Hentz Family Papers

5 Tuesday Dec 12th Had to go & see Megen this morning Found him a used up sort of a patient has neglected himself for years has a spleen that fills nearly all his abdomen liver perfectly torpid &c &c Gave him 8 drops of croton oil, some spts nitri dulc &c; Waited at the house till an hour after dinner a rough set they are out there; a pretty little Susan Octavia, the only interes ting object about, she gave ne some corn beads for "my little girl", left Megen asleep & better, his physic not yet operated, promising to call next morning. I shot a bitch this morning; the "fons et origo" of all the noise last night Dr Caldwell & I went to the spot at about dusk, drove off the disconsolate troop of dogs who watched devotedly around, and cut her open taking some viscera home for dissection, we sat up late proposed mutually a trade of horses Mine will not do me He is a skittish fool I must have his Tom Wednesday Dec 13th Went again to Megen's found him better had been purged tremendously, wanted to eat a dish of hog brains & greens I prescribed, & told them if he eat the brains not to send for me for I would'nt go Dr Caldwell & I made a trade an extravagant one, on my side, one might say, who knew nothing of the merits & demerits of the case We swapped horses & I gave him my note for one hundred dollars so that Tom when paid for, will have cost 215 dollars or 220 I think Ill be able to pay for it, with Toms aid The Dr & I went gunning around the cotton field after dinner He shot two hawks which I have deprived of their soft parts for the purpose of skeletonizing We saw the new Fashion pass by, as we were at the river, towing a barge a very pretty vessel Dr Mitchell of Marianna came in after supper came down to the Port on the Boston has been up in Ala is going to settle in Glenview, Barbour Co I got a table & calico to cover it with from Friday found a cowbell in the field &c &c &c

6 Thursday Dec 16th Raining all day Dr Mitchell staid with us, we went gunning after breakfast, he doing the shooting Killing a fine batch of larks & a rabbit Mr Tillinghast of Marianna came in at night, I dissected the hawks shot yesterday Friday Dec 15th I was sent for yesterday to see Megen but, as Tom had just got out of the lot, I could'nt go Sent Cook's Pills to him with promise of coming so, after break fast I set out, bidding good bye to Michell & Tillinghast & sending a letter to Thaddy by Dr M; found Megen very weak They are too poor to buy castor oil for him, so I told them to send in afternoon to Crawford's for some, saw Crawfords coming back & spoke to him about it Dr Caldwell was gone when I returned wrote letters one to Bob Smith & one to Toby Richardson; felt lonely very Studied read Vicar of Wakefield after supper Was charmed with the pure simplicity of its style Saturday Dec 16th Though clear & bright when I "turned in" last night, twas cloudy again this morning; heavy rain & thunder before breakfast; it cleared off brightly & beau tifully for an hour or two after breakfast then "set at it" again; have been in domo today; the mule let Tom out again, but he was brot back I sent some oil &c to Megen; read sundry medical things, & several chapters in the Vicar of Wakefield (my candle is nearly out, so I'll finish tomorrow A boat is passing) Let's see what did I leave unfinished last night? I fixed up a table in my office this afternoon One that I got at the Port for six bits a good one with a draw in it Left for sale by a negro Peter, I had it scoured & tacked over its top a piece of dark colored purplish calico with white specks &c a decided & great improvement in the comfort of my office I commenced using it immediately; by rummaging up the notes which I took during my first session at Louisville (I wish I had those I took last winter) I commenced copying from them I intend to transcribe all that'll be valuable to me Copied from Dr Drakes lectures began with gastritis found it an exceedingly agreeable, as well as edifying occupation I bought a large tin [???? ????] Friday to macerate my birds in answers the end finely

7 Sunday Dec 17th My second Sabbath in the country has passed more agreeably to me, than the last I am becoming accli mated to my solitude Have read and meditated more than is my wont, where there are many distractions I pray that my isolation may be beneficial to me God guiding me, I know that it will, in temporal, as well as spiritual affairs I hope to discipline myself for a much higher sphere of action, than that in which I have been compelled to launch my bark I will have ample time to think, concoct and mature my course in after life God granting me his blessing and enlightening my understanding I read my Bible Scotts Commentaries his notes on Isaiah XXXV, read in Sacra Privata, a A copy which Mr Page gave me on leaving Louisville a most excellent thing Read too in Pollok that sublime work of the pen verily, for boldness, beauty and mighty truth, of thought and expression, I know not what surpasses it I wrote to Mrs Page a full letter, giving a full and familiar account of myself, as I would do, were I talking with her, would that I were I intended going to the office after dinner, in fact [Jim] was catching Tom, but it began to shower after dinner & tho' the intervals of sunshine were bright & springlike, I concluded to stay I have a goodly pile of letters to carry, & wish to leave some of my cards at the office I strolled to the river bank a while before sunset to look at the swollen stream & enjoy the mild, balmy air Mrs Rusk & I eat a large [bait] of walnuts before supper I watched the motions of a large flock of partridges from my back door that were running merrily about the ground; Tis a splendid night the stars shine down in all their glory The air is soft and balmy I have been seated on my front steps, looking up and abroad, thinking oh! glorious privilege of thought to dive into the mighty things of creation and eternity illimitable as their Author God

