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I ran into this in Voices from the Civil War: Women and Families, Tom Head ed., Blackbirch Press, 2003:
Excerpted from With Sherman To The Sea: The Civil War Letters, Diaries and Reminiscences of Theodore E. Upson.
"Father and I were husking out some corn...When William Cory came across the field (he had been down after the mail) he was excited and said 'Jonathan, the Rebs have fired upon and taken Fort Sumpter!'[sic]"
And slightly later, when the women hear: "Jonathan, I told you it would come!"
A couple of thoughts on this:
1. In many letters, the writer is conscious of an audience and careful to refer to people as "Mr. Upton", "Mr. Cory", etc. This one isn't. He was too young to enlist in 1861, but even so he didn't mind recording the elders using first names with one another.
2. By all appearances, these were folks who knew one another very well. When you've known someone since childhood and are roughly social equals, it's hard to be formal with him.
Excerpted from With Sherman To The Sea: The Civil War Letters, Diaries and Reminiscences of Theodore E. Upson.
"Father and I were husking out some corn...When William Cory came across the field (he had been down after the mail) he was excited and said 'Jonathan, the Rebs have fired upon and taken Fort Sumpter!'[sic]"
And slightly later, when the women hear: "Jonathan, I told you it would come!"
A couple of thoughts on this:
1. In many letters, the writer is conscious of an audience and careful to refer to people as "Mr. Upton", "Mr. Cory", etc. This one isn't. He was too young to enlist in 1861, but even so he didn't mind recording the elders using first names with one another.
2. By all appearances, these were folks who knew one another very well. When you've known someone since childhood and are roughly social equals, it's hard to be formal with him.