Daily Journal of the Rambles of O.H. Kelley and James M. Dixon

One hundred and fifty years ago this month, Oliver Hudson Kelley, one of the seven founders of the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, began his tour of the south. Appointed to this task by Hon. Isaac Newton, Commissioner of Agriculture, by and with the advice and authority of President Andrew Johnson, Kelley was an agent of the Department to make a tour of the Southern States and report upon their general condition and agricultural advantages after the Civil War. Lieut. James M. Dixon was detailed to accompany him.

Brother Kelley kept a journal of his trip in great detail. We will post portions of these journal entries on the dates they were written 150 years later to allow Grange members and others to visualize the south and its devastation following the Civil War which led Kelley to create an organization to help farmers.

Saturday 13

At 6:30 a.m., took a carriage for the Depot on Maryland Avenue, where, taking the cars on the Orange & Alexandria R.R. It being a cloudy, damp, muggy morning, just the weather makes Rheumatic symptoms apparent, gave the Porter a quarter for attending to the baggage. Passed through Alexandria, VA, a town on the Potomac with some commercial reputation & otherwise of some note. Our route lay through a historic section of country and which for the past five years has been the scene of strife between the two great armies, marked by earthworks and other remains of the movements of great armies, but buildings & rail fences in the towns & on plantations are generally wanting until we pass Manassas Junction…. Occasionally we notice a fine residence in a good stage of preservation & some fence in place. Numerous chimneys stand out plainly in view as the only remaining monument of some once happy home. [expand title=”Read More”]
At one or two points I notice that some enterprising individual is in the speculation of gathering of the bones of animals. Beef & horses from the camping grounds & battle fields for the purpose of converting them into fertilizers, etc.

At Rapidan are several fine residences and large plantations. New board fences & magnificent scenery – Our average rate for the distance between Washington & Richmond being 15 miles per hour. Road not yet fully repaired. New bridges being built.

We next stop at Orange Court House. It is the largest town we have yet seen but lacks that life & activity which a place of its size would present in the North or West. Federal blue & Confederate gray are freely blended in the color of the dress of the men. At Gordonsville, we change cars to the Virginia Central R.R. and here eat a fancy dinner –in a rough board building roughly finished inside & furniture of primitive style – more properly styled a shanty…. However the craving of hunger & anxiety to indulge in a cup of coffee must be gratified & we go in on our own nerve & an investment of .75 cents each.

Our change of cars is an improvement as we get into a very neat & new carriage…. Steam mills are occasionally seen & I notice a new one being built a few miles from Richmond. Logs being sawed & new buildings going up & old ones being repaired on nearly all the plantations…. Considerable new plowing is visible on the route.

We have passed thousands of acres of fine land for agricultural purposes. Arrived at 6:15 at Richmond. Presented a letter from Col. Stevens to landlord & thereby secured fine accommodations at the Ballard House. After a hearty supper, James & I went to the Richmond Opera House – big thing in the name – but what’s in a name. [/expand]

Sunday 14

Up early & writing…. Met with Col. French & had a long talk with him. He is a Boston man & one of the proprietors of this hotel. He says that previous to the war the Capital of the Banks of Richmond with their branches amounted to $12,000.00 while now there is but $500.00, Want of capital is a drawback upon the business prospects of the city & several buildings which were going up & partly finished have had work stopped for want of funds. These however are property of Southern men. All the work going on on Northern capital is progressive. The old Southerners beg for capital & then turn the cold shoulder upon those who furnish it. As to the blacks laboring – nearly all the servants in this house are colored & they are worked hard & treated precisely as white laborers are at the North & they prove to be faithful & willing to labor particularly for Northern men. They do not like to work for their old Masters because they use them even more harshly than when they were slaves…. Tobacco is even more valuable than cotton & that the Southern counties of Virginia are peculiarly adapted to its cultures. [expand title=”Read More”]
The old slave masters have got to learn how to treat free labor – & when they have learned that & will practice it they will have no trouble in finding laborers. The fault is with them more than with the freedman.

In P.M. took a carriage & drove about the city…. We then rode up on a high bluff where we had a fine view of James River below the city its windings are very pretty & form a fine landscape – a portion of some of the obstructions are yet visible in the river, placed there to prevent our gunboats approaching the city. We then drove over to the fashionable quarter of the city – saw the residences of Jeff. Davis & other defunct dignitaries…. We could not find hardly a rod of level ground in the city…. The churches are very large buildings & a good style of architecture – the more wealthy residences are also large. We then rode down to this bluff over¬looking the ruins of the State arsenal & other portions of the burnt district which was fired by the rebs when they evacuated the city. This is an old city & age is depicted upon most all the buildings – the greater portion are brick. Among the new ones are many very high & with iron fronts.

