author
Susan R. (Susan Ravenel) Jervey
b. 1840
A vivid Civil War–era diary brings readers close to plantation life in South Carolina during the war’s final months. Its pages preserve the voice of a woman who recorded daily events as history unfolded around her.
1 Audiobook
Two diaries From Middle St. John's, Berkeley, South Carolina, February-May, 1865 Journals kept by Miss Susan R. Jervey and Miss Charlotte St. J. Ravenel, at Northampton and Pooshee plantations, and reminiscences of Mrs. (Waring) Henagan; with two contemporary reports from federal officials.
by Susan R. (Susan Ravenel) Jervey, Mary Rhodes Waring Henagan, Charlotte St. J. (Charlotte St. Julien) Ravenel
About the author
Born in Charleston, South Carolina, on July 3, 1840, Susan Ravenel Jervey is known for the journal she kept in 1865 during the closing months of the Civil War. Her writing later appeared in Two Diaries from Middle St. John’s, Berkeley, South Carolina, February–May, 1865, a volume that preserves firsthand accounts from the region.
Jervey is generally described as an American diarist rather than a novelist or professional literary author. What makes her work valuable is its immediacy: it captures everyday observations, local conditions, and the uncertainties of wartime life in South Carolina.
She died on May 24, 1929. Although reliable biographical details about her life are limited, her diary remains an important personal record for readers interested in Civil War history and the lived experience behind major events.