Rebecca the course of the lectures has commence last Tuesday Eve Mr. Chappin I have anticapate so much pleasure this winter thinking of attending the lecture with you Levina & Mr. & Mrs. Saunders went to the first one L has her coat done and look very nice. Miss Cross & Johnson also came out with light coat and bonnet both alike ther are rushing things I am behind the age and will in every things. Mrs. Haris is coming in fine style nexe Sunday she also going to have a set of furs I expect she will make the money fly. The Church this P.M. was quite full great many soldiers Mr. Phillap is looking very well indeed I guess the [?] agreed with them and also Mr. E Jackson he look very wishful at Bell.
[…] I will try and ans your very loving and interesting missive. Dear Rebecca I do try and take the best of care of myself you must not mind Henrietta to much. I do not envy your injoyment but I would like to be there and be a silent preticipant how much knowledge one can obtain by that way. Dear Sister I am please to know that you are some where you can be drawn out for there is no one her was capable of so doing. Your interlectual powers like a deep well. Mr. Johnson inform one of the members of your family a very highly compliment of you from Springfield I feel proud of it.
Give my love to Miss Williams I would be very much please to come on to Baltimore and will if my life is spared. Henrietta is wish she could have the mind some folks have I was quite surprise to hear her talk as she did last night after we retire which was not untill 12 oclock she feels of the need of a good education so this morning we was talking about you and also of writing Baltimore I told why dont she go said no never while you are ther I will tell you the rest of the remark you was so much then she was that she would not let the people know that you was her sister. My Dear I will have to come to a brief close I have a pain in my side have had it all day please to direct my letter to N. 12 Wadsworth St the family send there love to.
Hartford Dec. 10, 1865
My Dear & Absent Sister
I would like to know what you are doing this morning perhaps preparing for church I am not going to attend today for this reason I have no thick shoes I did not feel very well yesterday I did not get out all day. Dear Rebecca I am very lonely her now Aunt Emily and Thommy took there departure for down East last Tuesday I have not heard from them as yet. Your mother brought a letter in here Thursday Morn from you to perruse. I suppose by this time you have got to your place of destination I sincerly hope you will get along doubtless you will I am sorry you did not get my letter before you started. How did you spend your thankgiven I will tell you how I spent mine. Sarah & I got the work done by 9 oclock I then dress myself and went to sewing on my dress like yours. About ½ ten A.M. Mr. Tines & Mr. Carter came in the gent that use to go with M Robison. They staid until 12 I had music most of the time Mr. E is a very fine player Mr. Tine has fix my guitar and sound very nicely.
Mr. T has been quite attentive to me this week he has been or rather down here three times this week will be his last he think the boat will not run any longer he has promise me that he will come up quite often from NH this winter to see me. Dear Sister I flatter myself that he think a great deal of me I tried him yesterday something I said to him. O Rebecca how do you suppose that told me that he loved me and also ask me for my company. I know you cant guess so I will tell you no one but your friend Gabriel Moore he came in most every night he wish me to give his best regards to Miss Rebecca he also said if he could write I he would write to you Rebecca I feel worried I suppose you will say I am always borrowing trouble I will tell you what it is I dont think Mr. Sands is long for this world he has got a horrid cough yesterday I send Sarah up to him for something for to eat today she found her father quite sick pray dont mentions it I dont think Aunt E take very good care of her husban […]
Jim came in to see me last night he ask Aunty Primes where she was going if to see Addie he said he want to come too I was washing up my tea things he staid down with me untill your mother put a mustard part on Mr. Sands side then when your mother was ready to go he bid me adviere and wish me to come in and see him [….] My Brother dont write any more to me I suppose he dont like it I did not come I wish I had of gone as I was not to work. I sent Sarah to Ms Crowell10 with the lace she ask if I was at home being inform that I was sorry they did not know like to had me come their I am sorry too I told Mr. T he thought I would get along not to worried how can I help it. I hope dear Sister I will hear from you this week.
