Southern Life

Hello! My name is Eliza Lucas Pinckney and I'm living life freely in the warm lands of the south! Alongside me, is my husband Charles Pinckney and my four children. I love quilting, cooking, cleaning, and supervising children whereas my husband loves to hunt, and devote his life to agriculture! My children love to educate themselves while riding horses, sewing, hunting and maintaining our household. Please enjoy the wonderful posts about the daily life I document with my family!

[realhousewifeofnewengland]

Life has been well here. Unlike many of the southern colonies, we don’t suffer from the killer diseases I hear about in rumors. In fact, those who move here seem to add on 10 years to their life spans, and I’m hoping the same will apply to me! On the 5th of April in 1657, I got married to my...

[southernblogger99]

Oh Eliza agrees with you! You don't know how many times I wish I had an outside life other than the typical household chores, sewing and sitting at home. Trust me, 4 children is enough for me! And yes, pregnancy is scary with disease in the air which is why New England Colonies are quite the perfect disease-free place! Disease here kills, and it's hard to avoid it! Especially with all these slaves in my house! They do their job, but gradually spread diseases inside my house. Well, the more disease, the more I clean! The more mess, the more I clean. Don't you love household chores?!

[thebeauteousjeffersondavis]

I took her advice, as I did not believe in absolute power over her. I let her make some decisions for our family. This was where my wife led me. She told me that this place would be the stepping stone for success. I would soon become one of the few, one of the...

[southernblogger99]

I, Eliza, absolutely agree with you! Harvard is a learning experience and I hope my kids can later fit into that lifestyle one day! Despite the fact that my kids ride horses, sew, and learn to maintain a household I hope to further their education with the outside resources of the Middle Colonies. Homeschooling is great, but Harvard is better! You Middle folk offer much more than the Southern Colonies in regard to education! Agriculture gets boring her sometimes! 

[southernblogger99]

Somewhere in the year 1607

This ship is filled with more scents of sweat and species of filth I have never crossed before! Imagine sitting in the midst of thousands of people all crammed in one ship going to one destination. The amount of intensity and excitement is equivalent to the amount of stink and sweat that encompasses this ship. I still cannot believe that we are in route to new land, to new something! My colonists and I are tired from the small rations of food and no space. But in return, I hope to discover a new adventure, a new place to explore! 

The ride there was quite a ride! It was bumpy, it was rough, but most importantly, it was going to take us somewhere. All these people in that boat were anxious to see the new sight that awaits them. Just the smell and the hot air made you want to leave that ship immediately, but in the end, we all knew we had to push through in order to see what was to come. The mosquitoes, the diseases, the amount of hunger that ringed in our stomachs, was too much for someone that couldn't survive tight spaces. The ride was rough, but the outcome was better. Within long periods of time, we have made it to a new adventure, JAMESTOWN!  

[southernblogger99]

Somewhere in the early 1670s

  Oh how this rebellion ruined the productive lands ofVirginia!All because of a man named Bacon, Nathaniel Bacon. Can you imagine what he did! Us Virginians eyed some lands that were occupied by Native descant. So as true conquerors, we decided to take that land away from those people by attacking their neighboring Doeg and Susquehannock tribes by making use of those lands by creating a new field for crops to blossom. But our massacre was for a reason, due to the brutal murder of an English servant in July of 1675. They had an attack coming. We the people do not let deaths go by! They brought the fire to us, now we will use their fire in sparing nobody!

Nathaniel Bacon, a man that will be forever hated. This man sided with those filthy Natives, the Natives that occupied that land that had potential, the land that had a future! Oh and what he did was even more atrocious! He, himself, marched onto the southern grounds of Jamestown and burned the capital to the ground! If I may say, how rude and how reckless! Such land that had a future is now useless! Imagine all those crops that would perspire and now all that to waste! On a happy ending, Bacon’s death was amusing. Oh how I laughed and celebrated when he died of dysentery! And the happiest of the good news was when Governor Berkeley arrested those filthy men of Bacon’s! Yes, us Virginians did not win favor from the mighty King Charles for the end result, but the Native’s deaths meant more joy that the accumulation of new land!  

[southernblogger99]

June 20th 1706

  Ahh… I love waking up to the southern atmosphere! Such largeplantations to be plowed and such warmth calls for a productive day filled with lots of work! My husband will do what he is best at, which is to farm, while my four children divide their time riding horses, hunting, and sewing. And as always, I will devote my time doing what I always do, cook, clean, and supervise my children. Today marks the day where crops will be grand! The weather in the south always guarantees minimal crop failure, which always brings me joy! Oh how I pity the colonists that reside in the tideland, such poor soil and the thick forests in the back-country!

Each meal, I prepare the dish of vegetables along with small portions of fish. Depending when harvesting begins, I occasionally give fruits for my family to eat. You know, it’s hard cooking for a family of 6. I wish that this southern humanity had something that cooked vegetables and fish faster! Oh future southern society, be sure to do something like that in the future.

[southernblogger99]

June 29th 1706

  Oh how I hate these bloody slaves! I ask for little, and they output garbage! I had appointed a slave to do the work of the field since my husband is ill and they ruined the whole plantation field along with their crops! They showered too much water and plowed incorrectly, damaging the whole crop production! And I was so kind that I only whipped him 3 times. I spared him the countless torture that lurked my mind. So I gave him another chance and allowed for him to clean the house free of dirt and cook supper. In return, he rearranged the items that were in certain places and cooked a horrid meal for my family that was entirely inedible! This man disgraced the title of a slave! Now I spared him no pain; I whipped until he begged for forgiveness and made each one as loud as his screams!

He ruined the plantation that had such potential with fresh crops and prepared an inedible meal for such a wealthy family! He then cried in pain and left himself in front of my house. Oh how he begged for treatment for his tarnished body. Well, he gave my family trash, so I left him there to die, as trash. 

[southernblogger99]

August 15th 1706

  Disease, its such a powerful word. It can wipe you out within a minute or wipe out a society within taking much time. That’s what the weather brought to the warm lands of the south. It brought more complications and brought struggles to the southern society and to my family. Even the smallest of things brought such deadly outcomes. One of which, was mosquitoes. Yes, they brought such a horrid sight to my south. It brought yellow fever, a disease that could bring hazardous effects such as bleeding, infection, liver and kidney failure. These diseases brought such fear to me and my husband and motivated us to care of of our four kids more than we’ve ever did! It’s a daily struggle for us, and it’s one of the hardest things to do. 

Aside from outbreaks and epidemics, it brought less children into the world and was the reason why people from there didn’t survive very long. As far a I know of, men lived till 40 whereas women couldn’t make it to their late 30’s! I vow not to let my kids out anymore! Any exposure or any little mistake could lead to a grave misfortune! I cannot allow it and I will not allow it! This daily hardship of disease will have to go to new grounds in order to take my family with it!