Jan 17, 1862. Rose fifteen months old. Davis planted plum trees & sowed cabbages.

[Rebecca] Jan 17, 1862. Cloudy – Tivie sets out plum trees and plants cabbages in the morng.

Jan 16, 1862. Mother Rosa and I spent the day with Tina.

[Rebecca] Jan 16, 1862 Tivie, Rosa and I pass the day with Mrs Stephens, return at sunset.

Jan 15, 1862. Tina & Minnie spent the day with us, Henry & George went to town.

[Rebecca] Jan 15, 1862. Weather still warm. Mrs Stephens passed the day here.

[Winston Stephens to Davis Bryant]

                                                                                                Fernandina Jan 15, 1862.

Dear Davis

                I received the Boots by Lieut Peterman & I am sorry to trouble you again about this matter, but I find that those you sent are so low in the instep that I cannot get them on, & if they can be returned I will send them by the first one passing but if not I will try & sell them in camps, please state what they cost if they cannot be returned.  I wish if not troublesome to you, that you would have the pair made I sent the measure for.  The pants are a splendid fit and I am much pleased with them.

                We have no news of importance or interesting to you in this place – some of our men have just returned from the light house & say a white flag is flying from the mast head of the blockade. One case of measels showed itself in Our Company this morning & I fear they will take the rounds ‑ I have had them once, but several that is in the same fix are now down with them.  I will be afraid to go home fearing I may carry some contagious disease with me.  We have Itch, Mumps &c all in camps.

                Coln Hopkins has put our company in the Battallion & We drill with them every day – I have forgotten whether I have written that we had good tents or not. We have some 24 in all & all of them with floors but two. I will likely go home on furlough in about three weeks, & I intend to try & stay two weeks – Please excuse me for troubling you so often. I remain yours

                                                                                                Very Truly

                                                                                                Winston Stephens

Jan 14, 1862. Wrote to Winston. In the afternoon Henry & George carried the letters over.

[Rebecca] Jan 14, 1862. Write Wm and the boys. Rosa missed her chill and seems playful.

[Winston Stephens to Octavia Stephens]

                                                                                                Fernandina Jan 14, 1862.

My Dear Good Wife

                How glad I was to receive your nice, long letter & see you all were well & every thing progressing so finely.  I do sincerely think I have the best little Wife in the whole world.  (Tell Mother to except present company for her sake)  You cannot concive how happy I am to know I have such a treasure as yourself & our dear Rosa.  If every one loved home and their family as I do, there would not be so much room for complaint among the sex you belong to, but some are destitute of all honor to their Wives, or love of home as I have evidence of here in many cases.  Men come here & forget the embraces of their dear Wives and throw themselves away upon the common strumpet, but My Dear "though I say it that should not say"  You may trust your old man as God knows my marriage vow has been kept & I have never felt the least inclination to break it so help me God.  I am constantly thinking of you & ours & wishing to be with you & I often take you out of my trunk & imagine you are before me & reality.  Genl Hopkins has not returned & I am in Command as usual & find it rather tedious, but the men are generally a good set & less troublesome than any Company in the Regimant ‑ We went out on Batallion drill this morning for the 2nd time & we were highly complimented for our solderly appearance and prompt action ‑ Yesterday Genl Lee reviewed the Troops on the Island ‑ & this Regiment (the 4th) received the best praise as they were the best drilled & our Company received praise from Genl Lee for our proficiency in drill considering the short time we have drilled & I would be better satisfied here but some of the men are clamerous about leaving their horses & they take the pains to come to me with all their grivances as they think I can redress them.  This makes my position unpleasant & when the Capt comes I am going to explain to him & he must become responsable for his own acts, as it was him & not me that offered their services here.  Our Company has not improved in health but they are complaining generally of colds, some fever &c, no measles &c yet but they are in the adjoining camps & I dont see how we are to miss ‑ "Now to your questions" ‑

