Front matter

Contents. List of Illustrations (In certain versions of this etext [in certain browsers] clicking on the image will bring up a larger version.) (etext transcriber's note)

CHRONICLES OF CHICORA WOOD

MRS. PRINGLE AT CHICORA WOOD.

Photograph by Amelia M. Watson.

CHRONICLES OF CHICORA WOOD

BY ELIZABETH W. ALLSTON PRINGLE AUTHOR OF “A WOMAN RICE PLANTER” ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 1922 Copyright, 1922, by CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS —— Printed in the United States of America —— Published May, 1922

PREFACE

As I sit in the broad piazza, watching the closing of the day, I gaze into the vistas of moss-draped giant oaks. All is mystery, the mystery of nature, the mystery of the ages. These oaks, still strong, still beautiful, have seen generations pass. Through their filmy vistas the god of the day is sending his gleaming shafts as he has always done.

But brighter to me than these last rays is the pageant of the Past, which sweeps before me now: scenes as intense as the flaming sky, incidents as tender as the fleecy clouds, years as dark and tragic as that leaden storm-bank at the horizon’s edge, but redeemed from utter despair by a courage and a sacrifice equal in splendor to its illumined summits.

In my memory are stored the beauty and pathos of these years. Shall I let all this die without a word? These pictures I have treasured—so full of beauty and color—shall I let them fade, even as the sunset, into gray oblivion? I cannot bring before you as clearly as I would the charm and glamour of the past, but I can at least give a faint idea of “the days that are no more.”

CONTENTS

PART I—MY FATHER

CHAPTER PAGE

I.Origin of the Two L Allstons3

II.Planter and Citizen12

III.My Brother’s Narrative26

PART II—MY MOTHER

IV.Early Days and Old Field School43

V.Daddy Tom and Daddy Prince—Death of Little Mother So Beloved53

VI.Marriage57

VII.Move to Canaan—Aunt Blythe67

VIII.First Child—Plantation Life81

IX.First Grieving94

PART III—MYSELF

X.Baby Woes107

XI.The Little Schoolhouse—Boarding-School123

XII.Summer on the Sea—School and Della’s Illness and Trip Abroad—Papa Elected Governor137

XIII.Christmas at Chicora Wood150

XIV.Life in Charleston—Preparations for War160

XV.Boarding-School in War Times176

PART IV—WAR TIMES

XVI.The Wedding187

XVII.Crowley Hill—Our Place of Refuge During the War192

XVIII.Sorrow200

XIX.Loch Adèle213

XX.Shadows218

XXI.Preparing to Meet Sherman221

XXII.They Come!229

XXIII.Daddy Hamedy’s Appeal—In the Track of Sherman’s Army239

XXIV.Shadows Deepen248

XXV.Gleams of Light250

XXVI.Taking the Oath260

PART V—READJUSTMENT

XXVII.Gleams of Light from My Diary283

XXVIII.Aunt Petigru—My First German298

XXIX.Mamma’s School307

XXX.The School a Success316

XXXI.1868331

XXXII.Chicora Wood340

XXXIII.Daddy Ancrum’s Story349

ILLUSTRATIONS

Mrs. Pringle at Chicora Wood Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

Robert Francis Withers Allston, President of the Senate20

Portrait by Flagg about 1850

James Louis Petigru46

Miniature by Fraser

Mrs. Benjamin Allston (née Charlotte Anne Allston), Mother of R. F. W. Allston90

Miniature by Fraser

Mrs. R. F. W. Allston (née Adèle Petigru)140

Portrait by Flagg about 1850

Adèle Allston at Sixteen188

Chicora Wood244

Mrs. William Allston (née Ester La Brosse de Mahboeuf)294