Anna - The Letters of a St. Simons Island Plantation Mistress, 1817-1859 (Hardcover)

A firsthand account of a woman's life on a coastal Georgia plantation; As the wife of a frequently absent slaveholder and public figure, Anna Matilda Page King (1798-1859) was the de facto head of their Sea Island plantation. This volume collects more than 150 letters to her husband, children, parents, and others. Conveying the substance of everyday life as they chronicle King's ongoing struggles to put food on the table, nurse her ""family black and white,"" and keep faith with a disappointing husband, the letters offer an absorbing firsthand account of antebellum coastal Georgia life. Anna Matilda Page was reared with the expectation that she would marry a planter, have children, and tend to her family's domestic affairs. Untypically, she was also schooled by her father in all aspects of plantation management, from seed cultivation to building construction. That grounding would serve her well. By 1842 her husband's properties were seized, owing to debts amassed from crop failures, economic downturns, and extensive investments in land, enslaved workers, and the development of the nearby port town of Brunswick. Anna and her family were sustained, however, by Retreat, the St. Simons Island property left to her in trust by her father. With the labor of fifty bondpeople and ""their increase"" she was to strive, with little aid from her husband, to keep the plantation solvent. A valuable record of King's many roles, from accountant to mother, from doctor to horticulturist, the letters also reveal much about her relationship with, and attitudes toward, her enslaved workers. Historians have yet to fully understand the lives of plantation mistresses left on their own by husbands pursuing political and other professional careers. Anna Matilda Page King's letters give us insight into one such woman who reluctantly entered, but nonetheless excelled in, the male domains of business and agriculture.

General

Imprint:	University of Georgia Press
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	Southern Voices from the Past: Women's Letters, Diaries & Writings
Release date:	November 2002
First published:	November 2002
Authors:	Anna Matilda Page King
Volume editors:	Melanie Pavich-Lindsay
Dimensions:	235 x 156 x 36mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	432
ISBN-13:	978-0-8203-2332-9
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Historical, political & military Books > Humanities > History > World history > 1750 to 1900 Books > Humanities > History > American history > General Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political control & freedoms > Slavery & emancipation Books > Business & Economics > Industry & industrial studies > Primary industries > Agriculture & related industries Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Gender studies > Women's studies > General Books > History > American history > General Books > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history Books > History > World history > 1750 to 1900 Books > Biography > Historical, political & military Promotions
LSN:	0-8203-2332-2
Barcode:	9780820323329

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!