The following letter was written by Martha “Mattie” (Williamson) Crawford (1836-1876), the wife of Charles Peter Crawford (1831-1900), and the daughter of Capt. W. T. Williamson of Milledgeville, Georgia. Mattie’s husband Charles P. Crawford was a Yale graduate and Harvard trained lawyer; a Confederate officer; and the son of US Congressman Joel Crawford. The couple married in 1855. During the Civil War, Charles Crawford served as Captain of Co. C, Bonaud’s (28th) Battalion, Georgia Siege Artillery. This battalion was converted to infantry service in the spring of 1864 and redeployed to various locations, including Macon, Georgia. In January 1864, Charles was stationed near Quincy, Florida, performing provost guard duties for the town. “Company C, Bonaud’s battalion, Captain C. P. Crawford: Number of effective men, 65; armed with 65 Austrian rifles, with bayonets; accouterments complete, same as Company A; arms well cared for an in fair order. Station, near Quincy, Fla.” [letter by Capt. L. Jaquelin Smith, Assistant Chief of Ordnance] Charles resigned and left the service on 24 October 1864.
The letter is datelined on 28 July 1864 from “Standby” which I can only assume is the name of the plantation or estate from which Mattie wrote her letter.
According to census records, the Crawfords lived on a plantation near Starksville, Lee county, Georgia, in 1860. Further, according to family records, the family relocated from Georgia to Florida from 1863 to 1871. In 1870, the Crawford’s were enumerated in Gainesville, Alachua county, Florida. Their surviving wartime correspondence and estate papers are preserved in archival collections like the Crawford Family Letters in the Special Collections & Archives of Texas A&M University.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Standby
Thursday morning
July 28th 1864
My dearest friend,
I received your letter by our last mail and was truly rejoiced to hear such good news from you. I hope dear little Morgan will continue to improve & that I shall hear that he is entirely well. I have felt very anxious about the little fellow. Mr. C. wrote me how smart he was, how nicely he talked, &c. I do wish we could be together today. I want to see you more than I can tell. Your letter made me more anxious to see you. I have been looking so anxiously for Mr. Crawford & have been disappointed so often I am heartsick. I had a letter from him Tuesday evening saying he was expecting his furlough every day & would start home as soon as it reached him. The same evening I opened a letter to him from Lieut. Kendrick & to my utter amazement found his furlough in it that [ ] sent it him after he was requested to send it to Macon. You may know how I felt with the furlough here & Mr. C in Macon disappointed & waiting for it. I could have cried all night. I felt so disappointed & sad. I write to Mr. C. that night, enclosed the furlough & sent the letter in town before day to get Mr. Watson to send it to him by Wednesday’s mail. I am miserable about trusting it to these hateful mails. I fear he will never get it or that it may be delayed a long time. I sent the letter to the care of Dr. Cooper. If Mr. C. is in Macon when you get this, do tell him about it. His furlough will be half out when he gets home. I can’t tell you how badly I feel about it. But I hope my letter will go direct & that he will get home next week.
There is great excitement here again caused by the advance of the Yankees & negroes from Jacksonville. They are destroying as they go & we heard yesterday they were marching on Lake City [45 miles north of Gainesville]. Dr. V. thinks we may all have to take to the woods, & do our best to get out of their reach. They were about eighteen miles from us—so says our latest news—and more transports were coming into Jacksonville. We have no force here to check the wretches—or not a sufficient one—and if they choose, they can take this part of Florida I reckon without must resistance. I am not very much alarmed yet. I will hope that these rumors have been exaggerated & that it is not so bad after all. I am very much afraid the excitement will cause a long delay in our mails again. It takes but little to stop our Florida mail & I feel uneasy about our not getting the news this evening. I am all anxiety to hear more from Atlanta & do hope we may get the mail this evening & have the good news of our last mail confirmed & hear still better by this. I know if Sherman has been repulsed, there is great rejoicing in Georgia. Oh! I have been so anxious & troubled about our situation there. Indeed, our prospect has seemed very gloomy to me lately & I have been depressed about it. Now I feel more hopeful & trust there is a bright day just before us.
We heard from Wilber [on] Tuesday. He has been quite sick but was getting well. I have suffered no little about him for the last two months. I pray that he may be spared to us. Oh! I was so shocked & grieved to hear of the death of dear Lincin [?]. The same day that we heard it, we heard of the death of my grandfather & also of our much loved friend Clara Harris. I assure you, it was a sad evening for us. Grandpa was very old & I have been expecting to hear of his death for a long time. He died of grief & old age. Had no disease whatever. His son died in the army several weeks ago & he never recovered from the blow. Poor Clara was sick but a little while. Her death was triumphant & happy. I hope it has made a lasting impression on Lou. [ ] loved Clara so much & felt her death deeply. I hope & think she seems more interested in her eternal welfare. I was glad to hear of your being with Mrs. Bigam, I expect your visit was very pleasant & then the benefit to Morgan was enough to make you happy. Fannie wrote to sister that you had your [ ].
I have just finished a beautiful Palmetto hat for Mr. Crawford. Does Morgan wear his? I have a pretty little dress pattern for him. It is high neck & long sleeves so protection for winter, then summer. We are feasting on peaches now. I wish you had some of them & our nice melons too for I expect it is hard to get them in Macon. Dear little Sallie has two teeth. We had great rejoicing over them. She has improved very much since you saw him & is my good & sweet. [ ] is the same old stamp. Has a fresh boil [ ]. I was gratified at your good opinion of him. He is a good boy & my heart’s delight. He is always busy & happy. We all spent the day with company on Tuesday but the widowers sisters & Mrs. Scott & her old maid daughter, Miss Jane Scott was there. We had a pleasant day & a good dinner.
The Dr. came over yesterday to tell us about the Yankees & promised to come again today if he heard anything of importance as we have heard nothing from him. I hope the excitement is dying out. Now I am going to tell you a big secret. Please don’t mention it to anyone but the Dr. Tom has not mentioned it to any of his friends but says I may tell you. Charlie is tired of her being only a friend & wants her heart & hands & she has consented to give them to him. I feel troubled about it. I know Lou loves him with all her heart & he is devoted to her. I wish you could have seen his letters—so loving & very good. Lou is happy. It does me good to see him so light-hearted & cheerful. She is always cheerful except when we are visiting with some trouble or affliction but I believe she seems happier than ever now. I don’t know Charlie. I only remember his as a little boy & don’t know whether we will be pleased with the agreement or not. I hope they won’t think of marrying until the war is over. Don’t mention this to anyone. I will keep you posted & you must let it rest with you & the Dr. Lou says she asked as much for Dr. E. to know it. Sister don’t know whether she will rake Dr. B or not. I don’t think she cares a snap for him. Lou is writing to Charlie this morning. Poor fellow, I hope he is safe & well. I am afraid I won’t see you this summer. I expect Mr. C’s long sojourn in Georgia will make him want to stay at home when he gets home. I don’t know what may “turn up” though.
Sister & Lou seem perfectly reconciled to their abandonment of the trip. I thought it would go very hard with them to give it up but the truth is we are getting used to living without company & to being lonely. As much as we desire to see our dear ones in Georgia, we know we can’t help ourselves & try to bear the separation as well as we can. I wish every day that I could have a long talk with you. Do write often & long letters. Sister & Lou join me in warmest love to you & the Dr. Kiss Morgan many times for us….Give my kindest love to Mrs. Bryan when you’re writing to her. I hope yp hear from you soon. Love to Becca & Fannie when you see them. Believe me as ever your fond & true friend, — Matt. C.
