From Ballachulish to South Mississippi

Mary Catharine McKenzie (1838-1839) F-beah

For the McKenzie family the last year of the 1830s brought the joy of Mary Catherine’s healthy birth. The birth was attended by only Duncan and the enslaved woman Elly, who was probably well versed in childbirth, possibly even qualified as a midwife. Duncan McKenzie also professed himself to be somewhat medically competent, as he often wrote medical advise to his brother-in-law. Mary Catherine and Barbara were likely in better hands than if a doctor had been called. Duncan describes the newborn: “We call the little girl Mary an Catharine she is well grown for her age and as well featured as any other of the children were at her age.” Barbara was around forty-three years old at Mary Catharine’s birth. During the child’s one year of life, Barbara’s hope for female companionship in the household must have blossomed again only to wither with the sudden onset of disease that often prevailed in the 19th century American South. At nearly one year old, Mary Catharine had to be weaned very early due to Barbara’s contracting what Duncan calls the flu. Barbara was quite ill for a while but recovered within the month only to lose little Mary Catharine to a bout of diarrhea that attacked the family. In February Duncan recalls the date of his child’s death: “I know the date of the 23rd August was that on which our little daughter died and it was some three weeks or more before I wrote owing to the sickness that prevailed in the family.” The only evidence that little Mary Catherine lived long enough to touch the lives of her family is the miraculous survival of her father’s written words.

In the early months of the year 1840, Duncan expresses grief at the death of his friend Col. Wiley Johnson. During the same time he is thankful that his family has been recovering from their earlier illnesses but also expresses concern over Barbara’s health, “She complains of a degree of heat and pain extending down the hip and thigh and up to the shoulder She has complained of it at different times for the last four years and I am fearful it is a liver complaint or that it will terminate in such.” Barbara complained of hip pain in her 1817 letter to her sister Effy, so this is something that has bothered her for many years. Duncan’s description brings to my mind a kind of nerve pain that often involves a burning sensation. In September, however, he says she has recovered from an illness that has plagued the community and seems to be in better health than before. He lists those neighbors with whom his brother-in-law is acquainted who have died: “Jennet Flowers, Jane McLaurin, Duncans fourth wife (This is likely the McLaurin Society Quarterly’s designated family “B.” The Quarterly lists his fourth wife as Jane McCallum.), Catherine McLaurin, Lachlins daughter and Archd Wilkinson.” He continues to list those who have been ill but are recovering: Barbara Stewart; and more of the “B” family including  “Jon Dove, Cornelius and Duncan McLaurin, old Danls sone.”

Duncan McKenzie, and likely Duncan McLaurin in his return letters, appear to enjoy news of the health and welfare of family and acquaintances. Some of these were born in Scotland, settled in Richmond County, NC communities, and migrated west, if not together in individual families units that settled nearby. Daniel Walker Howe, in The Political Culture of the American Whigs, describes this southern culture as having “fierce in-group loyalties.” Likely, during these years and in this place, the drive to remain loyal to political favorites had its source in family loyalties. In spite of minor and major squabbles and points of view among these families, they seem to have cared deeply about the lives and fortunes of one another.

Catharine McLaurin of Glasgow (1754-1841) F-bd

In this same September l840 letter, Duncan mentions that Aunt Caty seems to be doing well. Aunt Caty is Catharine McLaurin of Glasgow, Barbara and Duncan’s aunt. She is the sister of Barbara’s father Hugh and Duncan’s mother Mary. She married into the “D” family according to the Clan McLaurin Society Quarterly. Shortly after she arrived in North Carolina from Scotland in 1790 at the age of around 36, she wed Duncan McLaurin about age 50, often known as Duncan McJohn, son of John of Culloden. They moved from Richmond County, NC to Conecuh County, AL in 1823, where Duncan died in 1833. After his death Aunt Caty moved to live with her oldest child Neill in Lauderdale County, MS.

Aunt Caty must have moved to Lauderdale County during the McKenzie family’s first year in Covington County, MS. The McKenzies appear worried about Aunt Caty in 1836 when her son Dr. Duncan  says to Barbara, “…don’t ask me any questions about Mother She is a torment to all about her.” This conversation increased their worry, but later they were comforted when one of Aunt Caty’s grandchildren, Little Duncan, and his wife explained the situation with Aunt:

She (Little Duncan’s wife) staid at Neils two weeks Aunts house being in the

yard, She could not conceive what cause of dissatisfaction aunt

could have — She stated that Neil was in her opinion a dutiful

sone and a verry agree able man, it is admitted by all who have

visited Neil that he is a good farmer steddy and punctual …

Tell your father to make himself easy about

aunt and recollect the tenor of her temper Say to him from

me that he may beleave the statement of Duncans wife —   Duncan McKenzie

A clue to Aunt Caty’s personality may be found in the phrase, “the tenor of her temper.” Duncan later writes the address to which letters may be directed to Aunt Caty. Interestingly, in 1840 Duncan McKenzie explains that Allan Stewart, aging himself, proposed marriage to the widowed Aunt Caty, in her eighties. She refused him, and he did not take it well. Sadly, in October of 1841 Duncan McKenzie writes that Aunt Catharine has died “on the 22nd September last of four days sickness of fever.” He continued to say Neil’s wife and daughter were sick at the same time. At the time this letter was written Dr. Duncan had not been informed of his mother’s death. At Caty’s death her son Hugh and step daughter Catharine were visiting their sister in Louisiana. By January of 1842, McKenzie explains the particulars of Aunt Caty’s death:

