Very
pleasant day. Manget acts sometimes very mean. He is often insipid & seldom
sharp. Took a walk down to the cars this evening. Singing in the parlor. Mr.
Mack sung. Though he knows the mysteries of the sonnet, he has not a good voice.
March
2, 1860
Very
warm. In school. Kept Parker after school. Read.
March
3, 1860
Saturday.
Read & finished the work on art. Made some drawings. Went into the woods
& got some leaves & flowers. Took a short walk after tea. Yesterday
Manget lent me $0.50. Think of writing a letter to [cousin] Lucy Stratton. Very
warm today.
Rather
pleasant day. Attended church. In afternoon, [attended the] funeral of a maiden
lady. There seemed to be no feeling in the matter. Quite a number were present.
The pall bearers went on horseback with crape. Read
the bible & wrote. Charles, the nigro – about 12 years old – is
bothering me considerably. He says the little Mack girl told him I
swore.
The robins are nearly all gone. A few blackbirds are to be seen. The weather is
most pleasant & remind one of what the halcyon days are, or at least what we
dream they are. The sky is clear & the sunset in a flood of purple &
gold.
March
5, 1860
Very
rainy and dismal day. Few in school. Been studying French, German, Latin, &
Greek. I am making some progress. Received a letter from home & one from J.
Belknap. I hardly know what our folks will think when they get my letter, but I
am terribly disappointed in not being able to suit. I wish I was sure of getting
another place. The nigros use very often [the expression], "he has done
gone." They think as little of me as possible here and I believe I was made
for a great fizzle.
Pleasant
day. Some
one stuck a pen in my chair this morning so that when I sat down, it would stick
into me. It stuck up [from the chair] about half an inch. But before I sat down,
one of the class saw it & told me. Whoever did it signally failed in
effecting his object. Had a hard time of it today. They are the worst creatures
to govern I ever met. Took a walk this evening. Received a letter from Johnson.
I see no improvement in him. Reading the history of Scandinavia. The peach trees are in
bloom. They raise a great
quantity of fruit here when the season is good. Few rattlesnakes, black snakes,
moccasins, etc.
Very
pleasant and warm day. Hard days work. Took a walk to the Factory Pond
& it is a beautiful place. The planters have a peculiar kind of wagon box
scalloped like junk, high front & back, and ribbed. Manget brought some moss
& said that Miss Lucy Fisher, one of the teachers in the seminary sent it to
me.
March
8, 1860
Very
warm. Mr. Mack scolded considerably. Yesterday I received a letter from [my
sister] Augusta. The grass grows rapidly [and] the oaks are budding. Talked
quite awhile with Mr. Mack after tea. He is a pleasant man when he chooses to
talk. I will try to do well & please him while here so that I may merit his
respect as one who tries to do well.
March
9, 1860
Chilly
today. Speaking day [in school]. The boys are miserable speakers & it does
not seem as if they [are] of South Carolina's great geniuses. They [are] hard to
govern & revengeful to govern them. [It] requires a great deal of firmness.
Took a walk down to the depot. When going to school this morning, I was looking
into a yard & nearly stumbled upon a lady. Mack & Manget were along
& if they had only spoken to me, it would not have been so, but Mack scowled
terribly.
Rather
cold today. Writing a letter home & to Mr. Smyth. Went
with Mr. Robinson, a scholar, to the [Wateree] river about two miles away & thence to an Indian mound.
The river is nearly as broad as the Susquehanna at Owego – very deep
and muddy. Very large trees grow on the bank. I got some pottery at the Indian
mound. It is situated in a plain near the river and is between 40 and 50 feet
high, nearly perfectly round & covers nearly half an acre of ground. The top
& sides are covered with thick undergrowth & several large trees are
growing on the sides. It must be centuries old & is probably built as a
tomb. There is a smaller one near by north of the larger one not more than ten feet
high. This [one] has been dug into by a party of picnickers. Some say bones were
found but whether human or not, that’s the question. The larger one has never
been searched for the Camdenites have either no curiosity or ambition to care
for what is in there & investigate, or they are reluctant to disturb the
dead-house of the Indian. That it is a very ancient mound, there is no doubt. And
could it [be] well searched, its result might be of some advantage to the Indian
antiquary. The wide plain is covered with broken pieces of pottery, small yet
large enough to see that they are beautifully ornamented.
Read & studied the rest of the day. Got to bed about twelve.
March
11, 1860
Attended
church in forenoon. Read & wrote.
