The Letters Of George Long Brown

In 1840, twenty-three-year-old George Long Brown migrated from New Hampshire to north Florida, a region just emerging from the devastating effects of the Second Seminole War. This volume presents over seventy of Brown’s previously unpublished letters to illuminate day-to-day life in pre–Civil War Florida. Brown’s personal and business correspondence narrates his daily activities and his views on politics, labor practices, slavery, fundamentalist religion, and local gossip. Having founded a successful mercantile establishment in Newnansville, Brown traveled the region as far as Savannah and Charleston, purchasing goods from plantations and strengthening social and economic ties in two of the region’s most developed cities. In the decade leading up to the Civil War, Brown married into one of the largest slaveholding families in the area and became involved in the slave trade. He also bartered with locals and mingled with the judges, lawyers, and politicians of Alachua County. The Letters of George Long Brown provides an important eyewitness view of north Florida’s transformation from a subsistence and herding community to a market economy based on cotton, timber, and other crops, showing that these changes came about in part due to an increased reliance on slavery. Brown’s letters offer the first social and economic history of one of the most important yet little-known frontiers in the antebellum South. A volume in the series Contested Boundaries, edited by Gene Allen Smith

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1917 Edition.

Excerpt from Letters of George Long In March of 1925 one hundred years will have passed since the doors of the University of Virginia were thrown open for the reception of students. The men of the University, wherever they live, are everywhere awaking to the rapid approach of the momentous anniversary, and historical interest is now alert to discover and preserve every last hidden and unpublished record surviving from the generation of our grandfathers. With the passing of our generation the last thread of direct historical tradition from the times of Jefferson will have been severed forever, and historians of the University will strive with the aid of the sources transmitted to them to attain a scientific knowledge of those determining events which explain the origin and early history of the institution, and to portray the story of its life in its outer course and inner connection. Ours is the sacred duty to cherish the bond that is to bind our age with that of our children and of our children's children, recording before it is too late the precious relics of a passing tradition, and remembering too that the interest which attaches to great events and far-reaching historical and spiritual influences communicates itself even to matters and incidents of otherwise trivial importance, and justifies us in rescuing from oblivion and recording each newly discovered episode in the life of the far-away time to be read and learned with lively curiosity by those who shall succeed to the heritage of their fathers. There are two sources of knowledge from which the historian may draw when seeking to reconstruct the life of a past era: the one, the objective monuments and written records of the time; the other, the ever sparser growing personal recollections of those who were contemporaries and actors in the spiritual drama. The historical recollections of the individual are mainly confined to those events with which he was personally acquainted. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Letters of George Long Her statement proved true and the companion volume is now in my hands through the kindness of Mrs. Emma Breckinridge, of Grove Hill, Botetourt County, Virginia. Mrs. Breckinridge is a sister of Mr. John Gilmer and a daughter of Peachy Gilmer, the eld est brother of the subject of this sketch. This second volume is even more invaluable than the first as it contains all of Gilmer's own letters to Mr. Jefferson, etc., and also throws many valuable side lights upon the internal history of Virginia for the period from 1815 to 1825. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The question Americans asked in 1844 was, “Who the hell is James K. Polk?” Polk, of course, was not unknown, but was a highly unlikely presidential candidate given the availability of better-known options. Among the Democrats, this included Martin Van Buren, John C. Calhoun, and James Buchanan. Among the Whigs, Henry Clay was the clear frontrunner. Complicating the election were three other candidates: President John Tyler, a man without a party; Joseph Smith, the self-described prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the first presidential candidate to be assassinated; and James G. Birney, head of the antislavery Liberty ticket. On top of this remarkable cast of characters, the stakes of the election were high as the United States was undergoing a tumultuous political transition. James K. Polk’s ascension to the White House over more notable politicians was a pivotal moment in propelling the United States towards civil war, and the 1844 election expanded the vigorous campaigning that had been growing since 1824. In Who Is James K. Polk?, Mark Cheathem examines the transition from traditional political issues, such as banking and tariffs, to newer ones, like immigration and slavery. The book also captures the Whig and Democratic parties at a mature stage of competition and provides detailed descriptions of campaign tactics used by the candidates, including rallies, music, and political cartoons. Cheathem has written the definitive account of this important election in this volume for the esteemed American Presidential Elections series.

Echoes from a Distant Frontier is an edited, annotated selection of the correspondence of Corinna and Ellen Brown, two single women in their twenties, who left a comfortable New England home in 1835 for the Florida frontier. Within a month of their arrival, the frontier erupted in Indian war. The Browns witnessed the terror and carnage firsthand, and their letters paint a vivid picture of the Second Seminole War (1835-1842).