1862 September 4 Fauquier County, Va.

[from the diary of Anne Madison Willis Ambler]

Thursday September 4, 1862

This morning early we spied Pa
coming & ran out to meet  him-calling
Hurrah for Jackson-hurrah for Jackson-
   Pa answered, but I thought he looked
particularly crest fallen & when there was
a calm-I asked the news from home--
"There is not a servant on the place, all
gone,  left last night- & I have been up all
night & have not had a mouth full
to eat. We all looked & felt as blank
as possible. My first thought was that
Hilsy had told Mother a story, as she had positively
declared neither she nor William had any idea of  going;
-I was astonished.  Pa found out that they
had gone at nine o'clock when the bell was
rung for Charity & she did not [come]  Pa then
went to the quarter & found everything cleaned
out.  all gone-  went over to Mr Timberlake's to
see whether his had not gone also, but found
them all at home Mr T. went with him however &
they watched all night at Mr. Allshotts, near the Ferry
but saw nothing of them  caught 18 belonging to other
people but two men got away & told the men
at the Ferry & they sent some men up to
take Pa but he had left  Wouldn't it have been
awful for the abolitionists to have gotten hold
of him under the circumstances?  One of the men
tried to wrench the pistol from Mr. T's hands but he
held onto it & tried to fire it but it snapped
Pa suspected his servants might go but had no idea they might leave so early
at night

[transcript in 1972 by her granddaughter Anne Madison Wright Baylor]

MSS 15406