By TRB
This is a series of letters written by Rebecca Codwise who was the wife of a sugar plantation owner in St. Croix in the early 1800s. Rebecca's letters, which came down through the family, represent one of the larger collections of historically significant letters by a woman in early American history. In the letters she describes what it is like to be an abolitionist married to a slave owner - her husband James Codwise. She documents the slave rebellion and other historic events on St. Croix in these letters written to her son, a ship's surgeon stationed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. She includes her book of recipes as well as her directions for caring for medical problems. She lived on a sugar plantation named Bethlehem, the ruins of which are still visible today.
This is a photo of an oil painting by Henry Inman of Rebecca Codwise's eldest daughter, Agnes Marie. She sat for this painting in New York City in 1820.
A Child of Misfortunes
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