Title: MAGNOLIA
Author: James S. Kelly
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Pages: 432
Genre: Historical Fiction/Civil War Love Story
BOOK BLURB:
Two young men grow up in the south, become great friends and love the
same woman. One moves north as the civil war nears and becomes
Administrative Asst to Abraham Lincoln The one who remained in the south
vacates his office of US Senator to become the south’s chief spy. Both
men are pitted against each other during the war. As the war ends, they
try to renew their friendship but will the presence of the one they both
love be an impediment.
CHAPTER 1
The Bureau of Indian Affairs under the
US Department of Interior had its main office in the nation’s capitol.
Cameron Harris worked as an agent for them over the past ten years.
Prior to obtaining this position, he served as an Army Scout for ten
years in the far west, leaving the service with a military rank of Lt.
Colonel. There were twelve agents in the entire directorate that were
responsible for all the Indian Reservations in the United States,
including about two hundred and fifty million acres of land. Cameron’s
territory was the mid Atlantic States to include the Carolinas,
Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey; he was
responsible for twenty five reservations.
This week he was in South Carolina to witness the treaty signing
between that state and the Catawba Nation or what was left of it. The
Catawba had lived in the South Carolina Region for over five thousand
years and at one time were a great Indian Nation. But the incursion of
immigrants continually squeezed the nation into smaller and confined
areas. There were continuous claims made by the Catawba with very little
resolution. Eventually, the federal government awarded the Catawba
about fifteen square miles of land in York and Lancaster Districts to
resolve their claims. As late as the American Revolutionary war, there
were between four and five thousand Catawba; in 1820 their number had
dwindled to less than one hundred.
There were many reasons for their decline, including the numerous
viruses brought by the Europeans. But the primary one was that they
fought on the side of the colonists during the war for independence and
the English retaliated. For siding with the Americans, the British
destroyed their major villages, which had a huge economic impact on
their future. It was the British vindictiveness that devastated their
nation. It forced them to turn to the plantation owners for their
livelihood. They were now dependent on cotton and tobacco for work and
subsistence.
But the signing of this treaty wasn’t the only reason that Cameron
Harris left his office in the nation’s capital to be in South Caroline
today. He was going home to Charleston to be with his wife, who was
expecting their first child. They already had the name picked out. He
was to be named after his great grandfather, James Stephen Harris, that
is, if it was a boy.
The old chief of the Catawba Nation, Running Deer, had known Cameron
for ten years and wanted to celebrate the treaty signing with his friend
on this auspicious day. Members of the tribe had dressed in their
finest and several state officials remained behind after the ceremony to
give support to the Catawba. There wasn’t supposed to be any spirits at
the ceremony, but it didn’t take long for a bottle to be passed around.
“I’ve got to go, chief. My wife is going to have a baby.”
“Women have baby all the time. Don’t need help. We drink to treaty.”
“You’re not supposed to drink in the court house.” Cameron pleaded.
“No one care; you have drink.”
Cameron smiled. “I’ll come back next week and we can have a party.
I’ll bring a deer, but I’m leaving now. I can be home in three hours.”
“You our friend. You have one drink and dance with my people, then you go.”
He shook hands with several state officials, staggered to his horse
and made his way home after he had four drinks and did a five minute
dance with Running Deer and five other members of the tribe. His wife
was living in Charleston with her parents until the baby came. He had a
three hour ride to be with her; it started to rain.
He’d come to Charleston two years ago to meet with South Carolina
officials to discuss how to supply food to the reservation in their area
when there was an emergency, which happened far too frequently. After
the meeting, his contact within the State’s Indian Section, Charles
Morgan, asked him to join him and another state official at the Beef and
Rye Restaurant, downtown. Since he was by himself, he readily accepted.
By eighteen hundred standards, the restaurant was average but the food
and service were excellent. Cameron had a busy day and was tired;
besides he needed to return to Washington the next morning; he wanted to
turn in early. But Morgan insisted he meet a friend of his, who was an
expert on Indian Affairs. Rather than be difficult, he allowed Morgan
to walk him over to another table in the restaurant and be introduced to
Frederick Hendricks, a Professor of American History at the University
of South Carolina.
It seems that Hendricks wasn’t the only one at the table. Cameron met
Hendricks’ wife Hilda and his daughter Amy, an attractive and perky
daughter of twenty one. After the introductions, Cameron went back to
his table with Morgan but kept looking back at the Hendricks’ table. His
two companions so became engaged in a spirited argument dealing with
slavery, but he didn’t hear a word they were saying. He had his eyes
glued on Amy Hendricks. When their eyes met, she smiled. As soon as he
got up enough courage, he went back to the Hendricks’s table and
apologized for the interruption. “Sir, I wonder if I could have a word
with your daughter?”