Say to your father that the doct gave me verbatim all the partic

=ulars relative to Aunt Catherines death which were as follows, She became

somewhat drooping and silent some three or four weeks before any sym

=toms of disease was discovered the Doct,, says he discovered her decline and attended to her and nursed her well, & I acknowledge his skill as such, but her glass was run 

— Duncan McKenzie

At the age of 87 in 1841, Catharine had lived a long and fulfilling life. She left the home of her birth in 1790 among sixteen Argyllshire families. They would build new families and a new life on the North American continent. The cemetery at Toomsuba, MS, Aunt Caty’s burial place, is shared by relatives and descendants.

Catharine Calhoun McLaurin (1762-1841)

Catharine Calhoun was born in Appin, Argyllshire, Scotland to Duncan Calhoun and his wife in 1762. She and her husband Hugh McLaurin (of the McLaurin Society Quarterly “F” family) lived at Ballachulish, Argyll, Scotland, where Hugh likely worked at the Slate Quarry. When they came to America in 1790, they had three daughters (Mary age 8, Catharine age 7, and Jennet age 5) and two sons (Duncan age 4 and infant John). They came also with Hugh’s adult sisters Mary and Catharine of Glasgow, Nancy McLaurin Black and husband John, as well as Hugh’s mother Catharine Rankin McLaurin. Hugh’s sister Sarah’s daughter, Catharine McLean also came with her grandmother and uncle. After arriving at Wilmington, NC and traveling up the Cape Fear River, Hugh settled his family at Gum Swamp in Laurel Hill, NC. He called his home there Ballachulish. Their family grew over the years: Barbara (b. 1793/4), Sarah (b. 1794/5), Isabella (1794/5), and Effie (b. 1796/7).

In a July 1840 letter written by Duncan McKenzie, we hear of Catharine’s decline for the first time when McKenzie sends medical advice, which might be perceived as near quackery to us in the 21st century:

your mother should guard

against those febrile symptoms of which you

mentioned, by taking some cooling simple med

=icine such as Rhubarb & cream of tarter in

small quantities till it would excite a slight

operation on the bowels, keeping herself from

morning Dews & noon day Sun —  Duncan McKenzie

Catharine’s health does not improve between September and December of 1840, for Duncan is sorry to hear that she is becoming more ill. He laments that Catharine is suffering from an illness that seems to have affected his family before. I have no proof of this, but the text suggests that his mother, Mary, may have died of the same illness that Catharine is described as enduring. Duncan mentions a family propensity for this illness:

It is a source of the most sireous reflection

to us to hear that one after another of the family

are falling off from time to an untimely grave by the

same cause, to wit, that of ulcers which commenced

in my family, but death comes by the means appoin

=ted and why should we complain but say with

christian resignation the will of God be done

in your next you will please give us a minute

description of the case with your mother …

As we are anxious to hear the fate of your mother I hope

you will loose no time in writing on the receipt of this

— Duncan McKenzie

Unfortunately, between the time Duncan McLaurin writes next and the time Duncan McKenzie receives his letter in March, Catharine dies on 20 March 1841. Duncan McKenzie writes the following in his letter of 22 March 1841:

We are glad to hear that

your mother was living at the time of your writing and

that the sore had not made such a fatal progress as

we had anticipated, at the special request of Barbara

and my own approval I send you a direction … — Duncan McKenzie

The direction Duncan offers to get rid of warts is to use peach leaves that are green, bruise them, and apply over the sore or wart a few times. He seems to think it has had miraculous results. However, he adds a caveat to his advice, “If hers is an eating cancerous wart this remedy may fail for the reason that the roots may by this time have penetrated beyond the reach of medical application.” Evidently, by the time the family receives this letter, Catharine has died. It is interesting to note here that about fourteen years later, her daughter Barbara would die a ghastly death of the same ulcers that her son describes as mouth cancer. I do not know the cause of this cancer, but the occurrence of the ulcers in three female members of the family might suggest the use of some form of smokeless tobacco, likely snuff, which was popular among some rural populations in the American South during this time period. At Barbara’s death, her son Kenneth is compelled to describe his efforts to break his own addiction to snuff. I have no way of knowing for sure if this was the cause of the ulcers, but circumstantial evidence exists. Though at one time tobacco was thought to have positive medicinal qualities, in 1604 King James I of England declared the harmful effects of tobacco use. Its harmful effects were not unknown to 19th century Americans, especially literate ones. While many ads for snuff appear in the newspapers, some articles in the same newspapers disparage its use. The article “Dipping” in The Natchez Weekly Courier of 4 October 1843 admonishes the ladies to, “Turn away in disgust from the nasty and most filthy practice.” The article goes on to describe the process of dipping with a stick that has been chewed on the end until it becomes brushlike. This tool is then used to dip into the snuff and mop the teeth and gums. The use of snuff or other other smokeless tobacco may have been a way to ease or simply distract from the chronic hip pain Barbara likely endured for most of her years. 

