The Silent Voice: The ways in which Georgian women shaped and were shaped by the

South

Start in rose garden

Roses and gardens like these were very close to the women of the mansion. Planted by enslaved
peoples on the first lady’s instruction, the roses show the disparity between 19th century women
in the south. Enslaved women’s whole lives were forced to revolve around making their
mistress’s lives easier, while wealthy women were given only the realm of the household in
which to operate. Within these households wealthy women focused on the concerns of their
husbands and family instead of their own personal interests. It was the enslaved women who had
to deal with the thorns of life; serving masters and mistresses who did not recognize them as
people and often forcefully separated them from family or friends. Enslaved women were then
forced to accept maternal stereotypes, and to soften themselves for the approval of the men in
their lives. Women shared a great many difficulties: the dangers of childbirth, the severe yet
common loss of children, arranged marriages, and yet wealthy women did not recognize these
shared experiences in enslaved women and did not attempt to help them. Enslaved women also
suffered more than their wealthy counterparts, maternal and child mortality was higher for them,
their families were forced apart, rape was an extremely serious concern, and on top of all of that
was the reality of enslavement. While women of the south were meant to be ‘cultivated’ their
daily experience was far less than rosy.

This rose garden is a recreation of the one Mary Ann Lamar Cobb, wife of Governor Howell
Cobb and First Lady of Georgia from 1851-1853, had planted on the grounds while she was at
the mansion. Mary Ann was a horticulture and garden enthusiast, particularly interested in exotic
plants. We know that she would have exotic types of roses sent to her which she would plant in
her various gardens at her many properties. While Mary Ann spent much of her time in the
garden, it was her enslaved who did the labor of planting and harvesting, according to what she
dictated. Mary Ann’s gardens had to provide food as well as beauty and in an 1853 letter to her
cousin Sarah she illustrates that she was in charge, “As soon as I came in Saturday, I went out
into the garden and had snap beans, peppers, cucumbers, and squashes planted.”

Gardens were well tied to the conception of women in the 19th century. The book Every Lady her
own flower gardener states, “A flower garden … acts upon the heart and affections as a nursery
acts upon matronly feelings. It attaches them to their home… and it lures them from dwelling too
deeply upon the unavoidable disappointments and trials of life, which sooner or later disturb and
disquiet the heart.” Mary Ann faced much loss in her life, including six of her eleven children.
Her flower gardens were likely a comfort to her, and we know that in the year following one of
her children, Laura’s, death she busied herself with the tending of a spring garden and had one of
her enslaved, a man named George, sowing cabbage, lettuce, and radishes.

-Start walking toward building-

It was the enslaved who did the work of planting and harvesting and they also did most of the
cooking. The enslaved made all of the daily meals of the mansion in the outside kitchen, which
was located where our gift shop and restrooms are now. They also tended the livestock held on
the grounds which included, cows, pigs, and chickens, whose coops would have been located
outside the outdoor kitchen. There was also a carriage house on the footprint of the education
building – indicate education building – where they would have cared for the governor’s horses,
an outdoor washhouse, bathhouse, and privy, as well as the enslaved quarters which stood on the
corner of what is now Ennis Hall.

-Workroom-

The enslaved women at the mansion would have used this room as a work space to do all of the
jobs they were assigned. They were the invisible laborers who washed dishes and clothes and did
the ironing. At the lighting station at the back they would have made candles for the mansion,
beeswax for the main and third level as it burned cleaner and animal fat for this service level.
The mansion could go through between forty and one hundred candles in a day, so candle
making was a serious and intensive task. From the well located just outside the door they would
have brought in water, and they would have carried meals between the kitchen and the house.
The hidden architectural feature of the room, the servant’s stairway – show stairway – connected
the private space of the enslaved’s work areas to the private space of the governor’s families
bedrooms while bypassing the public facing space of the second floor. The servant’s stairway is
of course a period term borrowed from the Victorian model of servitude, these people were
enslaved. The stairway allowed the enslaved women to carry out their work of serving the family
quite literally invisibly, this was the standard for enslaved service at the time.

At times we do know that enslaved women had to deal with outside workers who were hired by
the governors. A Mr. Freedman, a free person of color and a contract confectioner from Macon,
was hired several times by governors to produce ice cream, confections, and the cake Apples la
Parisienne. During this time, enslaved women would have had to deal with one more person
giving them orders, and it was noted in letters by Howell Cobb to Mary Ann Cobb that Mr.
Freedman felt very comfortable coming into the space and acting as the person in charge.

We know only a few of the names of the enslaved women who lived and worked at the mansion.
When Governor Howell Cobb and First Lady Mary Ann Lamar Cobb were at the mansion from
1851-1853 they brought enslaved with them from their residence in Athens and their plantations.
The women were Aggy, Eliza, and Rachel; the men were Burton and Hansel. We also know the
ages of Aggy and Eliza, from a slave sale ad in an 1842 newspaper, Aggy was listed as 15 and
Eliza as 8. When they arrived at the mansion in 1851, they would have been around 24 and 17
respectively. While we do not know her age we do know that Rachel traveled among the Cobb
family during their time at the mansion; she appears in a letter written to Mary Ann from Sarah,
her mother-in-law, at the plantation with Sarah and was tending Mary Ann’s garden there.
Under Governor Joseph Brown and First Lady Elizabeth Grisham Brown’s time in the mansion,
1857-1865, the enslaved women were Celia and Emma; the men were York, Jim, and Cornelius.
Emma was Celia’s daughter and both had been enslaved of Elizabeth’s family. When Elizabeth
married, Celia, Emma, and Celia’s son Cornelius were included in Elizabeth’s dowry.

