Wednesday, April 30, 1862

We rose early.  Maggie and Lizzie started this morning at six o'clock on the Illinois Central R. R. for Monmouth whence they will have a ride by stage of twenty five miles to Aledo the home of Rev. J. S. Poage whom they are going to visit.  Rev. Mr. McGill will be their escort as far as El Paso.  Clara and I drove to the mounds and had pleasant views of Pana and the surrounding country, rolling prairie.  The peach trees are in blossom.  We were invited to attend the Baptist sewing circle at Mr. Bradley's but did not go.  Mrs. Jorr (a Louisiana lady originally, now married to a Mississippian and living on a large farm near Pana) called with Mrs. Brigham to see us.  Mrs. Jorr is beautiful and has a well cultivated mind.  Her husband once wealthy is just now greatly embarrassed.  They still own slaves at Baton Rouge and are probably, secretly, Southern sympathizers, as are many others in this region, some openly avowing their delight at rebel successes and Union reverses.  A great many of the loyal men have enlisted so that the traitors here, have probably the majority.
Mr. Walton took me a drive over the prairies several miles.  I saw for the first time the prairie chickens.  As we came homeward the sun set amid clouds of purple and gold sinking down beyond the prairie a scene more beautiful than I can describe and one not soon to be forgotten.


Peggy's comments:
Aledo is in Iowa and is about 200 miles northwest of Pana, Illinois.

Tuesday, April 29, 1862

I rose early enough to see the sun rise away beyond the prairie.  Mr. Walton got Miss Mary Tunnison's sewing machine and Kate has been sewing for Clara all the forenoon.  Clara has three sons but her only daughter died about a year ago and is buried in the graveyard on a mound west of Pana.  James and Eddie are fine healthy boys but Willie, now eight years old is a cripple and great sufferer from hip disease.  Maggie expects to start to Aledo in the morning so Clara went with her to return calls.  Then we all went to Mr. Tyler's where we found a group of very pleasant ladies, Mrs. Charles Lewis, a very pretty woman, and her two sisters-in-law, Misses Elizabeth and Mary Lewis who are English.  They are social sprightly girls, Miss Eunice Hooper who is quite an heiress and an unassuming quiet girl, Mrs. De Levie, wfe of the editor of the "Pana Public", who is from Boston and is a lady.  Mrs. Bradley was also there.

Monday, April 28, 1862

Mr. Walton took Maggie and Lizzie in the buggy to Rosemond to see the country.  We received letters from home.  They have had high water and a fall of snow since we left.  Mr. Walton has the daily St. Louis Democrat and Kate buys an occasional Chicago paper.  We find that the Ohio troops who have been so basely slandered are being vindicated.  The truth is coming out.  The daily train on the Illinois Central R. R. conveys more or less soldiers, sick or wounded, going home from the hospitals at Cairo or Mound City.  The trains stops about twenty minutes at Pana and the Union ladies of the place with baskets of provisions supply them with food.

Sabbath, April 27, 1862

Went to church and heard a sermon from Rev. Mr. Coon, a Baptist Minister.  Mr. Walton performs missionary labors in the region about Pana; he went today to Tower Hill and also to another place where he had a crowded house.  He came home very tired having preached twice and rode about twenty miles.

Saturday, April 26, 1862

Clara has no school Saturdays so we visited vigoursly talking without limit.  She had been trying to get a girl without success, but a widow woman named Dunn from Ohio came wanting a home for the summer.  This is a great relief to Clara.  We all went to Mrs. Bradley's to tea where we met Mrs. Tyler who is Mr. Bradley's daughter, and Mrs. Bacon a bright, pleasant little lady, a Yankee originally but more recently a denizen of St. Louis where her husband was engaged in business when the war broke out.  He now culitvates a farm near Pana.  While we were away at Mrs. Bradley's, Mrs. Mills called on us.  We are all invited to Mr. Tyler's Tuesday.

Friday, April 25, 1862

We have sunny skies this morning.  Jimmy took Kate and Maggie a drive on the Prairie and to different points to view the town.  Miss Fink called and took Lizzie out walking after which Jimmy took them in the buggy for a drive.  Mrs. Brigham and Mrs. Rice called, both very pleasant ladies.


Peggy's comments:

Jimmy Walton, Julia's nephew, is 14.

