Inventory of the J. F. Rowley Diary 1863-1865

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Inventory of the J. F. Rowley Diary Ragan MSS 00118 ., 1863-1865

Inventory of the J. F. Rowley Diary 1863-1865

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tamucush/00118/00118-P.html

J. F. Rowley was probably a farmer, and possibly a teamster, since a list in the diary seems to refer to hauling loads of cotton, living in Texas during the 1860's. While obviously not well schooled, he could both write and draw reasonably well, and had a flair for framing vivid, if not tall, tales. He seems to have understood and spoken the Spanish language, since he reports conversing with the natives in their language in Mexico. Whatever his profession, he was in any case an admitted and dedicated draft-dodger, later deserter, from the Confederate Army, and appears to have had strong Northern sympathies.Col. John Salmon Ford of the 2nd Texas Cavalry first attemped to draft Rowley into the Confederate Army. When finally impressed into service with the Confederates, Rowley served very briefly with Cook's Regiment, or the 1st Texas Heavy Artillery Regiment, before promptly deserting after being granted a leave to visit his home. Rowley performed a personal raid on Duff's Partisan Rangers to recover stolen property, and at one time records being afraid of being hung by the commander of Sibley's Brigade. Rowley appears to have had a stepson named Fred, who drifts in and out of the diary's narrative. Another son remaining back home is also mentioned. The J. F. Rowley Diary (1863-1865) is handwritten in ink on both sides of the pages of an imitation leather-bound, machine-ruled blank book with an insertion flap on the outside. The diary, measuring 14 cm. x 9 cm., is now housed in a clamshell box measuring 16 cm. x 11 cm. The clamshell box, received by the repository with the diary, has a leather spine, marble paper boards, and is stamped in gold on the spine: Seventeen drawings that illustrate Rowley's adventures are included, drawn on some of the diary pages. They are all done in ink, pencil, and color; the color appears to be have been rendered with some type of colored pencils and possibly watercolors. The diary itself is undated, but states that the narrative with which it is concerned began on 27 August 1863. Rowley's account was most likely, therefore, written down at a later date, serving more as a memorandum of events rather than an actual day-to-day diary. The language and spelling used throughout are rough. While Rowley obviously knew how to write, he lacked much knowledge of accepted American English spelling or punctuation; in fact, no punctuation is used throughout the whole work. The diary also has a short list of numbers and names written in pencil on the endpapers, with mentions of cotton loads or consignments. Journal of J.F. Rowley, 1863-1865: original manuscript.

eng,

Cushing Memorial Library,