Another Year Finds Me in Texas: The Civil War Diary of Lucy Pier Stevens

by Vicki Adams Tongate

In one of the few women’s diaries from Civil War–era Texas, a Northerner trapped in the Confederacy at the outbreak of war recounts her experience.

Lucy Pier Stevens, a twenty-one-year-old woman from Ohio, came to visit her aunt’s family near Bellville, Texas, on Christmas Day, 1859. Little did she know how drastically her life would change on April 4, 1861, when the outbreak of the Civil War made returning home impossible. Stranded in enemy territory for the duration of the war, how would she reconcile her Northern upbringing with the Southern sentiments surrounding her?

Lucy Stevens’s diary offers a unique perspective on daily life at the fringes of America’s bloodiest conflict. An educated and keen observer, Stevens took note of everything—the weather, illnesses, food shortages, parties, church attendance, chores, schools, childbirth, death, the family’s slaves, and political and military news.

As Stevens confided her private thoughts to her journal, she revealed how her love for her Texas family and the Confederate soldiers she came to know blurred her loyalties. Showing how the ties of heritage, kinship, friendship, and community transcended the sharpest division in US history, this rare diary and Vicki Adams Tongate’s insightful historical commentary on it provide a trove of information on women’s history, Texas history, and Civil War history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 23, 2016

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad that I read this book. I feel like I learned many things about the civil war, Texas and people in general.
As with any diary I've ever read, it has slow parts and at the beginning and I wasn't sure that I'd finish it. I had to see how she made the trip home and became captivated by her and unique situation.
The author's additions were necessary and really added to the diary entries. They explained obscure meanings in some entries and added information related to the war that were needed.

Lucy was quite a woman with a special perspective of the civil war.

[Laura Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting look at Civil War Texas from the viewpoint of a young woman from Ohio. I loved Lucy. She had a great sense of humor and could be quite snarky. And then the last 15% of the book was so exciting! It was a bit of a surprise.

[Stephen Journeay · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look into the daily lives of of people in Texas during the Civil War.

[Jdblair · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers part of Lucy Pier Stevens extended visit to relatives in Texas during the Civil War. She was from Ohio and was visiting family in Travis, Texas, a tiny community near Bellville, Texas. I was particularly interested in this since I live in Wharton, Texas, located less than an hour drive to the south. I've driven through Austin County hundreds of times and felt this would be a fascinating book to read. I was not disappointed.
Lucy began her visit to her aunt's family on Christmas day 1859. When the war broke out in April 1861, she was stranded in "enemy territory" for the duration of the war.
Her diary begins in early 1863 and continues until she leaves Texas on a blockade-running ship out of Galveston. Little did she know at the time of leaving that the war had just ended.
Vicki Adams Tongate does an excellent job in introducing the characters to the reader and fills the void between 1859 and the beginning of the diary. She also gives us a picture of Lucy's return to Ohio.
Lucy did not have a complete view of the war due to the relatively remote location of Travis and the fact that most of the war took place north and east of Texas, keeping the battles at some distance away. Still, the reader will get a feel for how the war affected to folks in Austin County.
At times the book/diary moved a little slowly for me but that didn't detract from my interest in the story.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look inside the world of a normal young woman who lived through the American Civil War in Texas. Lucy recorded everything from the mundane (what clothes she sewed that day, who she visited, what the weather was like) to the tragic (friends lost to war and illness) to the joyous (babies born, friends married). A well-written scholarly treatise goes along with the diary explaining the context of both the specific events of Lucy's life to the generalities of women at the time of the Civil War.

As it is a private diary -- Lucy never intended that anyone other than herself should read it -- it's easy to get a bit confused as to who the players were (she frequently uses initials for people's names, and my word, but everyone had the same name in those days!), and there were moments when it was difficult to know exactly what was going on. But overall it was a very interesting read.

[Hew La France · Rating 4 out of 5]

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