In a message dated 9/20/99 9:37:16 PM !!!First Boot!!!, [email protected] writes: << It was such a dangerous time for the women and children in that area during the last part of the war. >> Many seem to remanticize about the Old South. many picture the Southern Bells sitting on the veranda in her silks and lace, sipping a Mint Julip while a slave fans her to keep her cool. Many, probably most, of the southern women had large families and no slaves. They washed, cooked, cleaned, kept a kitchen garden, milked the cows, churned the butter. Has anyone ever thought about wash day? Water brought from the spring or drawn from the well. Fire up the wash pot. Carry the hot water to the wash tub and scrub the clothes. Then more water brought to rinse. Then hang them out to dry. Many washed diapers (nappies) for years. Their life was hard. They also learned to handle a gun as well as many men in case of gangs coming around to rob, steal, and rape while the men of the house were in the fields or off to war. All their chores where done without running water, unless you want to consider grabbing a bucket and running to the spring and back, no indoor facilities other than the chamber pot, no electricity, and no telephones. Our children and grand-children haven't a clue as to what these women did to run a household. Betty.