November, SUNDAY, 20, 1864.
quite dull i went to church in the after noon it rand quite hard towards evening i spent the evening with nell
MONDAY, 21.
rainy all day EJ came in here quite sick this after noon frightend me much he had not gone longe when [strikethrough] Alfred come looking like a salor indeed
TUESDAY, 22.
i went down to mr livelys it raind very hard indeed then to school i got very wet cought a bad cold meeting at mrs redds i did not go I was not
Annotation 1
This appears to be Alfred’s first furlough after a year in service. His return home must have been bittersweet, coming as it did on the first anniversary of his wife Mary’s death.
Alfred served on the USS Mount Vernon, which served in the Union blockade off North Carolina. In May 1864, the Mount Vernon fought the Raleigh, a Confederate ironclad near Wilmington. Department of the Navy, Naval Historical Center, http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-m/mt-vern.htm
Annotation 2
The Inquirer reported that heavy rain caused the Schuylkill River to rise and parts of the city flooded. The Recorder reminded readers that dressing and keeping legs and feet dry and warm was essential for fighting illness. “Effect of the Heavy Rain,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 23, 1864. Dr. Dio Lewis, “Talks about Health,” The Christian Recorder, November 26, 1864.