                I have not had mumps. & sunday is the same as any other day here, last sunday however I attended church in the a.m. & pm & heard the Rev Mr Baker who is a good preacher. I have written to Dr Heard & I will write to you as soon as he replies - enclosed you will find a note to Mr Granville Priest & I want the cotton selected as I dont want any of the yellow cotton sent ‑ send him about fifteen hundred pounds & five yards of bagging so that the cotton can be packed & put back in the cotton house then bring the seed & keep them until you want to plant them.  I want the seed spotted as they were last year & not drilled. Though I will be there before then, send the note to Mr Priest & if he can gin the cotton carry it before you commence ploughing ‑ My health is good, I am greatful to the boys for transplanting the trees & their general care of my business.  I hope Burrel had a good burn on the new ground.  I want you to have the fence between the yard & field fixed up ten rails high & the gate in good order so that the hogs cant get in the field from the yard ‑ You must be saving with the corn but have all the slop for the hogs you can & feed them behind the kitchen as you have been.  I am glad Mother does call the negroes every Sunday & feel greatful to her for it.  Tell Burrel to continue his duty as a good servant & make a good crop & I will make him a nice present at the end of the year.

                I hope Loulie will come to see you & then you must kiss her baby for me & if you can spare some to her from me do so - Poor Taylor! I hope he has recovered, also Clara.  They must be careful for if Taylor is killed the coons will eat the corn up. We heard that a fleet of 30 vessels were off New Orleans & a French vessel attempted to pass them & they fired at her & then discovered it was a French vessel & offered an apology which was declined by the Capt of the vessel & then went into New Orleans after that all the fleet left but five, destination not known. Also that the bankers in some of the Northern Cities have refused to advance more money & the treasury was empty – also that a meeting had been held in N.Y. City by 200 of the most influential men and 160 were for peace & 40 for the war – If all this is true it all tends to speedy peace, which God grant may be true as I want to live at home. I will add a P.S. to this before I send it. Give my love to Mother & the boys tell the negroes howdy & accept all you desire from your aff husband for yourself & Rosa ‑ Give love to Clark & family ‑ Yours as ever

                                                                                                Winston Stephens

P.S. Thursday 12 n – we have two cases of measles in camp & now we are all in for it I suppose, but for your sakes I hope I may not have it. Capt H returned last night & this morning he told me he expected to go to Smyrna in one or two weeks. If he does I shall be with you soon. I have urged him to move & I entended he shall have no rest until he does. We will be paid for 1½ months service next week. Some of the boys were out to the light house yesterday & say the Blockade had a white flag but I think they were mistaken – Tell Clark I rec’d his letter and will write if we are not moved soon. I hope Tina will consent to go to Jacksonville as she can be better cared for. Good by & God bless you My Dear

                                                                                                Winston

[Rebecca Bryant to Willie and Davis Bryant]     

                                                                                                Rose Cottage Jan 14, 1862

My dear boys,

                I am again compelled to address you collectively, as the city does not afford material wherewith to frame two letters for my family – and my imagination in these days is not fertile enough to make and interesting story from nothing. I will commence by saying, what you doubtless already suspect, that I am nearly beside myself with delight in hearing from your Father.

                I have had more gloomy forebodings about him the past month, than ever before I think at times it has been only with much effort that I could be cheerful.  I suppose you did not receive any letter from him as you do not mention it.  I am very glad Davis, that you wrote him so promptly ‑ and I hope he will be induced to come to Florida ‑ Yet he will not be contented to remain here doing nothing, and what can he do?  But he must come any how, unless he has something positively lucrative and certain in view, which is not probable ‑ I shall enclose my reply to him with this, that you may send it according to his instructions, addressed to Gen. Huger Norfolk Va. with dime inclosed. Tivie recd. no letter from Winston to-day except the old missing one which he wrote on his arrival in Fernandina – He says in it that he heard in Palatka that six of Gov. Moseley’s negroes had been heard to say that if Lincoln did not free them before the 20^th Jany. they would do it themselves – He wrote to have the guns kept in order and loaded and to tell his brother to see that a patrol was established – he does not fear his own negroes, but thinks Gardner’s might join them if they had a chance. Rosa has had chill & fever on alternate days the past week and looks very pale – we are under the necessity of dosing the poor little thing with Quinine.

                Have you recd. the picture for Grandmother, which I sent to you by Mrs Hopkins? Loulie wrote Tivie she might expect her next Monday. I hope she will come – Aunt Caroline sent me some very useful presents – Her generosity and Aunt Julia’s has supplied me with shoes enough to last through next summer, with those I had and has also replenished my wardrobe with other articles so that I shall have nothing to buy in the Spring, for myself.

