Back to College Letters Collection
Back to James P. McCombs Letters | Jump to original | Jump to annotations
28 January 1956 [1]
Dear Brother,
I have taken this opportunity of answering your letter which I received in due season. I would written before-now but I was looking for you home, I have give up all hopes of you coming now, this has been the worst winter that I ever saw, the ground has been covered over with snow since the 4th of this month, we had a big snow [2] on Fryday night the 4th, 4 or 5 inches deep or perhaps 6, it was a little more than half gon[e], and the next Fryday nigh we had one day as ever, then it snowed a little, the next Saturday night & Sunday and we had just began to see the [ground]
[page 2]
in some places, and in other the snow was two or three inches deep and we have another last Saturday night about three inches deep, We have not mutch hopes of seeing the ground for two weeks to come I[t] has snowed evry week this year, I am very tyard of it I wou[ld] not care how soon it would leave, I would not care for myself but it looks like all [illegible] will die, i[t] is warmer tonight than it has been, I think it is a melting
I have not heard from home since I left I don’t know how things are coming on there I have been looking for a leter evry male. I heard that mother had hired Henry this year, I left home befor the hiring[3] came off [illegible] Honey hired Nancy & Carmal Jack, I don’t know where the rest went Jack & Sandy did not make mutch of a crop last year, I could have almost as much as both of them
[page 3]
The faculty have treated me very well since I came back I suppose I will remain here until I graduate. I wish you could be here next Commencement [4] Hous, Caldwell [5] graduates then I will expect he will have a great speach, ther[e] will some good speaches here then. There will be four representatives from each [society] [6] besides the seven graduating speeches. Contests will come of[f] in three weeks we will have some good speaches then. There are about 75 students here now & there would be a good many more if there was any place to put them but the rooms are all occupied there are going build three houses [7] three stories high with 24 rooms each, next spring and a large Chapple Old Davidson will look like a college then. Ego ferrem epistola [illegible], scribe extemplo, da honorem omnibus[8]
Your Brother
J.P. Mccombs [9]
(Aside)
The snow has melted very fas[t] today I thought it will be all gon[e] in a week, I think I would be very glad to see you at home when I go there Eliza was not very well when I was at home and was expecting to be sick in a short time I have not heard whether she has been sick yet iv not, write soon [illegible]
Jump to transcript
Original
[1] James McCombs began attending Davidson College in the fall of 1854 and is listed in the alumni catalog not as class of 1858 but of 1859. This suggests that McCombs repeated a year at the college, perhaps due to poor academic performance. McCombs wrote this letter near the end of his first term in his second year. In 1855-1856 the college semester ran September to February and February to July. (Davidson College Catalogue 1855-56, p 13).
[2] Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Davidson College had large snowstorms around every 10 years. Although it does not contain mention of a particularly large snowstorm in 1856, the Davidson College Magazine and Davidson Monthly has chronicled a number of large storms in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s , each accumulating around 4-8 inches of snow (College Happenings. Davidson College Magazine. Feb. 1899), (McDowell, James D. Locals and Personals. Davidson Monthly. Feb. 1894).
[3] The McCombs family owned a farm. From the language it is unclear whether they had hired slaves.
(Photograph RG 3-3.7 courtesy Davidson College Archives)
As stated in the Davidson Encyclopedia article Commencement at Davidson, “Commencement was the college’s major social and public event.”(Ivins) Commencement existed as a public examination of the seniors in front of the trustees, senior class, and general public. Upon completion of this event, students would receive a diploma, marking an end to their Davidson career.
[5] In the class of 1856 there were two Caldwells graduating: Joseph C. Caldwell and Robert Houston Caldwell. Joseph C. Caldwell was valedictorian of the class of 1856 and distinguished speaker at the 1856 commencement ceremony. Robert Houston Caldwell was most likely the person mentioned in the letter. (Clipping, Caldwell Alumni File, Alumni Catalog).
[6] As stated in the Davidson Encyclopedia article Commencement at Davidson, “In 1848, the Eumenean and Philanthropic Literary Societies began holding oratorical exercises, usually delivered by the junior class, on the Wednesday before Commencement.” (Ivins) Writing about contests in his letter, McCombs is referring to these exercises.
(Photograph 10-0001 courtesy Davidson College Archives)
The plan to build these three houses was eventually superseded when Maxwell Chambers died and left an inheritance of $300,000, which went toward funding the Chambers building. This building would revitalize the college and serve the purposes of housing, and academia (Beaty, p 60).
[8] McCombs’s Latin phrase was slightly ungrammatical. The literal translation means, “I would be bringing you a letter, write immediately, give honor to everyone.” (Cheshire, Keyne [Classics professor at Davidson College] Personal Interview, 26 February 2013).
[9] Born in 1836 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, James McCombs started attending Davidson College in 1854, and was a member of the Philanthropic Society. The 1924 alumni catalog indicates that McCombs left Davidson before getting a degree, opting to study medicine in New York (he graduated from that program in 1858). He was soon appointed Assistant Surgeon in the 11th Regiment of the North Carolina Troops. After serving in the regiment, McCombs returned to Charlotte as a practicing physician. He passed away in 1902 (Clipping, McCombs Alumni File, Alumni Catalogue).
Bibliography
Alumni Catalogue of Davidson College 1837-1924. Charlotte, NC: Presbyterian Standard Publishing Company, 1924.
Beaty, Mary. A History of Davidson College. Davidson, NC: Briarpatch Press, 1988.
Clipping, James McCombs Alumni File. RG 5/8.1. Alumni Relations. Davidson College, Davidson, NC.
Clipping, Joseph C. Caldwell Alumni File. RG 5-8.1. Alumni Relations. Davidson College, Davidson, NC.
College Happenings. Davidson College Magazine. Feb. 1899.
Ivins, Tammy. “Commencement at Davidson.” Davidson Encyclopedia July 2007 <https://davidsonarchivesandspecialcollections.org/archives/encyclopedia/commencement-at-davidson/>
McDowell, James D. Locals and Personals. Davidson Monthly. Feb. 1894.
Photograph 10-0001 Davidson College Photograph Archives, Davidson, NC.
Photograph RG 3-3.7. Commencement Files, Davidson College Archives, Davidson, NC.
Transcription and annotation author: Will Gale
Date: March 2013
From: DC0117s (Finding Aid)
Cite as: Gale, Will, annotator. 28 January 1856 James McCombs Letter. DC0117s. <https://davidsonarchivesandspecialcollections.org/archives/digital-collections/james-p-mccombs-letter-28-jan-1856>.
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.