A little of this and a little of that

Thank you all for your comments!  Here's what one viewer wrote:

"What fun to read these letters.  What a lost art writing letters is now.  With e-mail, texts, twitter, facebook, - makes me wonder what Eliza would think!  Can't wait for another letter!!"

Below are a few interesting details contained in the letter posted last week and the week before - that you may, or may not, be familiar with.

John McMurran referred to in the letter, was a family friend of the Quitmans.  John McMurran lived from 1801 to 1866, and was a state senator and lawyer in Natchez.  He married Mary Louise Turner, and they had two children, John McMurran, Jr. and Mary Elizabeth McMurran. The McMurrans built Melrose near Natchez in 1845, and it remained in the family until the Civil War. 

John Minor was a gentleman who owned three sugar cane plantations:  the Waterloo Plantation in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, the Southwood Plantation and the Hollywood Plantation in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana.  He didn’t live on the plantations, but instead hired overseers to run them.  He lived in Natchez and served as the second President of the Agricultural Bank here.

George Marshall mentioned as Henry’s traveling companion in this letter, was a prominent plantation owner in the Antebellum South and the mansion, Lansdowne, was given to him as dowry for his marrying Charlotte Hunt.  It still belongs to their descendants.

And on a lighter note, one can hardly imagine General Quitman building a chicken yard or making a ladder for turkeys to walk up to roost in trees! 

I also find of particular interest the way Eliza asks her son not to speak “too freely of your family with strangers.”  Here we are in 2014 telling our children the same thing.  Again, as I say after reading these letters, while some things change – and greatly so – many things remain the same. 

Until next time, enjoy your summer and happy travels!