Catharine is buried with her immediate family members who finished their lives in North Carolina. Her tombstone reads: “In memory of / CATHARINE / wife of / Hugh McLaurin / and Daughter of Duncan / Calhoun of Appin / Argyle Shire Scotland / Died March 20th 1841 / in the 79th year of her age.”

Hugh McLaurin (1751-1846) F-ba

In 1976 the editor of the Clan McLauren Society Quarterly, USA, Banks McLaurin, revised and reprinted an outline of the “F” McLaurin family in light of new information researchers had found. The source of this new information derived from “… a letter O. J. MColl found in the records of D. D. McColl II who d. ca 1930.” Evidently, D. D. McColl wrote a letter to Hugh G. MacColl in Warrington, England in 1927 that contained this new information. Francis Bragg McCall, who inherited Hugh McLaurin’s home Ballachulish from his father, Hugh McCall, recalled this information from memory of  “two Bibles which came down in the family, and a book which had belonged to Hugh McLaurin.” Marguerite Whitfield in her Families of Ballachulish genealogy includes a similar reference to a family Bible. She seems not to have gleaned the same detail of information that the McLauren Quarterly researchers did. In June of 1842 Duncan McKenzie writes a thank you to Duncan McLaurin for writing anecdotes from his father, Hugh’s, diary. Duncan writes:

The diary of your father was read by all the family, as all can

read your letters, with more interest than anything else that you

could have found, and were you to enlarge on the subject or

at least devote an equal space in each letter written they

would be the more grattifying. — Duncan McKenzie

Perhaps the third book might have been Hugh’s diary. One would hope these three books or McLaurin’s letters to the family still exist somewhere, but the fact that the home they called Ballachulish underwent at least one fire makes the books’ existence unlikely. However, the letters did miraculously survive.

According to the information that came to light in 1976, Laughlin McLaurin married Mary Cameron in Scotland. They had two sons, John and Duncan. John had five unnamed sons and one daughter, “who was deaf and dumb.” Laughlin and Marys’ second son, Duncan, married Catherine Rankin of Glencoe, Scotland. Her children, those of whom we are certain, were Hugh of Ballachulish, Sarah (McLean), Nancy (Black), Catherine of Glasgow (McLaurin), and Mary (McKenzie).

In 1790 Hugh left the slate quarry at Ballachulish and joined sixteen families leaving the Appin, Argyll, Scotland for Wilmington, NC. Hugh’s family included his wife, mother, three daughters, two sons, a niece, two unmarried sisters, and one married sister with husband. Hugh and family settled at Gum Swamp in Laurel Hill near Stewartsville, NC, choosing to live in the South where successful cotton farming entailed the use of slave labor.

Before the McKenzies know of the death of Barbara’s mother, Catharine Calhoun McLaurin, and ironically only days after her death, Duncan McKenzie writes concerning Hugh, “Cheer your father keep his spirits up he must by this time feel heavy by the decline of life let him not sink in melancholy gloom under the dispensations of providence let him thank for the past.” Months later Duncan McKenzie is happy to read that Hugh is in pretty good health and is occupied in activities that Duncan says make interesting reading. Duncan continues to give advice about cleaning the ears to combat deafness. This ear cleaning would involve getting a syringe with a small pipe and small spout to squirt warm water gently into the ears every morning. He warns that the “ticklish sensation” should subside and reduce the deafness over time. The ears should be stopped with a “lock of wool” after the procedure if done in the winter time. In addition Duncan advises his brother-in-law to allow his father to do what work he can since this has been the source of his social activity for many years. He ends by saying, “I would advise you to suffer him to do anything in which he may take delight keeping always some careful person with him.”

Years later in May of 1844 Hugh becomes ill again. Duncan suggests, “the use of album to a pint of sweet milk taking two or three portions of the whey daly. he will be careful to avoid costiveness by using some mild cathartic.” After giving this advice he apologizes for the presumption of giving advice when the family lives in North Carolina, “the bosom of Medical Science.” Still, he wishes he could be there to help.

On the 12th of January, 1846, Hugh McLaurin died. The McKenzie family received the information in letters from NC dated the 19th and 24th of January. Duncan McKenzie writes his response in the name of himself and the family:

It (Hugh’s death) has broken the last cord which bound us to that

portion of the earth more than any; other, it is a source of the deepest reflection that

but little more than 13 short years has passd since our ear our eye was on the look out

and listening to hear and see something from those who so fondly dandled us on

the knee and presd us to the Bosom with the embraces of the tenderest affection

now all are gone consequently there is nothing more desirable or attracting in that

direction, those lively emotions excited when reading the remark of those we

loved are now forever extinguished those luminaries which adorned the land of our

nativity have finally disappeard one after another, when we rise and fall the East

rises to those we loved no more. — Duncan McKenzie

In another irony, Duncan McKenzie says he was visiting Cousin Neil McLaurin in Lauderdale County, MS on the day of Hugh’s death. Presumably, he was there to tell the family that Hugh was ill. Neil was evidently planning a trip to North Carolina to see his remaining family there, but Duncan said that Hugh likely would not live. This moved Neil to tears and McKenzie continues to tell of the encounter:

From an

inference from your last letter I thot his life was drawing to a close had

he been then present looking on his uncles lifeless corpse his tears, and sobs could

not have been augmented his wife and children joining him all being present

The described sene having passd I found him and family the most agreeable of relations

till I left them on Wednesday Hugh (brother of Neil) accompanying me some 8 or 10 miles.

