Old Plantation Days: Southern Life Before the Civil War - Paperback

by Nancy Bostick De Saussure (Author)

Written in the form of a letter to her granddaughter, the author of this little book describes her plantation childhood, her marriage and parenthood, and her experiences during the Civil War and Reconstruction. In response to what she believed were misconceptions about antebellum Southern slavery, she argues that while some slaveholders were cruel, the majority were conscientious about the well-being of their servants and looked upon them as members of the household.

Author Biography

Nancy Bostick was born in 1837, one of twelve children of a prominent plantation owner in Hampton County, South Carolina. She was educated at home by private tutors and took music lessons in Charleston, where she met Dr. Henry William De Sausurre. The couple married in 1859 and settled in Robertville. During the War Between the States, Dr. De Sausurre served the Confederacy as a surgeon, first with the Charleston Light Dragoons and later along the South Carolina coast. While her husband was away, Nancy and her young daughter stayed at her father's plantation, which was near enough to her husband's camp to allow visitations. When General Sherman's army swept through the State, Nancy was forced to flee their home, leaving it to be destroyed by fire. After the war, she taught at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She died in 1915.