-banquet kitchen-

In addition to day to day meals, enslaved women did the cooking for any state dinners or
banquets, prepping and plating the dishes here in the banquet kitchen, or during times of
overflow, even in the work room. The first ladies ordered the meals they wanted instead of
cooking them and oversaw the enslaved’s work. While white women sometimes preserved or
pickled the food harvested from ‘their’ gardens, or made sweets, these were jobs also often done
by the enslaved.

Celia was the cook under the Brown administration. She would have used these original beehive
ovens during state dinners and banquets to bake bread, pies, and other desserts like tarts. While
the main kitchen would have been used to cook most of the food, Celia could have kept that food
warm in the ovens and also using a warming cabinet like the reproduction here, lined with tin.

As you can see this oven lacks the modern convenience of a temperature gauge and timer, so
Celia had to know by sight, smell, and touch when the food was ready. It was said that Celia
could stick her hand in the oven and know by its temperature if the food was ready.

Life in the mansion was unique in many ways, one of them being that the enslaved staff was very
small compared to the amount of enslaved people on a plantation, or even a townhouse. That
meant that the roles each enslaved served were much more adaptable than they would have been
on a plantation. While cooking food was in general seen as ‘women’s work’ the small number of
enslaved meant that at times – such as during state dinners – everyone was helping regardless of
how the work was gendered. Additionally, Celia and Emma were the only enslaved women
during their time so while their main job was cook and nursemaid respectively, each would have
taken on additional roles such as cleaning, sewing, and tending the garden.

–start moving toward storeroom-

Rachel, Aggy, (both of whom likely served as nursemaids for the many Cobb children) and Eliza
would have shared the roles of cleaning, sewing, and gardening and they all would have worked
in the segregated spaces of the mansion, entering the public-facing spaces only to clean. In
preparation for state dinners they would have helped Hansel, the male cook, prepare the food.

-in store room-

While the basement level is primarily the domain of the enslaved, the first lady had business in
one room of the floor. The storeroom is the most secure room in the mansion, with only the First
Lady and the steward having keys. The steward was an enslaved male euphemistically raised to
the position of steward and given the keys of the house as well as being put in charge of the
comings and goings of the mansion and the inventory.

In her capacity as a hostess, the first lady worked with the steward to plan any State Dinners.
This included what china and silver would be used. She would take stock of the food inventory
stored in the room and then create the banquet menus. The First Lady and steward would also
work together after events to ensure that all the china and silver was accounted for, had been
cleaned, and returned to its place.

-walk into state dining room-

While the First Lady had a hand in planning all the events at the mansion, she was not always
invited to them. The state dining room, while seen as an egalitarian space for men, fell into the
gendered spaces of the mansion. During political parties or dinners, like one held by Governor
McDonald and recorded by Senator Nelson Tift, no women attended. But for parties of a more
celebratory nature, women joined the dining.

This room illustrates the 19th century idea of a ‘woman’s place.’ The First Lady and the enslaved
performed the labor of the events and were not acknowledged for it. The enslaved women were
not visible at all in the room despite all the work they did to prepare the room and food. The
white women were visible only when the men wanted them to be, and otherwise faded quietly
into the background. The role as hostess, cook, or maid that first ladies and enslaved women held
also reflects the few societal options for women. None of the invisible work they did was seen as
actual labor, and furthermore was simply expected of women as a byproduct of their motherly
nature.

One of the few things we know about one of the enslaved women happened in this room and
plays out alongside the idea of a women’s place. Emma, the Brown’s nursemaid, was married in
the State Dining room after the Civil War. All we know of the facts of Emma’s life are her
occupation (nursemaid), that she was a skilled sewer, and the location of her wedding. These
scant details of her life were highlighted for their ‘womanly’ nature and reflect the idea that
women of the time existed only to be wives and mothers and that their skills must be attuned to
these roles.

Second Floor

-Parlor-

This is the Ladies Parlor. It would have been the domain of white women and the first lady’s
formal entertaining space. Enslaved women’s invisible labor would have made every event held
in this room run smoothly. According to Mrs. Beeton’s Household Guide (1861) the schedule of
the enslaved should be so smooth that objects the first lady needed should appear as ‘if by
magic.’ This meant that the enslaved women, Rachel, Aggy, and Eliza under the Cobbs and
Emma and Celia under the Browns, had to do all the cleaning, maintenance work, and
preparation not only for this room but the entire main floor before the mansion opened to the
public. In this room fresh tea leaves and hot water would have been brought up for tea, dusting
would have been done, as well as putting out new china and cobwebbing the room before the
guests arrived.

This room represents much of the ideals of womanhood. The decorative arts style is mainly
rococo revival, known for its decorative curls and more delicate lines. The light lace curtains and
porcelain figures in the room all reflect how women of the time were meant to be: pretty,
delicate, ornamentation. Despite the fact that this room is space gendered towards women,
women as wives were not supposed to consider themselves separate from their husbands.
Marriage was union, and therefore men and women were supposed to combine their interest and
also their efforts. Men rarely fulfilled this ideal, failing to be truly present in the home.

This is Mary Ann Lamar Cobb – indicate portrait - wife of Howell Cobb, the fourth governor to
live in the mansion, residing here between 1851 and 1853. Mary Ann was a native of
Milledgeville and a rich cotton heiress. Mary Ann suffered great grief in her life, she lost family
members growing up, including her father in 1834 and a younger brother. Only six of her twelve
children survived to adulthood, and her relationship with her mother seems to be nonexistent in
her adult life – in her prolific letters, her own mother very rarely appears. This here is her writing
desk – indicate the writing desk – and we know from the volume of her letters that she spent a
great deal of time at this desk. Many of her letters were written to her brother, John Lamar, who
she was very close to. John helped Howell with business and was very close with his nephews;
they would stay with him while they were at school. This was a familial relationship that
sustained Mary Ann through her life, as familial relationships sustained many of the first ladies.
Mary Ann wrote often to her mother-in-law, Sarah, and they seemed to have had a close
relationship, with Sarah sometimes fretting over the state of Mary Ann’s health because of the
pressure of being First Lady. In an April 1852 letter, Sarah writes, “I hope your expected party
will not give you as much trouble as you anticipated, I should make the girls do all the work
especially as that is the part they delight in so much…” The ‘girls’ were of course the enslaved
women and did all of the labor for every party. However, at other times Sarah could be quite
demanding, writing that she misses her children (this appears to be Mary Ann, Howell, and their
children) and that she hopes the little ones haven’t forgotten her.

