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Collections >> The First Century of the First State University >>
Primary document
Title:
Letter from Thomas Ruffin, Jr. to his father, Thomas Ruffin,
February 21, 1842: Electronic Edition.
Author: Ruffin, Thomas Jr.
Funding from the University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill supported the electronic publication of this title.
Text transcribed by
Bari Helms
Images scanned by
Caitlin R. Donnelly
Text encoded by
Stephanie Adamson
First Edition, 2007
Size of electronic edition: ca. 12K
Publisher: The University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
2007
The electronic edition is a part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill digital library, Documenting the American South.
Languages used in the text:
English
Revision history:
2007-02-09, Stephanie Adamson finished TEI/XML encoding.
Source(s):
Title of collection: Thomas Ruffin Papers (#641), Southern Historical
Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Title of document: Letter from Thomas Ruffin, Jr. to his father, Thomas
Ruffin, February 21, 1842
Author: Thomas Ruffin
Description: 2 pages, 3 page images
Note:
Call number 641 (Southern Historical Collection,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Editorial practices
The text has been encoded using the recommendations for Level 5 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines.
Originals are in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Original grammar, punctuation, and spelling have been preserved.
Page images can be viewed and compared in parallel with the text.
Any hyphens occurring in line breaks have been removed, and the trailing part of a word has been joined to the preceding line.
All quotation marks, em dashes and ampersand have been transcribed as entity references.
All double right and left quotation marks are encoded as ".
All single right and left quotation marks are encoded as '.
All em dashes are encoded as —.
Indentation in lines has not been preserved.
For more information about transcription and other editorial decisions, see the section Editorial Practices.
The text has been encoded using the recommendations for Level 5 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines.
Originals are in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Original grammar, punctuation, and spelling have been preserved.
Page images can be viewed and compared in parallel with the text.
Any hyphens occurring in line breaks have been removed, and the trailing part of a word has been joined to the preceding line.
All quotation marks, em dashes and ampersand have been transcribed as entity references.
All double right and left quotation marks are encoded as ".
All single right and left quotation marks are encoded as '.
All em dashes are encoded as —.
Indentation in lines has not been preserved.
For more information about transcription and other editorial decisions, see the section Editorial Practices.
Page [1]
Chapel
Hill
Fe 21st 1842
Dear father
I have delayed writing to you this long in order to find out what books we will
want to use this session, so that you could procure them for me I learn from Mr
Graves that we will want
Butlers ancient atlas &
Days
Mathematics. You will please to send them as soon as possible, for we
will have to use one of them this week.
I received a letter from Patty
last week saying that Mama
was quite unwell & I answered it on last Saturday by November.1 We will have holiday on teusday &
I fear there will be a great deal of dringking, but I have joined the temprance
society & of course will not think of touching liquor.
There is more gambling &drinking done this session than has been done in
all the time, which I have been in college, & it will not be long
before there is a great row in college, for there is more complaints about the
rigor, & a greater disposition to resist the power, of the faculty than
I ever knew.
You stated you wished to know who my room-mate was at the first of the session I
roomed with a Mr Campbell
from
Alabama
, but he being a senior & having nothin to do at night, for they
have no recitations before breakfast, I could not study so well as with one of
my own class, so I moved into a higher room with Mr
Busbee
Page [2]
for which you will I hope forgive me, when
you hear my reason for so doing. He is my only friend & from him I have
no secret or he from me & he wished to study this session but could not
on account of his room mate, who was a wild & dissapated boy &
besides all that by my rooming with him I caused him to join the temprance
society. therefore I thought you would consent to my doing so.
from
Alabama
, but he being a senior & having nothin to do at night, for they
have no recitations before breakfast, I could not study so well as with one of
my own class, so I moved into a higher room with Mr
Busbee
Page [2]
I received a letter from J.
Brodman last week, he & Bob are very much pleased with
Williamsburg
Mrs Mitchel gave me a
lecture on temprance society this morning & related all the scenes,
which she ever knew to occur on the 22nd of Feb, some of
which were quite interesting. Miss Mary M. has been quite sick but has nearly well.
I heard of the arrival of one Mr, J,B, Roulhac, There is no more news here & it is nearly
time for recitation I have been absent once more from prayers, for the wind blew
so very hard that neither my roommate or I could hear the bell.
I remain your affectionate Son
Thomas Ruffin
[Back] page
Endnotes:
Possibly the slave Davidge [1791-1872], also known as
"Dr. November," who was the carriage driver for Dr. Joseph
Caldwell
.