8 Monday Dec 18th I mounted Tom, after breakfast, and went to my new P. O. Olive Grove, crossed the ferry river much swollen put in a cord of letters Lets see to Home Father Betty Miss Mary Miss Page Bob Smith Toby Richardson & one for Rusk, got one out for him & several papers Dissected at my hawks in afternoon am much pleased & thankful to hear that Megen is doing well Wrote from my old notes on Dr Drakes lectures Helped Mr & Mrs R to put up the clock after dinner, lent her Moore's works &xc Pretty day no rain Tuesday Dec 19th A beautiful day warm & bright it must rain more ere the weather is settled Mr Fry of the mail boat Quincy breakfasted here I copied from my notes on Dr Gross cliniques, during the morning Went to the river after dinner, a while, to fish & stretch my legs by the walk, whilst looking over a paper & not noticing my hook, some "monster of the deep made a tremendouse pull at it, startling me from my reading, & convincing me I ought to do but one thing at a time, The "Albany" came by, making such a sommotion of the water, that I rolled up my line & returned, dissected some more Read some medicine & little Vicar of Wakefield Saw Mr & Mrs Rusk go off "riding twice", as Thaddy wd say, on horseback, to the big ball at Lot Owens I'm heartily glad I was not well enough known to be asked I eat supper soli taire & had a fine time of it, writing poetry after tea (for we have tea now) my eye in "fine frenzy rolling" I already made 40 lines counted them afterwards did so subject, a little party at Mrs McGuffey',s which i attended last May where I saw a Miss Matthews of Oxford a fine young lady I am just admiring the looks of my table It really looks professional the calico cover, daily, grows more lovely in my eyes the profusion of volumes lay about it with an air truly neglige my ink stand (once a morphine bottle) is "just the thing" my writin' fixin's look quite lit erary my little tin, battered cockle shell of a candlestick, is "nothing shorter", than just about the thing I want I got it yes terday, for having knocked off the upper half of my former one (a black pint bottle), to make a vessel for the maceration of my hawk's heads

9 Wednesday Dec 20th What beautiful, spring like weather as balmy as May tis fine Have had no press of business today Have spent it in reading & quiet office occupations Read items from the Picayune after breakfast Walked to the Port to look at the mast boat Quincy, relabelled many of my bottles &c [swung] up to dry, carefully attitudinized, one of my hawks Mrs Rusk's brother came this afternoon, to carry her over to Chipola for a few days I had the satisfac tion to hear that Megen has convalesced so far that he moved over to his home in Ala this morning with wife & children I rejoice at it I have the credit of his present amelioration & am thankful for it if he relapses over there, it will not be against me, and I'll not be troubled with the case walked to the Port before tea, & had the pleasure to meet there, three Marianna citizens Dr Hart, Mr Dennard, & Mr Windham on their way northward Brot them up to the office They supped here We had a pleasant time of it, I went back to Port with them where they'll await the arrival of a boat tonight We finished awhile by torchlight pulled out a [kitten] I wrote a note to home, giving to Dr H to drop in the Co lumbus office for me Thursday Dec 21st A busy day, compared with several that have passed lately Mrs Rusk departed soon after breakfast, with her brother, for Chipola her absence is felt I had about settled down well to my books, when I received a summons to repair in haste to the residence of Mr Jordan, 6 miles up the river road, to see his little daughter, 6 years old, who had her thigh broke, by the dragging over it of a large heavy pine log attached to a waggon A sweet, pretty little child I had quite a time in examining & bandaging it, on account of her alarm & pain notwithstanding the great con tusion, swelling &c, I believe, that owing to the tender age of the child, the bone is not badly broken in fact not completely fractured

