Handwritten letter, continued — Kate's dyspepsia, death of Bev'y Means, John Bratton wounded, refugees and visitors at Walhalla
Book 1, Page 102 ·1861–1865
Transcription
A handwritten continuation page, blue ink in a sloping cursive on plain paper.
& justify it. Kate has a Dyspeptic pain in her chest to day — probably from “Not very light biscuits.” The people are very kind & anxious to serve their boarders in every way & very civil servants. There are very few negroes among them — they employ Whites for all kinds of service. A great many negroes are gathering here being brought by the Refugee families. Nellie is as usual, except a painful sore mouth. Her letter last night was very sad — telling of the death of Bev’y Means & the ignorance of when John Bratton was & he wounded. Bev’y Means was married last April on [a?] Thursday — left for Ft. Moultrie or Sumter on the next Tuesday — Soon after, went to Va. where he was wounded — & has lived scarcely two months after his marriage. Mr. DuBose’s house seems crushed down by one sorrow after another. I have not felt quite well since we arrived, but the journey & anxious unthankful anxiety makes it slow to recover or rather to feel bright. We are very eager for a letter from home — we see the Courier & Columbia papers, but they do not tell us, if “Home” is shut up & where you are &c. &c. Mrs. Nelson & her daughters made us a visit this week. We found them very agreeable people. Mr. Smith & family are very polite. Mrs. Pyatt & Mrs. Frazier arrived last [eve?] &c., but are not at the Hotel. Mrs. Sue Walker & several young girls came into the cars when we stopped at Greenwood, to get the latest news — we were very sorry to see by the Papers that their
AI Notes
Continuation page of the Walhalla letter begun on page 101. Same blue ink, same sloping cursive. The writer reports Kate’s dyspeptic complaint (blamed on heavy biscuits), describes the local people as kind, notes white servants and negroes brought by refugee families, gives sad news of the death of Bev’y (Beverly) Means and the wounding of John Bratton in Virginia, mentions visits from Mrs. Nelson and her daughters, courtesy from the Smith family, the arrival of Mrs. Pyatt and Mrs. Frazier, and a chance meeting at Greenwood with Mrs. Sue Walker and several young girls who came to the cars for news. Letter continues onto the next scan.
Letter continues on next page.
John Bratton (1831–1898), colonel of the 6th South Carolina Infantry, was wounded and captured at the Battle of Seven Pines / Fair Oaks on 31 May 1862 — placing this Walhalla letter to the early summer of 1862, in the Charleston-refugee months following the loss of Port Royal. “Bev’y Means” — married in April, died of wounds in Virginia within two months — was one of countless Lowcountry casualties of that first full war summer.