I sent to Easton last Sat. week but there was no letter & I did not get it till Friday. The other I rec’d. on Thurs. as usual.
Remember me to all the friends and accept my best love to yourselves. From Rebecca.
P.S. Company has just come in. Please give Sarah Usher her book there upon the table the next time she comes down. I know not how this blot got on here or when.
In the next letter, note Rebecca’s rather condescending description of the worship practices of the Royal Oak Congregation. She sarcastically suggests that “shouting” is of no spiritual value at all.
Royal Oak, Nov. 8, 1868
My dear Parents & Sister,
Mrs. Thomas & I being left entirely to ourselves this afternoon I thought I’d improve the opportunity and begin my “home weeklie.”
It a very mild & delightful day, a little hazy this A.M. but now the sky is clear & warm, with a southerly wind. The meeting is going on here today, & this A.M. I attended & had the gratification of listening to the new preacher, but soon became tired of him. His text was, “Let your light so shine before the world, etc.” After reading or I should say repeating it over once or twice, for the Bible was closed, he went directly into Genesis where he remained sometime, then he proceeded to John the Revelator repeating & dwelling upon several passages in the Revelations. From thence to Job, repeating the text again, went back to the Gen. & ended with the Gospels. ’Twas a great sermon,—he got the people to patting & if he’d continued much longer would have them all shouting I presume. Mr. Thomas has gone out this P.M.
Mrs. Thomas wants me to ride out with her after tea, so we’re going out to make a call on the sick.
Last Thursday night Mr. Thomas carried me to Easton to attend a concert given at the schoolhouse by Miss Greenfield and three of her pupils. It was a fine affair but was not well attended on acc’t. of there not been given a sufficient previous notice. I spoke with Miss Greenfield, she inquired after you all. The young lady’s sister with whom you correspond Bell sang finely. She asked how you were and said her sister was very low with the consumption, & that she was not expected to recover. Miss G. said she missed her very much for she was their pianist. Her sister & Miss G. presided that night. Dr. Hudson was with them doing escort duty. They have been in Balto, nearly three weeks giving concerts & were to give another at the Catholic Ch. upon their return. From thence they were going to Linchburgh, VA. I think Miss G’s. voice has failed very much. She was attired in a rich black silk. I did not ascertain any of the young ladies names. They all seemed to be very much careworn & weary. They also sang at Cambridge last week on Tues. night.
We have learned of Grant’s election & all the col’d. people’s hearts about here have been made glad thereby. While on the other hand the Rebs. are quite down in the mouth. The day of the election her was as quite as any other day.
Although the result of the election was anticipated, still it a source of much real gratification to all parties concerned.
[….] My number of pupils has during the past week, been increased to nineteen.
Tell Dolly Dutton I have dreamt about her twice of late, & the first time I thought I came home suddenly, & found her occupying my place at the table seated in the big chair, and as happy as a lark.
In the second, I thought I had her in my arms vainly attempting to escape observation as usual. I thought Eliza Dickson was coming and was right in the room upon us ere we were aware of it, & a considerable confusion was the result. I can imagine just how little Doll, looks. I presume she’ll forget all about me I would like to see how she gets along creeping. I think of her often.
7 P.M. I rec’d. your letter on Wed. 7 P.M. & I was pleased to hear that you were all well. I am wearing the same camphorbag that I used last term. I did not forget to replace around my neck the day I left home. I did not see the papers you allude to, I only saw a small bundle with the books and those I took.
I am glad to hear that Ellen’s health’s is improving & that she has been enabled to return to Hartford. Give my love to her should you call upon her.
[….] Sylvia is all right now. I rather thought she push matters in her favor by her being so determined in persisting for her claims. I glory in her spunk for under the circumstances, I would have done the same.
I hear Josephine went up to Balto, last Wed. night and returned Friday. I suppose she went on business. She did make out to tell me that she had 15 pupils attending school, the neighborhood is very small in which she resides & does not afford as many children as this of ours. I did not tell her Doll destroyed her gift. I think Leila did it. She wishes me to return you many thanks for what you sent her. I presume I shall never know what pay she gets.