While Mary Ann had a wealthy inheritance, Governor Cobb’s poor money management caused
the family to fall on hard times. In 1842 Aggy was sold along with five other enslaved: George,
Silva, Robert, Polly and Eliza - who was later at the governor’s mansion with Aggy. We know
that Aggy was bought by John Lamar, Mary Ann’s brother and given back to Mary Ann
immediately. Eliza must have been bought back in a similar way, the sale was merely a cover for
the family moving money. However, the Cobb’s advertised the sale in a newspaper, taking the
risk that someone else could have bought Aggy faster. In the end, despite the familiar ways in
which the Cobb’s referred to their enslaved in letters, the Cobbs always saw Aggy as property to
be moved around as it suited them. The Cobb’s were at the time in a dire financial situation, they
also sold eight acres of land and their household and kitchen furniture. However, as that was
likely a result of Cobb’s irresponsible management of their money, his escaping financial ruin
illustrates how the wealthy benefited from the forced labor of the people they considered
property.

Mary Ann was not only complicit in this sale, she benefited directly from it, as she benefitted
from all the forced labor the Cobb’s enslaved had to perform. Mary Ann had a business-like
attitude towards her enslaved, recording details of them in her account book. In her account book
from the 1850s she lists the children of her enslaved, Rachel. The names of ten children were
listed along with birthdates and places. Given their inclusion in the account book, it is clear that
Mary Ann regarded these children as a source of future resources.

After the Civil War Mary Ann’s attitude towards her former enslaved quickly soured. For
example, despite the fact that Aggy’s whole life was directed toward serving the Cobb’s and she
continued working for the Cobb’s after emancipation, Mary Ann quickly took issue with her.
Aggy continued serving the Cobb’s as she had before the war, only now she was able to save the
money she was earning. This was the time that Mary Ann’s intensely racist character was shown
most clearly on paper. She was made uncomfortable by the freedoms her former enslaved had
and would write angry rants to her husband and sons about their former enslaved and what she
saw as a substandard work ethic, filling the letters with slurs and racist language. Mary Ann soon
felt that ‘even’ Aggy was serving her own interests first instead of her master’s as it had been,
complaining that her French china was disappearing and that Aggy was sending them to the
kitchen, and then used a horrific slur. She then wrote a letter to her son John, in which she
considered firing Aggy. It was Howell who stopped her, claiming that “It will be difficult to get
good servants for the next year, it may be better hence after, when freedom has had its day, and
the negroes have learned from experience what it is to be free” (Howell Cobb to Mary Ann
Cobb, September 15, 1865). This statement is of course, completely nonsensical, but Aggy did
remain working for the Cobbs until between 1868 and 1870. Aggy and her family had moved
away from the Cobb’s in 1866, buying a house from Marion Cobb (Howell Cobb’s widowed
sister-in-law) for $200. If Mary Ann had been able to see Aggy as a person, one equal to her,
things might have ended differently. But Mary Ann was only ever able to see Aggy as property,
a resource to be used to make her life easier and her cruelty towards a person who had only ever
been loyal to her shows clearly the way slavery worked.

All of the first ladies hosted guests here in short, very formal visits. Visits lasted about fifteen
minutes, indicated by the clock, but that was enough time for a cup of tea and to bring any
concerns to the first lady’s attention. As a lady’s place was in the parlor and not in politics,
according to the social customs dictated by the men of the time, it was seen as very improper for
women to bring any concerns to the governor. Instead they went to the first lady who acted as an
intermediary for them, bringing their concerns to the governor.
This was particularly important during the Civil War. First Lady Elizabeth Grisham Brown
hosted several women who issued grievances about not being able to afford salt. She brought
these concerns to Governor Brown and he fixed the price of salt, and also made it illegal to hoard
salt. Elizabeth was the most politically active of the first ladies who lived in the mansion and also
is the only First Lady to have a statue alongside her husband in Atlanta. She hosted bandage
sewing parties for the confederate army in this room and also served as Governor Brown’s
secretary when his clerk was not available. Elizabeth Grisham Brown had a long history of being
headstrong. Before Brown’s governorship, Elizabeth would challenge Brown with her own ideas.
Brown did not take kindly to this and Elizabeth recorded these troubles in her diary, once writing
that she prayed for subservience. It did not come and Elizabeth continued to be not only outgoing
but a real force in her marriage.

From her active political life it is clear that Elizabeth Grisham Brown was well versed on the
Confederacy and their goals and morals. Her continued support shows her complicity in the
confederacy and in slavery. We know from her diary that Elizabeth described a close relationship
with Emma as they were around the same age and Emma, along with her mother and brother,
was an enslaved on the plantation where Elizabeth grew up and was a part of Elizabeth’s dowry
when she married Brown. However, Elizabeth never protested slavery, never tried to help the
enslaved in any way when they faced Governor Brown’s abuse, and also treated them as
property. A picture of Elizabeth as a full person shows both concern for Emma when she was ill
with Scarlet Fever, but also a disregard for Emma’s status as not a full person and the difficulties
that came with being enslaved. After the civil war, many former enslaved stayed with their
master’s because of a lack of funds, intimidation and even threats. Although we are unsure of the
reasoning, we know that Emma remained serving Elizabeth and Governor Brown for the rest of
her life. Elizabeth represents the dichotomy of southern white women: a person coming into her
own and standing up for herself while also supporting the worst institution in United States
History.

