Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#243
GRACE B. ELMORE PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Grace Brown Elmore of Columbia, S.C., daughter of
Franklin Harper Elmore (1799-1850) and Harriet
Chestnut Elmore (d. 1865).
Diaries, memoirs, and drafts of a novel by Grace
B. Elmore, with a few poems and newspaper clippings,
and reminiscences, purportedly by a former slave,
"Billy." The diaries document Elmore's personal
thoughts and feelings about herself, her family, and
religion; and the progress of the Civil War in South
Carolina, especially the occupation of Columbia by
Sherman's army and the role of slavery in Southern
society. Memoirs consist of Elmore's reminiscences
about her childhood, the everyday life of her family
and their slaves, descriptions of life in Columbia
during the Civil War and Reconstruction, and
descriptions of the storytelling and folklore of
family slaves. The narrative by "Billy" concerns his
Civil War experiences, and the draft of a novel,
entitled Light and Shadows, is a romance about a
Confederate soldier returning from the Civil War.
Online Catalog Terms:
Afro-Americans--South Carolina--Writing.
Autobiographies--South Carolina.
Christian life.
Columbia (S.C.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
Confederate States of America--Social conditions.
Diaries--South Carolina.
Elmore family.
Elmore, Franklin Harper, 1799-1850.
Elmore, Grace B., 1837-1912.
Elmore, Harriet Chestnut, d. 1865.
Family--South Carolina--Social life and customs--19th century.
Poetry--South Carolina--History--19th century.
Reconstruction--South Carolina.
Sherman's March through the Carolinas.
Slavery--South Carolina.
Slaves' writings, American--South Carolina.
South Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
Storytelling--South Carolina--History--19th century.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Fiction.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal
narratives, Confederate.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Women.
Women--South Carolina--Diaries.
Women--South Carolina--Religious life.
Women authors--South Carolina--History--19th century.
Size: About 15 items (0.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Thomas T. Elmore of Jacksonville,
Fla., before 1940.
Access: No restrictions.
Processing Note: This collection was rehoused under the
sponsorship of a grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities, Office of
Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.
A copy of volume 3 is in the South
Caroliniana Library at the University of
South Carolina.
Related Collections: Franklin Harper Elmore Papers (#814).
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
Table of Contents:
Biographical Note
Description
Shelf List
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Grace Brown Elmore (1839-1912), of Columbia, S.C., was the
daughter of Franklin Harper Elmore (1799-1850), South Carolina
banker, senator, and supporter of John C. Calhoun, and Harriet
Chestnut Elmore, daughter of Governor John Taylor of South
Carolina. For most of her life she lived with her family in
Columbia, S.C., in her mother's house and on the family
plantation. After the Civil War, she moved briefly to Charlotte,
N.C., to teach music at a boarding school, but soon returned to
Columbia.
DESCRIPTION
Manuscript volumes, dated 1861-1890, of diary entries and
memoirs; a typed copy of reminiscences, 1860-1866, loosely based
on diary entries ; and drafts of a novel.
Volume 1: Diary, 1861-1867, 143 p., with enclosures, including
drafts of letters, notes, and clippings.
Volume 1 primarily consists of a record of Grace B. Elmore's
personal thoughts and feelings regarding herself, her family, and
the progress of the Civil War in South Carolina. The predominant
topic is her depression over her confinement in her mother's home
- "A man can seek the outer world, and in the duties belonging to
that world restrain that irritability and restless longing that
fills the spirit, when without a vocation." Other personal
topics include memories of her father and her childhood nurse,
"Mamma"; her conflicts with her mother, sisters, and brothers;
family quarrels and disagreements; and, extensively, her
religious thoughts and feelings. There are also religious poems
scattered throughout the volume. Entries about the Civil War
include her prayers for the Confederate cause, description of the
progress of the war along the South Carolina coast and of her
brother Albert's life in camp, a discussion of the role of slaves
in Southern society, and a detailed description of the occupation
of Columbia by Sherman's army. Some of the pages are cut out or
glued together, and sections are crossed out. Undated enclosures
include several pages of drafts of letters and notes on
philosophy, and newspaper clippings on Southern higher education,
the temperance movement, and a poem.
Folder 1 Volume 1
2 Volume 1 enclosures
Volume 2: Diary, with poems and fictionalized autobiography,
1864-1872; 185 p.
Volume 2 contains fewer of Grace B. Elmore's personal thoughts
and more entries concerning the Elmore family's everyday life.
Topics include family life and intrigues, social and household
activities, the family's troubled financial condition during and
after the war, and a visit by General Leonidas Polk's family.
Many of the entries are concerned with the approach of Sherman's
army and the occupation and burning of Columbia. After the war,
Grace B. Elmore wrote concerning her thoughts on slavery and
freedom for blacks; the death of her mother, Harriet Chestnut
Elmore; and a description of her life as a music teacher in a
Charlotte, N.C., boarding school. She was invited to join the
faculty of an academy founded by Catharine Esther Beecher
(1800-1878), and she wrote of her unpleasant impressions of that
lady, her hatred of "Yankees," and her views on the behavior of
Northerners after the war and the associations of ex-Confederate
leaders with Northerners. The volume also includes poetry and
pieces of a fictionalized autobiography.
Folder 3
Volume 3: Rewritten diary entries, 1860-1866; 104 p.
Diary entries (typed), loosely based on entries in volumes 1
and 2. Entries are rearranged and embellished in a conscious
literary style, probably by Grace B. Elmore herself in
anticipation of publication. The beginning of this volume, not
found in other volumes, includes a description of a trip north
and Grace B. Elmore's feelings about the North, Lincoln, the
election of 1860, the secession of South Carolina, and war fever
in the South. There is also a copy of the constitution of the
"Minute Men for the Defense of Southern Rights" and descriptions
of everyday life of the Elmore family and their family slaves.
After 1861, the volume is essentially a paraphrase of volumes 1
and 2. Pages 26-52 of this volume are missing.
Folder 4
Volume 4: Reminiscences, 1890 and undated; 60 p.
Grace B. Elmore's reminiscences of her early childhood,
including her family's everyday life and her relationship with
her nurse "Mamma" and other family slaves. There are also
descriptions of family slaves telling Brer Rabbit and Ole Harry
Scratch stories and other "negro tales." Also included is a
narrative purported to be by her brother Albert's former slave
Billy about his Civil War experiences, entitled "Billy's Account
of Himself," and Grace B. Elmore's description of Billy's visit
to the Elmore home in 1890.
Folder 5
Volume 5: Fiction, undated; 78 p.
Part 1 of a novel written by Grace B. Elmore entitled Light
and Shadows, a romance about a Confederate soldier returning from
the Civil War.
Folder 6
Volume 6: Fiction and reminiscences, undated; 64 p.
Copy of Volume 5, Part 1 of Light and Shadows, with additional
material, including undated reminiscences of Grace B. Elmore
about her father Franklin Harper Elmore, his association with
John C. Calhoun, and Elmore family life.
Folder 7
Volume 7: Fiction and other items, undated and 1897; 80 p.
Part 2 of Light and Shadows. There are also miscellaneous
notes in the back of the volume and a newspaper clipping, dated
1897, about South Carolina.
Folder 8
SHELF LIST
Box 1 (only)