Volume 03 Page 0031

intimate friend, excellent Salesman, and accommodating Factor, Mr Charles W.
Henry of the House of Middleton & Co.

1862, 20th Sept'r. One of our Prime Hands ("Charles Lucas") absconded from
the plantation. He had been in charge of our Stock, and having allowed eight
of the choicest Hogs to depart from the plantation in some unaccountable
manner, received his due punishment. His next step was to follow the animals
which he had most probably killed himself, and sent to the retreat where he
expected soon to follow. I will here remark that the half dozen fine cows which I had always kept upon the plantation were sold by me (for what was considered a high price at that time, 28 Cts. per lb.) to a Butcher in Savannah in the Spring of 1862. This was through fear of their being all stolen some night by our Negroes. This so named "Charles Lucas" (from having once belonged to a Mr Lucas) is the Second Negro thus far who has left the place; the first being a very notorious character, a Carpenter known as "Jack Savage" (his former Master being a Mr Savage of Bryan County) who ran away from the Camp on the night of the 21st February 1862. After an absence of upwards of a year from the plantation, most of which time was passed in the dense Carolina Swamp near the McPherson plantation, in company with "Charles Lucas" and other runaway Negroes, "Jack Savage" returned of his own accord to us, 16th August 1863, looking half starved and wretched in the extreme. We always considered him a most dangerous character and bad example to the others. He was sold in Savannah (Sept'r 1863) for $1800 and left with his new Master for Columbus Ga. "Charles Lucas" was caught 7th August 1863. During the past year (May 1862-May 1863) There have been 6 Deaths and 2 Births upon the Plantation, and 17 of our Hands are at Silk Hope.

1862. 17th October. The first flat load, viz: 1058 Bushels of our new
Crop reached Messrs Habersham's Mills in Savannah. From this period we
were sending the rice to Market, so as to remove it from the plantation and convert
it into money as rapidly as possible; the worn out boilers of our Thresher however needed much work upon them, which caused delay in threshing the Crop.
and we only succeeded in placing the last flat load of this Crop in Messrs Habersham's
Mills (1015 Bushels) on 22d January 1863.

This Crop of 1862 placed in Messrs Habersham's Mills, amounted to 8,321 Bushels,
most of which when pounded sold for $8 [per] lbs.

Besides the above Market Rice, I found on the Plantation, 1st March 1863