1862 November 20 Lynchburg, Va.

[from the diary of William M. Blackford, bank officer and former diplomat with five sons in the Confederate Army]

Thursday 20  Called to ask the Doctor to
visit  Mary -He told me he thought
Miss Betsy Ann would not live
til the end of the month But he did
not see any great change in her
I returned to the Bank & in half
an hour  Caroline sent me word
she was dead--When I first  saw
her, she was about 18, very  handsome
of a [?] interesting cast of face
very sweet in her disposition and
amiable in her manners-and the
Belle of the valley.  In two or three
years after the cloud came over her
mind and she has been deranged
ever since--never violently and of
late years she has been quiet and
more imbecile than any thing else
She was 64 yer old. Her death is
a great [relief?] to the family
Charles came home this morg
-with orders to report to Gen. Lee
and about his decision as to the
fate of the company. The order
affecting him & which did him so
grievous a wrong was a mistake
of a clerk, was discovered and recti
-fied before his arrival--Still there
will be many who will never
hear of the circumstances.


MSS 4763