April 24, 1862, Thursday (Pana)

Being very tired we were in no haste to rise this morning.  A cold raw day.  We were disposed to be critical regarding Illinois climate but find Mr. Walton ready to defend its general excellence.  Clara is teaching school.  Mr. Walton hearing the recitations in Mathematics during the morning.  Mrs. Bradley called and took tea.  Vegetation seems almost as backward as it was the first of April in Ohio.

Wednesday, April 23, 1862 (Cincinnati)

We rose early.  Indeed I slept but little.  The noise of the arrivals by the different trains coming in during the night kept me awake.  Mr. Brock came to show us the way to the breakfast room which is in quite a different part of the house from that in which we took supper.  We went along the marble paved halls (which were being washed by ten or a dozen housemaids on their knees) a good way till we were ushered into a room lighted by gas in which were a great number of neatly spread tables.  There were few persons there at that early hour, except the servants.  We seated ourselves, called for breakfast, were well served.  Mr. Brock took our purse, settled our bills ($1.75 apiece) saw that our baggage was all right, got into the omnibus with us and went to the Indianapolis and Cincinnati depot where he got our baggage checked and left us wishing us a pleasant journey, -- we mentally voting him the "Prince of Conductors".  
Our way was along the bank of the Ohio river, now quite high and in some places out of banks, to Lawrenceburg, Ind. some thirty miles below the city.  Mill Creek and the great Miami were might rivers spread for miles over the level country.  From the car window I had a fine view of the Kentucky shore which appeared to be for the most of the way highly cultivated with many pleasant looking homes surrounded with trees and shrubbery.  Lawrenceburg appears to be a town of considerable size, we only saw the shrubs and of course could not judge of its beauty.  Along the Ohio the green hills and blossoming fruit trees were beautiful.  In eastern Indiana we saw several running brooks and stone fences.  These disappeared as we penetrated the state, the land became flat, but thickly wooded.  I saw no stately grand old trees as are, or were, often seen in Ohio.  Vegetation was much more backward than at home, a few only of the trees showed any signs of spring.  We passed field after field of stumps standing in the water which owing to the late heavy rains give the whole country the appearance of an interminable swamp.  I thought it a dreary land.
Mrs. Stewart is a very desirable traveling companion, intelligent, social and full of spirits.  A Hoosier lady who shared my seat for several miles told me that every body had ague there at first but became acclimated at last and like the country.  Her two sons were in the army, one now at Pittsburg Landing.  The other was taken prisoner at Lexington, Mo., by the rebels but afterwards released.  She pointed out to me her sister's home, a neat little white house.  She was a good Methodist sister, shook hands with me at parting and wished me a safe journey.  
At Indianapolis we changed. cars.  The red-headed conductor into whose charge Mr. Brock had committed us placed us upon the right train and attended to our luggage.  We bought a mug of coffee at the depot and dined sumptuously from our baskets on the cars.  
White river flooded.  Passed some pleasant towns between Indianapolis and Terre Haute.  Shelbyville is quite a pretty place.  At Terre Haute we did not change cars but a new conductor came on.  The Wabash like all the other rivers was beyond ordinary bounds and looked like a respectable river.  I noticed a small steamboat lying below the town.  Eastern Illinois where we saw it is not unlike southern Ohio; but as we go westward the whole country changes its appearance.  At Kentucky station, a few miles east of Paris, we parted with Mrs. Stewart.  
The prairies seen by me for the first time now absorbed my attention, until we arrived at Pana just before dusk.  Mr. Walton and Jimmy were waiting with the carriage to convey us to his house.  East of Terre Haute I met on the cars Rev. William Rosseter who was on his way to that place with his little daughter.  I also talked some with a lady and her little girl who were on their way from Philadelphia to the same place.  We have had a delightful trip, made connections all right, conductors gentlemanly and nothing to complain of.  Clara was overjoyed to see us and Mr. Walton and the children not less glad.  Our railroad fare from Cincinnati was $9.20.


Peggy's comments:
I find it wonderful to read Julia's comments about the landscape, the vegetation, and meeting travelers on the train.   And it is especially interesting how she and her companions relied upon the help of the conductors and other male friends to make arrangements and to escort them from place to place.
Mr. Walton is Julia's brother-in-law and Clara is Julia's sister.

Tuesday, April 22, 1862

The clouds are breaking.  I hope the storm is over.  Kate, Maggie, Lizzie Poage and I start for Illinois this morning.  God keep us on our journey and watch over the dear ones at home and in the army and at Washington and grant we all may meet again in peace.