— Duncan McKenzie

Apparently, the relationship between Duncan McLaurin in North Carolina and the Lauderdale County relatives in Mississippi had not been very warm in recent years. It may have begun with the concern that Hugh McLaurin had about the welfare of his sister, Neil’s mother Aunt Caty. Probably Duncan McKenzie was trying to smooth relations in the face of Hugh’s death.

Hugh’s will written in December of 1834 leaves property to his wife and two sons. He also lists his three unmarried daughters — Catharine, Mary, and Effy — as beneficiaries and his married daughters Jennet McCall, Sarah Douglass, Barbara McKenzie and Isabella Patterson. He also adds, “And in case that either of them my two sons aforesaid may die without issue then & in that case the Survivor shall inherit the part of the other.” He makes his two sons, Duncan and John, his executors.

When Hugh died, the house went to Duncan, where he lived with his two remaining unmarried sisters and later Isabella Patterson and her three sons. As it happened, Duncan had no children at his death in 1872. When John died in 1864, he left his wife Effie Stalker McLaurin and three children Owen, Elizabeth, and Catharine. By 1869 all three children had died. Duncan left the remainder of his father’s property to his nephew Hugh McCall. It is likely that Effie Stalker McLuarin, John’s wife, inherited his portion of the property. With the death of Owen, the “F” family McLaurin surname was finished.

Hugh McLaurin and all of his immediate family who died in North Carolina are buried in Stewartsville Cemetery near Laurinburg, the town named after the school founded by his son Duncan. His tombstone and that of his wife’s, Catharine Calhoun, are remarkably preserved. Hugh’s tombstone reads: “In Memory of Hugh McLaurin of Ballacholish / native of Appin, Argyleshire, Scotland / Immigrated to North Carolina in 1790 / Died January 12 A. D. / 1846 / Aged 95 years. It is adorned at top with a willow and thistle.

Allan Stewart (b. ? d. 13 October 1845)

When Duncan McKenzie and family arrived in Covington County, MS in 1833, friend Allan Stewart welcomed them with a choice of land to rent and enough pork to tide them over until they could establish themselves. This was probably not uncommon in the county and surrounding area, for many of the folk settling in that place shared friends or relatives from the Carolinas or from Scotland or both.

With his first wife, Allan’s children were Catharine Stewart b. 9 June, 1802 d. 30 March 1806; John Patrick Stewart b. Nov. 1805 d. 19 May 1858 in Franklin County, MS; Mary Stewart b. 4 December 1806 d. in Covington Co.; Hugh Carmichael Stewart b. 9 March 1810 d. 11 November 1847; Margaret Stewart b. 30 January 1812 d. 4 June 1820; James Fisher Ames Stewart b. 22 December 1813 d. 7 February 1825; Barbara Stewart b. 3 October 1815 d. ?; Nancy Stewart (Anderson) b. about 1815 d. ?.

According to the authors of Williamsburg, Mississippi: County Seat of Covington County 1829 – 1906, Allan Stewart became a citizen of the United States in 1813 in North Carolina. He was later one of the signers of the petition to create Jones County, MS. He and his family must have migrated to Covington County, MS in the years previous to Duncan McKenzie’s arrival in 1833. When McKenzie arrived Allan had established property and was farming. His adult sons John P. and Hugh C. were engaged in the occupations of writing and surveying, respectively. John P. Stewart would become a clerk in Franklin County, and his brother Hugh C. Stewart would farm, try his hand at merchandising, and become involved with politics.

Allan was a widower and apparently would like to have married again, though he did not marry again after 1833. Both John Patrick and Hugh C. would live as bachelors. Allen’s daughter Barbara would never marry but would render herself very useful to the Presbyterian Church and her community. She would sit at Barbara McKenzie’s deathbed for a time in 1855, and she managed the boarding house at the Zion Seminary School created by Reverend A. R. Graves in Covington County.

Allan Stewart and the McKenzie and McLaurin families had a relationship that likely began in Scotland and extended across the Atlantic. In spite of some clashes of personality and differences in outlook, Duncan McKenzie and Allan Stewart weathered their sometimes stormy relationship up to the very end. McKenzie was a temperance Whig, which meant he did not suffer the use of alcohol and favored legislation that would reduce its consumption in the community. According to McKenzie, Stewart liked to indulge in drink, though he probably made an effort to remain sober when he knew it would be offensive. Apparently, Allan Stewart was a guest in the McKenzie home many times, and they certainly owed Stewart for finding them a home and welcoming them to Mississippi. Duncan McLaurin inquires about the Stewart family from time to time. In July of 1845 Duncan McKenzie writes to Duncan McLaurin about Allen Stewart:

