Book Description
On the 7th of March, 1834, Brevard Davidson picked up a blank copybook and began to write “I have made the attempt two or three times to keep an account on how we plant our crop and have always failed. I shall now be make one more attempt.” This time, much to our benefit, he succeeded. He kept the journal for twenty years, usually with several crisp entries each week, revealing a prodigious amount accomplished by a small work force under the guidance of emerging Agricultural Societies and Scientific Farming principles.
In 1856, he briefly kept a second journal in a book printed for that purpose. It has pages meant for inventories and more space devoted to Rural Hill enslaved which broadens our understanding of a working plantation. Taken together with the author’s introduction, Brevard’s effort to make himself a better farmer can enrich presentation at historic farm museums and reward those who are simply interested in antebellum Americana.
About the Author
Ann Williams was a Florida native and a graduate of the University of Florida. She lived in Charlotte NC from 1969 until her death in 2001 and had been a volunteer interpreter at a number of regional historic sites for nearly 25 years. Her research interests began with textiles and costumes with a practical bent toward their reproduction and have broadened to include many aspects of early American life, concentrating on the Carolina Piedmont and its people.
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