The room itself also reflects the beliefs around nineteenth century courting. You’ll notice the
painted shades we have here – the inventory called for painted shades although they did not
specify a pattern. We chose courting scenes from Goodey’s Ladies Magazine – indicate the book
– because this couch here, the tete-a-tete, -indicate the couch- was a courting couch. The pillows
and arm in the center separated the young gentleman and the young lady during courting,
keeping them from touching for reasons of propriety. In the nineteenth century, holding hands in
public was equivalent to announcing marriage, and so it was important for young couples to keep
their distance, illustrated by the scenes on the shades of couples reaching for each other on the
seesaw or being pulled by a rope on the swing instead of pushed.

The thoughts around propriety return to the societal conventions of a woman’s ‘place.’ A woman
was meant to be in the house as a wife and mother, and the heavily patriarchal society regulated
women’s sexual behavior to maintain family stability. Sheltering women until the moment of
marriage preserved a ‘good character’ for their husbands. In the ideals, women were to exist to
make the lives of their husbands easier; in reality this goal failed to encompass the complexities
of the lives of these women. Elizabeth Brown spoke up often about political matters, Mary Ann
sent Howell letters requesting that he take up more domestic duties, and Governor Hershel V.
Johnson’s wife, Ann, outshone him often as the ‘better’ half of the marriage. A friend of the
family, Judge J. K. Hines stated that he “had no doubt that the success and honors won by Gov.
Johnson were due more to her (Ann) than to himself.” At the time a woman’s life was not her
own but was instead focused on the management of the household and the betterment of her
children, and any rebellion, no matter how small, helped these women carve out their own
identities.

-Move into Foyer-

This was the main entry point for the mansion. It’s where women visiting the mansion would
have entered and also where the First Lady would have stood to greet guests for state dinners and
levees.

On normal days this was where women would arrive and give their calling cards to the
messenger. He would have brought the card to the first lady, and if she was receiving the woman
would be shown into the parlor. If the first lady was not receiving the calling card would be
returned dog eared, and the woman would understand the message to mean that the first lady was
not ‘dressed to receive.’ The woman knew that she was welcome to call again, or to expect an
invitation to tea, to a carriage ride, or to a levee.

The picture here is of Governor Howell Cobb. Before becoming governor, Cobb was speaker of
the House in D.C., and after his governorship was Secretary of the Treasury under President
Buchanan. Cobb had strong political aspirations; his final goal was to become president. As
women were required to help their husbands, Mary Ann Lamar Cobb was obligated to give up
her interests for Howell’s. While middle to lower class women worked in the fields or alongside
their husband’s at his trade, Mary Ann as a wealthy woman served as a “deputy husband.” A
term coined for colonial New England wives, deputy husbands described the role of wealthy
women while their husbands were present, but more importantly when they were absent.
Wealthy men often had multiple careers that divided their attention – most Georgia politicians
were also planters for example – and they relied on their wives to keep the household and their
business interests running smoothly while they were gone. While Howell Cobb was gone, Mary
Ann resolved problems with the overseer, collected Howell’s debts, kept his railroad stock safe,
and had new enslaved quarters built. While Mary Ann hired the laborers and oversaw their work,
she relied on allotments from Howell to complete all of the work – despite the fact that she was
the better budgeter. Her account book from the 1850s shows her records of the debts they had
incurred and paid for each year.

For First Lady Mary Ann Lamar Cobb, sharing her husband’s interests also meant serving in the
role of a politician’s wife. Mary Ann hated the hosting role, preferring the company of her
children and reading. Mary Ann traveled back and forth between the Cobb home in Athens and
the Executive Mansion while Governor Cobb was in office. As Governor Cobb made his money
by marrying Mary Ann and he had control of her inheritance, their relationship had a complex
power structure. Governor Cobb a prolific spender with high political ambitions, so much so that
Mary Ann’s brother, John Lamar put Governor Cobb on an allowance and eventually took over
his finances and Mary Ann wrote Howell letters with the budget broken down.

The painting in the back is of Governor Joseph Brown, husband of Elizabeth Grisham Brown.
He was a devout Baptist and from this faith held a very patriarchal view of the world. Well after
the Civil War and Brown’s governorship, he was a United States Senator and faced the growing
women’s suffrage movement in the 1880s. His counter argument was that God intended the
sexes to be different and that their duties were of equal value but not equivalent. In Brown’s eyes
man was head of the family and was therefore able to deal with “sterner realities and
difficulties.” The responsibilities of men, in Brown’s mind, were to the state, military, and
political matters, at which “the male sex is infinitely better suited than the female.”

Brown described women as follows: “In the family she is queen. She alone is fitted for the
discharge of the sacred trust of wife and the endearing relation of mother. While the man is
contending with the sterner duties of life, the whole time of the noble, affectionate and true
woman is required in the discharge of the delicate and difficult duties assigned her in the family
circle, in her church relation and in the society where her lot is cast.”

The evangelical traditions of the south held a great draw for women. They emphasized and
strengthened family ties – important relationships as women did not have the time, or perhaps the
ability to cultivate other friendships – and also provided a view of death that strengthened family
ties. In the traditions, deceased family forged links with the living and pulled them toward an
eternal togetherness. For mothers who had lost their children, or women who had lost family, this
was not only a reassuring but a very hopeful view of the world. Women were drawn into the
faith and attracted to ‘conversion’ so that they could be with their departed family in everlasting
life. This was what caused women to accept the church discipline that controlled their lives.
Because men regulated church discipline through investigations and trial proceedings, women
had to accept men controlling their behavior in order to access the religion that offered them
hope and comfort. Family connections reinforced the church and women had no opportunities to
form networks between themselves. Before the Civil War, there were no opportunity for
women’s groups to form (even women-only bible study groups were seen as improper) so any
reform women might have been interested in had no space to organize.