We took the cars on the Marietta and Cincinnati R. R. at Constitution.  The rain continued to fall as we waited on the platform and we were chilly and uncomfortable.  Mr. Woods, the conductor, said that there were bad slides on the road and he doubted whether the train could get through.  Mr. and Mrs. B. C. Bailey went as far as Hamden with us, and Mr. Chas. Dickey to Athen where he introduced to us Mrs. H. Stewart who is also going to Illinois and starts a day earlier to have our company.  She is very pleasant, accustomed to travelling.  We consider her a great acquisition to our party.  
The Hocking, Raccoon, Scioto, Miami and some lesser streams were out of banks, the result of late rains.  Mr. Brock who conducted the train from Scotts Landing to the city ran cautiously but got into the city only one hour behind time.  We passed through Camp Dennison with its thousands of low domiciles for soldiers.  It seemed to me a flat, muddy, uncomfortable place.  Many of the sick and wounded from Pittsburg Landing are brought here.  
One fine looking and gentlemanly soldier got on to go down to the city.  He wore a white patch near his ear.  He told Kate he belonged to an Iowa regiment but his home was in Ohio.  He was wouned at Pittsburg Landing, the ball being still in his head, paralyzing one side.  He hoped to get a furlough to go home.  
It was beginning to be dusk when we arrived at Cincinnati.  We had proposed to pursue our journey that night by way of the Ohio and Mississippi R. R. but finding that Mrs. Stewart was going to Paris, Ill. on the Terre Haute and St. Louis road, and being very tired we concluded to spend the night in the city and go by the way of Indianapolis.  Mr. Brock took charge of us and our baggage to the "Burnet House" where we were ushered into the Ladies Reception room until rooms could be designated for us.  Soon, we were shown upstairs where we found beautiful rooms with every comfort necessary for weary travelers.  Mr. Brock soon knocked to know if we could have supper, and as Maggie and Lizzie were anxious to room with Kate and me, he succeeded in getting a room suitable to accommodate us on the lower floor near the Reception room to which the servants conveyed our luggage while we were at supper. The supper room was very spacious.  Hundreds of persons eat at long tables each side of the room while through the center were spread tables to accommodate small parties.  At one of these we were seated and waited in the glare of the gas light while beef steak, etc., was prepared for us.  I only drank a cup of tea and was glad to get to our rooms.  
Mrs. Stewart roomed with a Miss Teters from Athens, who was going to Burlington, Iowa, and whom we left at the Burnet House, she starting an hour later to Chicago.  Mr. Brock bought our ticket for us to Pana and no one could have been more kind and thoughtful.  Fred came to the Burnet House to see us and made some little purchases for Kate.

Monday, April 21, 1862

It is rainy and dreary outdoors.  There is a theory that heavy rains follow great battles.  This was true of Pittsburg Landing, but may not be of universal application.  We dread to hear of another battle.  The battle of Corinth must be a dreadful one when it is fought.  How blessed a thought it is that God reigns judging right.  To His all-sufficient care I commit wholly the dear friends whom he only can keep, and the cause of our country which I cannot help feeling is God's own controversy with the Slave States.  Will He not take care of His own?


Kate got a long and satisfactory letter from Ephe dated, April 13, this evening.  He is a brave boy and did his duty at the terrible conflict at Pittsburg Landing.

Sabbath, April 20, 1862

Rainy.  Went to church.  Mr. Scott had an exegetical exercise.  I sprained my left foot getting out of the buggy.  It has been painful through the day.  Mr. John Henry of the 36th honorably discharged on account of ill health was here on his way home.  He came on the Ohio No. 3 which also had on board some of the 77th wounded in the battle of Pittsburg Landing, among them, Lieut. W. Scott who was shot through the breast, the ball having been extracted from the shoulder.

Saturday, April 19, 1862

Lucy came to spend the day.  George Cutter received a letter from his brother William this morning.  He passed through the terrible fight at Pittsburg Landing unharmed.  George goes home this afternoon to take the letter to his mother.  Sarah came down this evening and Lucy and Marion went up.  The feelings of the friends of the seventy seventh regiment have been deeply wounded by the report of Gen. Sherman on the Tuesday's fight, and by various reports which are circulated to the disadvantage of the regiment.  A list of two hundred and six names of the killed, wounded and missing of the 77th is published in the Cincinnati papers of today.  Three hundred of the regiment were in hospital before the fight began.  They have had a hard time.  A letter from Col. Hilderbrand since the fight, mainly in its tone, shows that he meant to do his duty and thought hat he had done it.  The feeling of indignation toward Grant and Sherman is strong.  The former was at Savanna on a drunken spree when his army was surprised and Sherman's neglect to throw out pickets and scouting parties deserve censure, also that he should put troops in the front who were raw and had only received their guns as they were on their way up the Tennessee River.


