Title	1860s: Unidentified Correspondent to Mary Louisa Mitchell Williamson, Letter
Description	This document is a partial letter from an unidentified correspondent to their cousin, presumably Mary Louisa Mitchell Williamson. Because the first and last pages are missing, it is not possible to tell the identity of the correspondent or their location. The addressee has been identified as being Mary Louisa Mitchell Williamson because the letter mentions "Cousin Phil" (her brother) and "Dr. Williamson" (her husband). The mention of Dr. Williamson and a reference to "the happy Christmas of 61" indicate that it was written during 1862 or later. The letter discusses news about family and friends. The Fitzpatrick family emigrated from Ireland to the Virginia colony in the early 1700s. Over time, the family moved from Virginia through the Carolinas and into Georgia before finally settling in Line Creek, Alabama and Verbena, Alabama. Several members of the family were active politically including William Fitzpatrick, who served in the Georgia legislature, and Benjamin Fitzpatrick, who served two terms as governor of Alabama. Sarah Fitzpatrick, a descendant of this family, married Columbus White Mitchell who was from a prominent Alabama family. The couple had ten children, seven of whom survived infancy. Three of their sons served in the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy (Phil F. Mitchell, Joseph A. Mitchell, and Columbus White Mitchell). Their daughter Mary Louisa, a central figure of this collection, married Dr. Samuel "Trinley" Thomas Williamson in September 1861 shortly after the war began. Williamson was a medical doctor who also fought in the Confederate armed forces. With Williamson and the three Mitchell brothers away fighting, Mary Louisa was left home to run the household with only the help of her sick mother and her sisters. At this time she was also pregnant with her first child who was born in 1862. All three brothers and Williamson survived the war. The family continued to live in Alabama following the Civil War. Since the mid-1900s, some branches of the family have spread out while some continue to live in Alabama. This item has been aggregated as part of the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL)'s "Deeply Rooted: The Agricultural & Rural History of the American South" project.
Transcript	[page 1] months. Then Ma and my-self will be entirely alone, as Pa will necessa- rily have to stay on our place up the country. Lou left for school, (the Judson Inst. Marion.) last week. Fannie came home from Georgia in July, and left again in Oct. She will not return before next summer. I am afraid I will taste too deeply the fruits of Sol- itude 'ere I am again gladdened by their gay voices. I am very anxious [page 2] to write to cousin Phil if I only knew his Post office. I heard he was going to marry Cousin Josie Burck. is there any truth in the report I heard though news paper authority that cousin Bettie had married Mr. Coffe, after seven years of tried love. I earnestly hope she has, in the consumation of her dearest wish, real- ized the fairy dream of her youth. What is cousin Fannie and Sallie White doing with them- [page 3] selves? My love and kisses to them and Aunt Ceily How is dear Aunt Sarah's health. Remember we write a great deal of love to her and the children, I often think of you all with the warmest feel- ings of affection. Though at present that we are doomed to see each other but seldom. Memory often reverts to the happy Christmas of 61. [illegible] to you all. and as some shell that ever carries with [page 4] it the new morning of the [illegible], so will I [illegible] write me some sweet memory of the pleasant days passed with you This is night, cousin, and I am so much like a Quaker unless I write when the sprit moves me. (You think it has been exceedingly long don't you?) I can not send this by to morrows mail as I am anxious to do so look over the [illegible] reply please, We heard that you and Dr. Williamson spent
Date	1860s
LC Subject	Williamson Family Mitchell Family Fitzpatrick Family Alabama--Social life and customs--19th century Letters
EOA Categories	Peoples -- Domestic Life Peoples -- Rural Life History -- 1838-1874: Sectionalism, the Civil War, and Reconstruction
Coverage-Temporal	1860s
Source	Fitzpatrick-Mitchell-Williamson Family Papers, 1850-1989, Auburn University Libraries, Special Collections and Archives, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama
Original Item ID	Record Group 1223, Fitzpatrick-Mitchell-Williamson Papers, Folder 47
Original Item Format	4 pages, 15 cm
Language	eng
Digital Publisher	Auburn, Ala. : Auburn University Libraries
Rights	This image is the property of the Auburn University Libraries and is intended for non-commercial use. Users of this image are asked to acknowledge the Auburn University Libraries. For information about obtaining high-resolution copies of this and other images in this collection, please contact the Auburn University Libraries Special Collections & Archives Department at archives@auburn.edu or (334) 844-1732.
Type	Stillimage; Text;
File Name	1860s_Unidentified_to_WilliamsonMLM_letter.pdf
File Type	application/pdf
Relation	Deeply Rooted
Contributor	Auburn University Libraries
Submitted by	Coates, Midge