The father nodded and Cameron turned to the young woman. “I hope that
I’m not too presumptuous, but would you care to have lunch with me
tomorrow at the inn in the town center?”
Amy answered immediately. “I’ll expect that you’ll call at my home
tomorrow at noon. If that’s acceptable, here’s my address.” She handed
him a small piece of paper with her address printed on it.
He stammered a yes and went back to join Morgan; Hendricks and his wife smiled at each other.
There’s was a white two story, two bedroom home with blue trim around
the windows sitting in the middle of the block on First Street. He
arrived thirty minutes early and talked to her father while Amy was
getting ready. The two men found that they had a lot in common and were
engrossed in a discussion when Amy came down the stairs. Cameron got up
and complimented her on her light green dress she wore with a matching
shawl.
He shook hands with her father and promised that they wouldn’t be
gone long. As they walked to the inn, he was astonished at how small
she was. Barely five feet tall with a slender frame; yet she walked with
the grace of a dancer. Cameron was no giant. He stood five feet ten
inches tall on a one hundred sixty five pound frame. His black hair and
brown eyes were in stark contrast to her red hair and blue eyes. This
was the start of a one year courtship from Washington to Charleston.
Initially his visits were once a month but gradually increased to twice a
month. His main transportation from the nation’s capitol was by a boat
that resupplied Forts Sumter and Moultrie, lying on an island in the
Charleston harbor. He made this commute for a year before he asked her
father for Amy’s hand in marriage.
When her father gave his permission, he stammered a proposal. The
only thing she said before he kissed her was, “what took you so long? A
girl could get tired of waiting.”
The ride to see Amy took longer than the three hours he estimated,
primarily because of the heavy down pour that drenched him to the skin.
His father-in-law met him at the door with a glass of wine and a wide
smile on his face. “It won’t be long now. She’s in labor and the mid
wife and my wife are with her. I think you can go up, but they’ll throw
you out when it’s time. I suggest you change into something dry first.
Use the kitchen; no one’s there. I’ll put your horse in the paddock out
back and give it some oats.”
Cameron only had time to kiss his Amy before her mother said he’d
have to leave. Ten minutes later he and Hendricks heard the cry of a new
born. Soon, her mother yelled down the stairs, “It’s a boy.”
Within the same time frame, on a plantation ten miles outside the
city’s limits, Francois Beauregard, a West Point Graduate, was waiting
with his father, Ambrose for the birth of his first child. Similar to
Cameron, he hoped and prayed for a boy to carry on his tradition. He
wasn’t to be disappointed.
The Beauregard family had lived in the Charleston area since the late
seventeen hundreds. They left Haiti in midst of a revolution and
arrived at Charleston Harbor with forty of their slaves. Ambrose bought
six hundred acres and planted cotton; they named their plantation,
Rosebud. Subsequently, they grew so large that they had to employ three
white overseers to manage seventy five slaves, who planted and picked
cotton; tobacco was a secondary product. Ambrose was a firm but tolerant
master and his overseers took his lead in dealing with the blacks. What
made his operation work so smoothly was the fact that he worked in the
fields alongside the slaves. He personally operated the cotton gin and
baled the product. To date there’d been no runaways that plaqued other
plantations in the area. He felt grateful for his good fortune in coming
to this country and tried to make life on the plantation as tolerable
as possible for everyone, including the slaves.
Cameron owned a modest three bedroom home on the Potomac a few miles
from the Capitol; he planned to move his young family there as soon as
his wife was able to travel. But he hadn’t counted on his wife’s
depression that persisted after the baby was born. His mother in law
told him that it was normal for a woman to feel tired and emotional
after giving birth. “You must have patience. It may take a little longer
than normal, but she’ll come around She’s a tiny woman and it may be
weeks before she can build up her strength. I’m going to have Doctor
Watson keep an eye on her. Maybe he can recommend a tonic that’ll help.”
“I’ve stayed longer than I anticipated. I must get back to my office
or I won’t have a job. Do you think I can leave Amy and the child here
for a couple of more weeks and then I’ll come back and take them with
me?”
“Cameron, my husband and I want to do as much as we can to help you
and our daughter. The boy will be fine with Frederick and me until you
come back.”
With a heavy heart he took the ship back to Washington. His boss, the
Under Secretary for Indian Affairs wasn’t happy with all the time he’d
been taking to handle his personal business. “Look Harris, you either
get your personal life squared away or get yourself another job. I’m
sorry to be so tough on you but that’s the way it is.” With that he
dismissed Cameron.
When he returned to Charleston two weeks later, Amy’s symptoms were
the same and the prognosis unsure, but this time there was a different
doctor attending to her. When Cameron went into her bedroom, he kissed
her on the forehead but she barely acknowledged his presence. He stayed
by her bed for over thirty minutes holding her hand and finally stepped
out of the room. He walked down the stairs and joined Doctor Allen,
who’d recently taken over Amy’s care and was talking to both parents at
the kitchen table. “She doesn’t look any better than when I was here the
last time.” Cameron interrupted.
