Handwritten letter from Greenville, 30 Sep 1863 (page 1)
Book 1, Page 109 ·1863
Transcription
A handwritten letter, page 1 of multiple, in brown ink on aged paper. Sloping cursive hand. Dated at the upper right.
Greenville 30 Sep 63
Dear Sir.
For some time we have thought always with anxiety about Mrs. FitzSimons and the baby. I hope this sharp attack, preceding the birth, that she may get them out without any much more suffering — at least for some time —
The cold weather gave her some debility and I hope soon to hear she is increasing in size — I have the remains of the brown kid skin — dare say it will make her one or two pairs (unless she is to wear worsted ones) — if you would cut the pattern & size we might succeed in making them — Theodore I hope has gratified himself & you by a visit to Rock Cliff — he would tell you of Nell having gone to the Barrows — your Uncle Sanford came up on Sunday eve. and she changed her plan & remained until Tuesday Morn. when he returned with her & would travel with her to the [illegible] Nell wished to avoid stopping in Columbia & thought the night train would arrive at Summerville so as to delay her only an hour or two before she would travel to the Pine Land — or as Kate said Camp out in the carriage as there is no regular or no Hotel at Summerville. I sent the Box to day to the Express — care of the Major Brown — Augusta — It has the yarn (2 bundles) one ^they I bought for the children’s clothes — Nell with some help from Kate [self?]
AI Notes
Page 1 of a multi-page handwritten Confederate-era letter, dated Greenville 30 Sep 1863, in brown ink and a sloping hand. The writer reports on the health of Mrs. FitzSimons after a sharp attack preceding the birth, the cold weather giving her some debility, work on the remains of a brown kid skin for one or two pairs of baby shoes (unless she is to wear worsted ones instead), Theodore’s visit to Rock Cliff, Nell having gone to the Barrows, Uncle Sanford’s Sunday arrival and the change of plan to travel together via the night train through Summerville to the Pine Land (no regular hotel at Summerville), and a Box sent by Express to the Major Brown at Augusta containing two bundles of yarn bought for the children’s clothes. Letter continues onto page 110.
Letter continues on next page.
Like the 1862 Walhalla letters earlier in this sequence, the 30 Sep 1863 Greenville dateline reflects the wider Lowcountry diaspora — Charleston-area families moving inland from late 1862 to escape the Union blockade and bombardment. The “Pine Land” was the standard term for the family’s St. Stephen’s / St. John’s Berkeley pineland retreat north of Charleston.