Z 0869.000
FOSTER (CATHERINE (KATE) OLIVIA) DIARY



Publication permission must be obtained from Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, the repository of the original diary.

Biography/History:

Catherine (Kate) Olivia Foster was born on March 1, 1842. She was the youngest child of Dr. James and Sinai Gaillard Foster who lived in the Kingston community in Adams County, Mississippi. Kate Fosters two brothers, James and John, were killed while serving in the Confederate States Army. Foster and her family provided aid to soldiers and their families during the war. She continued her relief work after the war. Foster was president of the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy for many years. She died on August 25, 1904, and is buried in the Natchez City Cemetery.

Scope and Content:

This collection consists of a typescript of a diary kept by Kate Foster, a young woman living in Natchez, Mississippi, during the Civil War. Foster comments on life in occupied Natchez, reports on various battles, and describes the appearance and manners of Union soldiers. The majority of her entries cover the period from July 7 through November 15, 1863. Foster resumes the narrative on July 18, 1865, describing the lives of her family during the hard economic times of Reconstruction and the bleak prospects for single women of that era. She comments briefly on the feeling of the southern people under military rule. There is only one entry each for the years 1870 through 1872.

Series Identification:

  1. Diary. 1863-1872. 1 folder.