-move into Salon-

This was the Grand Salon, the formal entertaining space for the governor. This was where all the
grand parties or levees, would have been held. It was also gendered space. If the governor was
hosting any political parties here, women would not have been invited.
Women would have been invited to celebratory events including the inaugural and Christmas
levees, and the first social event held at the mansion. That event was the wedding of Mary Ann
McDonald, daughter of the first governor to live in the mansion, Charles McDonald, to Colonel
Alexander Atkinson, an aid of her father. This was a particularly important event as Governor
McDonald did not hold as many events at the mansion as his successors, given that the state was
still feeling the economic effects of the Panic of 1837. Moreso, Mary Ann had served in the First
Lady’s role of hostess at state events as her step-mother Elizabeth Roane Ruffin McDonald, was
often too ill to host. This meant that Mary Ann McDonald was well-known in Milledgeville and
her wedding was even more of a social event. Even though Mary Ann had high status and
popularity in Milledgeville, she still fulfilled the social ideal of representing her father or
husband and not herself. In a letter written by a visitor to Milledgeville, the invitation to the
wedding is reported with the only details being that the Governor’s daughter is marrying ‘a Mr.
Atkinson.’

Governor McDonald and Elizabeth were sad to see Mary Ann leave home, both writing her
letters in the months after her wedding professing their mixed emotions at her growing up.
Elizabeth McDonald wrote Mary Ann in May 1842, speaking of their close bond and thanking
Mary Ann for the kindness she had shown her during her illness.

Governor McDonald wrote to Mary Ann that despite her distance from him she was still on his
mind. McDonald also gave her marriage advice, saying that she should do all in her power to add
to her husband’s happiness. He then moved on to a metaphor about marriage through a maritime
theme, in which he warned Mary Ann to be vigilant, for while she might be on “calm seas” now,
there could be “whirlpools” ahead. We don’t know if Mary Ann McDonald Atkinson ever faced
these possible “whirlpools.” She left Milledgeville with her husband and faded from public view,
eventually moving to his family farm.

The women of the 19th century certainly faced stormy seas, even in Milledgeville their lives were
strictly defined by men. The fashion of the time restricted not only women’s movements but their
breathing; corsets shrunk the waist to nineteen inches. After climbing stairs, standing for too
long, or even conversing for too long, women often passed out, necessitating a piece of furniture
to be designed for their use, a Recamier or fainting couch. Before the 1850’s heavy layers of
petticoats or crinolines were uses to give dresses a full skirt, weighing women down even more.
The Hoop skirt introduced in the 1850s made dresses lighter, but more cumbersome and women
were unable to move freely through space for fear of knocking into things, they no longer even
fit into seats, and new furniture was designed specifically for their full skirts. Even with the new
furniture, the stiff nature of the hoop skirt made it difficult and uncomfortable to sit down.

Early hoop skirts were made of cane and whale bone, before moving on to slatted brass and
flattened steel wire. Out of breath women would have been unable to sit very long with bone and
metal digging into them, and would have been constantly uncomfortable at these events until
they possibly passed out, leaving them in a completely vulnerable position. Fashion at the time
squeezed and hid women’s bodies into the ideal shape under the male gaze regardless of how it
impacted women’s health. Young girls were brought up to be excited about these items of
clothing, women likely did not admit their discomfort to themselves, much less to each other. In
one of Elizabeth Brown’s letters she notes her daughter Mary Virginia wants a hoop skirt,
Elizabeth wants new aprons.

Not only did women’s fashion restrict how quickly women could move, it restricted how far and
where they could move, and even how much they could talk, forcing them to rely on their male
relatives or companions and returning them to an infantile state. This was a conscious and
purposeful equation with childhood. Women and children were often put on the same level of
authority and in an 1854 excerpt from Sociology for the South this societal hierarchy is
described:

“Woman naturally shrinks from public gaze, and like children, has but one right and that is the
right to protection. The right to protection involves the obligation to obey. A husband, a lord and
master, whom she should love, honor and obey, nature designed for every women.”

Women were often in restricted situations at parties. If asked to dance, they could not refuse
anyone and had to dance with whoever asked them, whether they wanted to or even whether they
knew the man asking. Married women could only dance with their husbands for the first dance,
and family members were not to interact with each other during parties. This forced interaction
with strangers exposed women to society and forced them to align with its conventions. At
parties they were supposed to converse – but not too much. It was a difficult balance to walk, as
active listening was seen as an even more impressive skill than conversation, but those who
listened too much without talking were seen as cold and distant.

This litany of rules makes it clear that these parties were not meant for recreation. Their purpose
was to advance social standings and to provide young women with a space to show their talent at
‘wifely’ skills. They show that women were meant to always be ‘on,’ the hostess must make
everyone feel welcome even if they are an inconvenience and the guests must be pleasing to
everyone around them. There was no space for self-care, or even self-interest. These women
were told what to like and what to be interested in, and had no way to access anything else.

While the parties of the salon were grand, glittering affairs, it took a lot of labor to prepare them
and to clean up after them. This labor was done by the enslaved, but most of it was done by the
enslaved women; Aggy, Rachel, Eliza, Emma, Celia, and many other unnamed women who were
forced to live and work in the mansion. They would have cooked the food needed for the party,
polished the cutlery, cleaned the glasses and plates, cleaned the whole of the salon, including the
carpets, and helped the enslaved men in moving the furniture depending on the type of party.
They would have prepared the drinks and would have been waiting ‘on call’ just in case the
governor and first lady needed anything to appear ‘by magic.’ The nursemaid, Emma under the
Brown’s and Aggy or Rachel under the Cobb’s, would have kept the children away from the
party, feeding and caring for them while their parents were entertaining.

