After the Rain: My America 2

(My America Series)

In a little while, our train will arrive in Washington City -- or "Mr. Lincoln's Washington," as Pa calls it.

Much of our trip has been lovely. All the leaves are changing. Bright reds and yellows flash by.

Our lives are changing, too. We are moving from Gettysburg to Washington City. Pa and Jed are finding new jobs.

Best of all, Jane Ellen is changing -- she is going to have a baby in April! She says that we must call the baby "our baby," for it will belong not just to her and Jed -- but to me and Pa, as
well. Imagine, in a few months, I will be a ten-year-old aunt!

I must close now and comfort Jane Ellen. The movement of the train is making her feel a bit sick.

Later
,

It is near midnight. We are only minutes away from Washington City. I can hardly wait to see Jed.

Jane Ellen and I have been worried about him. Two weeks ago, he came here ahead of us. He was planning to start his new job and find us a home.

In that time, he has only written two letters. In neither did he mention his work or where we would live. I fear this means he is unhappy.

Pa and Jane Ellen are talking about

President Lincoln now. They desperately hope he will be reelected next week. Jane Ellen thinks President Lincoln is the only man in the world who can put an end to slavery forever.

November 3, 1864

When Jed met us at the station, all three of us hugged him at the same time. Then we rode a buggy through the dark rain to our new home.

Jed has found a house that has three small rooms and a small kitchen. We get our water outside.

Jed and Jane Ellen have a bedroom that is hardly bigger than a horse stall. Pa has a small room, too, and I sleep on the sofa in the parlor.

Jed said he feared we would be disappointed. But we quickly assured him we were not.

I fear Jed is the one who has been sorely
disappointed. When he arrived here two weeks ago, he discovered his friend, Mr. Hoke, was away gathering war news about General Sherman. Mr. Hoke was not here to help Jed get a job as a reporter. Since the paper was in great need of someone to set type, Jed was given that job.

Jane Ellen urged Jed to telegraph Mr. Hoke about his complaints. But Jed won't. He says Mr. Hoke has far more important concerns at the moment.

I am shivering with cold now. I had better close so I can cover my head with my blanket.

November 4, 1864

Again this morning, Jed said he was sorry about our shabby rooms. He hopes he will be given a reporter's job within the month. Then we can all move to a nicer house.

Pa said he was not unhappy in the least, for he will get a job very soon. Pa wants to play his violin at one of Washington City's theaters.

I told Jed and Pa that no matter what happens, I will not be disappointed. This is a great adventure, I told them. Jane Ellen put on her most cheerful face, too.

Later

A cold rain falls outside.

Jed has gone to the newspaper. Pa has set out to look for work.

After they left, Jane Ellen and I stared out the parlor window without speaking. All we could see were shabby wooden buildings and a muddy street.

We saw many Negro people walk by. They have come to Washington in search of freedom from slavery.

Confederate deserters and bandaged Union soldiers also straggled by. They fought for different armies, but they all looked much the same -- sad and weary. Both sides are desperate for the war's end.

Jane Ellen finally broke our gloomy silence. She said that she and I should be very grateful, for we are luckier than most.

Evening

I have just lit the gas lamps. Pa and Jed should be home soon.

This afternoon, Jane Ellen helped me with geography and arithmetic. She will teach me until we can afford a real school.

After our lessons, she and I scrubbed our small rooms. While we scrubbed, Jane Ellen became sick. I urged her to go back to bed.

I must confess I worry a great deal about Jane Ellen. She says her daily sickness is a natural part of carrying a baby. I know that is true. But the fact is that my mother died when I was born. And that, I think, is why I worry so.

November 5, 1864

The presidential election is only three days away. Tonight President Lincoln's supporters carried torches through the streets and cheered for him.

The race between the President and General McClellan is heating up. McClellan wants peace with the South, even if it means that slavery will not end. President Lincoln wants to end slavery
forever.

We went to a small church on P Street. Then we bought fresh bread at the bakery. Jane Ellen and I made a good dinner of bread, potatoes, and roasted chicken.

All the gray afternoon, a fire blazed in the hearth. Pa played his violin. Jed read from
The DeathofKing Arthur.
We are in sore need of a new book. We have read this one so many times.

But it was wonderful for all of us to be together. We need nothing more -- except our baby to be born healthy in the spring.

November 7, 1864

It was drizzly again today. Jane Ellen and I are quite nervous about the election
tomorrow. After my Latin lesson, we were restless for a walk. So we carried umbrellas down Pennsylvania Avenue.

We passed boardinghouses, grocery shops, saloons, and restaurants.