Please to direct you letter No 12 Wadsworth St.
Except all my best love for yourself
I remain you loving Sister
Addie
Dec. 13, 1865
My Darling Sister
I have at last rec your long look for letter your mother just brought in to me [….] Mr. Smith brought it down and said it been there almost a week I would like to know the meaning of that I thought you would not keep me waiting so long if you was well. Dearest Sister I am glad you arrive to your place of destination. No doubt you will get along very nicely if not the least doubt that you will gain the esteem and affections all around you. I hope it will agree with you think little of yourself as well of others [….] Mr. Sands home sick I am doing all I can for him the proper person is his wife. He mean so I cant bear to hear him Bell staid with me last night and Mr. Sand wake me a little after three wish me to take the key up to Mr. John Randle. You know where he lives, so Bell said I should not go without her so we got ready and after we got out in the street it was raining very hard and it was so dark I was realy afraid and so was Bell so we went after Mr. Asher. He went with us willingly. I got quite wet I have not seen […]
Dear Sister you mother has gave me six pairs of draws to make for a lady. I want to get money enough together to pay for a coat I got. On Monday your mother got it for me it was $17.00 the prices was $22.00 the reason I got it at that price Bell went to Mr. Stars to get nine she like except the light one she thought she would have a black so Mr. Stars said if she would take one that he would take five dollars off so they said they let him know. Bell got one into Criswell only $45.00 it is a beautiful coat so they thought I better take the $17.00 one and pay Mrs. Primus when I get the money I dont know when that will be I only got $6.00 towards its new 1 wish you could get something for me to do down there how quickly I would come.
Mr. Tines call yesterday he was quite affectionate to me yes my love we have got good friends again I am the same little Addie judging other wrongly I will not be able to write very lengthy missive I have got to geet some of these draws done this week I am sorry that I did not get your letter before. O Mr. Tines wish me to give his best regard to you and he would like to see you very much. All send there love to you except my best love from your affectionate Sister
Addie
PS Mr. Tines is in Phila I rec a letter last Friday he is not well.
Addie
Chapter Six
“Justice, impartial justice…”
Winter/Spring 1866
REBECCA’S letters in the spring of 1866 introduce the major themes of her correspondence with her family. She keeps them up to date on the customs, weather, and politics of the Eastern Shore. The customs interest her because they differ a great deal from those of her own region. Rebecca’s observations suggest that there are definite distinctions between black southerners and black Yankees, between free blacks and freed blacks. The weather is of profound importance because it determines her activities, where she will go, whether she will be able to hold school. Most important, the letters present both the larger political struggles in which the freed people are engaged and the day-to-day struggles of all blacks to be treated as free citizens of this fragile democracy.
Primus’s weekly letters to her parents serve as documents that narrate one of the most important dimensions of African American history—the very first steps from slavery to freedom. This period, which historians have named Presidential Reconstruction, witnessed the passage of the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Amendments to the Constitution. In Primus’s let
ters we hear the story of black people who for the first time engaged in congressional politics and attempted to exercise newly won rights that continued to be denied them. She sketches a portrait of black citizens utilizing the courts to protect their rights, eagerly seeking work, and educating themselves and their children. Fully aware of herself as an active participant in the emancipation process, she is a liaison between the free blacks of New England and the newly freed ones of Maryland.
As such, she recognizes her responsibilities as threefold: first, she must educate black children and adults alike; second, she must act as a role model for them; and third and just as important, she has to keep her family and community in Hartford informed about the process of emancipation. Although her letters clearly illustrate the class and regional biases of her uplift ideology, her dedication and commitment to the cause of freedmen are unfaltering.1 In Rebecca’s eyes, her future is directly linked to the future of the race.
