Mary Louisa Michel Journal, June 26-28, 1849

[Mary Louisa Michel Journal, June 26-June 28, 1849, near Weverton, Maryland. Age: eleven. Additional paragraph breaks inserted for easier reading.

Many thanks to William Myers, Mary Davy, Sally Young and Sue Davis for their ongoing research collaboration; specifically to William for providing scans of the original document, and in turn many thanks to Peter Johnston Binckley and Patricia D'Arcy "Trish" Binckley (1951-2007), at the source.]    

June 26. This morning after father went up to the Ferry, promising to come back a little earlier than usual and join us at Mrs. Cushion[‘]s. After breakfast I cleaned up the house. I wrote my journal got my French lesson, and said it and my history, and sewed some before dinner. [D]irectly after dinner we dressed and soon were on our way. Soon after our arrival Mrs. Cushion & Miss Mary took us up stairs to show mother a quilt that she wanted laid off to quilt: mother said that she would do it. Mrs. Cushion also showed us her quilts and home made bed covers. She had more than

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any body that I ever saw.  A little while before supper father came and soon after we ate supper, after which we looked at the garden. We sat out in the yard chatting, a little while and then walked home.

June 27.  This morning, father went down to Weverton to bring up his painting materials and as he wanted some help he took me with him. When we got down there, we found that they had not eaten breakfast ar Mr. Wever[‘]s; I did not sit down to the table, though they wanted me to do so, but Mrs. Wever gave me a nice saucer of raspberries and milk. Father got to reading and I walked into the garden and looked at the flowers: in about half an hour we started home, and had a very warm walk. Arrived at home father began painting Aunt Estelle’s portrait; and I, sewing a bonnet for Lucy who was very busy, and had to go to the harvest field in the evening, it kept me busy until evening and then I carried it to her: she then showed Willie and me where to get raspberries and helped us to gather: we got a quart and had them for supper.

June 28. Well, I think that a journal is a very silly thing, unless the person is travelling in a foreign country, for then, if well written, it would be interesting to those who had never been in foreign parts. However, on the 28^th of June 1849 I was not well; I had a dull headache, and a sort of weakness, produced by the warm weather: after cleaning up, and writing my journal I laid down and tried to go to sleep, but soon got up again on hearing Mrs. Cushion come in at the gate.

I forgot to tell you that mother had taken Mrs. Cushion[‘]s quilt home with her to lay off; but one square was not sewed in and Mrs. B came over this morning to sew it in. Sue had not been here long when I went up stairs and lay down again. This time I went to sleep and slept till after dinner. After I waked Willie and I made a little mat of plantain leaves stalks and then I read some to mother.

Late in the evening I made up the fire swept up and set the table, and as usual ate my supper out on the grass. The oleander . . . almost open, so is La Pactale and Madame Brousanout.

[Mary Louisa Michel (1838-1930).
Mother = Jane Mary Johnston Mitchell/Michel (1811-1892).
Father = Harvey Mitchell/Michel (1799-1866).
Willie = William Manning Mitchel/Michel (1839-1908).
Sue = Sue Henry Mitchell/Michel (1845-1940).
Lucy = enslaved servant.
Mr. and Mrs. Wever = either Caspar Willis Wever (1786-1861) and his wife, Jane Catherine Dunlop Wever (?-1859), or closely related family members. 

Uncle Edward = Edward William Johnston (1799-1867).

Aunt Estelle = Marie Antoinette Estelle Costar (De Cressac Villagrand) Johnston (circa. 1802-1848).

Weverton and Knoxville were located on the Baltimore & Ohio rail and Chesapeake & Ohio canal lines, just north of the Potomac River and the Virginia boundary line.]