10 I bandaged it applied a long splint, with extension & counter ex tension, & left her quite quiescent her father was much agita ted about it, having been called unexpectedly from the woods whilst hunting, to hear of it, there were 3 ladies attendant Mra Jordan, Mrs Waters & Mrs Wood the two latter, neighbors, who assisted kindly I rode with Mrs Wood as far as her house, & stopped to see her brother, young Robinson, who is unwell, with bilious & slight pulmonary ailings I plupicked him, eat some of the cake from the party, which Mrs W gave me admired the little ones, & came on; have studied concerning fractures &c diligently this afternoon, & been reading, Stewart on Diseases of Chil dren (a boat is sending the softened sound of its iron snorting from the river) have attitudinized my other hawk The first is finely dry, when their capites are cleaned & adjusted they will look exceding well Friday Dec 22nd Swiftly the days fly onward an other beautiful day Spring has certainly forgotten its [???t ed] period and returned too soon Cotton seed are springing up about the fields Buds are swelling & it is as mild & beautiful weather I rode to Jordan's after breakfast, found there Mrs Wood, who had brot over three of her daughters in a little jersey waggon A Mrs & Miss Tharpe & Mrs Waters were too Country neighbors are kind, & I suppose, some of them curious to see how the new doctor does; I found little Jane doing well Dressed her leg notwithstanding her expostulations to the contrary, tis rather perplexing, to decide whether or no, there is serious injury about the joint from the appearance of the parts, I was led to fear that there might be either a separation & backward dislocation of the lower condyles of the femur, or separation & forward dislocation of the head of the tibia but after careful study tonight, have formed the conclusion that the latter cannot be, & the former is not the case Will go again tomorrow, remove the bandages probably, & treat it as a violent sprain or subluxation of the joint I found Wm Robinson cured so he says &c I see

11 through Bill who brot back Mr Rusks horses from Marianna today (they having carried in yesterday some gentlemen from a boat) a short letter from Thaddy My medicine & bundles not come yet, he rails me slightly about my two hundred & fifteen dollar horse, & says everybody there is is talking about it , let them I am naturally very sensitive about ridicule, but don't care about this after all I am satisfyed with the trade, & am the only person interested, for, if Providence frowns not upon me, I'll be able to pay it We are all liable to make bargains, at some period of our lives, that savor of folly mine does not so to me I have just signed a petition of rather a novel sort one which Rusk brot in one which Lexon is carrying around these parts i e to divide the county of Jackson, & make a new one Ringgold Co., Port Jackson to be the county seat, I wd be benefitted by such a measure, as twould make this a point of afflux &c & knowing no objection, signed it I stepped to the Port before supper & fished a few minutes with Friday Caught what he called a pollywobble, i. e. a little mud cat, the hook securing it by the posterior part of the abdomen Thaddy says he has bot a good watch Wonder how & when &c I am sleepy tonight My candle has gone out & tho pine knots give a good light, they are oppressively calorific so I'll cease writing, read awhile, & then je me dormerais Is that right? Saturday Dec 23rd I put on a clean shirt, shaved &c &c this morning, having resolved last night to go to Marianna today Eat an early breakfast, at which were present Elijah Bryant, Maj Finley & Capt Baker from the Bay, on their way to Marianna 'twas one of the most perfectly beautiful, glorious mornings I have ever rejoiced in bright, fresh, fragrant and life giving I started out immediately after breakfast, for Jordans Found my sweet little patient doing well The inflamation sub dued very much and she not nearly so afraid of me Her mo ther and I dressed it alone, none of the neighbors being present, as before, concluding that there is no dislocation or fracture about the ends of the bones (and I fervently pray that my conclusion is correct)

12 I removed the bandages and long splint, and applied & pre scribed large poultices around the joint; placing the limb too, in order to secure its quiet, in a rough case which I manufac tured from clapboards with a drawing knife, saw and pork chop ping bench, I worked for a long time at my rustic splint box surgery in the back woods this Mr Jordan came in sick heaving, vomiting and groaning making a dire concert of guttur al sounds suffering from the recurrence of a chill, did'nt wish any physic until he became really sick & then he'd send for me I left the dressing of little Janes leg in their hands, ho ping that I shall be no more needed in the case I returned, eat a hasty dinner, gave Tom a little corn, remounted him and hied away for Marianna I left at 1 1/2 or 2 o'clock, carrying my clarinet for Thaddy & Liston's Surgery for John, reached there at about 6 o'clock about an hour after dusk as as I led Tom in the back gate, heard Thaddy say "its Charley" and out of the door came he, Julia, and of all in the world most unexpected Pa I was completely filled with joyful surprise at meeting him; put up Tom, came in & helped them finish supper, oysters etc. and learnt all about the unlooked for visit; he had just popped in upon them, without fore warning and I came in just when I should have come We sat up quite late talking Pa has brot a fine new gun & equipments and is going to revel in the sports of the wild wood during the Christmas holidays Twill do him good After spending a week in Marianna, he is com ing over to pay me a visit I read two letters from him, Ma & Callie affectionate letters also one from Miss Neary, with a little P S from Dr Drake & one from [Byrdie] all af fectionate and cheering rejoicing Father Thaddy & I went to the Drug store, where I selected my necessary supply of medicine Little Ellen is fat, fatter, fattest her feet recovered almost perfectly from their once so troublesome eruption, & she learning how to toddle about, with little aid, astonishing ly fast (I physicked a sick baby of Betsy's before starting)