Rebecca, the politically informed correspondent, announces her support of the Civil Rights Bill of 1866, which “defined all persons born in the United States (except Indians) as national citizens and spelled out rights they were to enjoy equally without regard to race—making contracts, bringing lawsuits, and enjoying the benefit of ‘all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property.’”2 However, the bill did not seek to guarantee black political rights, nor did it attempt to protect freedmen from the acts of violence to which they were subjected. President Andrew Johnson eventually vetoed the Civil Rights Bill.
Even Rebecca and other teachers are not immune to intimidation and violence. She has confrontations with the postmaster, Mr. Charles Lane, who refuses to deliver her mail and tampers with her abolitionist newspapers.
At every turn, blacks were met with resistance to their efforts to exercise their newly earned rights. Nevertheless, as John W. Alvord reported, freed people of the Eastern Shore, “as usual, are alive to the importance of the work and feel that it is a vital point in their future welfare. They are doing all they can to help along plans for their education.”3
Rebecca’s letters, we learn, are not written simply for her family but also provide reports and analyses for a larger community with whom they are shared. Although she protests against having her letters read by others, she uses her epistles to rally support for the efforts of the freed people, particularly as they attempt to build schools.
Although there is only one surviving letter from Rebecca during the winter of 1866, Addie continues to write weekly. Her letters imply Rebecca’s responses and keep us informed of the Hartford circle. During most of 1866 she works as a domestic—taking care of children and cleaning—as well as taking in sewing from various black and white Hartford women. Rebecca writes of the herbal remedies she takes for stomach trouble. Senna, wormwood, and balsam of fir are all herbal laxatives.4
[n.d.]5
[…] I rec’d. a letter from Gertrude on Tuesday. She also sent me a couple of papers, the Courant & a Republican. She informs me that they were moving to 153 Market St. How come they to sell their house and purchase down in that part of the city? I am quite surprised. She says the will of the late Mrs. Bunce is to be contested. Is it correct?
I have written but one letter this week & that was to Mr. Israel to send him my Bill for salary. I made it out & thought I sent it with my report. Did I send it to you instead? With yours & Addie’s I’ve rec’d. five this week.
[…] I’m very much pleased with the 2 books. Some one also sent me a copy of the “National Anti-Slavery Standard,” a weekly paper published by the Am. A-S Soc. N.Y. I’ve not read it yet. The Independent that I rec’d. last Saturday was exceedingly interesting and I’ve read about everything there is in it. It contains a great deal about Johnson,6 and much important news from all sources. I sent Miss Usher the first one also the Freedmen’s Record. Of late I have been highly favored with reading matter. I can digest it all easily I find.
Your letter, full of interest and news, gave me great pleasure as usual. I do not remember writing to you that I was not feeling well.
I had taken a dose of Senna that week & my stomach felt badly all the following week. I drink my worm wood to give me an appetite for I seldom relish my food unless I do. As for that Balsam of Fir, I had entirely forgotten it and it’s purpose. I will try it as you prescribed [….]
What has induced Henry Jones to move to Boston? I read in the Republican that the colored population at Boston is estimated at about 3,000, some of whom are worth $50,000 a piece. I think that speaks well for the industrious ones there.
I’m glad to hear from Jim once more, also to know that he is well and as independent as ever. He did not mean harm in looking at your birds mother, and I think you must have a witness to prove the deed of his attempt to possess one of them, that time to which you allude. Give my love to him & tell him to be a good boy till I come then we’ll make it all right. I never forget him though I do not think to mention him always when I’m writing. Still I always look for something about him when you write. Little Jim is well & as lively as a cricket. He slept in my bed last night, but I opened the window and let him out before day. He’s a very neat cat & is very particular to ask when he desires to go out. He sends his love to all.
