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Latest revision as of 13:55, 28 July 2017
Letter from Rebecca Powell (Prince Edward County, Va.) to Selina Powell (Kenmuir ?)(Rebecca is teaching on the Dickinson farm in P. E. County)
12 January 1863
Powell Papers – 65 P875, Box III, Folder 4
- - - - -
Springfield, January 12th 1863
My dearest Mother
As we suffered at the
P.C. [?] on our way to Church yesterday your letter
was handed me and I assure you I was very glad
to get it, for as I had not seen your letter
to Nina it seemed right long since I had heard
from you. I am so glad dear Mother to hear
that you & dear Father are so well. I hope
Pa will find the situation at Mr. Haskins an a-
greeable one if he makes his arrangements with
him. Every one seems to think Richmond so un-
comfortable this winter, board is so high, & there
is so much smallpox there, that I dare say he
will find it more agreeable teaching in the country
than he would in the Dept. Then I shall be very
glad to have you near Sis, as I do not feel entirely
easy about her, though I hope the rest at Christ-
mas will refresh & strengthen her. As you say I
really do not know where she would go if she
were to leave Mr. T’s. It would be very pleasant
[2]
for her to be with Uncle Fred & Lute in Charleston
except for one thing, & that is they have no room
for her to sleep in with a fireplace. Nina & I
had no fire in our room while we were there
& though we did not mind it, I don’t reckon
it would do for her to be without it. If it were
not for this I think a month or two there could
be very good for her; they live very comfortably & pleas-
antly, though economically. Mrs. Anderson does not
exactly board with them, but they keep house together di-
viding the expense, & Lute keeps house. I have first
received a letter from Sis & she writes very
cheerfully, & says she thinks she feels considerably
rested by her holidays, though she had the prospect
of a cold in her head. I am in hopes she is only
a little worried out & will recover when Mr. Tuckers
home & Maria behaves better. I dare say the coffee
may have something to do with it, but I must tell
you that I only stopped drinking it for two weeks
& since then have been drinking it without feeling
any side effects at all. I feel remarkably well now
better & stronger than I have done since last
summer. I have no trouble at all in teaching
the children, & rarely feel tired much when
school is out, not near as much as I did at
[3]
Mr Overby’s. As you infer I see much more com-
pany here than at Mr. Overby’s. Indeed a week
rarely passes without some one here to stay a day or
tow. Last week Mary Foote, Mrs. Armstrong’s sister
stayed here two days & Henry Thivealt [?] & Willie Dupuy
spent one evening with us, so you see we have plenty
of society to keep me from feeling lonesome, & many
whom I see I find very pleasant & agreeable. I
like Miss Jennie Michaux [?] very much indeed
but Kate is mistaken in thinking she was at
sis’s when she was, for I reckon she is abt 28 or
30 years old at least. I am in hopes she will
be down to pay us a visit this week. Mr. Dick-
inson & Mr. Armstrong went to Richmond a week
ago, & Vinnie starts back to the army on Wednes-
day, so we shall be quite destitute of gentlemen
then, but I reckon we shall get along very well.
I am truly glad to hear that Uncle John’s child-
ren have reached him. You ask me if I noticed
any likeness between John Tabb & dear Cha-
rlie. Yes I did, he reminded me of him very
much, although his eyes & hair are very different
& I think that was one reason why I felt so
drawn towards him. You have been very industrious
dear Mother to knit so many pair of socks. I
[4]
have nearly finished my 6th pair, & beside have
knit 1 pair of gloves for myself, & 3 soldiers caps,
one for Mrs. Dupuy to send to her brother
in the western army, 1 for John Lewis, & 1 for
Capt. Braxton. I sent both theirs to them &
know that Mr. Lewis got his, but do not
know abt Capt. Braxton’s yet. You ask me how
Nina’s dress looks. Very nice indeed, & I think it
was very well she had it done as it will make her
a nice dress all next summer. The sleeves are not
quite so full & long as I could wish, but I doubt
whether any one would remark it. I am in dread
of my dresses giving out, I don’t know what I shall
do when they do, but the bombazine looks very nice
yet, & the old alpaca lasts wonderfully. I do not
think Willy Booker has joined the army yet. You
know he is so delicate his parents were afraid
of the effect on his lungs of exposure to the winter
weather. I had heard that it was a mistake
about Judge Lee’s having killed himself. Lute told
me. I have not heard from Lute since I left
Charlotte. They had a case of varioloid there
when we were there, a gentleman from Richmond
which alarmed the citizens somewhat, but I hear
that he is nearly well & no one else has taken it.
I have been vaccinated again but it did
[1]
not take. I do not
know Ma what
salary Mr. Knight
offers & neither does
Mrs. D. all she knows
is that she heard
Mrs. Knight say they
wanted a teacher
& would rather
have a gentleman
but if Pa does not
make an engagement
with Mr. H I can
find out. Give a
great deal of love
to dearest Father for
me & love too to all
with you especially
Aunt Fan & Kate.
I heard from Nina
this morning, she is
very well. I shall be
quite anxious to hear
from you of your ar-
rangements & to
know what Uncle
W & the girls have
to tell. Goodbye now
my dearest Mother
May God be with
you & bless you.
Your devoted daughter
Rebecca Powell
(ed: ‘Sis’ that Rebecca is mentioning early in the letter is Hattie who is teaching on the farm of Mr. Tucker in Brunswick County. Rebecca and Nina both teach on farms in Prince Edward County, Virginia.
Coffee was used medically as a stimulant for patients and was generally not suggested for regular consumption in the 1860’s . . . certainly no more than a saucer full after a meal. In the latter part of the war the Confederate Medical Department would issue orders instructing the hospitals to preserve their limited supplies of coffee for use by the medical staff as a needed stimulant for patients.
Variola, Varioloid, and Smallpox are all various levels and names for the same disease. The smallpox vaccination was quite often unsuccessful because of either the quality of the vaccine or the dietary health of the patient.)