A Divided Heart : Letters of Sally Baxter Hampton, 1853-1862

This book presents insightful correspondence from a New Yorker among the Hamptons on the eve of war. Moving among intellectual circles that included Francis Lieber, Charles Francis Adams, Samuel Gridley, and Julia Ward Howe, Sally Baxter (1833-1862) was the beautiful New York belle who captivated William Makepeace Thackeray, personifying his heroine Beatrix Esmond, and who then married Frank Hampton of the famous South Carolina family and became mistress of Woodlands plantation. She left a small collection of letters to her New York relations that are both informative and entertaining. In a clear and uninhibited style, she tells the poignant story of her short life as she reports on social events and plantation life and records her observations on local politics and the impending Civil War.