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Ex-Slave Lou Williams' Christmas Memories
Lou Williams was born in southern Maryland. She and her family were slaves of Abram and Kitty Williams, and Lou served as nursemaid to her master's children from the age of eight until after the Civil...
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Confederate Civil War Christmas Memories of Sarah Lois Wadley 1860-1864
Diary of Sarah Lois Wadley August 8, 1859 - May 15, 1865Sarah Lois Wadley, 1844-1920, was the daughter of William Morrill Wadley (c1812-1882) and Rebecca Barnard Everingham Wadley (fl. 1840-1884) and...
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Ex-Slave Charlotte Beverly's Christmas Memories
Charlotte Beverly was born a slave in Montgomery County, Texas. She has lived most of her life within a radius of 60 miles from Houston:"Every year they have big Christmas dinner and ham and turkey and...
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Reconstruction Christmas Memories of Mary Ames 1865
From A New England Woman's Diary in Dixie in 1865This book relates the experience of two northern white women, Mary Ames, 1832-1903, and Emily Bliss, who were employed in 1865 as teachers by the...
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Ex-Slave Martha Bradley's Christmas Memories
Martha Bradley was a slave to Dr. Lucas of Mt. Meigs, Alabama, long before the War between the States:"But Marster Lucas gin us big times on Christmas and July. Us'd have big dinners and all the...
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Confederate Civil War Christmas Memories of Julia Johnson Fisher of Georgia
DIARY OF JULIA JOHNSON FISHER, 1864Julia Johnson Fisher, 1814-1885, was a native of Massachusetts, living with her husband, William Fisher (1788-1878), and her children in an isolated area in Camden...
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Ex-Slave Ellen Butler's Christmas Memories
Ellen Butler was born a slave to Richmond Butler, near Whiska Chitte, in the northern part of Calacasieu Parish (now a part of Beau Regard Parish), in Louisiana:"On Christmas time they give us a meal....
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Confederate Civil War Christmas Memories of Meta Morris Grimball 1862 in...
Journal of Meta Morris Grimball: South Carolina, December 1860-February 1866: At the Grove Plantation, St. Paul's Parish, South CarolinaMargaret Ann "Meta" Morris Grimball, 1810-1881, was a descendent...
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Ex-Slave Emma Taylor's Christmas Memories
Emma Taylor was born a slave of the Greer family, in Mississippi. She and her mother later were sold to a Texan:"Sometimes de niggers danced and played de fiddle and us chillen played in de yard. We...
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Ex-Slave Nicey Pugh's Christmas Memories
Nicey Pugh was born a slave to Master Jim Bettis in Alabama:"At Christmas time, Massa would have a bunch of niggers to kill a hog an' barbecue him, an' de womens would make' lasses cake, an' ole massa...
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Ex-Slave Mary Reynold's Christmas Memories
Mary Reynolds was born in slavery to the Kilpatrick family in Black River, Louisiana:"They give all the niggers fresh meat on Christmas and a plug tobacco all round. The highes' cotton picker gits a...
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An Old Irishman tells about Christmas in America in the 1850s-60s
Edward o'Neill born 1858 in Brookfield, MassachusettsRemembers Christmas past in 1938American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940Interview by Louise G. Bassett for...
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Celebrating in Pennsylvania 1810-1820 with John Lewis Krimmel 1786-1821
John Lewis Krimmel (German-born American artist, 1786-1821) The first known image of a Christmas tree in AmericaJohn Lewis Krimmel was born in Ebingen, Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1787, and accidently...
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A Civil War Christmas letter home
A Civil War Christmas letterWinslow Homer. Christmas in a Civil War Camp The illustration is captioned, "Christmas Boxes in Camp - Christmas 1861." It is the front cover of the January 4, 1862 edition...
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American Families by Eastman Johnson (1824-1906)
Eastman Johnson (American painter, 1824-1906) was an American painter who helped establish the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Best known for his genre paintings of scenes from everyday...
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"Sold South" - Baltimore City Slave Trade
Baltimore City Slave TradeThe Baltimore Sun 20 June 1999, by Scott ShaneE. Sachse's view of Baltimore City looking west from Calvert Street on Market Street c 1850.ON JULY 24, 1863, three weeks after...
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Women on the North American Canadian Frontier in 19C - by Dutch-born...
Cornelius Krieghoff (Dutch-born Canadian painter, 1815-1872) After the Ball, Chez JolifouCornelius Krieghoff 1815-1872 was born in Amsterdam, spent his formative years in Bavaria, & studied in...
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Dwellings of African Americans before & after the Civil War
William Aiken Walker (American painter, 1839-1921) Cabin Scene The dwellings of African Americans did not change dramatically after the Civil War, except that families usually occupied one cabin....
View ArticleIncidents in the Life of a Slave Girl of North Carolina - Slave's New Years Day
INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL. WRITTEN BY HERSELF. WOMAN OF NORTH CAROLINA. Harriet Ann Jacobs 1813-1897EDITED BY L. MARIA CHILD. BOSTON: PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR. 18611861. Lydia Maria...
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Ex-slave Alice Houston, about 78, Remembers 19C America
Alice recalled, "My white folks, dey tries to teach us to read and spell and write some and after ole marster move into town he lets us go to a real school. That's how come I can read so many docto'...
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