WCP1270

Montgomery¹

July 7 [1845]²

Dear Mamma³

You will no doubt be anxiously looking for another letter from me to give you some account of my position at Robinson.⁴ I am living in Col[o]ⁿ[el] Picketts⁵ family, the Lady⁵ is a delightful little woman whe is near her confinement with her 8th child[.]⁶ She has 5 Girls the eldest 10 years old and the Two next youngest twins — her only boy is at boarding school & she has lost a girl.⁷ She is herself a very pretty woman about 30 years of age. She is delighted to have me with her as her husband is a great deal at Montgomery or at their plantation. This place is so healthy they make it a summer residence principally for the children and servants[.] The laws are not so strict in Alabama with regard to the Negro population as in Georgia, here they are taught to read and write & there are many preachers among them[.] They seem an entirely separate people from the Whites & enjoy themselves in their own way and in this state [2] have many priviledges [sic]. We know in England very little of the Government of America and this is the reason the people are so displeased with the English for what they write about the Country at large after seeing such and such things — in one or two States, it appears every state has a separate government & laws of its own & they are as independant [sic] of each other and as separate as the different countries of Europe. So when we speak of the Americans doing so and so[,] They say the Georgians, or the Alabamans or the Ohioans &c have such customs. General Jackson⁸ is just dead! they seem to honor him next to Washington.⁹ I sh[ou]ld think you could sometimes send me a "Times" Paper,¹⁰ it would be so interesting to me. Every one is so pleased when tell them things about the Mother Country as they term England, they are always asking ^me questions about the Queen¹¹ and are much interested about her. They will make me talk, they say I am so amusing. It is as interesting to them to hear of the Antiquity of the one, as for us to see the rapid growth of the other. — With regard to my occupation, I have so much to do that I am afraid the gentlemen of the village will oblige me to have an assistant for the term, as they think I cannot do the children justice. I go to the school every morning before 8 and remain there till 6 in the evening during which time I have so much to do that I have only a q[uarte]r of an hour in the middle of the day for my dinner which Mrs. Pickett sends me hot every day, her three children also stay with me but the evenings repay me for my labor in the day we sit out in the Piazza till 9. it is always cool and delightful, we have no hot sultry nights. I bear the heat of the days wonderfully[,] I am quite well & getting plump. Alfred and myself are just [3] the constitutions for this climate. I long for him every day. The Gents here are going to get some one to take the House & have boarders that we may have a school during the winter as they would not see I am teaching in good earnest & they would not like to lose me after the summer term — but I sh[oul]d not think of leaving, only they know all the former teachers have done so, but if I have not so much to do I shall not mind for I must have rest. and till Miss Reess¹² returns I must work hard and make all I can[.] The people here are most kind to me, they have furnished the school room and have promised to finish the House by the winter that I may be there with some family whom they will get to come in — a Lady has lent me a Piano so I am at no expense but for my board at Col[o]ⁿ[el] Pickett's which I do not expect will be much — O how I wish you could dear Mamma be with me to teach the little children. It is the different ages that is so difficult for one person to manage, but I ought not to wish you of your time of life to take such a voyage unless I could offer you a comparable home for your life. I am comparatively Young and Enterprising and will do it alone and you will see by X'mas [Christmas] what I have done in a New Country towards establishing a school without a farthing of Capitol [sic] this could not be done in England, tho' my Brothers think I am building Castles in the air I do not fear doing all I have realized. Robenson⁰ [sic] is a lovely spot & its being so healthy will ensure its success for a school, and is a recommendation to any one to come over, for an European could live in all parts of this southern climate. I wish I was 10 years younger or had been here a few years ago, I should have then got through the difficulties and have made money so as to have supported you dear mother, but we must not repine at the fate that separates us, I hope before two years [4] are over (if we live so long) to return to you — or you to come to me — I quite dwell upon the time to visit dear old England again and to relate to my many friends all I have seen & done. ^{The fruits} We have now are watermellons [sic], Peaches (the first kind) & Apples & Pears. The new corn¹³ is beautiful now it stands from 10 to 15 feet high and the ear is protected from the heat of the sun by a silk plume which ^is tipped with red, this dies away when the corn ripens. I frequently see lizzards [sic] and snakes but they are small & soon destroyed, but now the woods begin to be inhabited these reptiles disappear. I am quite in the World here to what I was in Montpelier Institute¹⁴ and am altogether more pleasantly situated, though had it been my fate to have been shut up there for some years, I should have have [sic] ^{submitted to} done it willingly, and have been cheerful and contented for there was always the holidays to look forward to for visiting, but I think I seem to be led along by an unseen hand, I find myself one year in England, another in Belgium the next in America, and you know how little I thought of or arranged it myself — did I not think for certain that I was to go to Surinam yet I did not go, but returned to London, & met with Mrs Parez¹⁵ who quite unexpectedly to myself engaged me. Miss Reess's determination to go to Paris obliged me to decide upon coming here sooner than I should have done. If she had come here herself in the first instance, most likely Bishop Elliott¹⁶ would have kept me at Montpelier we did not know that there would have been plenty of employment for Two or more Teachers — Thus I feel I am brought to Alabama for some wise purpose which I shall realize some day though at present it is unknown to me — I rec[eive]d a letter ^lately from dear Mrs Price¹⁷ of Macon¹⁸ she regrets the miles that separates us, tho' she thinks [5] the change is advantageous for me, as she feels I am formed for society. She says I quite captivated the Gentleman¹⁹ with whom I travelled to Montgomery. Mr Price²⁰ saw him on his his return from New Orleans and he could talk of nothing but the agreeable English Lady ^{no high compliments or flattery} She strongly recommended him, but I am proof against all — and shall be for some time to come. Mr Jackson²¹ often says I must get married here and not think of returning to England to live, they would like me to be connected (I think) with their family[.] General Jackson²² seems a most amiable clever man but has not shewn the least preference to me, more than the politeness of a Gentleman to a Lady — and he is nothing so handsome that I sh[oul]d fall in love with him — so at present dear Mother I know not myself who my beau is to be but every ^body one seems determined to give me one[,] it appears I have the art of pleasing — yet I do not set myself out to please or care about any of them being quite as independant [sic] as they are, and hold up my own Country and my own religion & manners wherever I go — you know I did the same when I was with the Catholics in France and I was there liked the better for it[.] I believe I alter from living abroad less than most people.

I omitted telling you how many scholars I have, 30 in all[,] some stay at the school house all day & bring their dinners[.] I have 4 french pupils, 6 music & 4 drawing — the rest learn a general education. I do not know yet whether I am liked in the school, I care nothing about it now I am as strict as I can be[.] I had enough of making children love me in England, now I shall never try to do so. I only wish to to [sic] educate them and make them obedient which is [6] is a hard task here, when they are let to run wild at home But the Parents Expect them taught manners at school, after a certain age the Girls here alter very much and become and become Lady like and have a great deal of the french manners with them — as soon as they marry they become more stately & grave —

Adieu | F W²³ [signature]