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November 27-29, 1863

Friday, November 27, 1863.

i spent the […] Nellie quite dull  to what last Thanksgiving was many changes since then yesterday one year ago Mary was up here but she has gone to rest I hope

Saturday 28

very rainy day Nell did not get up here very busey all day in the evening I stoped home and at Nellies Frank is still at EJs

Sunday 29

very dull morning I went to church heard quite a good sermon […] out Bible class at Whites very good turn out Mr bustil came home with me Cristy

Annotation 1

Thanksgiving must have been a somber affair for Emilie, after Mary’s death, Alfred’s departure, and the prospect of EJ’s draft.

Annotation 2

Jacob C. White, brother of George Bustill White, was a teacher and co-founder of the Pythian baseball team.

The Bustill family was prominent in Philadelphia. Charles Bustill was a plasterer and an Underground Railroad conductor; his wife was Emily. According to the 1860 census, the couple’s daughters, Louisa and Gertrude, were nine and eight in 1863. Also living in the Bustill household was a Caroline Fisher, sixteen years old in 1863–another possible candidate for Emilie’s closest confidante, Nel. The “Mr. Bustill” who accompanied Emilie home, though, might have been George Bustill White, 30 years old in 1863. Year: 1860; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 13, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: M653_1163; Page: 682; Image: 268; Family History Library Film: 805163. Silcox, “Philadelphia Negro Educator,” 88-89.

1 Comments ↓

One Response to “November 27-29, 1863”

  1. March 21, 2013 at 3:27 PM #

    1863 was the year Pres. Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday.

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