Mary Louisa Michel Journal, June 23-25, 1849

[Mary Louisa Michel Journal, June 23-June 25, 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.]    

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June 23. Oh me! Another hot day; I felt so badly that I did not eat any breakfast, but while the others were eating I went upstairs and made up my bed. While doing so, I thought that I would put a mattress on Willie’s straw bed as he then would sleep better. Accordingly I did so and found it so nice that I concluded to sleep on it myself and give Willie my large bed.

After breakfast was over I sat down to my sewing but between playing with the children, and keeping myself cool, I did not sew much. After eating a little dinner I read to mother some of Hood’s* poems that uncle Edward had left for us to read. In about an hour I took up my needle again but had not sewed long before father came home telling us that Mrs. Wever was coming up to see Mother after a little while accompanied by Mrs. Stuart (the wife of the gentleman who keeps the Weverton hotel). So we began to clean up the house

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after which I dressed myself, not without the silent wish, however, that they would come when clothes were not so oppressive. Well, we were all dressed, and every thing ready, when we saw a large black cloud coming from the west, and we thought that it would certainly rain; however, in the course of half an hour, the cloud went over entirely on the Virginia side, showing as mother said “good taste.”

At last, after waiting a long time, we gave them out, and had supper: we had just finished, when we saw them coming. Was not that provoking? But they had been to tea, and after sitting a little while they went out to look at the flowers. They were charmed with the flowers, especially the arbutilon [abutilon (flowering maple) – or arboretum]. There was on lady whom we did not know was coming, a Mrs. Lockridge who seemed to be very fond of flowers. She almost went into fits over the arbutilon [abutilon (flowering maple) – or arboretum]. After looking at the flowers they went in the house and mother showed them uncle[‘]s pretty end min[i]ature: soon after they took their departure for home, I for bed.

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June 24. [Sunday – blank.]

June 25  It having rained the preceding day, the air was quite cool. I did not get up very early, and consequently, did not enjoy the morning air very much, but still, from breakfast time to about ten, it was very pleasant. Soon after breakfast, father went up to the (Salines I was going to say) Ferry promising that if he could find any that he would get me some.

Soon after Mrs. Cushion came, and she and another went down to see Mrs. Alexander, They did not stay very long and Mrs. Cushion would not stay here any time. She invited us all to come and spend the evening of the next day not a Charleston evening though.

[J]ust before dinner Mrs. Norris came in and took some peas and rice with us. After dinner I got some sand and ashes made up the fire and put some on some willow to burn for charcoal for father. Lucy told us before dinner (she had been down to Knoxville during the morning) that she would have to go out to harvest as she had promised to go last year and though she now did not want to go that the gentleman

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would not let her off. She went down to Knoxville in the evening to get a little girl to stay here while she was gone. I sewed until father came home; I then fixed the supper things and made the tea while Lucy got supper as father was very hungry; we children ate our supper on the grass; soon after we went to bed.

[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).
*Thomas Hood (1799-1845).

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.

Sketch map: Maryland Historical Trust, "Knoxville Historic District" (1991).]