Fannie Waddell, 1856 January 02 - 1865 December 31

The folder includes a photocopy of Fannie Waddell's original diary, a full transcript of the diary, and two partial transcripts, one of the opening pages and one describing the siege of Petersburg, and a biography of Fannie Waddell and Rosa Ashe Hill and how they are related as half-sisters.

In her diary, Fannie talked about living with her family and wrote from January 2, 1856 to December 31, 1865. She began most of her entries discussing how she kept sleeping in during the mornings. Fannie talked about taking a trip to Richmond. She made a comment on how Patrick Henry's statute was quite handsome and that Jefferson Davis' statue was not so much. She always talked about the days she attended church and what she learned from the sermons. The weather prevented her from attending sometimes, and when it is snowing or raining, she would spend the day sewing.

Fannie is a part of the sewing society. On March 3, 1856, Fannie and her mother brought family funds to an orphanage, as well as money raised by the sewing society. One winter day, Fannie described going ice-skating by sitting in a chair and having a group of boys push her. She said its what she "imagined a bird's must be, sailing through the air." On April 10, 1859, Fannie discussed how she had taken a two year break from her journal. In that time, she had been in two houses and has come back to her old house where her previous journal entries take place in Petersburg. In addition, Fannie said her sister Sally has died. She also skipped another year and talked about another sister's death, but she does not say her name. Based off of the text, it is assumed it one of Charles Waddell's sisters.

Charles is Fannie's husband, and she does not mention him much through out the beginning of the diary. He is only present for activities such as attending church and for when Fannie wakes up in the morning. On January 20, 1862, Fannie went to a tableaux performance of the Southern secession from the Union. There, she described how the people in the audience felt a strong sense of pride for their states. The next day, Fannie mentioned how Wise's Legion was passing through town and two men were shot for insubordination. In addition, she said that Charlie had written her 108 letters since he had left for the war, and she felt bad about burning them, so she kept them safe in a tied bundle. Fannie wrote often of visiting the hospital to cheer up the sick and wounded soldiers.

On February 8, 1864, Fannie reacted to the conspiracy to assassinate Jefferson Davis. She said the event scared her, but she is relieved that it did not take place. On June 17, 1864, Fannie said her house was shot at by Union soldiers. Only her and her sister Loss were home, so they went over to their neighbor's house to spend the night in their basement for safety. On June 18, 1864, Charlie returned home momentarily with his 12th Regiment lead by General Lee. Fannie talked about seeing General Lee on June 19, 1864 and commenting on his eyes. She even further proclaimed, "I felt I had not lived in vain; when I had seen the day when I could say I had shaken hands with the greatest chieftain of his age." On June 30, 1864, after the persistent shelling of her home, she finally decided to leave because Grant was trying to take over their hometown of Petersburg. She knew the Confederate Army would not let that happen, so she left to her neighbor's house for momentary safety. Then, her and her mother travelled to Raleigh where Fannie tried to find a job. Her diary ended with her meeting up with Charlie again for a brief moment before he had to return to fight in Virginia.