The crowd of northern merchants who flocked in here on the restoration of peace are turning out…& leaving. …The Southerners are whipped – poverty stricken & proud & many of them will gladly sell a portion of their lands to enable them to get the means to carry on the balance. [/expand]

Monday 15

Cloudy, cold & flurry of snow had a chat with “Aunty” the chamber maid about freedom. She says “De folks I lived with were “mighty nice” folks & always “mighty kind” to me & I could do jiss as I pleased & had ebery thing I needed but dey sold my Father & Mother & my boy. I didn’t like dat. Father & Mother are dead & gone now so I knows where dey are – but I nebber heard nothing about my boy & that makes my heart ache when I think about him – selling families & separating was all I had against slaving”. [expand title=”Read More”]
Walked about town some but it has snowed all day about 6 inches on the ground. Have talked with an old shoemaker…. He says the war was brought on by the “Mutton-heads” who wanted to own all the land & labor of the South – but now that it is over the muscle & brains of the people can get some encouragement the same as at the North. It just occurs to me that it must be cutting to these defunct aristocrats to be as completely whipped & see a simple Tailor presiding over the destiny of the Union & a self-made man at that.

Mr. Rice had a long talk with me tonight about the people here. He says they are loyal enough – but the tumble from affluence to almost poverty galls their pride. Peace & quiet is sure to follow the President’s policy & if the Radical members of Congress would go through the South they would change their minds…. He says property here has fallen so free during the last 4 weeks & is sure to tumble heavily. Rents have been enormous since the war everybody was ejected & Northern merchants rushed in. There is no crop behind the planters as in former years & they cannot get credit & we may look upon the present state of affairs as a used up community. [/expand]

Tuesday 16

At 7 started with the train … 21 passengers comprised our load. Weather cloudy & cold. To reach the Depot we cross the James river to Manchester about one mile. We find plenty of prime timber on the line of the road. We pass the Earth works that formed the rebel protection of Richmond. We reached Petersburg at the regular time & I ventured into the Jarrett House for a cup of coffee & a plate of hot cakes. I ventured to open my eyes when I was compelled to pay one dollar for the luxury. [expand title=”Read More”]
We change cars here & take a hack for that purpose being at the extreme end of town we have an opportunity to get a glimpse of town which is very attractive. It is decidedly a much pleasanter place than Richmond and quite a large town. after we leave the town we pass a long line of earth works & fortifications & the remains of that great battlefield of the rebellion. The great frame tower yet stands from the top of which our signal corps watched the movements of the Rebs.

We pass the remains of cars – locomotives & railroad track consumed & destroyed during the war…

We cross Stony Creek a pretty stream with an ordinary current – and find the land continues rather low on this part of the line. There are here numerous chimnies standing that mark the place where a thrifty village once stood. There are Earthworks here to protect the bridge. We see some new small buildings going up. Next we pass more swamp. Oak timber & pine plenty & lots of underbrush….

The sun comes out bright this P.M. and at Gaston we leave the cars & are ferried over the Roanoke in long boats. The piers of the bridge yet stand while the iron work & some of the timbers are in piles in the river. Here is another monument of the folly of the south. This change adds to the variety of the trip breaks the monotony — but the dreams of the “Sunny South” are fading from my mind.

I notice that there is little or no “way” travel on this route – business is dead as a door nail. We now take the train for Raleigh about 2 P.M. with ten passengers only. Pine predominates & in some fields stumps are plenty. Ground white with snow. Surface of the country undulating & occasionally an Oak opening that calls Minnesota forcibly to mind….

In the vicinity of Neuse River the country is more broken & the cuts are deeper with some very high embankments. About dark stopped for lunch….Reached Raleigh at 8 P.M. tired enough as I only had two hours sleep last night. We took rooms at the Yarborough House, rather a dilapidated establishment it is a very large house but poverty stands with its jaws wide open. The “Sunny South” is evidently in a dense cloud about these times. [/expand]

Wednesday 17

On leaving Richmond it is evident luxurious living vanishes & it is sound reason if the traveler provides himself with cold chicken or plenty of sandwiches….From here we see the ground on which Sherman’s Army encamped for they were in fact all over this hill. [expand title=”Read More”]
The market house in this place is a curiosity – a whole hog & a veal comprised the cut meat yesterday & a few strings of salt mullet stocked the fish market. These were strung on a pole supported by two stakes & hung there in the sun all day. The teams from the country look like hard times…everything from the country looks poverty striken. On inquiry, at the P.O. I find that there is not agricultural paper taken here & the [Post Master] says that’s where there are 5 bushels of wheat & 10 of corn raised to the acre & where the ground is merely scratched with a one horse plow there is no interest taken in agricultural papers.