[….] I am glad Dolly’s so kind to Jim & I presume he too, feels very grateful to her.
I thought that torch light precession would be a very imposing affair.
I suppose Mr. Sands thinks someone will want his rooms now, when they’ll be obliged to leave them so soon again. ’Twill serve them right if no one takes them.
That Mrs. Henderson must be a hard case & she look like it.
I’ve been told this eve’g. that the gent I listened to this A.M. was not the minister, but a local from Easton, appointed to preside in his place. So I live in hopes of hearing better. The speaker being a stranger to me, I took him to be the preacher in charge.
Mrs. Thomas & I took our little drive this eve’g. & returned a few minutes after six. Found Mrs. Williams quite convalescent.
Mrs. Thomas has just now retired & Mr. Thos. has gone out to church. Both desire me to give their best respects to you all. He has on one of his nero shirts, & says it fit him every way & it’s just right. I finished both the next week after I came & have since made two night gowns for the madam. She got the cloth at Easton. It’s past 8 o’clock. Good night. Remember me to the friends & accept much love to yourselves. Excuse poor writing for I been subjected to one of my nervous series for a few days past & am not quite composed again yet.
Rebecca
P.S. Send the papers to Easton.
Royal Oak, Nov. 22, 1868
My dear Parents & Sister,
Being alone this P.M. I am improving my time with the pen. Mrs. Thomas is visiting Mrs. Tilghman & Mr. Thos. has taken a ride to Quaker Neck to call upon some gent of color there, I declined accompanying him today, though had it been pleasant, I should have probably been spending the day in Broad Creek Neck. As is, I am at home & very glad to be here.
We have been having some real unpleasant and stormy weather for about three days. It has rained, hailed, snowed and blowed. Today the wind is high & very black & threatening looking clouds o’erhang the sky, & every now & then weather of some kind is falling, but has not am’t. to anything more than squalls as yet.
I went out to preaching here this A.M. There were but seven persons there besides myself. I suppose the stormy appearance of the sky kept the people from coming out. The minister was here today & I think he’s quite a sensible man to all appearance. And he is a tolerably good preacher for the limited means he’s had for procuring what knowledge he possesses. His complexion is coal black, but his features are good, & he seems intelligent. He speaks far better than the one that pretended to preach last Sun. week, & he is quite an old time looking little personage, but not bereft of the common civilities of life. I think I must have been prepossed in his favor by his particularly asking me to visit his family when he removes it to St. Michaels, which he expects to do this week.
I have today rec. a letter from Carrie, She is now in charge of a school at a place called Port Republic, Calvert Co. Md. The Quakers have sent her out this time, & she’s made the auspices of the Bureau. Her surroundings she says, are just the opposite to what they were last year. Many of the houses are mere hovels with neither windows or floors, unless she says, one can call a few pieces of board spread over the grown floors. The people are very illiterate & every thing by her statement, is below par. She has a schoolhouse in which to teach
, but not to compare with those recently built by the Govt. She sends her love to you all, inquires very particularly after Leila, & says she’ll be glad to hear from you whenever you see fit to write. Her sister has a school in the same County about 14 or 20 miles from her.
[….] Carrie met Miss Greenfield in Balto. & does not like her at all. Also respecting Miss Fortune, she says she only accidentally visited her house the day previous to Miss F’s. starting on her visit to H. & told her she would meet me & Gertrude there. She’s met with her several times but does not care much for her she says, nor does she consider her friend.
[….] Your very kind epistle was rec’d. Thurs. giving its usual pleasure & containing much of interest. I am glad to hear good health is still your portion, & that little Doll is enjoying her little life, & is willing to share with Jim her food when there’s more than her own little stomach can hold. I would liked to have been the two eating from the same plate. I presume she was upon the floor at the time & crept to his plate. I can imagine just how very cunning she looked. I dreamt a few nights since that I was buying a little toy of some kind for her, & that it was a long time ’ere I could get suited. Tell the little creature she is in her Aunt’s mind very much of the time. I wonder if she’d know me now.
