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Letter from Lloyd Powell [Henry, Ill] to Charles L. Powell, Sr. [Winhester, Va]
21 April 1861
Powell Papers 65 P875, Box II, Folder 5
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Henry April 21/61
My dear Father
I have been prevented from replying earlier to your letter of the 1st inst by the inflammation of the eyes to which I alluded in my last letter to Sister Rebecca, & from which I still suffer some inconvenience. For several days past we have been almost paralyzed by the alarming news from Va & Washington, & we are now utterly at a loss as to what course to pursue. Our first impulse was to return to Va atonce, but this it is impossible for Henry James & Charley to do at any rate. My own position is hardly less difficult. After paying the taxes on our lands here, I shd be able to raise now not more than $200 at most. This would be enough to carry me to Va & to maintain us for a short time, but if all communication with Ills is cut off, as seems probable, we should be unable to get anything further from there perhaps for years. If I return to Va & assist in her defence as of course I should expect to do, it will be impossible for
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me to go back to Ills until peace is established, & consequently I should be cut off entirely from all supervision of your property & mine. It can however be left in the hands of Uncle Richd, who will no doubt attend to it as well as I could myself, & in case of his death Charley & Harry Janney can take charge of it, & from the present prospect I fear no sale can be made of any of it except at a tremendous sacrifice for some time. I have just written to parties living near the different ¼ sections offering to sell at very low rates, & Uncle R will go out & try to make sale of a part of it this week. As for paying the $2000.00 which you have to pay next spring, from sale of land here, I do not believe it can be done. I think I can realize $1000 from that source by that time, & I had expected to get the balance, if necessary, from funds of Aunt Mary’s in Uncle Richds hands. I may be able to get the $2000 00 in that way, but at such a period it is useless to look forever with any degree of certainty to anything. The best tracts in our state are worth only
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85 ct on the dollar, & a large majority not over 50 ct. This is the condition of our property here, & it is this only which prevents me from returning to Va immediately. For several days our anxiety & uneasiness have been almost unbearable, & the news yesterday of the secession of Va was not calculated to allay them. The burning of the arms and armory at Harpers Ferry although a great loss to Va, was rather a relief to me as there will be nothing now to bring the war near Winchester. Independently of the horrors of war & invasion which I trust will not reach that vicinity, I fear that your school will be, or perhaps has already been, broken up, & that your collections have ceased entirely. We all as you can well imagine are in very low spirits, & unless I hear from you very soon I shall leave here for Winchester in spite of all reasons for the contrary. Please write to me at once, & give me your advice as to my duty under the circumstances, & as to what course it is best for me to pursue. I am ready for anything which you may consider best & most desirable for you all at home. At such a time my own interests weigh
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nothing with me. My only debt of any magnitude is to you, & it together with your property here are the only things which are to be considered. I do not think there will be any confiscation of real estate in Ills.
Please let me know too whether the travel is still uninterrupted between Wheeling & Winchester. The war feeling in Henry among the Republicans is very strong, but so far has shown itself only in an unsuccessful effort to raise a volunteer company, & in an equally unsuccessful effort to frighten the Democrats into supporting their war measures. They have been talking about driving out all “traitors & secessionists”? as they style them but the Democrats about here are too strong & too thoroughly united in their opposition to this war to be alarmed by their threats or lead astray by their sophistry. I have never seen more unanimity than there is now displayed by the Democrats of the town & neighborhood 95 out of 100 at least are bitterly opposed to a war with the South, & declare they will render no aid whatever unless they are forced to do so. And yet the “Henry Cornea”? has the effrontery to declare that “party line have been ignored & Democrats & Republicans are equally zealous in support of the government.”? And so I believe the Democratic
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statement has been misrepresented throughout the rural districts & small towns, if not in the cities, all over the North. They (the Democrats) deprecate a collision with the South, & are extremely desirus of avoiding it. But the storm of excitement which has swept over the Country since the surrender of Fort Sumter, has been too violent for them to stand up against it, & in the cities expecially, they have been forced to bow to it. With the Democratic news-papers in the North, even cities, it has been a matter of absolute necessity, involving the preservation of the lives & property of the editors. A gentleman who left Chicago a day or two ago says it is as much as a man’s life there is worth to say a word against the crusade in which the Republicans have embarked. Here the two parties are more evenly divided, & the efforts of our enemies to close our mouths have been fruitless. Our legislature meets on Tuesday, & although the Republicans have a majority & will do doubt carry out strong war measures, I anticipate a good deal of opposition to such measures from the other side.
I dont think I shall leave Henry until
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I hear from you in reply to this. Please write me how you all are & how you feel, & whether a single bright spot is yet visible through the thick darkness of the storm which has burst upon us. How do dear Mother & the girls bear the prospect of the trials which they will have to endure? When I think of your situation at home (& I can get no respite from the fears & anxieties which it excites) I feel sick at heart, & almost desperate. As far as bodily health is concerned we are all well, both here & at Uncle Richards. The weather is delightful & the farmers busily engaged with their spring work. Charley joins me in warmest love to all & says he is sorry to say he will not be able to visit Virginia this summer, but will be glad to see Virginia out here if she will come in proper trim. Trusting my dear Father that you my be exempt from many of the ills which my fancy pictures, & that an over-ruling Providence may have you in his care & protection I am
Your very affectionate son
Lloyd Powell
It is important when you write to us here to seal your letters well so that they cannot be tampered with. I shall direct this to Sister Hattie.