                How nice it must be for Willie to be again at his old post at Mr Canova’s! But I fear it will be hard for him to return to camp life. Many thanks to both of you for your kind letters, this is a poor return for the pleasure they afforded me. We think it best not send the bag until Loulie goes down, since we have kept it so long. Tivie says she asked Willie about it and he thought you intended she shd. keep it – We suspected from the sewing it was Mrs Maxey’s – Give my love to her and thank her for her kind letter – I was most happy to receive it. I have not yet recd. the message Mrs Hewitt had for me. It is three hours past the time for Rosa’ chill and she shows no signs of it. All send much love and so does

                                                                                                Yr Mother

                We have not yet ascertained at what time tomorrow the New Boat is expected, therefore must send our letters to town this afternoon – Very glad to hear Mrs Foster has been persuaded to leave home for a short time – My love to her and Beck – You can read my letter to “Father” if you wish.

Jan 13, 1862. No new letter from Winston, one old one two or three weeks old. Mother rec a letter from Father, the two boys & Mrs Maxey. I rec a letter from Loulie with a bundle by the new boat.

[Rebecca] Jan 13, 1862. This morng. I was overjoyed by receiving a letter from my dear husband dated at N.Y. Dec 18^th – Also letters from Willie & Davis and a bundle from Sister Caroline.

[Octavia Stephens to Winston Stephens]       

                                                                                                Monday night Jan 13, 1862

My own dear Husband

                You do not know how much disappointed I was this morning in not receiving a new letter from you, but I consoled myself by thinking that it had gone up the river, (Mr Smith being sleepy perhaps overlooked it) and that I would get it on Wednesday, and by reading that missing letter which came this morning, when I received it, I tore it open & began reading not looking at the date, & read a part over two or three times thinking it so strange that you should write about those things now, then thought you had coppied the old letter, & I looked for the new addition but finding none came to the conclusion that it was the old one itself & the date assured me. If my letter does not come on Wednesday, I will think it in Pilatka or that you gave it to someone & they forgot to mail it.

                Mother received a letter from Father to day, he was in New York then 25 days ago, and was going to Washington to see how matters stood, & see if he could come if we all thought best.  Mother asked me if she had better tell him to come here, I told her yes for the present anyhow, that I thought he might find some business soon.  I think the boys have written urging him to come and as we or I have Mother here.  she will want him with her for a time at least.  do not think my dear that I intend having them all on your hands always, for I hope that all will be different before the year is out, that we will all be settled down cosily.  Father's business in Cuba has failed or broken up, he says his health is good, but his cough still hangs on.  Mother has seemed so much happier today.  I dont know when I have seen her laugh so heartily & often and easily as she has to day, she says she has been feeling very gloomy & sad about him for the last week or so.  when we saw this new moon we were to gether, and I said now let us wish, and to night she said that she wished that before the moon fulled she might hear from him soon, but did not think of it until she mentioned her wish to night, & sure enough the moon will full tomorrow or next night.

                You will probably think it queer that I am writing to night but I wanted to write most of my letter to night as Rosa may be sick tomorrow.  Our baby has had three fevers & has a bad cough, real [bad], every other day chill & fever, on Friday she was not out of my lap an hour from breakfast until night, most of the day on a pillow with a scorching fever, and seemed to feel so sick.  I ate my dinner in the room with her in my lap.  we gave her oil, and quinine Saturday night & morning early, but she talked & noticed a great deal all the time, when the one before she would not open her eyes wide or notice any thing or any body, just laid there and let me bathe her head and hands.  she looks badly and is quite weak, but the days between is as lively as ever.  she has been so funny to day, oh I so hope she will not be sick to morrow.  I will give her quinine again to night, there is no appearance of any more teeth.  I think she took her cold at night, for I am awake a great part of the night trying to keep her legs covered but I can not do it.  I tuck in the bedclothes to her crib & that wont do, I take her in bed & put my arm across her & that wont do.  she coughs a great deal just before day.  I am giving her honey for it after first boiling it a little to get some of the fermentation out.

                Well "Hun" I hate to leave you but Mother says I must go to bed aint you glad you have'nt got to dose Rosa through this night?  Good night, pleasant dreams & slumbers light.  Do you ever dream of me? ‑ Yes I do of you.

