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"Near the end of her life, Mary Mann Hamilton (1866 - c.1936) was encouraged to record her experiences as a female pioneer. The result is the only known firsthand account of a remarkable woman thrust into the center of taming the American South-surviving floods, tornadoes, and fires; facing bears, panthers, and snakes; managing a boardinghouse in Arkansas that was home to an eccentric group of settlers; and running a logging camp in Mississippi that blazed a trail for development in the Mississippi Delta. All this she tackled--and diligently wrote about in secrecy, in a diary that not even her family knew she kept--while caring for her children, several of whom didn't survive the perils of pioneer life. The extreme hard work and tragedy Hamilton faced are eclipsed only by her emotional and physical strength; her unwavering faith in her husband, Frank, a mysterious Englishman; and her tenacious sense of adventure."--Amazon.com.… (more)
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All she ever wanted was a home, but she only had home of her own for a few years. She and her husband needed to go where the work was, her husband not in the best health, they often picked up and moved, from one property to another. Often lonely, her husband working, no other woman close by, her children became her solace and joy.
"whether I was sewing, working in the garden, cooking, milking,
tending my chickens, or helping the children hoe, my mind was
always with them. And watching them at times like that gave me
a thrill. They were my flower garden in my hard years of toil and
loneliness. As each child was born it was a flower added to my garden,
each a new kind, each needing different care."
So beautiful, told in her own words, this is a special story written and told by a very special person. It was a joy to read about her and her life. Not easy, often stress laden, sadness and joy but an honorable and honest life lived to the fullest.
Advanced readers copy provided by Edelweiss.
I value this book for its historical significance. It is a time capsule of sorts and would make excellent reference material for those writing historical fiction about the era to get a feel for what life was truly like. And life was hard: hauling water, time-consuming constant cooking, building your own house, dealing with storms, floods, fires, wild animals (panthers, wolves, feral pigs), eating squirrels and bear meat. It was a common occurrence for babies and young children to die. Accidents and disease were commonplace. Doctors lived far away and sometimes did more harm than good, and there were few ways to communicate with anyone.
This memoir provides a picture of a pioneering life in the deep south about 30 to 40 years after the American civil war ended. It is reflective of the time and place, so expect to encounter racism, racial slurs, ethnic stereotyping, and then-common physical disciplining of children. Hamilton makes many generic pronouncements of her opinions stated as facts.
Contrary to the blurb, I found the writing lacking. Hamilton focuses on what happened, but little on why or how she felt about it. The style is blunt, rambling, and full of superfluous details. Having said that, I feel I should not be too hard on this author, since she never set out to be a writer and had a limited education. She was convinced by a friend to write her memories down, which she did in 1933, close to the end of her life. This book was published posthumously in 1992.