After the party they would have had the long task of cleaning up, returning all the silver and
china to their proper places – cleaned first – and making sure nothing had been taken. They
cleaned all the furniture, all the dishware, and then had the most difficult task of all. The
Axminster carpet was expensive, intricately patterned, and very easy to stain. With over a
hundred people walking on this carpet at any given party, it became very dirty even if it wasn’t
raining, mud could ruin it, not to mention the possibility of spilled drinks or food. It was the job
of the enslaved to get these stains out and return the carpet to its original appearance, without the
convenience of spot remover.

Hours-long levees led to even more long hours of labor for the enslaved women of the mansion,
working on a party they would never witness, and then cleaning up after it. Even the enslaved of
the attending guests were involved, helping to dress the attendees and preparing their outfits days
before hand. It was because of the enslaved that these parties happened at all.

-Walk through the rotunda-

Women would not have had many chances to see the rotunda, as a waiting space it was gendered
male only and the First Lady would only sometimes greet guests here instead of in the foyer.
During parties women would often gather in the parlor and would exit into the hall to go
downstairs for dinner. If they ever did see it, it would have been on a quick walk from the salon
to the stairs.

-Master-

This is the master bedroom, and as such, it is one of the few non-gendered spaces in the mansion.
This was where the first lady could talk to her husband about her day and hear about his. This is
where she would have kept him informed of the condition of the household and the children.
This is also where the governor would have confided in his wife, talking about the state business
and his other concerns.

While women were meant to stay out of politics and were restricted from openly participating in
them, many of the governor’s wives kept up with the politics of Georgia and the country. We
know that Elizabeth Grisham Brown was extremely politically active, but she was not the only
involved first lady.

Governor Charles McDonald was married to his second wife Elizabeth Roane Ruffin while in
office and often wrote her about politics. McDonald even wrote to her about national politics, his
main concern was President John Tyler’s “glorious” veto of a congressional finance bill. He
wrote often about the discontent between congress and the president and the vetoes that were
created, mainly about the disagreement surrounding the national bank. Governor McDonald
spoke very much from President Tyler’s side. While McDonald’s letters were personal
correspondence, they prove that Elizabeth McDonald kept up with national politics, and was
regarded as smart enough by her husband to be able to discuss them.

Despite this sign of respect, McDonald was also an incredibly demanding significant other.
Elizabeth was unable to devote all of her attention to McDonald and that was a point of great
contention for him as he brings it up in three of the four 1841 letters we have from him to her.
Elizabeth McDonald was sick at this time, in fact she was often ill during his governorship and
was rarely, if ever, at the mansion. But McDonald’s letters seem more concerned with the
amount of letters she should have written him than her trials. He does talk in every letter of her
health, but instead of simply wishing her to feel better; he arraigns her for not writing him
detailed letters updating him on the condition of her health at every turn.

McDonald’s fears that Elizabeth did not care enough for him are well represented on the page,
but in every letter we have from Elizabeth herself, we find her happy with her marriage and her
husband. In an 1839 letter to a friend shortly after her marriage, Elizabeth McDonald notes that
she is happy in Georgia, “pleased with all [she] sees.” She requests that her friend come to spend
a year with her, they now have the room since Mr. McDonald is elected governor and the
government house is very large and elegant. Despite McDonald’s knowledge of her health
troubles he was incapable of changing the expectations he had for a wife and continued to
demand more of her.

While this was where the governor could bring his concerns to his wife, it was also where his
wife could bring her concerns to him. After the Brown family moved in, Elizabeth Grisham
Brown spent several days trying to organize her new household. She wrote to her mother, Mary
L. Grisham on November 8, 1857 about her concerns with being the new first family of Georgia;
the business of the mansion, the guests, and the costs. “There has been so many passing that I
could not write earlier. This place has a great many gay persons here at this time and the
Mansion is a very large house and well furnished with most things…. But with all these things
surrounding me and I am lonesome and could enjoy life more at my dear old home. I will often
yearn to be there.” Unfortunately for Elizabeth, they remained in the mansion until 1865.

Elizabeth’s main concern was the increased cost of living. In the same letter to her mother she
wrote, “We have to pay 25 cents per pound for lard and hams, 40 cents for butter, 25 cents a
dozen for eggs, 10 cents for pork, 8 cents for beef. Provision of all kind high. I hardly see how
we can afford to live here.”

Likely Elizabeth brought these concerns to Governor Brown as well. They were a less opulent
family than many of their predecessors, and with Governor Brown’s strict Baptist restrictions
against alcohol and tobacco they already saved money. Elizabeth and Joseph Brown must have
worked out a budget that allowed them to entertain in the lavish style of governor, because a year
later Elizabeth writes to her mother and sister about a “big levee last Wednesday” and described
the menu for the event. “We had plenty of meat and bread left for another…. I am saving a
steeple cake till Brother and Sister Lou comes, but am most out of heart of their coming. We
found the material and got the baker to make $15 worth of cake for us. He baked for 10 cents a
pound without icing or trimming, and I had more than as much baked at home besides, sweet
cakes in abundance without measure. We have a nice pastry cook hired. We sent to Savannah for
fruit, candy, nuts, beef tongues, oysters, &c.”

With all this extravagance, it seems clear that the Browns were able to create a budget that left
room for government entertaining. Elizabeth also writes of how she makes most of the family’s
clothes, and that could have been a strategic move to allow for more space in the family
accounts.