                Tuesday morn.  Well my dear it is now eleven o'clock, I have put off writing until this late to see whether Rosa had her fever or not, she has just gone to sleep apparently quite bright and well & as it is now three hours or more past her chill time I think she is going clear.  I wrote half a letter, a half a sheet full to Mary this morning inquiring about Ma, for we have not heard one word from them, and I thought perhaps they would think [it] strange if none of us wrote to inquire about them. I also wrote a few lines to Loulie, I expect her up next week to see us. I am going to try and meet her at the boat with the buggy, if I can make the buggy go, for one of the shafts are broken, I think it must have cracked before, for the iron was broken under some time ago, and the little stump we run over was not more than an inch & a half or two inches high.

                I think the “Hattie Brock” came this week from the sound of the whistle, but she came before day. I hope she will not run at that hour. I am going to try and find out to day & if she does I will have to stay over night at Tina’s, and drive from there. I hope though that she intends having better hours.

                I found that note of Grants the other night, suddenly it came into my head where to look. I send another I do not know that it has not been collected. I heard the other day that Grant was in jail for deserting, is it so? & that he was to have been  killed but his daughter begged for him. that Sylvester was also in jail.

                Have you seen Chauncy Hatch? and do you ever hear anything of Campbell Burritt, he is [in] Fernandina with a company.

                I have the potatoes bedded, there are five large beds, three of yams, they were beginning to sprout in the bank, the negroes have begun on one bank of Hayties & we will soon. The work gets on nicely, Burrel is now rolling logs, half the field or more is bulging with heaps.  Taylor is able to walk about some but very stiffly.  the black gilt had the staggers yesterday, and about to die, & Henry cut off piece of her tail, & I hear she is quite well this morning.  Well my dear I believe that is all I have to communicate.  Mother sends lots of love and hopes next week we will know when you are coming.  Rosa was out in the piazza & I called her to give me a kiss for you & she said "my papa" & I wish you could have seen her how funny she trotted in & kissed me, and went right back, she looks better to day.

                All are well now.  I am looking forward to 1st February with hopes of seeing you.  Good bye.  With lots of love from

                                                                                                Your own

                                                                                                Wife

Please bring some envelopes when you come, you know you used some of mine. I have not used them all so fast.

Jan 12, 1862. Rose had some fever in the morning. In the afternoon Mother read to the negroes. Took a walk.

[Rebecca] Jan 12, 1862. Weather still warm and summer-like. Rosa had fever again notwithstanding the Quinine administered. Service for negroes in the afternoon.

Jan 10, 1862. Rosa had fever again, quite sick all day.

[Rebecca] Jan 10, 1862. Very warm. Rosa has fever again nearly all day.

[Winston Stephens to Octavia Stephens]

                                                                                                Fernandina Jan 10, 1862

My Dear Wife

                Once more I am seated to write to you though I have but a short time to write as the St Marys will go up to Palatka now in a very short time & this is my only chance untill the Cars go out & I fear they will not connect with the River Boat & so I write now.  I am very well weigh 158 lbs which is more than when I left home by several pounds ‑ The men are not so well as we have about 6 or 8 sick with cold.  I presume you get all the war news in the papers, but I will give you what is the latest news here. At 1½ oclock Wednesday the Telegraph was that a fleet of 6 vessels was off Green Island & near there arranged in order of battle & a short time after one was rec’d from Brunswick which Stated heavy firing was heard in the direction of Green Island & was supposed to be at that place – also that our forces had captured 500 & killed a great many. Our latest inteligence from England is that they look upon the sinking of the Stone fleet as a declaration of hostilities to the whole world & I have no doubt it will bring on a collision with the U.S.  I see from the Northern papers that the fleet destined for this place has been recalled to watch the Northern interest in commerce.  Capt Hopkins and Peterman have not returned but we look for them to night & then Lt Gray will come & when he returns then perhaps I may get a chance next, but I dont want you to look for me until you see me.  We are to be paid for one & half months next week by Maj Teasdale for our Confederate service, which will help some. let me know when you get the Syrup & be careful when you have it opened.  Tell Burrel not to get behind in his cleaning up but to make those boys moove about with life. has Mr Gardner gone out on the Lake?

                Give love to Mother & boys also Clark & family & kiss My Dear Rosa & accept many & much love from

                                                                                                Your Old Man