09 March 2006

Staying With The Acklen Theme....

When her (Sallie Ann Ewing Sims Carter Gault) cousin-in-law, Adelicia Acklen’s husband (Joseph Acklen) died in Louisiana in 1863, her huge cotton crop was in danger of being burned by the Confederates to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Federals. Adelicia was desperate. She confided with Sallie Carter, then thirty-seven. Sallie agreed to go to Louisiana with Adelicia to see if they could somehow save the cotton. The two widows undertook the dangerous and seemingly impossible task in early 1864, traveling through the lines of both armies to reach Adelicia’s Angola Plantation. Adelicia’s strength failed after they reached Louisiana in March, but they found an elderly gentleman who was willing to act as Mrs. Carter’s guide. After traveling 150 miles over mud roads in a mule-drawn carriage seven or eight times in an effort to get Confederate authorities to give her a permit to remove Adelicia’s cotton to the river and from there to ship it to New Orleans. There, the new Orleans firm of W. A. Johnson sold 1,118 bales for $353,743 while the remaining bales were shipped to Liverpool, England where the Rothchilds bought them. Adelicia and Sallie returned to Nashville via New York having spent eight months in Louisiana and eight days at sea. The trip was well worth it, at least to Adelicia. She supposedly received $960,000 in gold for her cotton crop. [From: http://www.clanewing.org/JoV4.htm]

Adelicia Acklen’s Angola Plantation then (near top of map):
















And now:

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