Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Middleton, Mary Hering.
2. Harrison, Eliza Cope.

Description

1. xlii, 532 pages : illustrations; 24 cm.

Summary

1. "In the spring of 1839, Eliza Middleton, the youngest daughter of a wealthy South Carolina rice planter and diplomat, married Philadelphian Joshua Francis Fischer at Middleton Place, one of the most celebrated plantations in the South. Soon after the wedding Eliza began a new life in Philadelphia, leaving her family and familiar surroundings behind. In her first letter home, she begged her mother, "Tell me everything when you write." Thus began a seven-year conversation - on paper - between Eliza and her British-born mother, Mary Hering Middleton, that would encompass some 375 letters. Gathered in this volume with more than fifty illustrations and an introduction by Eliza Cope Harrison, the correspondence offers a sweeping yet intimate view of antebellum Charleston, Philadelphia, and the fashionable resort of Newport, Rhode Island. The letters delineate a cultural and social life that bound together North and South at a time when sectional interests worked to sunder the nation." "Eliza and her mother chronicle issues and events ranging from mental illness to musical performances, financial panics to children's parties, pregnancy to politics. In addition they introduce one to another a notable cast of characters, including Charles Dickens, President Van Buren, the courtly Philadelphian George Harrison, the scandalous actress Fanny Kemble Butler, the irascible diplomat Henry Middleton, the lovely Julia Ward, and the African slave who was captain of the Middletons' private schooner."--BOOK JACKET.

Series statement

1. Women's diaries and letters of the South

Uniform title

1. Women's diaries and letters of the South.

Subject

1. Fisher, Eliza Middleton, 1815-1890 > Correspondence
2. Middleton, Mary Hering > Correspondence
3. Fisher, Eliza Middleton, 1815-1890
4. Middleton, Mary Hering
5. Mothers and daughters > South Carolina > Charleston Region > Correspondence
6. Women > South Carolina > Charleston Region > Correspondence
7. Mothers and daughters > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia > Correspondence
8. Women > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia > Correspondence
9. Mères et filles > Pennsylvanie > Philadelphie > Correspondance
10. Femmes > Pennsylvanie > Philadelphie > Correspondance
11. Mothers and daughters
12. Women
13. Charleston Region (S.C.) > Biography
14. Philadelphia (Pa.) > Biography
15. Pennsylvania > Philadelphia
16. South Carolina > Charleston Region

Genre/Form

1. Correspondence.
2. Biography.
3. Biographies.
4. Personal correspondence.

Contents

1. Family Charts of Principal Families: Charleston and Philadelphia -- Cast of Characters: The Middleton, Fisher, and Hering Families -- The Middletons and the Fishers in 1839: An Introduction -- Mary Hering Middleton's and Eliza Middleton Fisher's Letters -- 1839 On the Road from Middleton Place to Philadelphia--Eliza's New Life--Reunion at Newport -- 1840 First Wedding Anniversary--Lizzie, Eliza's First Child--William's Disappointment -- 1841 Arthur Finds an Italian Wife--Mrs. Middleton as Observant Grandmother--Sophie Is Born -- 1842 "No sale for rice"--War with England?--Harry's Flirtation--Eliza's Music--Lord Morpeth, Dickens, and Lyell Come Visiting -- 1843 Back to Middleton Place, at Last--Homeopathy and Mesmerism -- 1844 Fisher Buys a Farm--Drama in Getting to Philadelphia--Helen Is Born--Henry Clay's Visit--"Red Hot" for Annexation of Texas--The Polka Comes to Newport -- 1845 Uncle Harrison Dies--Another Foreign Bride: Edward's Edda--War Clouds over Oregon and Mexico--Adding to the Newport House -- 1846 Homeopathy Out, Water Cure In--Compromise on Oregon--Henry Middleton Dies.

Owning institution

1. Princeton University Library

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references (p. [505]-511) and index.