Freemasonry, the first secret order for black Americans in the New World, was organized in 1775 by a black Bostonian, Prince Hall. Though black Masons were barred from white lodges, Hall and his fellow Masons were initiated by British military men. Less than a decade later, in 1784, these black Masons received their charter as African Lodge No. 459 by the Mother Grand Lodge of England. From then on, all black lodges were known as Prince Hall Masons. Rebecca’s father was a member of Hartford’s black lodge. The black Masons of Hartford were central to the institution- and community-building efforts of the city’s black population.7 In 1868, James Ralston, grand master of the Prince Hall Masons, petitioned the Connecticut state legislature to desegregate Connecticut’s schools.8 As Addie’s letters demonstrate, the Masons also hosted black Hartford’s major social activities.
With this letter, Addie introduces Bell Sands, Rebecca’s new cousin-in-law. Mrs. Sands represents a different kind of woman from Addie or Rebecca. She is the fodder for a great deal of gossip in Addie’s letters as well as in the community as a whole. Although she is a flirtatious, sensual extrovert who incites the wrath of the women of the community, she seems to be well liked by the men and loved by her very devoted husband, Thomas Sands.
Jan. 1, 1866
Dear Sister
I wish you a happy New Year. It has been very dull New Years to me I have been sewing all day and this eve Mr. Thomas[Sands] & Wife and I are invited to a Candy pull to Mrs. Mcguire. Guess we are not going untill 9 P.M. it is rather disagreeable night and its has been so all day. We went to the Methodist last eve and we got there it was crow[d]ed we hardly got a seat it was 1 oclock when we got home Mr. Ross spoke very plainly to his members since he had been there not one of them offer him a piece of bread a glass of water he ask them if they called that Christianity some of them must of taken little of it. Henrietta inform me last night that you had not rec any letters from home last week I wrote to you on the 24th of Dec I hope you have got it. The Masons Banquet came up very nicely quite a number attend and several strangers was there Mrs. L Nott was there and was dancing all the time. I saw her that afternoon and told me that she was not going to dance. Bell fainted she dance to much. Rebecca I wish you could take a view at Thomas wife every body is surprise at his taste as well as myself. I dont think she is educated she does not show it I realy hafter look myself [….]
Your mother send you several paper and would like to know wheather you had rec them or not. Mrs. Bell Sands wish me to inform you that you had another cousin she is very lovly indeed I just got thoughs draws done you mother charges 75cts a pair [….]
Addie describes a visit to a prison and to Colt Arms, a state-of-the-art gun factory founded by Samuel Colt. The company provided housing for its e
mployees and sponsored many events for the city of Hartford. Colt’s palatial estate drew admiration from many Hartford citizens.
Hartford Jan. 7 1866
My Dearly Adopted Sister
I will bid you good morning I thought I would call to see you and spend a few hours with you. It is a snowing and it will prevent me attending Church today The two Mrs. Sands has a note book and I presume we are going to have some singing. Mr. Thomas is reading over his lecture. Mr. Sands has not return yet. Last Wednesday A.M. I rec your loving interesting letter I peruse it in the cars on my way to the State prison in company with Thomas & his wife.
I felt very sorry for the prisoners there was 184 out of that number was 7 colored. I was very anxious to see them go to dinner so we waited untill the hour they out and all march for the pails as they went to their cells had a pan in their hands. I thought it was a basin of water to wash in they had quite a laugh at me I suppose they had a table and all could sit around it. On our way home we visited Colts Willow factory. I was very much please with the works one of the rooms we was insulted. I did not take any pleasure the Man that took us around had to speak to them. We enjoyed it little better they imployed 150 hands quite a number. We went to visit Mrs. Colts grounds and the hot houses. Father Kemp and his troupe is coming tomorrow night. I would like to hear them again.
Mr. & Mrs. Jones is here and staying with your Mother she is just the same she runs in when ever she get a chance to do so day before yesterday she came in was in hardly five min. before her husband wish her to return home and afterwards rec a severe scolding for going out that eve. We expect Mr. Philips and his brother and Mr. A you know who I mean [….]
Beloved Sisters and Loving Friends Page 11