Peggy's comments:
Here's a link to contemporary accounts of the battles in Harper's Weekly.

Friday, April 18, 1862

Kate and I are expecting to start to Pana, Ill. next Tuesday and are making ready.   LIzzie went up to help Maggie who is going out to Ill. with Lizzie Poage to visit at Mr. Poage's.


Peggy's comments:

Clara Cutler Walton, Julia's younger sister (and an aunt of Kate Dawes), lived in Pana, Illinois, with her husband Rev. James Walton.  Clara had five children, but in 1862, only three of them survived.

Lizzie Poage is the niece of Lizzie Cutler (Lizzie is married to William Cutler, Julia's brother)  and the granddaughter of Mrs. Burgess.  Lizzie Poage was fourteen years old in 1862 and was being raised by Mrs. Burgess but was going out to visit her father.  Her mother had died in childbirth.

Maggie is Lizzie Cutler's younger sister and Lizzie Poage's aunt.  Maggie was 26 and unmarried in 1862.

Pana, Illinois was approximately 500 miles from Warren township where the Cutlers lived.

Thursday, April 17, 1862

Lucy came this morning and to our inexpressible relief brought a letter from Ephe.  Thank God, he is safe and did his duty.  He was under fire from six o'clock Sunday morning until Monday night and did a little fighting on Tuesday.  Wednesday morning he wrote home but the letter had been delayed.  He says he escaped with his life but lost everything else.  But we take joyfully the spoiling of his goods since he is himself spared.  Widow Fleming of Barlow lost a son killed and the other wounded.  Young Porterfield of Marietta was also killed and young Booth, brother to Eliza Booth.  Kate went up to Marietta today.  There is lamentation and weeping because of those who will return no more, Lieut. Wm. Scott was shot through the breast, wound very severe.  Many of the 77th wounded are coming home on the steamer, War Eagle.  Heavy shower this afternoon.

Wednesday, April 16, 1862

Lucy came down this morning.  Still no news.  I have felt almost as if hope was vain.  It is terrible.  God pity us and give us grace according to our day.  Mary C. Nye spent the day with us.

Tuesday, April 15, 1862

I have not felt well for several days.  Took Seidlitz powder.  
Kate went to town to learn if any thing was known about Ephraim.  I begin to feel very anxious for his safety.  He always writes promptly and a letter has had more than time to come.  The suspense is awful.  It seems more than we can bear.  I am so thankful that Dr. Hart is there.  We shall certainly hear from him in the course of the week.  Lizzie went to her mother's to visit Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Dickey and several others.


Peggy's comments:
Seidlitz powder, according to the American Heritage Medical Dictionary was:

A mixture of tartaric acid, sodium bicarbonate, and potassium sodium tartrate, used as a mild cathartic by dissolving in water and drinking.

Monday, April 14, 1862

William started early on horseback to reach the Parkersburg train in time.  He will reach Washington tomorrow.  We hoped tonight to get a letter from Ephraim, but no letter came and there is no consolation in the newspapers.  It is evident that Sherman's division received the first attack of the enemy, and that it was a complete surprise.  It was early Sabbath morning.  Many of the officers and men were asleep in their tents, where they were fired upon and bayoneted before they knew the enemy was near.  There seems to have been a culpable want of generalship somewhere.  The only wonder is that the whole army were not captured, slain and dispersed.  We should be thankful for the good Providence which brought Buell's forces up in time to retrieve the fortunes of the day, and turned this bloody battle into a victory for the national arms.  The State Journal has an article which speaks handsomely of the 53rd regiment and says there is no better fighting muscle in the state than that composing this regiment which is made up in part of miners from the iron region of Southeastern Ohio, in part of Kentuckians, and that the regimental officers are high toned gentlemen and that if they failed it was not from cowardice but from some other cause.  George Cutter is extremely anxious about his twin brother William who is in the 77th regiment and was in the battle of Pittsburg Landing.

