Roxana writes that Mr. Gerdine has gone for two months to a plantation possibly in Texas. It is unclear from this letter whether Roxana has moved to the West Point, MS area or is still in Athens, GA
Roxana writes about the sickness of their sister Lucy [Lucy would die on March 21, 1862]; writes about the ban on the communication of war news north; says she is limited to only one page; tells her sister to direct her letters via Fort Monroe;...
Southern States -- Identity; Homefront; Confederate States of America; Hanging; Executions and executioners; Travel;
Roxana writes about the differences between northern and southern newspapers; explains what her family is doing on behalf of the Confederacy; the possibility of making Mr. Gerdine a Colonel; departure of Miss Eaton for Ohio; the dangers of travel,...
Health; Secession; Homefront; Gerdine, Thomas Cobb; Cobb, Thomas Read Rootes, 1823-1862; Newspapers; Communication;
Roxana writes of the improvement in Lucy's health since her coming to Mississippi; talk of secession in surrounding areas; calling her son Tom Cobb ""a little black Republican"" the secession of Mississippi; her desire to read northern newspapers;...
Secession; Homefront; Cobb, Thomas Read Rootes, 1823-1862; Gerdine, Thomas Cobb; Southern States -- Identity; Railroads; Communication;
Roxana writes of talk of secession; their step-mother Sarah Chapin; T.R.R. Cobb; Tom Cobb Gerdine; the feelings of southerners via the north; her desire to obtain reliable northern news; talks of the new railroad through West Point; and writes of...
This letter was written after Roxana visited her family in Chicopee, MA. She writes to let Emily know that the piano has been delivered; how excited her children are waiting for the ""box"" of goodies from the north to arrive
Slavery; Slaves; Christmas; Plantation life; Clothing and dress; Marriage;
Roxana writes about her first Christmas on the Mississippi plantation; the celebrations of the plantation slaves; the making of clothes for slaves [in 1860 the census listed 73 slaves for the Gerdine plantation]; sending her congratulations on...
Slavery; Slaves; Lumpkin, Joseph Henry, 1799-1867; Plantation life; Gerdine, Thomas Cobb; Travel;
Roxana writes about the move from Athens, GA to the Mississippi plantation outside of West Point; behavior of slaves; possibility of traveling north next summer; Tom Cobb Gerdine's boyhood antics; their father's resemblance to John P. Calhoun; and...
Slavery; Slaves; Child rearing; Antislavery movements; Southern States -- Identity; Plantation life; Gerdine, Thomas Cobb; Gerdine, William Louis Crawford, d. 1878; Marriage; Travel;
Roxana writes of the raising of Tom Cobb Gerdine and southern children in general; her worries about bringing a slave north to visit with her because of their father's abolitionist views; talking off of her mourning (probably for her brother, Titus...
Slavery; Slaves; Child rearing; Southern States -- Identity; Plantation life; Gerdine, Thomas Cobb;
Roxana writes of her baby Tom Cobb Gerdine; Tom's nurse (slave) and the differences between ""northern"" and ""southern"" children; their sister Lucy Chapin (who came to teach at the Lucy Cobb Institute in January 1859; William L.C. Gerdine's...
Roxana writes of her children and cooking for such a large family; Thanksgiving celebrations; alludes to the death of their brother Titus Chapin, Jr. who at 26 drowned in the Kansas River; speaks of the arrival of their sister Lucy Chapin; talks...
Cobb, Thomas Read Rootes, 1823-1862; Mount Holyoke Female Seminary; Lumpkin, Joseph Henry, 1799-1867;
Roxana writes of Mt. Holyoke; hearing from mutual acquaintances in Washington, [GA]; her wish that her sisters (Lucy and Emily) could be with her down South; stories about her step-children; T.R.R. Cobb's opinion of her; and the opinion of Judge...
Cobb, Thomas Read Rootes, 1823-1862; Honeymoons; Travel;
Roxana writes to her sister about her honeymoon trip; their arrival back in Athens, GA; all the greetings from her step-children and servants; and her first meeting with T.R.R. Cobb