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April 22-24, 1863

Wednesday, April 22, 1863.

meeting mr fabau and mr guy seemed so happy Father went home this morning i went up to the Depot to see him off i felt so badly to see him go

Thursday 23

very disagreeable day mary nellie and i all went out shopping we meet reading he went along I spent part of the evening at marys and the other

Friday 24

with Nell reading cam to bid me good by he had gone back to colleg sue was in to day it rained all the evening fred

 


Annotation 1

Isaac Davis likely travelled in the smoking car of the train bound for Harrisburg, as train travel was segregated in Pennsylvania until integrated travel became law in the state in 1867. Foner, “The Battle to End Discrimination (Part I),” 261-292 and Foner, “The Battle to End Discrimination (Part II),” 368-372.

Annotation 2

Emilie might be referring to Reading Beatty Johns. Johns attended Ashmun Institute (later Lincoln University) from 1859-1863, then attended Princeton Theological Seminary from 1863-1866. Among other positions, he served as Pastor to the 1st African Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and as the Chaplain of the Connecticut state legislature.

While in the greater Philadelphia area, Johns was a contributor of articles on religion and faith to The Christian Recorder, which described him as “a gentleman of culture and Christian zeal.” He also participated in African American organizations, as well as the Women’s Christian Union Association. “Evening Thoughts,” The Christian Recorder, February 14, 1863; “Convention of Colored Men of New Jersey,” The Christian Recorder, August 12, 1865; “Women’s Christian Union Association,” The Christian Recorder, March 13, 1873; “Rev. Reading B. Johns was installed pastor of Shiloh Church,” The Christian Recorder, July 12, 1883; 1918 Lincoln University Biographical Catalogue, http://www.lincoln.edu/library/specialcollections/alumnimagazine/1918.pdf

2 Comments ↓

2 Responses to “April 22-24, 1863”

  1. August 15, 2014 at 4:33 PM #

    April 24 “reading cam to bid me good by he had gone back to colleg”
    I think “Reading” is Reading B Johns, who later became pastor of the 1st African Presb Church. According to a biography at http://www.lincoln.edu/library/specialcollections/alumnimagazine/1918.pdf , he studied at Princeton Theological Seminary from 1863-66 and in 1865 he married in Princeton.
    In addition to “Reading”, I believe Emilie also refers to him as “Johns”, see Feb 2 and April 18.

    • September 26, 2014 at 12:44 PM #

      Mrs. White,

      Thank you for your comment and your suggestion. Thanks especially for your research! We will look into it, but that certainly sounds like a reasonable conclusion.

      Thanks!

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