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16 I have swung up against my homely log walls, the little clock Cavert gave me It woeks finely, & pointing now at 10 min utes after nine Thot it was much later I have just made me an almanac for 1849, in condensed form, to put up on my wall a drunken man Pines by name, came in from the Port after supper, having lost his creetur (i. e. horse) & wanting to borrow one from Rusk came in here not long ago Talked awhile and becoming troublesomely prolix & his head beginning to vacillate extensively, I lighted some pine knots, handed them to him & showed him the path to the port He stun=mbled into the bushes & into darkness, close by came back, was [re illumin ined & again set off whether he found his way I know not Well I made an arrangement with Miss Sallie Browne, last Christmas, that we wd eat Christmas dinner with Bob Smith today, & at my house next, & then I believe she was to write us & our families, we are sundered for now Would that I with Father, Mother, brother & sisters & all, with all loved friends, lived in the Great West
Tuesday Dec 26th A quiet day within doors cold & quite bleak without The first winter day, we've had for a long time I trust that it will not continue to such an ex tent as to prevent Father from hunting; read & studied quietly most of the day after dinner, Rusk & myself took our guns & walked about the plantation, but neither of us dis tinguished ourselves by any great deed of sportsmanship I killed a lark & we did'nt kill often I shot at & wounded I fear, a duck which I found in a little pond in the field I commenced a letter to Betty, which I'll mail at Marianna, when I go for Father My little clock stopped so I took it down, eviscerated it reviscerated it & put it up again, but still it dont go must try again to fix it Mrs Rusk returned this aftenoon, with her bro Robert, bring ing a little sister Eliza to stay with her I have a new candle stick a step in the march of improvement
17 Wednesday Dec 27th A quiet day Quiet enough have had no call Nothing to do but read & physic Betsy's child read & wrote wrote to Betty went to the river close by, after dinner, with little nigger Jim pulled a good sized fish out of the water, but he returned his element Jim caught a catfish Edwards came and sat some time he had missed one or two of his fits, since taking my pills but had one last night Rusk shot a load of fat meat at Crawfords Mill which returned this afternoon he shot pepper & salt at it before Buenos noches by the bye, I ought to review & continue the study of my Spanish I must Espaniola etc Thursday Dec 28th Sister Callies birthday born in 1833, therefore she is just 15** today would I could have spent the day with her, & heard her celebrate it upon her new piano She & Mother must be enjoying the Christmas holidays Father tho', notwithstanding the un favorable nature of the weather, finds sport in the woods I trust, & is enjoying his stay at Marianna I must go for him to morrow I found out this morning, whilst hunting with Rusk (though we killed nothing) where game may be found above the port, in that drained lagoon or lake We saw a larger drove of ducks, turkeys and a deer not to mention partridges, & on good days, squirrels in abundance Have been at home today put up s neat shelf over the fireplace, and dis played there my [no??] medical books a great improvement I also have perched up on one end of this, the skeleton of one of the hawks I've been cleaning have just glued on the head, using the top of a blacking box over the candle as my glue pot Finished the Vicar of Wakefield tonight A sweet tale Received an invitation to a New Years party at Wood's, must go Friday Dec 29th Rainy day enough Started after breakfast with buggy & mule (Joel) for Marianna for Father Reached there about 3 o'clock, passing thro' a tremendous shower at the terminus of the journey Found all at home some what full of the blues John not having come yet Carried my flute, so Pa & I played Found two charming letters for me one from Betty & one from Miss Mary They rejoiced me wonderfully Lillte Ellen Amused
** Oct 4 1885 37 years [nearly] since I wrote this & in reading it correct the mistake as to sisters age, which I made then; She is now nearly 52 years old
18 us wonderfully with her antics, when half undressed, before retiring Thaddy had a dumb sort of a chill, when I came Saturday Dec 30th Rose betimes [breakfasted] went to the Drug store & made some [???] Ipecac & traded with Thaddy for his watch ground a ctystal for it breakfasted harnessed the mule went to blacksmith's & had a tap put on the buggy & we started off Pa & I for Port Jackson bidding good bye to them all, leaving aunty gates talking with Julia we had a quiet & cold journey, reaching here at about 4 o'clock about a mile from this place whom shd we meet galloping along on Tom but John himself we stopped each other had a chat & parted I drove to my office made up a fire, left Pa & went to the Port for [Pres] Poor fellow looks mighty thin, tho' im proving very rapidly brot him up we all sat up cheerfully till bedtime Left [Pres] in the office & Pa & I took a bed in the shedroom in the house Sunday Dec 31st The last day of the departing year Farewell to thee 1848 year of many of my pleasantest hours & happiest days; long will thou be looked back unto, with the dearest & most undying associations