Sabbath, April 13, 1862

Little Sarah sick this morning.  I staid at home with the children.  Charles Gates came down and brought a despatch from Mr. Gates saying that Dr. Hart and Mr. Curtis had gone on to Pittsburg Landing but that the others were not permitted to do so.  Great numbers of nurses were volunteering to go but were not permitted to do so; but the sick and wounded were being brought away as rapidly as possible.  He says the reports of the cowardice of the regiments to which I have referred are not confirmed and are generally doubted.  Reverend H. B. Scott here to dinner.  We sent him and Charlie Gates partway to town in the buggy.

Peggy's comments:
This marks the one year anniversary of Julia Cutler's journal.  I imagine that when she began it 151 years ago, she had no idea that the war would continue for as long as it did.

Charley Gates was the only son of Beman and Betsey Gates who lived in Marietta.  They also had two daughters, Mary and Betsey.  Charley was 17 years old at the time.

Charles Gates

Saturday, April 12, 1862

Lucy came on the morning train and Kate returned with her but came home again in the evening.  The papers say that the 77th ran without firing a gun.  We doubt the truth of these rumrs as a number of this regiment are reported dead, among them Dr. Ross of Watertown; and the name of 17 of its wounded are reported as being sent to Evansville, Ind.  The cruelty of sending back reports of cowardice about those who are on the battle field and seem to have severly suffered, is manifest.  I feel indignant when I hear the sneers of chimney corner heroes about braver men than themselves.  
Lizzie, William and little Sarah took dinner at Mrs. Burgess'.  I copied for William a speech which he intends to make in Congress.


Peggy's comments:
The speech Julia refers to his a speech about slavery that William delivered to Congress on April 23.

Friday, April 11, 1862

Kate went to town today also Nancy.  I have been writing all day.  It is said the Ohio 53rd failed to stand before the enemy.  We wait anxiously for further information.  We doubt the truth of these rumors.

Thursday, April 10, 1862.

Annie quite sick last night.  Lizzie went to town with William.  A committee starts tomorrow for Pittsburg Landing in Tennessee, the scene of the late dreadful battle, to look after Washington County boys.  Dr. Frank Hart goes to look after Ephe.  We have heard nothing from him yet, and are very anxious.  They are preparing a box to send him by Dr. Hart.  Lizzie sent up by William [smudged and unreadable.]  I have been copying for William.


Peggy's comments:
Ephe is Julia's nephew, Ephraim Dawes.

Julia sometimes assisted her brother William in his railroad business as well as in his duties as a Member of the House of Representatives.  Later, she and William would collaborate on a book about their father, Ephraim Cutler.

Wednesday, April 9, 1862

Maggie here nearly all day, very rainy, river rising.  William, Kate and Annie came on the evening train.  There has been a desparate battle near Pittsburg, Tenn., where Ephe is.  William has telegraphed to learn of his safety.  He hopes to hear tomorrow.  God grant it may be well with him.  But to thousands of households news must come bringing weeping lamentation and despair.  Island No. 10 is taken.

Tuesday, April 8, 1862

William has gone to Chillicothe today.  Kate and Annie have gone to Marietta to attend a missionary convention.  Dr. Perkins of the Nestorian Mission, Dr. David Lindley of the African Mission and Rev. Mr. Treat, a member of the American Board of Foreign Missions are expected to be present.  Last night the rain fell heavily, and today has been very rainy, so may will be prevented from going who would have been interested in the meetings.
Commodore Foote is making progress at Island No. 10.  The gunboats Carondelet and Pittsburg have already run the blockade, and the Engineers have succeeded in getting four steamers and several barges across a slough.  So Gen. Pope has been enabled to throw several thousand men on to the rebel side of the river.


Peggy's comments:
Though her niece Kate Dawes and sister-in-law Lizzie Cutler, frequently made the 6 mile trip to Marietta, Julia rarely traveled.

News would soon reach Julia about the battle at Shiloh, one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War and the one which shattered the view that the war would be won by a single decisive battle.  For an excellent article about why Shiloh matters, read the NY Times article which appeared on the Disunion blog.

Monday, April 7, 1862

This is the anniversary of the first settlement of Ohio at Marietta in 1788.  Seventy four years ago Uncle Jervis Cutler was one of the 48 who then landed at the mouth of the Muskingum.  That year must have enjoyed an earlier spring than the present, for history says the emigrants found the pea vine and buffalo clover knee high and the trees coming out in leaf.  Today it rains and is chilly.
I wrote to Martha A. Carter and sent from William twenty-five dollars.


