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This collection was processed with support, in part, from the Randleigh Foundation Trust. Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the microfilming of this collection.
Size | 14 items |
Abstract | Anna Mercur (Mrs. Macklon Mercur) lived with her husband in Towanda, Pa., on the eve of and soon after the outbreak of the Civil War. She had several sisters who lived in the South, including Lizzie Buford (Mrs. T. Buford) of Eufaula and Clayton, Ala.; C. A. Swift, a minister's wife in Waymandsville, Ga.; Helen B., a boarding school operator in Wilmington, N.C.; and Caro, who operated a boarding school in Eufaula. Helen B. had at least two daughters, Lizzie, a teacher, and Helen. C. A. Swift had at least one daughter, Helen W. Swift, who attended Caro's boarding school. The collection includes twelve letters, August 1860-July 1861, received by Anna Mercur from her sisters and other relatives and friends. The prewar letters provide the candid opinions of women, from both the northern and southern viewpoint, on the secession crisis and the outbreak of the Civil War. The letters comment freely on the Republican Party, John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, the Crittenden Resolution, and abolitionists. Wartime letters express similar sentiments and document problems sending mail to the North, financial strains, and anxiety over the activities of sons and husbands organizing to fight for the Confederacy. Other topics in the letters are boarding school life in Eufaula, Ala., and Wilmington, N.C.; family events; and the reading habits of family members and friends. Also included are a photograph, ca. 1880s-1890s, of a woman on a casino boardwalk in Monte Carlo, Monaco, and a clipping, 1930, documenting the ancestry of George A. Jewett of Des Moines, Iowa. |
Creator | Mercur, Anna. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Jill D. Snider, August 1999
Encoded by: Jill D. Snider, August 1999
This collection was processed with support, in part, from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
Revisions: Finding aid updated in March 2005 by Nancy Kaiser.
Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the microfilming of this collection.
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>Anna Mercur (Mrs. Macklon Mercur) lived with her husband in Towanda, Pa., on the eve of and soon after the outbreak of the Civil War. She had several sisters who lived in the South, including Lizzie Buford (Mrs. T. Buford) of Eufaula and Clayton, Ala.; C. A. Swift, a minister's wife in Waymandsville, Ga.; Helen B., a boarding school operator in Wilmington, N.C.; and Caro, who operated a boarding school in Eufaula. Helen B. had at least two daughters, Lizzie, a teacher, and Helen. C. A. Swift had at least one daughter, Helen W. Swift, who attended Caro's boarding school.
Back to TopThe collection includes twelve letters, August 1860-July 1861, received by Anna Mercur of Towanda, Pa., from relatives and friends in several states. Correspondents include Anna's sisters Lizzie Buford, C. A. Swift, and Helen B.; three nieces, Lizzie B., Helen B., and Helen W. Swift; her sister Lizzie's husband, T. Buford; and her friends A. M. Jennings of Boonton, N.J., Anna R. S. of Elmira, N.Y., and Olive of Cumberland, Md.
Of note are several pre-Civil War letters that express candid opinions, from both the northern and southern viewpoint, concerning the secession crisis. These letters comment freely on the Republican Party, John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, the Crittenden Resolution, abolitionists, and the outbreak of the Civil War. Wartime letters illustrate early fears and difficulties, including problems sending mail to the North, financial strains, and anxiety over the activities of sons and husbands organizing to fight for the Confederacy. Other important topics in the letters are boarding school life; family events, including births and deaths; and the reading habits of family members and friends.
Two additional items are a black and white photograph, ca. 1880s-1890s, of an unidentified woman on a casino boardwalk in Monte Carlo, Monaco, and a clipping, 1930, concerning the ancestry of George A. Jewett of Des Moines, Iowa.
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