Our friend A. Stewart came early and

spent the day with us and of course, the sheet was laid by, I am some

what sorry to have it to say that A. does not look so well as usual he looks

quite lean and will if he continues reducing in flesh a twelve months

longer, be as lean and meager as fat Archd McNeill was in his leanest

days, he is troubled with a consuming complaint of the bowels which

if not speedily checkd will lay its victim beyond recovery but the old man

will not take the hint till it will be too late he will indulge in eating and

drinking gratifying his taste and habits no doubt at the expense of his life

—  Duncan McKenzie

Sadly, in November of 1845 Duncan McKenzie writes of the death of Allan Stewart. He died on a Monday night at 9 o’clock on the 13th of October. On a Saturday visit to his ailing nephew John he stopped on his way home at Williamsburg and apparently had a few drinks. About a half mile from that place, he fell off of his horse. According to McKenzie, Stewart was not found until Sunday by “his negro man”:

He was breathing and continued to breathe till the time above

stated but never spoke nor showed any symptoms of consciousness

… being convenient I was … exam

ined him and saw no bruise or hurt on his person, his case was comming

near to a close consequently I did nothing for him except an attempt to

stimulate him by every means, which at first brought a ray of hope to our

minds which soon vanished and his case was over — Duncan McKenzie

Duncan McKenzie (1793 – 1847)

Duncan McKenzie was the son of Kenneth McKenzie and Mary McLaurin McKenzie. He was likely born in Richmond County, NC where his father owned property. We are indebted partially to his passion for letter writing that we have this insight into the lives of a community of people who migrated to settle in Mississippi. Although his braggadocio often prevails, and he is judgmental — sometimes belittling — in his attempts at humor, we must appreciate that his written words may provide the images we need of a time, place, and way of life that has been too often and too successfully romanticized. 

According to Kenneth McKenzie’s letter written to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin in April of 1847, Duncan McKenzie died on the last day of February at midnight, “after a long and protracted illness,” that may have lasted, “From the 20th February to the 1st March.” In a May letter to his uncle, Daniel McKenzie describes the illness as typhus pneumonia, “which passed through the state in some places more violent than in others.” European typhus from the bite of the louse carrying the infection is not common in North America according to Margaret Humphreys, author of “A Stranger to Our Camps: Typhus in American History.” A type of typhus associated with rats is more common, and the disease may be mistaken for the tic borne “Spotted Fever.” Humphreys also contends that many typhus outbreaks may well have been actually typhoid fever. Personally, I could believe some tic borne disease may have been the culprit. I recall that in my young adulthood I scraped multitudes of tiny tics from my legs after walking through fields of tall grass on my husband’s grandfather’s farm in Covington County, MS. During the illness Kenneth describes his father as mentally incapacitated or “non composmentas but the last two weeks he was proper and a judge of his condition.” Kenneth breaks the news to his uncle with these words: “that hand once so familiar to your glance / the stroke, now lies slumbering in death / cold beneath the ground, only to be lamented, / his parental personae has now become / a blank, and filled up only with sorrow / he changed Earth for Eternity on the night of / the last of February at 12-oclock” — Kenneth McKenzie, oldest son of Duncan and Barbara McKenzie.

No matter what the cause, the illness took a tragic toll on the family. Kenneth explains, “Jonas, the oldest of Hannahs children was lying dead in the house he died on the same night at 9 o’clock.” Jonas and his mother Hannah were enslaved people on the McKenzie farm. The month before, Ely Lytch had died. Ely is the enslaved person who was purchased from John C. McLaurin in North Carolina. Kenneth suggests that Duncan McLaurin probably knew this enslaved person Ely as Archibald Lytch. Ely had likely been with the family since they arrived in Mississippi if not soon after and had died of a “long and protracted illness protracted by the sudden changes of the most disagreeable winter I have ever witnessed.” Kenneth goes on to say that the entire family was very sick but survivors have now recovered. He also informs his uncle that the family’s anxiety is increased by Daniel’s presence at Vera Cruz in the Mexican War. (See also “Penning His Stories” post in May.)

Hugh Carmichael Stewart (1810 – 1847)

Disease and old age was not the only cause of death prevailing in the 1840s South. Accidents were not uncommon. Hugh Carmichael Stewart, son of Allan and brother of John Patrick Stewart, succumbed to just such a mishap. According to a newspaper account and Kenneth McKenzie’s letter to his uncle, he fell from his gin house on a Saturday, November 11, 1847. Kenneth McKenzie’s account is detailed, his apparently having come upon the accident not long afterward.

Hugh Stewart’s life in Mississippi shows that he was involved in farming, politics, and merchandising. During 1836 Hugh says that since he came to Mississippi, he has  “experienced all the scenes of life possible to be found in Miss”:

– amongst those were some of my trips of surveying in the Miss Swamp when

I have spent five months at a time without seeing

a human being except my own company consisting of

5 or six men — This business I quit last spring — Hugh C. Stewart

Hugh also writes to Duncan McLaurin that he had “acted as Deputy Sheriff- in Hinds County this year the Sheriff was absent a large portion of the year and I also ran for Clerk of our County Court and had the pleasure of being defeated by 80 votes out of 1800.” He is living in Raymond, MS in 1835. In the same letter he mentions Hugh R. Trawick, Duncan McKenzie’s guide to MS. Trawick lives in Hinds County also and had recently married a teacher, Miss Whitford. Hugh also mentions his weight, “upwards of two hundred last year I weighted 225.” In 1844 Duncan McKenzie reports that Hugh is overseeing “with propriety” his father’s farm, which may be where the accident happened, and near the McKenzie place so that it is probable that Kenneth would come upon the accident. Kenneth writes of the accident that killed Hugh Carmichael Stewart:

On Saturday the 11th Ult Hugh C Stewart

was killed by a fall from his gin house. he was working

on the flat firm of his screw hewing some timbers

stepped over the piece of timber he was working on the

end of a plank which his weight bore down and

having no other purchase he fell through to the

ground. the plank followed end foremost striking

him on the forehead split out his brains. the fall

was 13 feet I saw him in a few minutes after — Kenneth McKenzie

The Weekly Mississippian of Jackson MS published a notice of Hugh’s death on 19 November 1847. In this notice he is describes as being, “highly esteemed for his generous qualities, and leaves numerous friends to lament his premature death.” What better tribute than to be described as “generous” and to leave “numerous friends.”

Health and Deaths of Friends and Acquaintance

Duncan McKenzie referred often to friends and acquaintance who had been ill or had passed away. He considered himself fairly knowledgeable about health issues, though he detested the thought of working as a “Hireling” to heal people. His son Daniel had a passion to become a doctor, but he had difficulty giving himself over to the profession due to his own fear of the responsibility of being charged with healing. In the end he did study with individuals and worked as a doctor in Smith County during the late 1850s, but he never pressured people to pay him. His physician’s duties brought him little monetary compensation. Mississippi during this time did not have in place a system of licensing and regulating practicing physicians. An earlier established board to license physicians was declared unconstitutional by the Mississippi State Supreme Court in 1836 after a Wilkinson County man won his appeal on his conviction of practicing without a license. The outcome of this appeal essentially made the state licensing process null and void. However, in 1844 the state legislature passed a state law that permitted Adams County to set up a licensing board for that county only.

Evidence from his letters reveals that Duncan McKenzie questioned the Thomsonian Method of healing that became very popular in the US during the first half of the 19th century. The underlying theory of most medical treatments during this time was the necessity of purging the system of whatever was causing the ailment. Because of this, Samuel Thomson’s Thomsonian Method relied heavily on herbs — first and foremost Lobelia. Lobelia induces vomiting. Natural Lobelia as a purgative had fewer detrimental side effects than the Calomel that most doctors were using. For this reason his herbal remedies became popular. In 1822 Thomson published a book of his herbal preparations, New Guide to Health; or Botanic Family Physician. One could purchase this book and Thomson’s herbal remedies from him. Others began making money off of his healing practices in spite of the fact that he was twice taken to court for malpractice in the deaths of patients. McKenzie questions the “steam” treatment in the Thomsonian regimen. After completing purgation with the use of herbs and herb compositions, the patient was wrapped in blankets. A container of water was placed at the patient’s feet into which a hot stone was dropped, creating  a type of sauna. After resting, the patient was given different herbs to effect digestion. Evidently some of McKenzie’s friends and acquaintance in Mississippi were using the Thomsonian Method. It was very popular in rural areas where licensed physicians were scarce. Likely  after purchasing the herbs and directions, the process could be carried out without a doctor’s supervision. It is after a reference of illness in July of 1845 to “Old Judge Duncan,” a neighbor and of the B family of McLaurins, and a North Carolina friend Isabel McPherson, she evidently having used the Thomsonian Method, that D. McKenzie mentions his distaste for the treatment:

Old Judge Duncan is getting frail in both mind and boddy his memory is

fast failing. Some three or four weeks back he mad a fast step by which he

spraind his ancle since which time he has not been able to be on foot, …

I am sorry to hear of the continued affliction of Isabel McPherson her case

is incurable tho she may be living and may live languishing through a long life

I think the much celebrated steam practice has been a curse to thousands in

this country and perhaps to Isabel, the fact is those chronic complaints are not

to be cured unless a new constitution can be given — Duncan McKenzie

Six months before his death, D. McKenzie mentions this medical treatment again, “Query are your people still in darkness & savage superstition The Thompsonians made a start here but lo the leaders are ending their career in the penitentiary.”

Several years later in an 1847 letter written by Duncan McKenzie’s son Kenneth, he references the death of Dr. Duncan, who figured in many of Duncan McKenzie’s letters, and was likely from the D family of McLaurins, a close friend and probably a cousin to Duncan and Barbara. In the original text the reference is interrupted, but it is probable that Dr. Duncan encountered some sort of accident in Simpson County, MS. His drinking may have contributed to his demise: “on Wednesday night the 23rd ult (November) Our cousin Dr Duncan fell by a … at Westvill Simpson County.” Another McLaurin doctor is referenced in the letters more than once. This is Dr. Hugh McLaurin, who evidently actually received a formal medical education elsewhere and by September of 1840 was in Mississippi practicing. One of his first patients upon his return was his sister Mary who, unfortunately, died.

