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Distillers & Merchants
In North Carolina we visited the Registry of Deeds in New Bern. I came away with a small stack of photocopied deeds for land purchased by Bartholomew Howard, his brother John, and their stepfather Parmenas Horton. There were some unchanged (or only slightly changed) landmarks such the mouths of creeks along the Neuse River: Clubfoot,…
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The Serpent’s Tooth
In early December I hit a roadblock in my writing. This week I worked my way through the obstacle and finished developing Horton Howard’s estrangement from his eldest son, Henry. Familiarity with family estrangements – in my own family and in some friends’ families made this a challenging part of the story to write. For…
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Uncertainty of Living
I am impressed, when reading Horton’s letters, by his dedication to his family, and the importance he places on maintaining family connections. Some of that was likely the influence of the Quaker ways, but I wonder how much was a result of life’s uncertainties. Without antibiotics or other medeicines we take for granted, disease and…
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Three More Losses in the Family
Death continued to cause sorrow in the Howard family August 1819 – Jane Howard – Horton’s 3 year old daughter died of scarlet fever. She was the last child child born to Horton and Hannah Howard. Even in a time when raising a child was uncertain, there must have been sorrow at the loss of…
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Christmas – 1866
To continue the Christmas theme, this excerpt is from a letter Mary Howard Affleck wrote to her sister Sarah Howard Forrer on January 20, 1866. Harriet has not been here since Christmas. Mary Howard stayed with us several weeks and would willingly have remained longer if her mother, who has no girl, had not needed…