When the War Of 1861 first broke out, it seemed so far away to folks around Bishop's Head, Maryland. My mother Caroline James Pritchett, my sister Margaret and I lived a quiet life, hard but enjoyable, on the family farm. My brother Edward chose to work on the water, fishing and crabbing and the like. The largest town, Cambridge, was over 30 miles away and the most heavily used highway was the Chesapeake Bay.
Our father, John Henry Pritchett, had been killed in a wagon accident two years before and mother had to adapt herself to a way of life which she had not been used to before their marriage. It must have been quite a sight when father first brought her home from Virginia, what with her dressed in fine clothes and slaves attending her and everything. I've heard that mother had never so much as even sewn a handkerchief before meeting father! Father soon changed all of that by setting her slaves free and mother, I'm sure under protest, assumed her duties as lady of the house. It's amazing what you can get used to when you have to.
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