We passed peddlers selling fish and newsboys selling war news.

We passed geese and hogs and cows and sheep.

We were almost to the President's mansion when it began thundering and lightning. We turned back and slogged home through a sea of mud.

Ambulance wagons plowed by us. They sloshed the mud all over our skirts. By the time we were home, our boots and clothes were nearly ruined.

I do not complain, though. The soldiers in the wagons were far more forlorn than we.

Sick and wounded soldiers lie in hospitals all around the city, Jed says. He told us that President Lincoln sometimes visits them. The President goes from man to man, touching each, and saying, "God bless you."

The President has no concern for his personal safety, Jed says.

November 8, 1864

Before dawn

It pours rain outside. I am wide awake.

The election is today. I am trembling with nerves. President Lincoln is my greatest hero. Ever since I saw him speak in Gettysburg, I've felt he has been touched by the hand of God.

I worry, though, that the muddy streets
might keep his supporters away. He has many enemies, Jed says, who wish he would not be reelected.

Afternoon

Pa said crowds of men are making their way through the foggy, wet streets. Many have rolled up their trousers to wade through the mud. They all seem determined to vote.

At dinner, Jed said that Lincoln supporters are gathering outside the telegraph office to wait for the voting count.

I begged Pa to take me there. And he has said yes! He and Jed and I will leave soon, so we can hear the news with the crowd.

Evening

We have won! President Lincoln has been reelected. Hurrah!

The vote has not been completely counted. But outside the telegraph office, word came that the President has most certainly won.

The cheering crowd marched through the streets of Mr. Lincoln's Washington.

We marched straight to the President's House. Standing on his lawn, we sang "The Battle Cry of Freedom."

Soon President Lincoln and his wife appeared at a window. Through the mist, he seemed a dream figure -- tall, dignified, dressed in a black suit. He made a short speech, giving thanks to the Almighty.

Pa, Jed, and I nearly danced home through the foggy, rainswept streets. Right now, as it starts to grow light, I still cannot sleep.

Isn't it amazing? We live only a short distance from the President of the United States!

This city is dirty and muddy. Our rooms are small and shabby. Pa has not found a job yet. Jed needs a raise. Jane Ellen is sick. But at this moment, there is nowhere on earth I would rather be.

November 10, 1864

Pa looked for work today at Ford's New Theatre and Grover's National Theatre. But the managers of both said that they do not need a violin player now.

November 12, 1864

Today Pa went to the Washington Theater and the Oxford Hall of Music, looking for a
job. But neither of them needs a violin player, either.

Monday he will go to Seaton Hall where they have fancy balls.

I can tell Pa is beginning to get very worried. I know he fears we will not have enough money to stay here in Washington City.

November 14, 1864

Pa came home sad again. He did not get a job at Seaton Hall.

November 15, 1864

Pa has given up hope of finding work as a violin player. He read in the paper today that they need a watchman at the navy yard. He will go there tomorrow.

November
16, 1864

Jed came home with big news about the war tonight. General Sherman has led
60,000
men against Atlanta! They burned the city and left it in ruins.

November 17, 1864

Pa did not get a job at the navy yard.

Unless he gets a job, we will end up in the poorhouse, he said tonight.

Jed told Pa not to worry. He said he will quit his work at the newspaper. He said he saw an ad for a woodcutter today. And he can make more money chopping wood than setting type, he told Pa.

Pa got furious. He said Jed could not leave the newspaper -- he must stay there until he uses his talents to write!

Jed said he would rather be a woodcutter.

Pa said, "Hogwash! You will not be a woodcutter, and that is final."

Pa went into his room and slammed his door.

Then Jed went into his room and slammed his door.

Jane Ellen and I just sat in the parlor and stared gloomily at the torn wallpaper.

November 18, 1864

Pa took the job as a woodcutter. He will chop firewood for the shops on Pennsylvania Avenue. Pa is not very hardy-looking. But his arms are quite strong from playing the violin.

November
21, 1864

Jed says that General Sherman's army is still in Georgia. The newspaper has sent most of its reporters to the South to cover the story.

I know Jed aches to go with them. But for once I am glad that he only sets type. I dread his ever being captured again, as he was during the Battle of Gettysburg. He still has a bad limp from his wound. And he still carries dark memories that time does not seem to erase.

This darkness causes Jed to worry a lot. Ever since the election, he has been worried about President Lincoln's safety. He has been brooding lately about the souvenir seekers who swarmed the White House after the President won. They stole tassels from window curtains. They snipped pieces from the wallpaper and chair covers.