Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be reproduced without permission. Transcribed by Linda Harmon. PLANTATION EXPERIENCES... Our Heritage By Claude Moore Mount Olive Tribune November 13, 1992 The facts in this article are taken largely from a series of letters edited by a schoolmate of mine, James C. Bonner and published in the July and October issues of the N. C. Historical Review in 1956 and from my own knowledge of the Williams family. These letters were written between 1853 and 1857 by a young lady, Sara F. Hicks of Albany, New York, who met a young man, Benjamine F. Williams of Greene County, North Carolina, while he was a student at the Albany Medical College, 1845-1853. They were married in 1853. Benjamine F. Williams (1820-1892) was the son of Joseph Williams Sr. and his wife, Avey Murphy Williams (1785-1866) and lived five miles west of Snow Hill at a plantation called "Clifton Grove." He attended Wake Forest College and later the Medical College at Albany, N. Y. While his younger sister, attended the Albany Female Academy. Benjamin and Sara were married after eight years of courtship. They went to Canada on their honeymoon. They then came to Clifton Grove and this is what she wrote to her mother a few days later. "I felt at home. At dinner we had everything quite nice. It is customary when the waiting girl is not passing things at the table to keep a large broom of peacock feathers in motion over our heads to keep off flies... yesterday we went to church in a very handsome carriage, servants before and behind...I have seen enough to convince me that the ill treatment of slaves is exaggerated at the North." In December 1853, Sara wrote her mother, that there must always be two or three meats on Mrs. Williams table for breakfast and dinner. "Red pepper is much used to flavor meat with the famous barbecue of the South and which I believe they esteem above all dishes is roasted pig dressed with red pepper and vinegar. Their bread is corn bread, just meal wet with water and without yeast...Mother Williams went away for the night and with the help of cook, I had a very good breakfast, coffee, beef hash, fried chicken, sweet potatoes, corn bread and soda bread." On December 11, 1854, Sara and Benjamine were visitors of his niece, Harriett, and her husband, William A. Faison, at Pleasant Retreat plantation near Turkey in Sampson County. She writes to her mother, "In Raleigh I met some most agreeable people. Mrs. Barringer, the ex-minister to Spain...I met him and his lady at a party at Governor Read's. Mrs. Read is a perfect lady and made me feel at home." Ben was at that time a member of the Legislature. In writing on January 2, 1855, she wrote, "I am still staying with Hattie, where I intend remaining until the adjournment of the legislature. They gave a large party here last Thursday at which there were seventy present and all relatives, mostly Faisons, but four. The society in this county (Sampson) is much better than in Greene, and much like that I have been accustomed to. It is quite another thing to give a party here than with us for here they come to pass the night and stay until after breakfast the next morning. Then there are almost as many servants as there are white people." Dr. Benjamine Williams had large holdings in land and turpentine and spent little time at the practice of medicine. Sara Williams were a member of the Presbyterian Church, but in Greene they went to Jerusalem Methodist Church and to a Primitive Baptist Church. She always wrote most favorable of the sermons which she heard in Sampson and Duplin preached by the Reverend James Sprunt, D. D. In 1853 the Williamses moved to a place near Waycross, Georgia where he purchased 3,000 acres of pine land. Six children were born to the Williamses. During the War Between the States, Sara Williams was able to get a few letters through by the way of Fortress Monroe, Virginia, to her family. She became a staunch Confederate. Dr. Williams died in 1892 and she lived until 1917. We had lost touch with this family until about 35 years ago when a descendant stopped over to see us. These letters, 110 in all are now deposited with the Southern Historical Collection at Chapel Hill. The Clifton Grove house near Snow Hill was burned in the 1950's and the original "Pleasant Retreat" house of 16 rooms was burned in the 1880's. ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Linda Harmon ==============================================================