Allen turned around to talk to Cameron. “I gave her a sedative to
relax. She hasn’t been attending to the baby and she’s not sleeping. I
think I’ve done all I can at this time. Perhaps a psychiatrist might be
better suited to treat her symptoms.”
“You mean she’s crazy?” Cameron blurted out as he sat down.
“No. I didn’t say that, but she’s troubled. I’ve tried everything I know, but it’s not working.”
“Doctor, I don’t know what to do. My supervisor has threatened to
fire me if I don’t spend more time in my office. I’m just a simple man,
what can I do? She seemed to be so full of life during her pregnancy.
Tell me that this will go away.”
“I’m not sure. This is the worst case of post pregnancy depression
that I’ve ever seen. I’m out of my element. There is nothing physically
wrong with Amy, but she’s depressed. I’ll contact a colleague of mine,
who’s a psychologist; he may have better results with her than I. Since
you were coming down this weekend, I took the liberty of asking him to
come by and meet with you. His name is Doctor Herman Rosen.”
When Doctor Allen left, Cameron and Amy’s parents sat without saying
anything for a few moments. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t take Amy
and the child with me. I’m gone three out of five weeks to Indian
reservations and some military installations. She seems to need constant
care. I don’t know what the cost will be for that.”
“She can stay with us as long as it’s needed. We’re her parents and
we love her very much. We also think you’re a fine man and we’re glad
that you’re our son-in-law.” Mrs. Hendricks said.
“But the child needs attention. You heard the doctor say that she’s
not taking care of young Jimmy. This seems like too much of a burden for
you, since your husband is in Columbia during the week.”
“If it gets too much for me, I’ll let you know.”
Cameron stayed long enough to meet Doctor Rosen. “It will take me at
least two to three weeks to evaluate your wife and then a week to
determine if there is a cure for her depression. Your in-laws told me of
your predicament. How often can you visit?”
“I can be back in three weeks.”
“Make it four and I’ll be able to give you a professional analysis.”
Although sad at the turn of events, he went about his duties as
before. But all the joy he had in his marriage and the birth of his son
was lost; he was lonely and he didn’t know what to do. He travelled
extensively before returning four weeks later. He was anxious to hear
what Doctor Rosen’s evaluation. They talked for over an hour and
although Dr. Rosen was encouraging, Amy didn’t respond to any of his
methods or medicine.
”To be honest with you Mr. Harris, I’ve exhausted everything I know. I
don’t seem to be able to help her and I don’t know who can. It may be
just a matter of time and then again she may never recover.. I’m sorry.”
Rosen said.
During the same period of time, her father retired from teaching at
University of South Carolina and devoted himself full time to the care
of Amy and young Jimmy. With the Hendricks in one of the bedrooms and
Amy and Jimmy in the second, .Cameron would sleep on the couch in the
living room when he visited. In spite of the trauma with his wife, he
and her father became close friends and discussed the mood of secession
that was griping the south, and especially in South Carolina.
“How can the south survive? They seemed to be so dependent on cotton
and tobacco. What if they have a poor crop one or two years after they
secede? Where will the money come from to allow them to survive?”
Cameron asked his father in law.
“They’re optimistic that France and England will buy their produce,
because those European Countries are heavily dependent upon cotton. In
addition, there are many who think both nations will interfere on the
southern side if there is an armed conflict. Great Britain has cities
that are so dependent upon cotton, that there may be massive
unemployment, if the flow is stopped.””
“I don’t know what the southern states will do, but if they do
secede, then a naval blockade would seem to be one strategy that could
be used to bring then back into the union.” What do you think about the
slavery question?” Cameron asked.
“I believe it’s morally wrong, but those who own the plantations are
also the drivers behind the secession movement. They don’t think they
can survive without the slaves; therefore, they’re not going to give
them up. The power of the plantation owners is immense. Although they
represent only four percent of the population, they control the majority
of the wealth and therefore the legislature. You may not realize this,
but the majority of the people in the Charleston area are black. With
the law prohibiting the importation of slaves since 1808, they become an
even more valuable commodity; those that control them become richer and
therefore they increase their power.”
Weeks turned into months and then years. He’d visit every two weeks
for the first year, but with no change in Amy’s conditions, his trips
were becoming further apart. All during this time, Amy would sit in her
room and stare into space; she hardly recognized Cameron when he
visited. The Hendricks, were acting as Jimmy’s parents, though at no
time did they intentionally ignore Cameron’s rights to his child. He
couldn’t have asked for a more cooperative and sensitive in- laws.
After five years, he and her parents came to an accommodation. The
boy and his mother would live with his in-laws in Charleston and Cameron
would reside at his home in the nation’s capitol. He’d be able to visit
his son anytime during the school year and would take Jim with him when
school was out.