13 Sunday Dec 24th Christmas Eve Was awaked early, by a [non] ill natured crying turn of Ellen's (I slept on the lounge in the parlor) after little nursing she quieted, and I exercised my self in catching fleas, till getting up time I became completely covered with the active, vexatious vermin, from the stable, last night, in feeding Tom After breakfast we went to the Drug store again I finished fixing my physic, Pa wrote a letter home, Thaddy went to Sabbath School, Pa & I went to Ely's Tavern, to see an invalid gentleman & his physician attendant brother, whom he travelled with yesterday we went home & amused ourselves in watching & assisting Ellen's sprightly, erratic little footsteps Thaddy returned, & I, not feeling at liberty to stay longer, tho' loathe to go, at such a time, saddled up, bid good bye to all, and returned I carried in my pocket as lunch a large fragment from an excellent sponge cake sent me by good Mrs Shotwell, & in my saddlebags, another beautiful heart shaped one from Mother besides a heavy one of physic, some books, my Portfolio etc I carried also, at pommel of saddle, in my handkerchief, a copy of Ramsbotham, which Father brot me from Mr Pease Tom walks splendidly, an untiring, brisk & easy walk, that "can't be beat" I left Marianna at 10 1/2 or 11 o'clock, & reached here, at about 3 I presume letting Tom take his own gait the bridle laying on the saddle pommell I let him take his own way too, I found him perfectly conversant with it turning off at every proper by path, without guidance I emptied the contents of my saddle bags & pockets, and physicked Betsy's baby then spent the remnant of the afternoon in Sabbath reading & reflection Have eaten supper, written over 2 pages in my Journal, & will pretty soon go to bed feel as if I cd sleep well have made an arrangement with Mr Rusk, that I'll borrow his buggy & go after Father myself, at the end of the week MRs Rusk has'nt yet returned I feel Marianna fleas yet tickling my legs Fond night

14 Monday Dec 25th Christmas Day What a contrast between the manner in which I have spent this day, and my doings on its last annivesary 1847 I was then in Louis ville enjoying the real, whole souled merriment with which the day is always characterized in the great west Let's see, I recollect the mode in which most of it was passed on christmas eve, I was invited to a country frolic, at Miller's, four miles west of the city, in the Pond settlement I hired a spirited gray horse from Rucker's stable, and with Bob Smith on Bob Miller's little black poney, rode mer rily out, over the bleak, crackling snow covered ground I remember I was wearing goggles for sore eyes (tarsdal ophthal mia) the cold made them bedim so, I pulled them off we reached there at about 7 o'clock, soon after the ladies appeared & dancing began, almost [instanter] the house was filled Two rooms full, & with 3 nigger fiddlers in the in tervening passage, working their elbows, lungs and eyes with all their might calling out the figures, everything rattled away most merrily As I neither danced nor drank eggnogg, I hovered around the outskirts, snatching what few conversational sweets I cd from the stationary [feair] ones [rari nascent in gurgite vasto], tho' or rather [rari stabant? circum gurgite vasto] a giddy gurgite sure enough They danced till midnight Bob amongst the loftiest of the lofty assisted in his ascent by the abounding eggnogg I, as sober as when I came They stopped for supper and a profuse, variegated one it was I eat of omnibus rebus quibusdamque aliis From hot coffee & turkey to icecream and sherbet &c, So soon as this was oer, the motion of the "light fantastic toes" was again commenced I ordered out my horse, & with George [Rannald] & his bro started for Louisville Our horses, sharpened by the biting cold, dashed furiously on, thro' wood & ditch past turnpike gates etc, making [the] silent, gas lit streets, as we entered them, resound to the clatter of our heels I turned in; in full perspiration, in our cosy little back room in Dr Bayless office, slept soundly till sunrise, when I was awakened by the entrance of Bob Smith,