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...
Slavery; Slaves; Secession; Toombs, Robert Augustus, 1810-1885; Religion; Families; Mount Holyoke Female Seminary;
Roxana writes about the beauty of Washington, GA; in-depth talk of slavery; feelings of guilt; talk of the union and possible secession; Senator Robert Toombs; a local Baptist revival meeting; her sister Lucy attending Mt. Holyoke 'Seminary'; her...
Chapin explains that due to losses incurred by recent heavy flooding they are forced to ask ""Uncle Ed"" [E.E.C. Chapin, Roxana's half-brother], to pay the interest on a loan
Roxana thanks Carra (who she always called Carria) for her recent birthday present. She mentions ""the grippe"" bothering her right arm which was a sign of her illness to come. She suffered a stroke later that month and would die on May 2, 1891
This is Roxana's last surviving letter to Emily before her stroke in April 1891. She writes mostly about family matters, especially of her sons Chapin and Lynn and stepchildren Mary, Joe and Jane White
Roxana writes of the Christmas holidays and presents; she notes the general financial panic and the talk of several fore-closings; her step-son Joe Gerdine is closing his affairs in West Point and people are paying their notes with mules. She also...
Roxana writes about a Ku Klux Klan incident and lynching at Macon, GA which involved her step-grand-daughter Ella. She describes the repercussions felt from this incident in West Point, MS. She talks about how white men view southern white women in...
Roxana describes the unusually rainy winter they have had; gathering rents from the plantation and estate matters; her children's health and smallpox scares in Mississippi; their half-brother Edward's financial difficulties, and Emily's fellowship...
Roxana writes about her school; financial affairs; high rate of taxes; the cotton crop; the financial problems of their half-brother Edward and she advises him to sell Aunt Roxey's place
Most likely written by Tom Gerdine, Roxana and W.L.C. Gerdine's first born son, while she was on vacation up north visiting family. Tom mentions town events, and talks about his father's grave and Greenwood Cemetery
Education; Women in education; Loneliness; Greenwood Cemetery (West Point, Miss.)
Roxana writes about the end of the school semester and returning to the plantation. She notes the loneliness of the plantation (Mr. Gerdine would have died after 1878); she mentions Greenwood Cemetery; her step-daughter Lucy coming to visit from...
Crops; Pregnancy; Death; Sykes, Robert Emmett; Cholera;
Roxana is possibly pregnant with her fourth child, Lynn Van Horn Gerdine (b. 1873). She writes about the death of her step-daughter Lizzie Gerdine Sykes' son Emmett and she notes her son Chapin's reaction to the death. She writes of cholera...
Roxana writes of the business surrounding her school. The letter is after 1870 because she mentions her niece (Emily's daughter) Carra Chapin, who was born that year. Roxana also writes in detail about several suicides of neighbors in the area
