129
Plantation and Slaves.
plankways over huge hogsheads of the manu-
factured material, and by vats of molasses.
The overseer commonly lived in the mill
during the process of manufacturing; we saw
his bed in a sort of open chamber on a rai-
sed platform, to which we ascended by a
flight of stairs. The mill was ordinarily run
by steam and lighted with gas, but neither
agencies were in working order now. To other
buildings, walking over the refuse cane-stalks
which littered the ground like straw in an En-
glish farm-yard. The negroes dinner was
being prepared at one of the houses and Knapp
descanted on the good qualities of it. He was
a tallish, chubby-faced man, an ex-New Yorker,
with an uneasy expression of countenance. He
appeared equally desirous of exhibiting slavery
in an agreeable light to us and afraid of his
slaves. They d all got it into their heads that
they were going to be free, he said, pointing
out the one described in the letter on page 127.
He expected they d all run away! viciously
and nervously. Where would they run to?
asked Strother, for the benefit of the listening
slaves. (He was a Virginian and a pro-sla-
very man, himself.) The whole episode was
just the old dreary false presentiment of the
institution that one is so familiar with from| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Twenty-One: page one hundred and forty-three |
| Description: | Describes a visit to a sugar plantation in Louisiana. |
| Date: | 1862-12-28 |
| Subject: | African Americans; Civil War; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Knapp, Dr.; Slaveholders; Slavery; Slaves; Strother, David Hunter |
| Scan Date: | 2010-11-18 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Twenty-One |
| Description: | Includes Gunn's descriptions of his experiences as a war correspondent for ""The New York Tribune"" at New Orleans, Louisiana, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; boarding house living; a visit to the Rawlings family; a fight with Mr. Blankman at his boarding house; his journey on the North Star with the Banks expedition; the re-occupation of Baton Rouge by Union forces; a visit to a sugar plantation in Louisiana; and Fanny Fern's daughter Grace Thomson's death. |
| Subject: | African Americans; Boardinghouses; Bohemians; Civil War; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Journalism; Military; Publishers and publishing; Transportation; Travel; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; New Orleans, Louisiana; Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| 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. |