[….] I’m not suffering from nervousness now, so that the hoptea & sculcap are not needed. I always bundle up well when I’m riding, but I do not intend to take many rides this cold weather. I regret to hear of so much sickness among you. I hope Mrs. Connover may recover & that Ellen might also. ’Tis too bad her husband is so indifferent to her welfare etc. I presume the poor creature feels miserably. I don’t think Mrs. G. ever did care for him.
[….] If that coat you speak of is of the same quality of cloth as Bell’s, & there’s no defects in it any way, I will take it, & pay for it as soon as I rec. my money.
I wish you’d call on Miss Woodbidge & ask her if ther’s been any money forwarded to the asson. for me. I told Mr. Core it would be sent directly to me, or that you’d rec. it for me & forward it ect. Please tell her this for I supposed ’twas so understood as my wish & also the desire of the Society. I shall forward my report & salary bill to her at the close of this month. They pd. me one month’s advance salary & did not expect further pay till Miss W. heard from me & rec’d. my monthly report. Please do not fail to inquire for me ’ere you write again, so that I can write to Mr. Core about it.
Mr. Thos. wears night gowns but never’s had any of the sack shape.
Now I will bring my lengthy epistle to a close. I’ve been writing steadily for two hours.
Mr. & Mrs. Thos. desire to be remembered they expect to kill their hogs Thanksgiving day. Remember me to all the friends & accept my love to yourselves.
Rebecca
Royal Oak, Nov. 29, 1868
My dear Parents & Sister,
This quiet Sabbath P.M. I seat myself with pen in hand to write my “Home Weeklie”.
We are all well & enjoying good health & cheerful spirits. The day is a clear, sunshine one & not very cold although ’tis quite blustering. We’ve had no calls as yet today & have enjoyed the quiet to ourselves. But there’ll be some one in ’ere the day’s gone.
The past week has been a very pleasant one, we had rain on Wed. night & a part of Thurs. A.M., but the rest of the day was very pleasant only windy. We seem to have a great deal of wind lately which helps to dry up the mud & water so that the roads are kept in very good order all the time & also quite free from dust.
After it had cleared off I took one of my boys & Mr. Thos. Sam, and went down to Broad Cr. to spend the Thanksgiving with Miss Smith, intending to return the next day, but she kept me till yesterday & I reached home to noon. Mr. & Mrs. Thomas were wondering at my stay but as the horse had not been wanted they were quite well satisfied.
I had a very pleasant visit. Miss Smith is quite comfortable at her new quarters, but she is surrounded with a house full of children—all quite small, yet they do not disturb her or any of her things so that she feels quite well satisfied. She had school on Friday so that I spent the day in her school room. She has 19 pupils & is making preparations for an exhibition for the holidays.
[….] We’ve had considerable beef to eat lately. A butcher from Easton & formerly from Delaware, brings meat around every Tues. & Sat. supplying the people throughout the Oak & then at St. M. It is a great convenience & a treat too. He comes in a covered market wagon, stops before the house & rings a bell which certainly does sound strange in these parts. He brings along some very good meat & is very reasonable in his prices. Mr. Thomas is very fond of beef & therefore patronizes him about every Saturday. He says he’s not going to eat so much hog meat hereafter so I live in hopes.
Some twenty hogs were slain among colored people just around us last week. And from this time until Christmas there’ll be hardly anything else done in these parts but kill hogs. Women are employed to clean the entrails, prepare the sausage meat etc. so that some make it as much of a business to go out to hog-killing as the men do.
Farmers are also engaged in sending off their poultry, corn, grain, etc. to the Balto, markets. With their returns all the hands are paid off at Christmas, and enter upon their new engagements for the ensuing year at New Years.