Very
windy day & rather cold. In school all day. When I came back a paper was
here & a letter from [Henry] Handerson. He says that he will try to get me a
place to teach & I will write immediately. The paper was the [Owego]
Gazette. I sent a letter home & one to Mr. Smyth, [Editor of the Owego
Gazette]. The [wind] is blowing terribly hard. The woods are on fire a great way
off and the livid fire streams up to the zenith and the black rolling clouds. It
was a glorious sight. Reading & writing. Mr. Mack's children we would say
were not very modest. The girls roll and kick up on the floor in all kinds of
shapes showing it matters not what. Charles is in here bothering me. He
has taken a key and given it back to me & says it will be lost in such a
time. This is one of the nigro superstitions. Bloodhounds are not a feature of
the South. I can hear of none anywhere. Longfellow says in his poems on slavery,
“the nigro heard the bloodhounds distant bay.”
Rather cold today. Felt
miserable all day. Nothing has passed me but urine in four or five days &
now I am feeling rather used up. I do not know whether it is the water or the
food, but I never was thus in my life to my recollection. Yesterday the ladies
caught Charles doing his business in the garden and they had considerable sport
over it. [They] laughed considerably at tea. Charles looked awfully queer. His
eyes rolled wonderfully. Reading & writing.
March 14, 1860
Mr. Mack has gone away
today. Rather cold. The boys were very unruly. I kept one of the Starke's till 5
o'clock. Evening, read & wrote. Had an evacuation of the bowels this
morning. Do not feel as bad as I did. The people do not know what we mean by
"hay mow." The Methodist Ministers in church always say the Lord's
Prayer when praying.
March 15, 1860
Rather cold. I hit the
crystal to my watch & I think injured the watch for it stopped. Got some
tobacco. Charles is rather vulgar. Manget lent me $0.50 today. He has lent me
$1.50 now. Reading & writing.
March 16, 1860
In school.
At my
room all day, reading & writing. Got a paper from home. Got my watch fixed,
paid $0.50 for it. Rainy. Feel bad. Finished the history of Scandinavia. Wrote
a letter to [Ex-Governor] Brown, Florida.
Rather
cold. Attended church. Tom Davis, son of Bishop [Davis] preached. Passable
preaching. Remained in my room the rest of the day. The South Carolinians
are a polite people. The standard of morals is higher than at the North. Female
virtue is not of that easy kind which characterizes the North. A gentleman can
never succeed in ungraceful familiarities. Cases of seduction are rare. Illicit
connection is entirely confined to the slaves, is between the whites
and the female slaves. And yet, if a man is known as a certainty to have many by
such,
he is little esteemed by the best of the community. This state of society seems
to be the result of slavery & if it be a sin as some believe, it has its
good effects. As a general thing, virtue and morals are higher throughout the
South than at the North.
They
have poor classes here as well as at the North but the educated portion goes in
good & [with] the highest society. A lady, handsome & fashionably
educated, is received everywhere by fashionable education. I mean in the common
branches, Latin & Greek, & French, Spanish, & Italian & Music.
The poor educated women are careful to look out for rich
husbands & as my chum says, you can know that from the size of their hoops. He
himself is poor but goes in the best society. The majority are better Christians
than at the North.
March
19, 1860
Another
hard day. Mr. Mack had me hear my classes in his room under his supervision. The
class bulled along most gloriously. he roved & stormed & swore. He took
the chair & I was obliged to stand up all the time. The class was in from
early in the morning till nearly two o'clock & when we finished, I was
completely tired out. He as much said before the school that I did not know how
to teach in that the boys knew something when he had them but now they did not.
I can't stand any such work. I hope I can get another place. I will put my trust
in God. Wrote a letter to [my sister] Augusta. Buckley's here. The people gone.
Mack & two of the ladies went. He asked Manget to go, & after a time,
[he] asked me to go. All the time did not want me to go.
March
20, 1860
Same
in school today as yesterday. I feel very miserable. I pray God to be with me
and assist me in everything. Received a letter from home containing a letter
from Smith Woodman & Co. for two men to write to -- one in Delhi & the
other in New York. Sent a letter to [my sister] Augusta.
March
21, 1860
Same
today. I am very tired & sleepy. Sent a letter home today.
March
22, 1860
Rather
chilly. Hard work in school. One boy in reduction did not know how to multiply
16 by 14. Reading & studying. Received a letter from [cousin] Lucy Fiddis. I
wrote to her on the 11th of February and she did not receive it until the 3rd of
March. She wrote [on the] 6th. She wrote a very good letter. She is a talented
girl. I [wish I] was as much so a man as she is a woman. Reading Scott on Witchcraft.