Eyesight problems also likely plagued many, but Duncan McKenzie’s vision had slowly degenerated from before the time he left NC. He “borrowed” Duncan McLaurin’s green spectacles and managed to bring them with him to Mississippi. In 1841 he references his eyesight, “I cannot take time by day light to write a letter and I cannot see so well by candle light as such I write this a page per day at noon while the horses are eating.” By December of 1842 McKenzie complains, “I must acknowledge that my eyesight is considerably deficient by candlelight its a late visitation.” This must have been disheartening to a man as compelled to write letters as D. McKenzie, and his brother-in-law must have been missing the green spectacles about that time himself. The green spectacles were inherited by Barbara. In July of 1849 Kenneth writes to his Uncle Duncan, “Mother is wearing the green spectacles you let father have the spring of 1830 if you recollect his eyes were nearly blind that spring.” This makes me wonder how he was able so easily to quickly aim and shoot that “tiger” (see “Penning His Stories”). Perhaps it helped that he was at close range.

The following are references in the letters to sickness and death during the 1840s, in Mississippi and North Carolina:

19 Feb 1840: “the life of one of my best friends is in great danger this friends name is Wiley Johnson, he is as yet living but in all appearance cannot recover Johnson is a native of Lumber District S. C. — and married to a cousin of Big Duncans sones wives, they are a fine family of women” — D McKenzie

24 Dec 1840: “I heard of the death of old Mrs Carmichael also that of Effy Calhoun” — D. McKenzie

8 September 1841: “there have been several cases of fever and some deaths. among the former are Mrs. Lauchlin McLaurin, Marks Creek, Angus McInnis and Archd Black … your much esteemd friend Norman Cameron his quiet spirit left its mortal tenement, at the house of Archd McCollum” — D. McKenzie (He earlier had praised Norman Cameron as a teacher in Covington County).

29 Aug 1842: “The family and neighbors are generally well, there are a few cases of sickness round also some deaths, Lachlan McLaurin from Marks creek has lost his daughter Flora She died on last friday week of fever, She was the fourth death in his family since he came to this state, Catharine McInnis, Hughs Sister, who married a Mr. Sutton is very sick of fever. I was constrained by her brother Angus to visit her on Saturday the distance being 20 miles I returned home last night leaving her verry weak this convalescent.”  D. McKenzie

17 Sep 1842: “In my last I mentioned something of the sickness of Mrs Sutton her case has been a protracted one from last account she is recovering, her Mother old Mrs, Hugh McInnis who has been laboring under a paralytic effection of the head and spine for many years passd was seised with a violent paroxysm on last thursday week since which time she has not moved hand or foot or any other member, her children and neighbors were watching when nature would cease its strife we have not heard from her since Wednesday” — D. McKenzie

9 Dec 1842: “there has been some sickness in the neighborhood and a few deaths Hiram Jones formerly of your county died of billious congestive fever (pancreatitis) on the 26th October three others unknown to you died about that time, Angus McInnis, his daughter Jane, John E. McNair and Rachel Ann step daughter of Little Duncan McLaurin were all verry sick, now better” — Duncan McKenzie

23 Sep 1843: D. McKenzie explains this flu-like illness that is spreading in the community. He says many are calling it the “Tyler Grip,” a political reference. “We have had some considerable of this Influenza in our family but none of us as yet have been dangerously sick, its first symptoms are as follows an incessant sneezing dull pain in the forehead some pain in the sockets of the eyes with some stiffness in the joints, as the disease advances the pain in the head and eyes increases also the aching in the bones becomes more distressing the sneezing now abates and a hoarseness with soreness and some swelling of the glands about the throat,, if there is any predisposition to any of the above fevers it now takes hold, if not an inflammatory one comes on — Barbara, Kenneth, Hugh, Danl and myself have had a light turn of this prevailing epidemic also one of the black wemen and one of the black children, all this far are doing verry well — D. McKenzie

Daniel came home on Friday night as usual this somewhat degected on account of having attended the burial of one of his scholars on Thursday, … Since the commencement of the present school two of his students have died a little boy & girl both of whom were to him very agreeable children.” — D. McKenzie

10 Feb 1844: “Smallpox is in the neighborhood, Mr. James Stubs, who lives where Mr. Archd Anderson moved from of late, went to Jackson and some time after was taken of a fever which was followed by a plentiful eruption which is said to be the pox, Miss Barbara Stewart is said to have a fever also one or two others who visited Stubs in the early stage of his complaint how this fearful contagion will wind up time will determin” — D. McKenzie

6 May 1844: “You will say to your sister Jennet (McCall) that she would do well to apply Connels pain extracting slave to her cheek it is at least worth a trial as it is an external application She can apply it with perfect safety. I have ever been opposed to most of the puffd patient nostrums floating through the land but I am constrained to give some credit to Connels pain … which I presume may be found in Fayetteville, the genuine has the facsimiles of Comstock and Co No 21 Cortland Street New York. I have reason to believe with confidence that it will give her relief” — D McKenzie

