Individual Details
Eliza Peronneau
(20 Jan 1835 - 21 May 1923)
Eliza wrote in 1865 to her friend and former teacher, Rosalie Roos, in Sweden regarding her experience in Columbia, S.C. when the city was burning during the occupation by Sherman's troops."In my last I told you that many of our friends thought of leaving the country. Happy are those that can afford to do so. I fear we cannot unless I know of some way in which we could earn our living, for the planters are ruined. Gladly would I work in any way if I could only go to some other country."
Oh, my dear friend, you cannot imagine the night of the fire in Columbia and all that I suffered. My baby was 2 weeks old and I was wandering about the streets all night with the baby in my arms. The federal soldiers helped me with her. At one time I got separated from her and stood for a few minutes at the corner of the street, screaming for my child. I thought I was losing my senses. I have not been quite well since."
Eliza traveled to Anderson and later to the Mathewes family summer place called Acoa in Habersham County in the mountains of northern Georgia. After the war her husband, William Raven Mathewes, joined her there. He was a Lowcountry planter whose father had owned Bear Island plantation, south of Charleston. They brought up their children at Acoa in the post-war years. {From article by Thomas R. Waring in the Charleston News and Courier, dated July 4, 1982. See copy in Mathewes File]
In a previous article by Thomas Waring, dated July 8, 1979 and titled "The Mathewes Family: Pioneers in the Georgia Hills", he quotes Eliza as stating, "On the morning of the 17th of February 1865 I was lying on the bed with my two weeks old baby by my side when I heard Mrs. Guignard (the lady with whom I was boarding) coming up the stairs and in an agitated voice begging someone not to enter my room. Her entreaties were of no avail for the door opened and two Yankee soldiers entered. One of them when he saw me, to my great surprise, turned and left the room; the other, a stout red faced creature, immediately proceeded to break open my trunks and helped himself to the silver and jewelry contained in them. The only piece of jewelry of any value that I saved was a diamond ring that I slipped from my finger and put into my mouth before he came over to the bed and looked at me. He then left the room and not long after two officers arrived who were quartered at out house. They were very polite and considerate of us."
The officers assured the ladies that Sherman would not burn Columbia. Nevertheless, soon the city was ablaze. Mrs. Mathewes stayed until the house opposite was in flames. "With my baby in my arms I went out into the surging crowd,", she wrote. "Women, children, Yankee soldiers, Negroes thronged the streets. I did not know where we were going. I just went with the others. Again a common soldier showed pity for me. He was walking by me and offered to carry my baby. I was ready to drop with fatigue and thankfully accepted his offer. He carried my little daughter for awhile and then caught a Negro girl by the arm and told her he would shoot her if she did not stay with me and carry the child. And so we went on and on all night, sometimes stopping at a house to rest, somtimes sitting on a door step. "
Once I became separated from the Negro girl and my baby, and I stood at the corner of the street and shrieked in a voice that seemed to me was not mine at all. Instinct led me on and I found the girl sitting on a step only a short distance ahead of me. It is hard to recall all that happened on that awful night. I remember finally being put in an ambulance by some officers and carried to a house where some friends of mine were and where I found rest at last."
Eliza sold the diamond ring she had saved from the Yankee soldier to buy books and other amenities to which they had been accustomed in their days of Lowcountry affluence
Oh, my dear friend, you cannot imagine the night of the fire in Columbia and all that I suffered. My baby was 2 weeks old and I was wandering about the streets all night with the baby in my arms. The federal soldiers helped me with her. At one time I got separated from her and stood for a few minutes at the corner of the street, screaming for my child. I thought I was losing my senses. I have not been quite well since."
Eliza traveled to Anderson and later to the Mathewes family summer place called Acoa in Habersham County in the mountains of northern Georgia. After the war her husband, William Raven Mathewes, joined her there. He was a Lowcountry planter whose father had owned Bear Island plantation, south of Charleston. They brought up their children at Acoa in the post-war years. {From article by Thomas R. Waring in the Charleston News and Courier, dated July 4, 1982. See copy in Mathewes File]
In a previous article by Thomas Waring, dated July 8, 1979 and titled "The Mathewes Family: Pioneers in the Georgia Hills", he quotes Eliza as stating, "On the morning of the 17th of February 1865 I was lying on the bed with my two weeks old baby by my side when I heard Mrs. Guignard (the lady with whom I was boarding) coming up the stairs and in an agitated voice begging someone not to enter my room. Her entreaties were of no avail for the door opened and two Yankee soldiers entered. One of them when he saw me, to my great surprise, turned and left the room; the other, a stout red faced creature, immediately proceeded to break open my trunks and helped himself to the silver and jewelry contained in them. The only piece of jewelry of any value that I saved was a diamond ring that I slipped from my finger and put into my mouth before he came over to the bed and looked at me. He then left the room and not long after two officers arrived who were quartered at out house. They were very polite and considerate of us."
The officers assured the ladies that Sherman would not burn Columbia. Nevertheless, soon the city was ablaze. Mrs. Mathewes stayed until the house opposite was in flames. "With my baby in my arms I went out into the surging crowd,", she wrote. "Women, children, Yankee soldiers, Negroes thronged the streets. I did not know where we were going. I just went with the others. Again a common soldier showed pity for me. He was walking by me and offered to carry my baby. I was ready to drop with fatigue and thankfully accepted his offer. He carried my little daughter for awhile and then caught a Negro girl by the arm and told her he would shoot her if she did not stay with me and carry the child. And so we went on and on all night, sometimes stopping at a house to rest, somtimes sitting on a door step. "
Once I became separated from the Negro girl and my baby, and I stood at the corner of the street and shrieked in a voice that seemed to me was not mine at all. Instinct led me on and I found the girl sitting on a step only a short distance ahead of me. It is hard to recall all that happened on that awful night. I remember finally being put in an ambulance by some officers and carried to a house where some friends of mine were and where I found rest at last."
Eliza sold the diamond ring she had saved from the Yankee soldier to buy books and other amenities to which they had been accustomed in their days of Lowcountry affluence
Events
| Birth | 20 Jan 1835 | Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina, United States |  | ||
| Marriage | 12 Apr 1860 | William Raven Mathewes | | ||
| Death | 21 May 1923 | Spartanburg, Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States | |
Families
| Spouse | William Raven Mathewes (1829 - 1905) |
Endnotes
1. Jean Ann Lemon, "Descendants of Anthony Mathewes," complied records from
2. Jean Ann Lemon, "Descendants of Anthony Mathewes," complied records from
3. Jean Ann Lemon, "Descendants of Anthony Mathewes," complied records from