134
The Ladies of Charleston.
there. Waud had been carried off by the two
Murdochs, to Castle Pinckney to remain for
a day and night. The bachelors knew both
Marchant and Covert, and Babbage reported
not favorably of either, especially the latter;
who had once got into an unprovoked fight with
Spear. Marchant, Babbage said, was not
in good odor in Charleston, first because he
was a Jew, secondly he had given two
balls at his theatre at which all the ladies
of Alice Ashley s and similar establishments
had attended; hence the decay of his theatre.
He had been at a good deal of expense, he said,
in preparation, and if the elite didn t buy
tickets, he should fill his theatre anyhow. The
Charleston women might be justified in abstain-
ing from future patronage, in this case; but
they have generally a reputation for an excess
of delicacy, amounting to fastidiousness and
affectation. I had no personal opportunity
of judging (for there is none of that easy
intercourse with families common at the North
and the underlying Institution, on which every-
thing is based, develops an evident tendency
towards Orientalism in society) but I suppose
Charleston ladies are very lazy and languid,| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Fifteen: page one hundred and forty-four |
| Description: | Mentions that Marchant's reputation in Charleston has been damaged by his selling tickets to his ball to women from local brothels. |
| Date: | 1861-02-07 |
| Subject: | Babbage, George; Balls (Parties); Brothels; Covert, Harry; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Jews; Marchant; Murdoch; Slavery; Spear; Waud, William; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | Charleston, [South Carolina] |
| Scan Date: | 2010-05-20 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Fifteen |
| Description: | Describes Gunn's experience as a correspondent for ""The New York Evening Post"" in Charleston, South Carolina, in the aftermath of South Carolina's secession from the federal government, including a conflict between A.H. Colt and Mr. Woodward, a visit to Sullivan's Island, John Mitchel's tale of assisting with the lynching of an abolitionist, attending a celebration in honor of Benjamin Mordecai, Will Waud's arrival in Charleston, the scene in Charleston the day the ''Star of the West'' was fired upon by the Morris Island battery, pistol and rifle practice with various Charlestonians, a rumor in New York about his having been tarred and feathered in Charleston, a visit to the quarters of the ''Richland Rifles,'' witnessing a slave auction, and a visit to Colonel Bull's home. |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Books and reading; Civil War; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Journalism; Military; Publishers and publishing; Secession; Slavery; Slaves; Travel |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; Charleston, South Carolina |
| Note: | Thomas Butler Gunn was born February 15, 1826, in Banbury, England, and came to New York in 1849. During the Civil War he worked as a correspondent for the New York Tribune and the New York Evening Post. He returned to England in 1863, and died in Birmingham in April 1903. The collection includes twenty-one volumes of his diaries, including newspaper clippings, letters, photographs, sketches, and various other items inserted by Gunn. Diary entries date from July 7, 1849, to April 7, 1863, and include his experiences with the New York publishing and literary world, his descriptions of boarding houses, his travels throughout the United States, and his experiences traveling with the Federal army as a Civil War correspondent. |
| Publisher: | Missouri History Museum |
| Rights: | Copyright 2010 Missouri History Museum. |
| Source: | Page images, transcriptions, and metadata of the Thomas Butler Gunn diaries have been provided by the Missouri History Museum. |
