Letter V: May 15, 1863 – Labor Reassigned (Plantersville)
Our Mahogany Heritage Institute
Letter V: Labor Reassigned
| Collection: | Best and Hext Family Papers |
| Location: | Plantersville, South Carolina |
| Date: | May 15, 1863 |
Primary Source Evidence
[MANUSCRIPT SCAN PENDING]
The original May 15, 1863 manuscript is currently being processed for the digital archive.
South Caroliniana Library
Complete Transcription:
Plantersville May 15th 1863
Dear Leany,
…I feel very unwell today… I got a letter from Pa Tuesday night… The night before they were to leave, a great many of [the Williamsburgh Troop] ran away & went home to tell their families goodbye…
…I suppose you are spinning like the rest of us. I commenced a piece last Fall but have not finished it yet. I have a piece at the Loom of 48 or 50 yds for the Negroes, & Elviras spinning, & she has commenced another piece, but Thomas has had her in the field since planting season commenced, so I dont know when she will finish that.
Goodbye dear Leany. All send much love y.s. Mary.
Historical Interpretation
In May 1863, Elvira appears again—this time in the midst of Civil War era plantation production. The record reveals a shift in her labor: moving from the skilled work of the loom to the physical endurance of the field as planting season commenced.
Labor was not fixed; it was determined by seasonal demand and the absolute control over women’s bodies and time. This document provides evidence of the fluidity of labor for enslaved women during the Civil War. Even as military mobilization disrupted white households, the agricultural cycle and control over Elvira’s movement remained paramount.
Archival Citation
ALS, 15 May 1863, Plantersville, South Carolina, Mary Brisbane Hext McConnell to Selena Caroline Hext Best. Papers of the Best and Hext Families, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina.Curated and interpreted by Our Mahogany Heritage Institute.
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