This is also where Howell and Mary Ann Cobb would have come together during the times that
they were both residing at the mansion. They would have been able to discuss not only state
business but their own personal business affairs, as well as the affairs of their children. As a
‘deputy husband’ Mary Ann handled the children’s education, not only sending them to school,
but writing them letters encouraging better grades and lecturing them on the proper ways to
study. Mary Ann herself had been educated at Mount Sion Academy and had a close relationship
with at least one tutor, who she wrote several letters to, after graduating from their educational
care. While her children were often away at school, when they were with her in mansion, they
would have been just next door.

-transition to nursery -

This is the nursery, where the governor’s children (both boys and girls) stayed until they were
between 8 and 10. At that time the children went away to school, boarding school for the boys
and finishing school for the girls.

Finishing school taught young girls all the skills they needed to be proper wives and mothers.
The schools could have been in a family’s house with only a few students, or a slightly larger,
generally religious institution with multiple teachers. Mary Ann McDonald Atkinson wrote her
father, Governor McDonald, when she was at school on September 15, 1839, and detailed the
sermon they went to and the workings of the church. Later in the letter Mary Ann talks about
their festival day on September 25, the day on which their chapel was dedicated. At school she
and her sister had just finished stitching two footstools, and a friend had just received news that
her father was remarrying – Mary Ann hoped she’d learn to accept it. But it was also very clearly
hard for Mary Ann to be away from home for so long. She opened the letter scolding her father
for not writing her, then immediately mentioned that “a great number of the young ladies will be
leaving this fall” and that if her father decided to bring her and her sister home, they already had
a chaperon available to accompany them on the journey, a Mrs. Denke, as she was going to visit
a Mrs. Monroe. Later in the letter Mary Ann mentioned that Mr. Martin will be taking his
daughters home this fall and they are anxious to go to Georgia. She wrote of receiving a letter
from her brother Frank and hopes that she will be able to see him before his plans to visit her in
December. She ends the letter with an entreaty to write soon and let them know if they will be
returning to Georgia in the fall.

From a letter written by Governor McDonald to Mary Ann a year later in September 1840, we
know that Mary Ann is still at school. This letter was written just three years before Mary Ann’s
marriage and McDonald responds to a letter of hers saying she “cannot attain Plutarch.” She
needn’t fear however, because there are many “valuable books acceptable to” her that will give
her “great advantage.” He then tells her that when she returns she should detail her improvement
to him. The next sentence describes a letter Elizabeth McDonald received from her twelve-year-
old niece. McDonald says the letter is ‘delightful’ and he would be proud to see Mary Ann ‘equal
[it] either in style or autograph.” Mary Ann was seventeen at the time. He tells her she should
read it and will “then see exemplified the great benefit to be devised from early attention to
intellectual pursuits.” Contrary to her father’s opinions, Mary Ann’s handwriting is actually quite
legible while his is not.

Education for daughters was important, as it reflected the status of the family and male relatives
would accompany the girls to evaluate the schools. However, the core of curriculum for women
in the south was the study of Scriptures, bible history, and theology. Additional subjects would
have covered the basics in literature, foreign languages, science (predominantly botany and home
remedies), arithmetic, and social sciences. Instruction in sewing also would have been important,
samplers were popular, and depending on the wealth of the family, music lessons might have
been taken. Each school would have focused on different subjects although all instruction was
kept at a lower level than the girls’ male relatives. Enough education to run a household was seen
as appropriate in many minds of the nineteenth century. Hershel Johnson was one dissenting
voice, an advocate for female education. Possibly influenced by his marriage to an intelligent
woman, Hershel believed education started at birth and extended after death, and was religious in
nature.

“Thus educated, with reference to her sphere of action and her mission—her social and
domestic relations, how charming and how attractive is woman! How noble as wife and
mother!...[Education] does not come from scholastic books alone…it begins at the cradle, it
does not end even at the grave; but being the development of the soul and its faculties, it is
commensurate with immortality. [Education] is emphatically a matter of Religion. For religion
is life; life fixes character, and character determines destiny. Education must develop those
physical, mental and moral powers, as will qualify Woman to perform her part, in the sphere of
action, to which she has been assigned, in the order of Providential arrangement. Man must be
learned—women cultivated.” Quote from Johnson on his education beliefs – know gist.

Johnson was in no way advocating for equality, he separated men and women into categories of
learned and cultivated, a phrase that equates women with plants. He still believed that men and
women should be taught different things and in different ways, but he at least advocated for
women to have more and longer educational opportunities.

Despite the importance placed on children, Southern elite woman did not get to spend much time
with their children. Children went to the nursery very young, were nursed by enslaved women,
raised and cared for by enslaved women, and then sent to school at eight. They married in their
mid-to-late teens or twenties and then moved away to start their own family. Despite this,
women managed to be close to their children through letters. Mary Ann Lamar Cobb wrote her
children often when they were at school, offering advice, encouragement, and not so gently
requesting higher grades next semester. From her own education she lectured her son John
Addison on the proper way to read history in an April 12, 1853 letter. Children were important to
their parents, even with the distance, because children were so vulnerable at the time.

Birth was a very dangerous process for the baby and the mother, and once birth was over, the
infant still faced diseases including tuberculosis, typhoid, yellow fever, and malaria. The mother
was also at risk, during the pregnancy she was more susceptible to malaria and after the birth her
weakened immune system lowered her tolerance to contagious diseases. Many babies died in
birth or soon after, and they were at a much higher risk for death from disease throughout their
whole childhood. Women also faced high maternal mortality rates, but were still encouraged to
have many children. Even after a loss of a child women were expected to have more, a
pregnancy that must have been traumatic after having lost a child. The pressure and danger
associated with pregnancy and a lack of understanding of maternal health likely led to high
instances of mental health struggles. Mental health was not seen as a real section of the medical
practice, and therefore treatment, when it was offered, was insufficient and often harmful. For
the women of the time, one dealt with mental health by trying to avoid it, or sought treatment in
the north if they could afford it, treatment that often made them more unwell than before. For
example, after Mary Ann Lamar Cobb lost her baby Laura to typhoid in October, 1852, many
friends and relatives wrote to her. They expressed condolences but offered no solutions or outlets
for grief, and we know that Mary Ann continued to have children after this loss.