We Pa Pres & I, spent a quiet Sabbath at home, walked out once or twice for Pres good read Tupper & Pollok & the Bible Allen came in the afternoon with the rockaway & [Maclin]
19 1849 Monday January 1st New Years Day Would that I cd have recorded all the things that the recurrence of this day brings up in my mind But my journal has been interrupted by a visit from father a pleasure as grateful as 'twas unlooked for My converse with him has broken the regularity of my office habits & amongst others, the keeping of my journal let after pages make up what wd have been scribbled here Pres left us this morning for Marianna father & I hunted about this place & as far up as Rusk's old place, with but tolerable success The day was not very favorable for sporting We strolled a little after dinner I commenced a letter to sister Callie As dusk approached I made prepara tions for going to the party at Wood's, whether I rode at about 5 o'clock on Mr Rusk's horse (as Tom was yet in Marianna) Having never been present at a country frolic of this grade, I felt some deal of curiosity about seeing & observing a desire soon gratified; at the sound of the fiddle the rustic swains brot their partners from an adjoining room where they were [covied], and round & about they slid, & shuffled, & jumped thro' the mazy figures of the Virginia Reel at each close of which, the fair ones disappeared & the b'boys straightened their legs around the fireplace for another round which soon came & this on & over again No conversation save that educed by the bustling & running for the leading place, & such similar topics I chatted awhile with Mrs Wood at the door looked in at the dancers walked about the yard watched the men who did nt dance play at whist &c in another house made some ac quaintance amongst them was asked to drink by them; was ushered (as a dernier resort for amusement) into the apartment where wee the non dancing ladies a set of matrons, & one of the belles resting from the dance They were quiet enough (I'm told since by Mrs Rusk abashed by the presence of the new Dr) O my!
20 I extracted a few words from the damsel and hearing the rush of returning danseuses I made a glad exit; I next eyed with longing eye, the preprations for supper thot Id wait for it, for I was hungry no mistake, it seemed the only prospect for congenial enjoyment for the evening thinking of father alone at my office, though, I sacrificed my grateful anticiption for the approaching feast, upon the altar of paternal affection & with watering chops & yearning epigastrium returned home; 'twas a glorious moonlight night, and the ride thro' the pine woods was delightful in the still & solemn tranquility of Nature, I pondered over the phases of human nature The widely marked circles into which society is separated &c etc I spent the remainder of the evening pleasantly with Father, rejoicing over my escape from the party
Tuesday Jan 2nd Father & 1 hunted again, but with no suc cess 'twas a beautiful day We looked for fox, squirrels, but found none owing to the fact that Mr Edwards' dog Sly, with which we hunted, had this morning, caught a skunk, & was over redolent with its perfume too much so to smell a squirrel's track we fished in the afternoon, guided by Edward's boys to a pond, but caught none We played the flute commenced the manu facture of a blowgun Mrs Rusk gave me a sweetly flavored & prettily ornamented, large slice of cake, sent me by Mrs Wood with the message that "she was so mad with me that she did'nt beleive she'd speak to me again" They are going to move to Lot Owen's place instead of going to Texas I am very glad to hear it The agent for Raymond's menagerie came by here today, to make arrangements for exhibiting at the Port, on the 31st inst I shewed him to the Port introduced him to Rusk &c &c for wheich, he politely left me a complimentary ticket for me & "my family" I think we may go; he dined with us Wednesday Jan 3rd Father & I went with our guns, on this splendid morning, up the river as far as the upper end of the swamp above Crawford's we, to some extent, nade amends for the poor luck of our late hunting, bringing him between us 5 squirrels, [3] doves, 3 larks & 2 partridges making a fine pie