Rather
warm & pleasant. Today was the speaking & composition day. The boys are
miserable declaimers -- much more so than one would suppose from Carolina being
the chivalrous state. Feel tired & stupid. Took a walk out to the Factory
Pond & picked up some stones. The
people may be chivalrous but they have appeared very cold to me. I have not been
a warm spirit in their hearts. None but my roommate to sympathize with. Laughed
at for my awkwardness. I am deserted indeed. Vegetation does not advance as
rapidly as at the North.
Warm
& pleasant. In the room during nearly the whole day. Took a walk to the
Cornwallis house & gathered a branch of the "China Berry" or
"Pride of India" as it is called here. The mistletoe grows generally
on the oak here. The
stores in the village, many of them are miserable low & the upper part
[used] for [a] dwelling sometimes. The streets are seldom paved & [sidewalks] never cross
the street. The sand makes a good walk in all kinds of weather. The cherry tree
are nearly in leaf. Rice is raised
in the state but near the coast. There is a great deal of it. I have not seen
any but they say it looks very much
like oats. The people are fine horseback riders. They have fine horses [here]
& come into town or through it in their 2 horse covered carriages with a
driver & a negro behind. Their lumber wagons are drawn often by 2 or more
span of mules & the driver on a saddle rides the near one & swings a
huge whip. Nights the negro boys make a kind of rolling, caroling screech, which
no one but a negro can make. Received a paper from home.
March
25, 1860
Attended
church. Mr. Mack is a low churchman. The Bishop [is] rather inclined to low churchism.
His son is a stiff High churchman. There is much discussion on the question of
High & Low Church doctrine & some are very rabid. The negroes of the
Methodist give about 80 dollars a year for the support of the minister. Tom
Davis was sick & one of the theological students read the service. Miss Lucy
wants Manget to take me to see her. I think I will go sometime.
In
school. Tired & feel sick. I am troubled considerably with dyspepsia. The
boys acted badly today. One was expelled but he is going to apologize and come
back. I did not get out until half past four today. That has been my usual time.
The water is soft that we drink, there being but little lime in the soil. There
is not such a thing as hard water in the state. Lime is much needed for the
plantations. Manget drills the boys in infantry in the morning. That is
considered an accomplishment here. It is cold today -- at least I feel it more
than I would at home. The people generally live on light food such as is fitting
to a warm climate & it is not strong enough to keep off the cold as far as I
am concerned.
It
is a good country for lawyers and doctors. Manget has just received a letter
from one of his friends in Alabama -- a doctor -- and he writes that he made
over three thousand dollars last year, board only ten dollars a month &
everything.
March
27, 1860
Chilly.
Received a letter from Austin. Sent a letter home. Lent Miss Morgan [my]
Translation of Horace. There are quite a number of French families in this state
-- the descendants of the Huguenots. They form quite a large portion. There are
many along the coast.
Somewhat warmer than
yesterday. I was obliged to send Woods out of the class today for impudence.
Sent off a letter to [Nathaniel] Davis & [Willoughby] Babcock. After
school, went down street where they were raising the steeple to the market. It
was raised by ropes & pulleys on the outside surmounted by a flat figure of
an Indian fitted so it will move in the wind. He has bow drawn & arrow in
it. Supposed to represent the Catawba Indian.
A
photograph taken while raising the steeple on the tower in front of the town
market. The King Haigler weathervane can be clearly seen on the top of the
steeple as described by Goodrich.
After school went
to the bookstore with Manget. He got a Webster's Dictionary. Studied that all
the evening.
March
30, 1860
Rather
warm. Composition day. Some were awfully bad. Evening went to church with
Manget at the Methodist. They all kneel in prayer. Went up to see Miss Lucy
[Fisher].
Miss Dargan was there. Had quite a pleasant time though they made considerable
fun of me. Miss Lucy is quite a servant girl & knows considerable. Got to
our room about _____. Charles Fisher was there. He is an inferior looking
person.
March
31, 1860
Rather
warm. Read some & took a walk out into the country & got some flowers.
I walked a good deal. My legs ache considerably now. I find that there is more
pleasure in anticipation than there is in actual enjoyment or the possession
of an object diminishes its value. I have not heard a single [thing] about a place
[to teach] as yet. My fate is dubious. I do hope I can secure a place
somewhere here. The time is approaching when I must leave. How soon, I do not
know. I pray God help me to secure another place. My hope is in Him.
In
dark fens of the
Dismal Swamp
The hunted Negro lay;
He saw the fire of the midnight camp,
And heard at times a horse's tramp
And a bloodhound's distant bay.
