Civil War Diary handwritten by J. Ladson Gregorie $2,000.00
SOLD
This is a handwritten Civil War ledger/diary that was kept by J. Ladson Gregorie, who was born in Charleston, South Carolina, January 19, 1844.
The diary starts with an entry dated July 7, 1862, at Abbeville, South Carolina, but the author gives a brief account of his life. He tells of having been born in Charleston and later having moved to Newark, New Jersey where he was living when South Carolina seceded from the Union. In February of 1861 he returned to Charleston aboard the steamer Nashville and witnessed the battle of Fort Sumter on May 10, 1861. His family immediately moved to Abbeville where they boarded with J.A. Allen.
There are only a few dated entries. One being about a duel he fought on August 14, 1862. Elsewhere he writes about a duel in great detail and I assume that it was the same one. Apparently it was fought in Abbeville over an insult by Charlie Dixon regarding Miss Annie Carroll (who was described as “not handsome”). However, it isn’t clear how much (if any of it) of his account of the duel was real or whether it was simply an exercise in creative writing. I suspect it was a little of both, but I still found it to be extremely interesting, as his second (Arthur Walton) and his opponent (Charlie Dixon, who was also a friend) realizing that he would regret the duel, fooled him into believing that he had killed his longtime friend until he could realize the enormity of the wrong in fighting such a duel. Charlie’s second was another friend, Harry Moulten.
There are several poems or songs. A few of the titles are: “The Battle of Darbytown,” “The Midnight Battle,” and “To Miss.” He used parts of the bound volume to do some math and French exercises for school. There are also copies of several letters: one to a young lady on behalf of a friend (Foster Marshall); another to a Captain Arthur seeking return of a horse.
This extraordinary manuscript/book was given to me as a wedding present by my second wife (Anne Pressley Cooper). It had been a gift to her (for me) from her very dear friend Mary Gregorie who resided at Porcher’s Bluff outside of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and was in the last stages of cancer. It was my understanding that Mary had been a direct descendant of J. Ladson Gregorie.
J. Ladson Gregorie’s father (also named J. Ladson Gregorie) had been the Bursar at the Citadel when Ladson was born.
Note: J. Ladson Gregorie who was six years old and living in Charleston County, South Carolina, was listed in the 1850 United States Federal Census. Quite likely this was the James L. Gregorie, age 86 (meaning he was born about 1844), who is shown in the 1930 United States Federal Census as living in Dade County, Florida.
