White Oak
January 16, 1862
My own darling Nate,
Your dear letter reached us this morning, and I like a good little girl hasten to reply. But why did I not get it before as it was written on Sunday and this is Thursday. I hope you received mine sooner than this time.
I am very, very much obliged to you my precious love for the delightful oranges you sent by Tom. I have eaten but two, and I assure you I enjoyed them exceedingly and I expect to enjoy the others just as much, for they were delightful.
And so you think the Burnsides expedition will give you a call; well my dear one, I hope, trust, and pray, that if they do give you a fight that the Lord will be on our side and let our troops be victorious. You all must not neglect to pray, for by prayer much can be accomplished. Your Uncle the Capt. is very unhappy about Nate, told Jinnie please if she had any influence over you whatever to write and beg you to give up card playing, he says you are on a fair way to gambling and not only injure yourself, but you cause the rest of the company to disobey him, that he has tried to have this card playing stopped, but as long as the officers play that he of course can't get the men to quit. He says Mr. Mathews is a much better boy than you or Newt [1], he can get him to mind what he says, but as for those other two, he can't get them to do anything he tells them. So Jinnie is very uneasy about her brother Nate, told me I had better write and tell Nate to remember his promise, so darling you must not forget it, hear what I say.
Mamie, Lena, Eddie and myself put Henry Wayne, and one of the mules that brought them down here, in the carriage and took Lizzy to drive us and went over to Jinnie's in the rain to spend the day. I do wish you could have seen our team, the horse looked like an elephant, and the mule like a rat, they were so unequally yoked that twas a hard matter to drive them. The other mule Billy had carried home to get letters, hence the match. As we had promised Jinne to go over, and I had disappointed her so often before, and she had a turkey killed, I thought twould not do to disappoint her again, so through the rain we went, but we did not get wet. And darling what do you think? While I was talking to Jinnie, Mis Eula gave me such a kick that I made quite a jump and Jinnie asked me what was the matter. I told her that I stuck my finger. What a story, but it came out before thinking. I wish you would learn your daughter better manners than to behave so in company.
Mamie and myself went yesterday to call on Mrs. Buroughs. We stop at Bettie's on our return. Saw the minister and his Lady, got some syrup, eat dinner and came home. Your brother David expects to enter the Service on Saturday. Tom has hired Mr. Copeland to go as his substitute. I believe your brother and Simon are both going into service too.
Your father says he is getting along faster than Kelly and his men did, says in dry times he likes the business better than any other, but it is raining so hard now, that he is afraid he won't be able to go at it again tomorrow.
Violet's [2] baby has got something the matter with it; old Jincy says that it is the bad disorder that Miss Violet took from Mr. Dunwoody's Byns the pickle: to give her poor infant such a complaint.
Tell Witter I got a letter from Emmie Bemis the other day and she writes that Mrs. Brooks, her only sister died on New Years day and left six children; they are going with their father to live with Mrs. Robert, and tis too bad to think of Capt. Robert has sold his beautiful place in Dougherty and he and Mr. Bemis have bought lands in Madison, Florida on the Fernandina R.R. so Emmie says if the blockade was only out of the way that she could pay me a visit, tell Witter this, he knows the people.
Mr. Stawt has finished your chairs, so I will try and get them, as well as your chickens and send down on Monday when your father and Tom send their hides. As you can get 40 cents per lb. for tallow candles I believe I shall turn in to making some just as soon as I can get some alum. Your aunt Mollie intends making a visit down here of three months, I believe, so I expect she intends bringing forth a Eula too.
I am so glad you have got into your palmetto tent for it must be so much more comfortable than the cloth ones in this rainy weather. It pours down tonight. Tis nearly eleven o'clock and all are asleep but Eula, and her mama, they are thinking of a precious one far, far away. Good night dearest darling Nate,
Your
Loulie.
P.S. Eula sends a very sweet kiss for her own darling papa. Oh! my only love you don't know how much I would give if you were only permitted to stay with me at night. It is then I miss you the most for I have to sleep entirely alone, yes all alone. I often wish for Eula to keep me company since I can't get her dear precious papa, of course, I would not give him for all the Eula's in the world. Goodnight.
Your own, Loulie.
[1] Newt - 2nd Lieut. John Newton Hull, with his nickname spelled correctly
[2] Violet - in a 1861 document of indenture in Camden County, Georgia, several Negro slaves were transferred from N. A. Brown and L. N. Brown to H.J. Nicholes, Jr. as trustee: '…Caesar, aged about twenty-five years, and his wife, Melia, aged about twenty years, and her two children Joe and Nanny; also Violet, a woman about twenty three years old, and her children, Amy, Martin and Hester' also Dolly, a girl aged about sixteen years; and also a girl Bella, aged about twelve years…'