20 Aug 1844: “We are sorry to hear that Jennet (possibly McKenzie) in all probability was drawing near the close of life … at this time a great deal of sickness in this region of country there have been a number of deaths in our hearing I will name those with whom you were acquainted, Archd McLeod commonly calld Baldy, Nancy Easterling, Duncan McLaurins daughter, and Flory Ann, Daughter of A Anderson there were three other deaths on last friday morning to wit, Mr Richard Polk Mrs Manerva Geere and a Negro woman of Mr Robt Magees all died of fever there are not physicians sufficient to attend to the suffering people I will not attempt to name or enumerate the cases of sickness suffice it to say that my family are all up at present tho Barbara is complaining” — D McKenzie

3 March 1845: “Our youngest sone John has been apparently the subject of disease for some time in fact his health has been quite delicate for two years he was sick last fall of fever after which he was taken with chills & fever which continued occasionally ever other day till of late in fact I am not sure that the cause is entirely removed as yet tho he looks tolerably well”  — D. McKenzie (John McKenzie would later contract typhoid fever while deployed at Vicksburg during the siege with the Mississippi 46th Infantry. He would later die of illness at Camp Chase as a prisoner of war in Columbus, Ohio in January of 1865.)

17 September 1847: “John has had an attack of Billious fever, tho he is now out of danger we called no Doctor, used the pill driver, Mrs. Allen Wilkinson died about two weeks ago, her disease was of a chronic kind, originating from a fever which confined her about one year ago from which she never regained health … We are very happy to learn that Aunt Isabelle is recovering, let the cause of her unhappy condition be what it may. Mother is well except one of her fingers which she is complaining of the fore finger on her right hand She is now eating dinner I have often heard her speak if you would come to see us. the meeting would be joyful. the parting the reverse.” — K. McKenzie

14 October 1848: “Mother is that same dried stick tho tough as Aunt Polly has the dare to be always doing and very often dissatisfied with herself for not being able to do enough, She is alone far from relatives except her own children, sometimes laments her desolate fate tho resigned to her lot.” — K. McKenzie

Sources:

Betts, Vicki. “The ‘Social Dip’: Tobacco Use by Mid-19th Century Southern Women.” http://civilwarrx.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-social-dip-tobacco-use-by-mid-19th.html. Accessed 29 July 2018.

“Comstock & Tyler’s Patent Medicines.” The Mississippi Free Trader. 26 August 1843, Saturday, P4. Accessed 29 July 2018. newspapers.com.

“Dipping.” The Natchez Weekly Courier. 4 October 1843, Wednesday, P 1. Accessed 29 July 2018. newspapers.com.

Ellis, June E. and Janet E. Smith. Williamsburg, Mississippi County Seat of Covington County 1829-1906. Covington County Genealogical & Historical Society. 2012. p 20.

“Fatal Accident.” The Weekly Mississippian. Jackson, MS, 19 November 1847, Friday, P2. Accessed 26 July 2018. newspapers.com.

Hajdu, Steven I. and Vadmal, Manjunath S. “A Note from History: The Use of Tobacco.” 2010. www.annclinlabsci.org. Accessed 29 July 2018.

Horne, Steven. “A Short ‘Course’ in Thomsonian Medicine.” 2016. https://modernherbalmedicine.com/articles/a-short-course-in-thomsonian-medicine.html. Accessed 28 July 2018.

Howe, Daniel Walker. The Political Culture of the American Whigs. University of Chicago Press: Chicago. 1979. p 239.

Lampton, Lucius M. “Medicine.” The Mississippi Encyclopedia. Ownby, Ted and Charles reagan Wilson, ed. University Press of Mississippi: Jackson. 2017. p 806, 807.

Letter from Hugh C. Stewart to Duncan McLaurin. 4 December 1835. Box 1. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscripts Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 19 February 1840. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 26 April 1840. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 4 July 1840. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 26 September 1840. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 24 December 1840. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 22 March 1841. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 15 June 1841. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 8 September 1841. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 26 October 1841. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 31 January 1842. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 20 June 1842. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 24 July 1842. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 29 August 1842. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 17 September 1842. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 9 December 1842. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 6 June 1843. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 6 August 1843. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 23 September 1843. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin.10 February 1844. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 5 May 1844. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 20 August 1844. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 3 March 1845. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 5 July 1845. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 2 November 1845. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 22 February 1846. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 16 June 1846. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 24 August 1846. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Kenneth McKenzie to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin. 29 April 1847. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Kenneth McKenzie to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin. 17 September 1847. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Kenneth McKenzie to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin. 16 December 1847. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Kenneth McKenzie to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin. 14 October 1848. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Kenneth McKenzie to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin. 11 December 1848. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Kenneth McKenzie to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin. 29 July 1849. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Kenneth McKenzie to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin. 14 September 1849. Boxes 1 and 2. The Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

“Scotch Snuff Ad.” Vicksburg Daily Whig. 14 November 1843, Tuesday, P3. Accessed 29 July 2018. newspapers.com.

“Snuff & Tobacco.” Natchez Daily Courier. 30 May 1839, Thursday, P2. Accessed 29 July 2018. newspapers.com.

Thomson, Samuel. New Guide To Health; or, Botanic Family Physician. J. Howe, Printer: Boston. 1832. Google Books pdf ebook of Princeton University Library copy, 1969/1971.

“Thomsonian Medicines Advertisement.” Mississippi Free Trader and Natchez Gazette. 6 October 1846, Tuesday, P 4. Accessed 29 July 2018. newspapers.com.