The Yankee Teacher

Margaret “Maggie” Newbold Thorpe, from Philadelphia, and Elizabeth “Lizzie” Pennock, came to Warrenton, Warren County, NC in 1869 to teach in the new public school for Negroes. They rented the Bragg house from a Negro couple, Albert and Anne Burgess. In her book, Sketches of Old Warrenton, North Carolina, Lizzie Wilson Montgomery described the teachers as “educated, well-dressed and modest women. … These teachers were Episcopalians, and attended Emmanuel Church … .”

In 1881, Miss Thorpe copied a number of her letters into a notebook, and it is from that notebook that the following is taken:

September, 1869

Late in the month I went back to my work in the South, this time in North Carolina and with Elizabeth Pennock. When we arrived at Warrenton we found the colored people anxious to enjoy the first free schools which the state for the first time grants them, … . We have passed an examination and have received certificates and nose pose as “Public School Teachers,” and are amongst the very first in the South. …

At the station we were surrounded by black pigs and colored women, the latter carrying little waiters, containing boiled eggs, sweet potatoes and sandwiches made out of members of the former’s family, also apples and grapes and the cars resounded with cries of “snacks missis? Snacks sir? S’mapples s’meggs” and when we saw a face more beaming and important that the others we knew the cry would be “possum, nice fat possum.” …

The house in which we are living is said to be the birthplace of the rebel General [Braxton] Bragg, in whose family it remained until a few years ago, when it was sold to Mr. Faulkner, … . At Mr. F.’s death his son came into possession, and he rents it to “uncle” Albert Burgess, who is now our landlord and our man of all work. His wife is our cook, and his daughter, second girl. We pay to them board and wages. It seems a funny arrangement—but is most satisfactory. It is a rambling big house; rooms dart out from unexpected corners, great old rooms with high ceilings and wide windows, opening nearly to the floor, and from their peculiar Southern construction offer every facility for the entrance of the wintry blasts. …

The condition of the colored people is far different from that of our poor faithful suffering Virginians. Our two hundred pupils are comfortably dressed, some of the families employ servants, have sewing machines and keep horses and carriages. …

Our school grows in size if not in grace. We teach in a room with a single aisle running from end to end, long benches go from the aisle to the wall and are so close together that the children have not room to walk on the floor between them when the seats are occupied; so when the children are called out for recitation they walk over each other, the walkers kicking and the sitters pinching, so that our school appears as if always having recess or as a visitor said, “The children seem to have a very enjoyable time!”

There is not much variety in our work. We teach from 9 to 4 o’clock then come home to dinner, read our mail, generally have some sick person to call upon, see the various callers, go into night school at a quarter before 7 o’clock, out between 9 and 10, take a cup of chocolate, read the daily paper (a week old), write letters, play with the cat and go to bed; the one who is ready first always takes the cat to sleep by her. This is the programme for five days in the week. On the sixth, (which is the Seventh) all the morning is spent in preparing the children for examination, then we iron our collars and cuffs which we both hate to do but it is the only way in which we can have them presentable, then sew or read or take a delightful horseback ride. On First Day we go to church, come home and study the lessons for Sunday School which commences about half past two o’clock and continues for two hours.

We hire our horses from a colored man who owns a small farm; he owns eight good horses and keeps a store; and since he became free had made enough money to live very comfortably, and is giving his children the chance to be well educated. …

We find our good old uncle Albert really a remarkable character. We constantly go to him for information on a variety of subjects, especially the history of this country. He is so correct in his replies that we have dubbed him our Encyclopedia; by his thrift and industry he has already accumulated considerable property … .

One day last week we took dinner at the house one of the leading colored men. The daughter is one of our scholars and has asked us many times if we would “honor” her father by coming to see his place, which is a small farm about a mile from here. John owns thirteen horses which he hires out; he has some “right nice” carriages and he sent a very comfortable one for us to ride out in. We found the farm all under careful care, and looked prosperous everywhere. We sat down for dinner at a small pretty table carefully set with nice glass and china, and … made a good meal off of an immense roast turkey, a whole boiled ham, chicken pie, pickles potatoes, bread custard, four kinds of pie, pound cake and apples. The cooking was fine!

On Friday we arose while it was yet night, ate our breakfast, put up lunch and by half past seven were off for the gold mines. … The mine is twenty two miles from here, the road — well there is a bottom to it, all but in one place over which we walked and the wagon slid. We found much at the mine that was interesting. …

February 1870

O a thousand thanks to you all, Anna, Edward, Charles, aunt Elizabeth, mother, father, all of you who have given such joy to uncle Albert’s noble old care-worn heart, how can I give you any idea of his pride and pleasure.

The clock was the first to come, and the whole family was in a state of the greatest excitement over it; they had never before owned one; then came the cane, which is beautiful, so appropriate in size and the engraving so handsomely done, and when I handed the money and said, “Mr. Nathaniel sends you with which to buy that cow you want so much,” the tears streamed down his dear old black face and he said, “Tell them oh, oh, Miss Maggie please tell them what’s in my heart.” And when I told him of the interest Charles has taken in the whole matter and he saw his own name on the cane and what a beautiful cane it is, he gave up trying to express his gratitude, he said he “hadn’t any words in his mouth, but his heart is full.” …

We are anything but model school teachers, and I often think of what Gen. Armstrong said that our scholars always “seemed to be enjoying themselves!” and today we both laughed out when our favorite scholar, George Brownlow, upon being “spelled down” by a boy much shorter than himself, stroked the cheek of the little fellow, then passed his hand over his head, and remarked in a stage-whisper, “No whiskers, but a finely developed head.” …

April 1870

On last Wednesday we went to a wedding in high colored life at the house where we dined during Christmas week. The bride and her six bridesmaids were dressed in white. After a fine supper at ten o’clock the dancing commenced, and it was such fun to sit and watch the doings of the young people … the musicians with banjos and violins played with all their might, … John had secured for us good horses and a comfortable carriage, and we did so enjoy our moonlight ride; it was such a rarity … .

January 1871

… You in warm Northern houses can form no conception of how we suffer here. One morning when dressing my hands became so numb, I was obliged to have assistance, by noon my fingers were covered with blisters, and my hands looked as if scalded, my feet are so frosted that the toes are turning black and bursting! The doctor says this will cure them. We have only open fires and water freezes anywhere in our living rooms. L. picked up a key lying on our mantel and it stuck to her fingers; our mustard, pickles and kerosene have frozen solid. We walk every day to keep our blood in circulation. When in the house we make as good a fire as is possible with green pine as fuel, draw our chairs close to the fender, spread newspapers over our laps to keep from scorching our clothes, draw woolen shawls over the back of our heads to keep the cold air of the room off our necks, talk and talk, eat Christmas candies and thoroughly enjoy our friends. Some nights we have not been able to sleep on account of the cold, and the cat is in great demand as a bedfellow. …

[Margaret Newbold Thorpe and Elizabeth Pennock remained at the school in Warrenton until the end of the school term in the spring, 1871.]

[Taken from “A ‘Yankee Teacher’ in North Carolina" edited by Richard L. Morton: The North Casrolina Historical Review, October 1953. This story was published in The Connector, newsletter of the Tar River Connections Genealogical Society in the Spring 2005 issue.]