I am told that Irish potatoes are not worth planting in this vicinity as they are soggy watery things. The Sweet potatoes are admirable. Fall wheat yields are average of 10 bushels to the acre. Corn about 25…. Seed has to be procured elsewhere annually – this refers to this immediate vicinity. Potatoes are planted in January sometimes. Pork & corn are the staple articles & until Sherman’s army camped here fresh beef was not much used. Hog & hominy were the standing dishes & there is very little if any variation in the food….

At the hotel the male servants do the chamber work – make the beds – scrub the floors etc., whichever servant takes your baggage to your room gives you his name & attends to you while you stay. If you want anything he expects you to call upon him & of course the more liberal you fee him the closer he will freeze to you. In the mornings, he takes a handful of pitch pine kindlings & lighting one piece downstairs comes up to the room & starts the fire. There is about a quarter of a cord of wood piled up in each bedroom ready for use. They are attentive have a show of neatness but do everything in a kind of shiftless way….

I learn that west of the mountains in this State is a fine wheat country & in all the western part the soil is adopted to fruit culture…. But little attention has been paid here to the needs of cattle nor varieties of fruits or seeds of any kind. Stock is all small….Some of the students at the Asylum entertained us finely with music by the blind performers & pantomine by the deaf mutes in which by motions & signs they explained or rather told us several stories. It was a delightful evening & after eleven when we returned to the hotel.

We have been well & cordially received here & I find even among those who once claimed to be rabid secessionists there exists a strong desire to have Northerners come down & settle here & introduce their methods of farming, etc. They feel & know from what they learn of the progress of the North that the South is behind the times….[/expand]

Friday 19

Up early & off by rail for Charlotte, cloudy open morning. We see but little change in the face of the country. We find that there are quite a number of our Union soldiers who have bought land in this section & are making good farms. [expand title=”Read More”]
At Hillsboro the range of hills is pointed out where Genl. Johnston contemplated making his final stand & where his Engineers were surveying about the time of Lee’s surrender. The range is surrounded by a small stream of water & would have been a formidable stand.

Graham is one of the neatest towns in the state – large Depot & machine shops belonging to this R.R. Co. Houses are all neat & most of them with fences whitewashed. A large hotel here. The R.R. shops are quite extensive Brick buildings. We are favored with delightful springlike weather though are informed that it is unusual so early in the season.

Greensboro is quite a town & has some fine residences. Many of the people with whom I converse express the opinion that Congress would do the wise thing to exile the leaders of the rebellion – meaning the fire eating abolitionists of the North & the South – quiet would soon be restored.

We rode all day with the car windows open…. At Hawfields before we reach Greensboro we noticed a fine dam & mills. There are many fine water powers & by encouraging emigration the South will soon have plenty of manufacturing villages which will add materially to the resources. We are passing most of the time a continuous line of farms & towns. At 7:30 reached Lexington, a small place of 250 individuals. [/expand]

Saturday 20

At 4:30. A.M. we were called to take the cars for Charlotte.

Air quite warm & strong indications of rain. James thinks it pretty rough to be got up so early in the mornings, but travellers don’t have home comforts by a long chalk as I fancy this trip will prove before we get through. Our supper last night was the best we have had since we left Richmond. [expand title=”Read More”]

There is no attention given to choice variety of fruit in these parts. All we have seen have been inferior & the stock of all kinds is poor quality.

We got a pretty good car this time. At Salisbury – the train stopped half an hour. We saw here the ruins of the R.R. shops & Depot also mills. It will require a vast pile of money to rebuild all the ruined property we have seen.

Soil most everywhere of a Brick Red color… We notice the soil is badly washed into ridges & gullies in many places would think it quite a drawback in farming…. They only raise what is wanted for farm use. The sheep run & shift for themselves – seldom are fed by their owner – variety are long wooled.
Cotton crop – half a bale is the crop to the acre, the extreme of yield is one bale. [/expand]