View My Stats

Monday, September 19, 2011

What were the girls enjoying in January 1881?

Green Mount
Jan. 16th, 1881

We opened our Society by reading the 42 Psalm, and then we went into the music room. Then Lou played Old Rosin The Beau, very well indeed. Then Lucie read The Closing Year which is a lovely piece and she read it better then usual. Nannie then played Fra Davolo which she said she did not know but proved that she did. Lulie read a very amusing scrap from cousin Lou's Scrap book which we all enjoied though it was so short. Mattie Kate read If We Only Knew, which is a lovely piece, Sallie first played Drippin Fountain alias the scale of C major but afterwarde played Spinlie a very difficult piece but she managed to get throug with it very creditably. Cousin Lou and cousin Florence sang some duets for us which closed a very pleasant evening.
Mattie Ella Fleet
(all spellings are as written in the journal)

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Undated Entry

Before writing out this undated entry, it's a bit odd because the one following it is dated Jan16th which is 1 week after the last one posted. I'm not sure why this entry is stuck in between the two and is undated. But, it is so I will surely post it. The roster for the 1880-1881 school year reads as follows:

Blount, Sallie Lee
Fauntleroy, Mattie Kate
Fleet, Lucy
Henley, M. Lou
Sale, Nannie F.
Starke, Loulie

The school's rosters are in the back of the second book Betsy Fleet did which is titled Green Mount After the War. There are rosters for each year the school existed which began in 1873 and ended in 1888. If you want a list of the rosters please contact me. It's something I should add to the blog and will do so at some point, but tonight I'll just do this one undated entry.

I would like to add that there was a 5.8 earthquake here in Virginia on Tuesday, August 23rd. I sure felt it. I was here in the house and had just sat down on the sofa to call my mom. She and I were talking and both realized we were experiencing an earthquake. I told her, "I'm going to the basement" and sat the phone down and called all 5 of my dogs to go with me. I got 4 of the 5 down there and the fifth one who only has 3 legs (Annie) was at the top of the stair to the basement so I sat on the top step holding her collar. Then I realized, NO! I should no be in the basement. I need to get outside! So I called all the dogs, grabbed the dog treat bag and out we all scurried. When standing on the ground the rumbling was still going on but fading. Then we had a 4.? tremor on Friday morning following it. I checked the house and chimneys for cracks and found nothing out of the ordinary. Then Saturday, August 27th we were hit by Hurricane Irene. It was a mess around here. Broken trees and limbs and debris was scattered all over the place. However, there were no damages to speak of to the house or garages or shed. We were fortunate. Power was out for 4 days and came back on this past Wednesday. I ran a generator and did fine. The weather was great and so air conditioning was not needed. My husband was in Kansas and didn't experience the hurricane, but he felt the earthquake as he was driving away on his trip that Tuesday. Ok, enough about current events...on with the undated entry!

We opened exercises, as usual, by reading a Psalm. We then went into the music room where Lucy played much to our enjoyment Hack's (?) "Home Sweet Home." I think it a beautiful copy of "Home." Sallie read a very instructive piece called "How Frank Entertains the Boys." It shows that making "snowballs" & such things does not make the real sum of what a genuine boy can learn & do. Mattie Kate played "El Fresco," which we enjoyed very much especially Nannie. Mattie read "Frankie's First Steps,"(when clicking on Frankie's First Steps, once the site comes up click to view the book and the poem is on pages 51 and 52.) a very sweet little piece. Loulie played "To the Woodland Come Away." This is one of the pieces which we learned to sing by note, & all of us joined in & sang a verse. Nannie read "Doing" very well. Lou read "Influence." Last though not least Cousin Lou read What Will We Make of It.
H.L.M.
(this is probably Lou Henley)