In the summer, Jimmy would live in Washington with his father or
accompany him on his many trips to the Indian Reservations and military
installations. Even though the grandparents said it wasn’t necessary,
Cameron sent money each month to help defray Amy’s doctor bills. When he
returned Jimmy at the start the school year, he’d hold Amy in his arms,
kiss her on the cheek, but she didn’t appear to know who he was.
Young Jimmy Harris’ first exposure to any Indian was at The Catawba
Reservation, lying along the Catawba River in the Western Carolinas. The
Indians had cleared space for over two hundred tents but only seventy
were visible. James could see about thirty people in the village doing
various chores as they rode up. It was Chief Running Bear, who greeted
them and took young Jim under his wing almost immediately. The young man
idolized the chief and followed him around as though he was a lost
puppy dog. Jim delighted in dressing as an Indian Brave and wearing the
old man’s headdress. It was large, filled with yellow and red feathers
and dragged on the ground as he walked behind the chief. One of the
braves taught Jimmy how to use a bow and arrow and throw a spear. Each
summer he’d stay at the village for at least a month: this was the
highlight of the young man’s year. On one of his first trips with
Cameron, they visited the Creek and Cherokee villages in South Carolina.
Jimmy was exposed for the first time to the plight of the Reservation
Indian. He didn’t understand it yet, but he knew what he didn’t like and
asked his father why the people in the village didn’t have any energy.
“They’ve been squeezed into smaller and smaller plots of land that
can barely sustain life. They’re suffering from malnutrition and now
lack hope; they seem to accept their station in life.”
. Most of Cameron duties were to ensure that food supplies were being
delivered on a timely basis and occasionally mediate a dispute between
tribal nations. On most trips to his list of reservations, he had to
find out why the food supplies seemed to be late or not delivered at
all; this wasn’t lost on a six year old. He couldn’t put his feelings
into words; he just knew something was wrong.
Before the first summer was over, Cameron and his son went fishing on
the Pee Dee River making their way through the cotton plantations which
were so important to the south until after the civil war, when the
dependency on slaves was lost. It was a three day trip to introduce his
son to outdoor camping. They stopped at one of the landings along the
river and fished from the bank. They didn’t save the young man’s first
catch, because Cameron cooked it over a fire and they ate it. Jimmy
would have plenty to tell his maternal grandparents when they returned
to Charleston.
It was September when Cameron brought Jim back to Charleston. His
wife Amy, was sitting in the parlor and welcomed her son; she seemed to
have regained some color in her cheeks. The meeting between husband and
wife was cordial and even friendly, but not warm. Cameron had resolved
that his wife would never be the same and he started seeing other women
in the DC area. He spent most of his time with Abigail Stanton, the
widow of Miles Stanton, a British Diplomat, assigned to the consulate in
Washington. Left with a small fortune, Abigail felt more comfortable in
Washington Society where she lived for the past eight years prior to
her husband’s death, rather than return to her home in England. Cameron
didn’t feel guilty about his affair; he felt it was the way it was.
As the years passed, the visits to Charleston during the school years
were becoming less frequent. When he came to pick up the boy in the
summertime in the seventh year of their marriage, Amy seemed to have
improved but not enough for Cameron to spend any time with her. He
didn’t blame her for the affliction; he just lost interest. The love
they had when she was twenty one wasn’t what they had now. The parents
were getting older and her father confessed to Cameron one day, that he
wasn’t sure what would happen to his daughter after he was gone. Her
mother was becoming impatient with her and devoted very little time to
her well being. Sooner than later, a decision had to be made about Amy.
Cameron didn’t know what to do.
Eleven years had passed when he received a telegram from Frederick
Hendricks to come home immediately. It took him two days but he was too
late; his wife had passed away. He tried to remember how it was during
their first year of marriage, but too much had happened; all he could
remember was how she seemed so distant for the remainder of her life.
James Stephen was a fine young man and although he spent some time
helping his mother, it was his grandparents who he related to. They
filled the role as parents. The question now was what was best for the
boy. With the grandparents, he had a home and love; with his father he
had love and adventure.
The grandmother seemed to be her old happy self again. The burden of
the daughter had been lifted from her shoulders; she wanted Jimmy to
live with them. “I know this is your decision, Cameron, but I believe my
husband and I can handle his raising; he’s such a wonderful child and
he keeps us young. Frederick thinks the world of the boy. He doesn’t
want to replace you as a father; he just wants to be part of James’
life.”
“Why don’t we leave it the way it’s been and see how that goes. I
want your word that when the time comes for him to be entirely with me,
you won’t stand in my way. You’ll work with me and do what’s best for my
son. It’s a couple of months until the end of the school term. I’ll
take him with me for the summer and then bring him back for the school
year.” Both grandparents agreed.
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