Nancy's Diary
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NANCY’S DIARY by Nancy Cornelia Heptinstall Van Wormer This book is an extraordinary story of an ordinary life. Nancy Cornelia Heptinstall, 1881-1975, was born to the southern plantation lifestyle, living in the post-civil war times that brought upheaval to traditions and circumstances. She married a “Yankee” and with her family, moved at least twenty-seven times, making their home in both southern and northern states. Her father, John Olin Heptinstall, introduced her to the art of keeping a diary around the age of nine and later, in the 1960s, Nancy Cornelia Heptinstall Van Wormer created a manuscript, a first draft of her life story, pounding away on an unforgiving manual typewriter. Her honest, humorous, and insightful account give the reader a glimpse into the mind of the sheltered southern girl as she struggles with decisions in life, searching for answers regarding education, career, religion, marriage, children, and widowhood. She does not concern herself with commentary on the major social upheavals or important discoveries of her times such as wars, economic crashes, changes in transportation and communication, or changes in moral values. This book reflects the common life of an average person who is a bit inclined toward melancholia, but adroitly plays the cards that life has dealt to her. The manuscript of Nancy’s Diary was passed down several generations. One of her grandchildren shared a copy with the current owners of the Heptinstall House Plantation. Two of her grandchildren gave permission to publish this story, mindful that it will fulfill their grandmother’s dream. Copyright 2015 by the Estate of Nancy Cornelia Heptinstall Van Wormer Anyone seeking permission to reproduce or excerpt, contact [email protected] 1 “The now slightly trembling hand of age still holds open the pages of Nancy’s Diary even though there is little to record, but the iron Hand of Time still makes the entries regardless of how trivial they may be. There cannot be errors or erasures in this book. It is the true and detailed manuscript that will never be folded nor marked finished until one by one, all characters will have passed beyond the border that marks the end and a new heavenly beginning.” [EDITOR’S NOTE] Karen Dunlap Vaughan, updated August 2017 Littleton, NC 27850 This book has an authentic voice and the author’s language reflects her southern education and culture of her time. Some editing was important to render a readable manuscript so I have taken some liberty with changing the sentence structure and adding some punctuation, but for the most part, the language is the author’s. A few notes are included as well as pictures for reader clarity and understanding. Nancy Cornelia Heptinstall Van Wormer typed up this manuscript around the time of the 1960s. She lived sometimes near her daughter and sometimes with her daughter until she passed away in 1975. I wondered what her life had been like after she finished work on her manuscript and asked her grandson, the son of the daughter, to comment on his remembrances of her in her later years. Those comments are included at the end of the manuscript. 2 INTRODUCTION Written by the editor THE HEPTINSTALL HOUSE PLANTATION The Heptinstall House Plantation is located in Halifax County, North Carolina In 1978, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Edmunds- Heptinstall House. The Heptinstall House Plantation has remained in Heptinstall family ownership since 1855. It was passed down from the Reverend John Wesley Heptinstall to his son, John Olin Heptinstall, to his son John Wesley Heptinstall. The latter John Wesley called “Buck” married and raised his six children in the house. One of his daughters, Hannah Bailey Heptinstall Vaughan, along with her siblings, sold the house her son Charles Julian Vaughan in the 1970s. In the years since the purchase, he has made slow but steady progress with restoration and preservation of the house and grounds. He and his wife, Karen Dunlap Vaughan, the editor of this book, have lived in the Heptinstall House since 2012. HISTORY OF THE HOUSE As referenced in the 1978 application for the National Register of Historic Places, the date that the house was built is not known, but probably was in the 1830s or 1840s. The owner was William Howell Edmunds [1815-1862] who sold the unfinished plantation in 1855 to the Reverend John Wesley Heptinstall [1814-1891], a planter and active Methodist leader. Benjamin A. Edmunds started acquiring land in this area around 1826 and was more than likely building the house as a wedding present for his son, William. William was born in 1815 and later became a lawyer and a planter. He married Mary Cameron from Orange Co. NC in 1839 and around 1850-1855, they moved to Caldwell County, Kentucky to manage estates that belonged to his wife’s family. There is a reference in Nancy’s Diary that the house was to be a school for young men so perhaps the Edmunds family was contemplating other uses for the house after the son moved. 