Mrs. McCandless resigned to teach their own private schools and about 1854, they moved their schools into a new frame building erected by the Educational Association on Laurens Street. It was in this schoolhouse that Goodrich came to work as an assistant to Mr. Leslie McCandless in February 1860 and teach the sons of wealthy planters and other members of Low Country aristocracy. By this time, Mrs. Fanny McCandless was managing the Camden Female Seminary in a separate schoolhouse next to the McCandless residence. It was widely reputed as one of the best institutions for young women in the state.

Alexander Leslie McCandless and his wife, Frances Augusta Coleman, ca. 1860

The U.S. Census for South Carolina, Kershaw, Camden shows the McCandless' family with six children in September of 1860:

Alexander Leslie McCandless, age 40 (born about 1820 in NJ)
Frances Augusta [Coleman] McCandless, age 38 (actually 41, her birth date was 29 May 1819 in Vermont)
Frances D. McCandless, age 11 (born about 1849 in SC)
Sidney C. McCandless, age 9 (born about 1851 in SC)
Edward S. McCandless, age 7 (born about 1853 in SC)
Linnie McCandless, age 6 (a female born about 1854 in SC; later married a Wilson)
John M. McCandless, age 3 (born about 1857 in SC)
Kate Leslie McCandless, age 8 months (born about January 1860 in SC; just prior to Goodrich's arrival)
Victor Eugene Manget, age 23 (born about 1837 in Conn.; a "Teacher of French" and Goodrich's room-mate)

The Diaries of Ralph Leland Goodrich, 1859-1867