Title	1850s: "Sister Sal" to Mary Louisa Mitchell Williamson, Letter
Description	This document is a letter from a person identifying themselves as "Sister Sal" to Mary Louisa Mitchell Williamson, written from Pike [no state given]. There is no date given, either. The letter is believed to have been written in the 1850s, presumably because of the family details given in the text. The envelope was matched to this letter based on the postmark (Eatonton, Ga.) and the date (Mar 27). 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] My sweet sister After spending several days with you & your Mothers "happy family", I have just begun to feel how much you all contributed to my happiness. Even the sweet smile of little Bessie, was pleasant. Really the change is so great that it has effected both my health & spirits. Buddie has just walked in with some medicine for me & has taken a seat (in my room for the purpose of interesting me for an hour or two - in such subjects as are interesting to us both. What that is you may well guess. He ne- ver seems happier than when [page 2] engaged in conversation about "his Mollie" If you are not engaged tomorrow afternoon - jump on [Jimmie Hazen ?] & ride down to see me. Buddie will return here from the ["Barbecue" ?] & accompany you home. But remember, you are not to have a "three hours tete a tete" until I can have the pleasure of enjoying a moonlight chat; with my sweet cousin. Give him my "double breasted affections" And don't forget to make Buddie pay you the debt he owes you & with com- pound interest. Hoping to see you soon. I remain Your loving "Sister Sal" Wednesday, [Pike ?] [page 3] [envelope] [upside down] P. F. Mitchell [right-side up] Miss Mollie Mitchell Care of Buddie Sweet Home
Date	1850s
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
Location	Pike, [possibly Montgomery County], Alabama, United States
Coverage-Temporal	1850s
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 2
Original Item Format	3 pages, 19 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	1850s_Sal_to_WilliamsonMLM_letter.pdf
File Type	application/pdf
Relation	Deeply Rooted
Contributor	Auburn University Libraries
Submitted by	Coates, Midge