Some changes are also being made. Families who intend to move are improving the good weather & good traveling by removing their stock & household goods to their new abodes now wherever they can do so, both among black & white. Christmas is the general moving time here all engagements contracts etc. are made at New Years & close with Christmas. This is a time honored custom throughout the South & the holidays are regarded by all and made the most of.
[….] I neglected to mention in my last, the consecration last Sun. of the white Methodist church here, which has been removed & repaired the present year. They has an “all day” meeting & raised a collection of $800.65 during the day, which clears the church from a debt of $500 upon it. It is said to be a very large collection for a little country place like this. There were many strangers present, & both the church & all around it was packed with people & carriages. They have now commenced a protracted meeting.
[….] Is little Doll up now every night as she used to be? Tell Bell I don’t want anyone in my school that can not call the letters by their right names, at least, better than that. The little witch, I suppose she thinks herself somebody & very smart at that saying her letters & prayers. I would like to see her very much. I dream about her every week, and I often wonder whether she would recognize me now.
Yes indeed, I do enjoy my little sanctuary very much.
[….] These people will never change Josephine one iota. Leila is well fixed for winter. Has she the rings in her ears yet? If that clove cake of Bell’s went so far it might have kept on to Royal Oak and then it would have found a door I’m sure. I have that which I brought from home yet & it’s relished now and then very much. Mr. Thomas ate his long since bestowing much praise upon & expressing many wishes for the doner. Mr. & Mrs. Thos. are very generous always to me, & had me take my share of the nut cakes apart for my own special eating which I did.
[….] I have now penned all that’s upon my mind & will therefore close with love to you all and to my friends, in which the family join me.
Rebecca
Chapter Ten
“And all nature is coming forth and
clothing herself in beauty and fragrance.”
1869
IN 1869 the Hartford Freedmen’s Aid Society ceased operation and Rebecca was paid a final ninety dollars for her last three months of service. Ironically, Rebecca’s letters from this year suggest that she had become a part of the Royal Oak community and the residents a part of her. She refers to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas as her family and, most important, she refers to her students as “my children.” Clearly the residents of Royal Oak thought quite highly of her, for you will note that Rebecca writes not only from Royal Oak or Hopkins Neck but also for the first time from the Primus Institute,
as the school was finally called in honor of her.
Nonetheless, although Rebecca finally seems a part of the community she devotes a great deal of her letters to Doll and Leila. Her longing for the two little girls illustrates her anticipation of returning home.
Hopkins Neck, Talbot Co., Md
Jan. 16, 1869
Sat. 10 A.M.
My dear Parents & Sister,
This sheet is an evidence of the box’s arrival which I know you’ll be pleased to hear. I thought this delightful spring like morning I would take up my pen & tell you about it. It came safely by the boat Tues. night, & I rec’d. it early the following morn’g. A few of the apples had begun to decay & the pies were somewhat mouldy upon the outside, but I put them in the stove & heat them through, & Mr. Thos. desires me to tell you he enjoyed his hugely. I also gave him his loaf with which he’s also delighted, eating a portion every night to much evident satisfaction. I divided a portion of my eatables with the family & the occasion was an enjoyable one to us all. I am delighted with all my gifts, and I thank you over & again. My first thought was a wish to have made you all recipients of some gift from me, for your kind remembrance of the absent one. The two diaries puzzled me, but I’ve commenced Doll’s, yet I expect I shall continue to use both, for ’twas very kind & good in Amorett to send me such a nice one. A less expensive one would have done as well.1 I thank you many times Bell for the book, ’twas the very one I strove to procure last summer. Little Doll’s alphabet is peculiar to her own dear little self, and what a queer little genius she must be. I shall be so glad to see her again & to listen to her little prattle. To see that little tongue roll over & to hear her French—for such it must be, seeing it is incomprehensible to you all, I think it will be real fun. I shall enclose a little note I wrote to her yesterday, & you must read it to her so that she may endeavor to understand it, & know that it came from her Auntie to whom she sent the diary.
Beloved Sisters and Loving Friends Page 28