However, in dealing with the Cobb’s children, several of the Cobb’s enslaved had specialized
skills that were used to the family’s benefit. Aggy kept Mary Ann informed while she was away
as Aggy had been taught to read and write, and therefore send her letters. Aggy was not the only
one of the Cobb’s enslaved who was literate, perhaps because the Cobb’s traveled so often
between their properties they needed the enslaved to manage them when they were absent. Mary
Ann and Aggy had a lot of close contact, as not only did Aggy keep Mary Ann informed of the
house and the other enslaved, Aggy was also quite close to the children. Aggy nursed the Cobb’s
children, and she even taught the three eldest boys their alphabet. When the children were absent
Aggy wrote to Mary Ann asking to be remembered to the children, and stating that she missed
them, but hoped they have a nice time in Macon (letter to Mary Ann, January 13 Howell Cobb
family Papers, ms 1376). Far from being jealous of this closeness, Mary Ann seems to have
relied on it, the main example being how Aggy acted as a chaperone when the children traveled.
Mary Ann wrote her sister-in-law an apology that her daughter could not visit because “it is
important to me that Aggy attend Mary Ann night and day as there is no other servant I can trust
so entirely with my children,” (Mary Ann Lamar Cobb to Laura Rutherford August 11, 1852).

While Aggy might have felt close to the Cobb children and certainly worked closely with Mary
Ann, there is little evidence that Mary Ann took much time to care for the effects her demands
had on Aggy’s life. When the Cobb family moved to Milledgeville, Aggy was made to come in
order to continue serving the family and left behind her daughter Louisa, who was born in July
1851. A nurse named Mellie cared for Louisa at the Cobb home in Athens. Aggy traveled as far
away from her home in Athens as Washington D.C., separated from her children and her
husband, Isaac, an enslaved of another prominent Athens family. Aggy was also left behind
during the civil war to guard the house and the family valuables, despite the personal danger this
put her in. Mary Ann wrote that she was sure the money and valuables were as safe with Aggy as
they would be in the vault of England – she makes no mention of how safe Aggy would be,
likely, it did not occur to her.

Aggy and Isaac had to leave their daughters behind often under orders from their masters; Aggy
to travel with the Cobbs, and Isaac because he was owned by another Athens family and could
only visit when granted leave. This was a common occurrence for enslaved women and put them
in the uncomfortable position of watching over their master’s children while their own were left
unattended – or put to work. Aggy served as the nursemaid for many of the Cobb children, with
Rachel likely acting as nursemaid for the others. The enslaved were not allowed to discipline the
children they watched, but they were blamed if the children misbehaved. The enslaved also were
seen as having bad influences over children, which their schooling was supposed to remove.
Despite this, enslaved women were still made to take care of their master’s children for the entire
existence of slavery.

Enslaved women also faced doubts about the future lives of their children. Emma, the Brown’s
nursemaid, gave birth in the mansion to a baby boy. He was described by Governor Brown in a
letter to his mother in the following: “Emma’s babe has no name yet, he is a firm fat boy and is
pretty bad spolit. He expects me to take him as soon as I come in.” After this letter the baby
leaves the written record of the Brown family. However, at least two of the Brown’s children
were born while Brown was governor, meaning that Emma continued in her role as nurse for
these children. The enslaved’s own children were either nursed by someone else, or nursed after
their mother was finished with the master’s children, meaning that they were given less nutrition.
We don’t know what happened to Emma’s baby, only that Emma continued to serve as
nursemaid.

Emma was also in a dangerous position in the Brown family. As a clear favorite of Elizabeth’s –
Elizabeth hired the Dr. Tomlinson Fort to treat Emma’s Scarlet fever– Emma was often used in
power struggles between the Brown’s. Brown beat most of his enslaved and at some points beat
Emma in order to punish Elizabeth. While this was meant to hurt Elizabeth, it obviously affected
Emma to a much higher degree as she was the one being physically abused. While all women
faced difficulties in the south it was the enslaved women who faced a double standard of
marginalization. While the end of the civil war brought freedom, these women continued with
the strength they always had to start working publically – through church and missionary groups
– and privately – bringing their families together – for their own interest and on matters they
cared about.

The women of the mansion were so much more than the flowers they were compared to. They
were real, three dimensional people, with a range of emotions and choices to make, no matter
how restricted. Enslaved and free women lived within the confines of southern society not only
the best they could, but intentionally, carving out spaces for themselves within the system. For
free women this was easier and they benefited off of the forced labor of the enslaved, using their
marginalization to strengthen their own causes.

List of the Enslaved

Cobbs:

Rachel (here and at the Cobb Plantation Cowpens) – likely a nursemaid (had ten children
recorded by Mary Ann in her lifetime)

Aggy (here and Athens) – likely another nursemaid (was nursing her own child when arrived at
mansion, child was left in Athens), age 26 at arrival at the Mansion

Eliza – age 15 at arrival at Mansion

Hansel – the Cobb family cook

Burton

Browns:

Emma – a nursemaid, favorite of Elizabeth Grisham Brown, target of Governor Brown’s abuse

Celia – Brown family cook, Emma and Cornelius’s mother, target of Governor Brown’s abuse

Jim – Governor Brown’s steward, died in mansion in May 1859, target of Governor Brown’s
abuse
York – the carriage driver, target of Governor Brown’s abuse

Cornelius – field hand, target of Governor Brown’s abuse

McDonald had 17 enslaved peoples here at the mansion, Governor Towns 14