Peggy's comments:
Julia had a wonderful habit of recording anniversaries.  She refers to her ancestors who first came west to Marietta as part of the Ohio Company that obtained land through the provisions of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.  Her grandfather, Manasseh Cutler was one of the men who drafted the Northwest Ordinance.

Marietta still celebrates its founding every day with a Pioneer Day.

Martha Ann Carter was a niece of Julia's.  Her parents were Ephraim Cutler and Leah Atwood. She was married to Rufus Carter.  William seems to have frequently and  quietly sent money to help relatives.

Sabbath, April 6, 1862

Mr. H. B. Scott and his friend Mr. Williams from Lane Seminary, came and spent last night here.  Mr. W. expects to be a foreign missionary.  He preached a very good sermon.  This evening William read to us a speech which he has prepared on the slavery question in its relations to the Constitution of the United States and to God.


Peggy's comments:
William did in fact deliver a speech in the House of Representatives on April 23, 1862.  It was part of the debate about a bill under consideration, "Confiscation of Rebel Property".  The title of his talk was:  SLAVERY--A PUBLIC ENEMY, AND OUGHT THEREFORE TO BE DESTROYED; A NUISANCE THAT MUST BE ABATED.

William begins his speech like this:
Mr. Chairman:  In the preamble of the bill under consideration I find the following weighty and startling words;  "Slavery has caused the present rebellion in the United States, and there can be no solid and permanent peace and union in this Republic so long as that institution exists."
Sir, I believe these words are true.  This conviction imposes upon me the duty not only of urging the President to use his power as provided in the bill, but opens the whole field of inquiry as to what policy is demanded to secure "solid and permanent peace and union."

Saturday, April 5, 1862

We have been planting out our roses, &c.: two or three years hence, I think, our place will be beautiful.  We are having a walk made all around the enclosure, which is to be gravelled.  William has been going over the farm looking into his affairs.
Mr. Burgess, Mrs. Bailey &c. called.  Also Wm. Scott who [writing is crossed and smudged out] free pass over the railroad.  He is generally thought to be a contemptible traitor, he owns the Marietta Republican, a Democratic paper of the meanest stamp.  Now edited by S. S. Miller, a triffling puppy who visits at Mr. Scott's it is reported with a view to matrimonial connection with one of the daughters.  Mr. Scott himself is strongly suspected of being a member of the treasonable conspiracy [coleus ?] Knights of Golden Circle.  He is an unscrupulous, false-hearted man ready for "treason, strategems and crimes."  [unreadable] from Virginia and are none of them very reliable patriots.  Harvey Deming & the Coles are also a little doubtful--but the record of the truly loyal citizens of our place takes most of our neighbors.  McTaggart, Harvey, McClure, D. B. Calder, Briggs, Burgess, Hart, all the Baileys, Joel Deming, Greenwood, Dickey, &c.




Peggy's comments:
Parts of today's original journal entry have been erased and smudged so as to make them difficult to read.  I don't know if Julia did this herself, or if some later owner of the journal did not want to share Julia's impressions of her neighbors.  She seems unusually angry at the "traitors" in this entry.

The Marietta Republican  was a weekly paper of Democratic leanings (remember that the political parties have altered since then.  At the time, Lincoln was a Republican.  Democrats were pro-south).  The paper ceased publication in November 1863.

The Old Stone House where Julia Cutler lived.

Friday, April 4, 1862

William arrived this evening from Washington on a short visit, via the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad which, since the rebels were routed from Winchester has been re-opened after nine months suspension.  Secession has laid a heavy hand on this road destroying bridges, locomotives, etc. to a large amount besides taking up and removing farther south, the rails of forty miles of the track.  He brought with him a large box of plants, choice roses, spireas, geraniums, evergreens, &c.  We are delighted with them.

Thursday, April 3, 1862

Kate and Annie spent the afternoon at Mrs. McClure's.  Henry O. McClure came home today on a furlough much to the gratification of his friends.  He leaves Monday for Summersville, Va.  Lizzie and little Sarah at Mr. Burgess' to tend.  Martha Briggs called.

Wednesday, April 2, 1862

Lizzie went to town with Lucy and brought home a three ply carpet for the sitting room.  Kate and I have been putting out the plants.  Many of them are new to us.  In the afternoon, Mrs. Charles Cone, Miss Betsey Bailey and Mrs. W. D. Bailey called. It has been a very windy day.

April 1

Peggy's comments:
Julia did not write on April 1, 1862.  She will resume her regular entries tomorrow.