Margaret Ann Meta Morris Grimball, 1810-1881
Journal of Meta Morris Grimball: South Carolina, December 1860-February 1866
: Transcript of the manuscript, UNC-Chapel Hill, Southern Historical Collection, .
Margaret Ann "Meta" Morris Grimball was born in 1810. She was a descendent of Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. In 1830, she married John Berkley Grimball (1800-1892), who owned a rice plantation near Adam's Run, South Carolina. They had nine children, whom they brought up at the plantation and in Charleston. During the Civil War, the family sought safety in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The plantation was confiscated by federal troops but returned to the family in 1866. The Grimballs were unable to continue mortgage payments and lost the house in 1870. Meta died in 1881.
Meta kept a diary before, during, and immediately after the Civil War. In it she records the major events of the day and their effect on her family's life. Grimball juxtaposes common domestic concerns with larger issues related to the Civil War, including slavery, personal safety, and religion. The journal closes with an entry describing some of the family's hopeful plans for survival.
Works Consulted: The Grove Plantation House, ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge, 29 Oct. 2003, <http://acebasin.fws.gov/house.html>.
Harris Henderson
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