3 The Reverend John Wesley Heptinstall [1814-1891] was living about twenty five miles away at a home inherited from his father in an area known as Bamboo Corners near the town of Halifax in Halifax County North Carolina. His parents were William Heptinstall [1775-1822] and Dolly Bradsher/Bradshire/Brasseur [1775-1848]. Not much is known about these parents; William Heptinstall died when his son was only eight years old. His mother who was of French Huguenot heritage, lived with her son for many years until her death. The Edmunds-Heptinstall House is a wood-frame house with Federal detailing. It is termed a side-hall house, being asymmetrical in design with a wide hall running the entire length of the house on the right side and two large parlor rooms on the left side. A porch was added on the back side of the house. The house appears from the front yard to be two and a half stories, but it is actually four stories including a basement of eight foot height finished with masonry, stucco, and scored on the outside to represent ashlar stone and an attic on the top floor of unfinished space. Two large stone chimneys are on the left side and they service six fireplaces, two on each of the first three floors. As specified in Nancy’s Diary, the original kitchen and dining room was in the basement; this is a deviation from most other southern plantations which had a detached kitchen building designed to prevent haphazard fires from spreading to the main house. The main façade of the house is three bays wide and the entrance consists of a double door surmounted by a fanlight. There is a twelve-foot wide hall that runs through the right side of the house that has a massive and unusual transverse arch. The inside wood-work has original graining on the doors and marbleizing on the fireplace mantels and floor moldings. Many of the locks on the doors are also original and have the insignia of King George III which assisted in dating the building of the house. More information about the house can be found in the application for the National Register and on the website: www.heptinstallhouse.com 4 NANCY’S DIARY “Aspirations never attained leave smoldering embers that never die.” by Nancy Cornelia Heptinstall Van Wormer 5 1830s/1840s Over a hundred years ago, there was under construction a building in northeastern North Carolina that upon completion was to be dedicated to educating the sons of farmers who owned and tended small farms, but had never realized profits beyond a meager living for their families. Unfortunately, when the said building was half finished, the good citizen with the good intentions found that he had run short of cash and being unable to interest a co-investor, was forced to put the house up for sale. Since there was no newspaper in the county at that time, it had to be advertised from mouth to mouth by the inhabitants of the county and was eventually sold to John Wesley Heptinstall [1812-1890] who lived twenty-five miles away near the town of Halifax, North Carolina. John Wesley was born in Bamboo Corners and inherited from his father a small house and six-hundred acres of land that carried with it a general store that was also the post office and had excellent pasture land. This man, a minister and devoted family man, had a desire for a larger home and had dreams of owning businesses that could help his fellow man. The now very old building still stands and within its now worn and cracked concrete basement floor can still be seen the figures Eighteen Hundred and Forty-Three. As this diary is being compiled, time has obliterated all of its homey attractiveness of years ago, that being achieved through effort, love and care in establishing a home in which a family of five children were born and raised and several other generations would follow. For this family, fond memories still linger and the unforgettable warm hospitability and gracious living will ever linger down through the years. This old house still serves as a home, but the pomp and glory of the nineteenth century in the old South is no longer visible. [Note: The author did not live to see the renovation and preservation of the house that was accomplished within the last thirty years nor the return of family to live within its walls.] 1855 Reverend John Wesley Heptinstall Nancy Ann Sledge Heptinstall 1812-1890 1809-1878 6 When John Wesley was told about this half house in the upper country, he at once became interested, wondering what his wife Nancy Ann [Nancy Ann Sledge 1809-1878] would have to say when he mentioned it to her, finding she wanted whatever would make him happy, his quick decision being to make the trip of investigation at once.