Willis Reunion 2012 - Ramping Up for the Reunion

I haven't posted for a while because I've been quite busy preparing for the Willis Family Reunion in Culpeper, Virginia this weekend.  

Last summer, when going through things from Mother's estate, I found a journal that Great-Grandmother Betty Hiter Willis kept when she was 13 years old.  It was during the Civil War in 1864!  (Click this link to see the post from last summer:  Shoebox Surprises

I will be sharing excerpts from the journal as part of the program on Sunday and will be going in costume.  (Let's I don't swoon from the heat!)

I almost threw the little batch of loose papers away because I thought they were illegible, when suddenly the date "May 15, 1864" jumped out at me.  Luckily, the 49 pages were numbered.

 

Sometimes I have to pinch myself because THIS IS REAL and it's as if my great-grandmother is speaking to me.

 

Here's a sample entry....mind you, I couldn't make out every word because with the yellowed paper and pale writing, deciphering it was extremely challenging.

"Sunday, May 15, 1864 Rock Spring
It is raining quite hard. Pa and Grandfather have just got here from the Court House. Went up to carry half their meat for the army. I can't help thinking of the poor soldiers, the wounded and dead.  I'm so sorry poor John Biggers was killed and his orphan sisters left alone in the world.

A big fight came off Thursday the 12th. The Yankees took some of our breastworks and all of Johnston’s Division but 600 men and ?__? Battalion of Artillery.  Cousin Willie Hart escaped, Willie Hiter was taken. We recaptured all the guns but four. It was in retaking the breastworks that John Biggers was killed. I feel like I wanted to be nearer the fighting than I am.

Finished my new calico dress yesterday, it cost $50. Hugh returned from Spotsylvania last night. Did not go to see the battleground, they won't allow citizens to go."

If I start getting butterflies, I plan to remind myself that I'm not MaryMay, I'm merely a vessel for Great-Grandmother Betty Young Hiter (Willis). I am getting psyched, pumped up, and ramped for this reunion!