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Category Archives: Parthenia Leila Ellis
Cooking with one pot on an open fire
The novel’s fictional widow Parthenia Leila Ellis presumably had more than one pot to cook with, but soldiers on both sides at Knoxville probably didn’t unless their unit’s cooks were rustling up grub for all. For those, particularly among the … Continue reading
Reprise: General Lee’s Unionist sister
Many families were torn apart by the war, a fact that supports my fictional creation Parthenia Leila Ellis, the Unionist widow of Confederate Major Clayton Ellis of Knoxville. Many such divisions were unsung at the time, the principals being little known … Continue reading
Christmas wishes from Leila’s old school
Parthenia Leila Ellis, the novel’s Union-sympathizing Confederate widow, hailed from Alabama where her family’s plantation, The Cedars, was near the former-state capital of Cahawba. In 1864, Cahawba still had a Female Academy from which Leila had graduated along with other young daughters … Continue reading
Posted in "Knoxville 1863", Parthenia Leila Ellis
Tagged Alabama capital, Cahawba, Knoxville 1863
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Reprise: French seams
Some slaves/servants were highly-skilled domestic craftsmen. The novel’s widow Parthenia Leila Ellis’s housekeeper/slave Natalie, for instance. Natalie was skilled at sewing French seams even in silk, while her mistress was afraid of sewing silk at all. The French seam remains in use … Continue reading
Posted in Civil War clothing, Parthenia Leila Ellis, Slavery
Tagged French seams, Knoxville 1863, slave craftsmen
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A Visit From the Old Mistress
This poignant 1876 painting by Winslow Homer is rarely seen except in art gallery presentations. The Smithsonian’s collection interprets it this way: “…the living conditions of these former slaves would appear not to have improved since before the time of … Continue reading
Posted in Parthenia Leila Ellis, Slavery
Tagged A Visit From the Old Mistress, Knoxville 1863, Winslow Homer
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Memorized poetry
The Civil War was fought at the beginning of an age in which memorizing and declaiming popular poetry was fashionable among even those with minimal educations. This was, after all, a time of limited entertainment when, as an ancestor of … Continue reading
Christmas Wishes from Old Cahawba
The novel’s Union-sympathizing Parthenia Leila Ellis hailed from Alabama where her family’s plantation, The Cedars, was near the former-state capital of Cahawba. In 1864, Cahawba still had a Female Academy for the young daughters of plantation owners in the vicinity, … Continue reading
Full-black mourning
The novel’s Parthenia Leila Ellis would have looked something like this, during her period of full-black mourning for her dead Confederate husband. Except that her face was usually covered by the veil that went with it—to spare others the disconcerting … Continue reading
Posted in Knoxville, Parthenia Leila Ellis
Tagged full-black mourning, Knoxville 1863
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KNOXVILLE 1863, the novel 