Hampton Manor
On December 13th, 1992, Peggy Vogtsberger was invited to visit "Hampton Manor" in Caroline County, home of the DeJarnette family during the Civil War. Through the kindness of Mr. Ray Piland, Peggy got to tour this beautiful Greek Revival home, built ca. 1830. It was named "Hampton" when Miss Mary DeJarnette married into the Wade Hampton family of South Carolina. The DeJarnette family also married into the McGehees (Martha McGehee was John Pelham's nother) and even today there are still DeJarnettes near Anniston, Alabama.
John Pelham received a brief but intriguing letter from Miss L. H. DeJarnette of Hampton Manor, dated February 20, 1863 (the original letter is in the Department of History and Archives, Montgomery, Alabama). It reads:
Major Pelham The package forwarded to you was sent by Miss Mary Bryant of Washington, whose admiration for Major Pelham's heroic deeds in the Confederate cause must be an apology. Very respectfully |
It is hard to believe that John Pelham did not know of his relation to Miss DeJarnette. You can be sure he visited the home. Even more interesting, who was Miss Mary Bryant and what was in the package?
Another mystery to be solved about "the gallant Pelham!"
This article first appeared in Volume 11, No. 5 of The Cannoneer.
