Oil in Our Lamps: The Journals of Mary Davis Brown

The diaries of Mary Davis Brown offer a rare glimpse of times past in the rural community of York County, South Carolina, during the nineteenth century, a time when faith in God and the good earth were still the pillars of family life. Born on March 21, 1822, Mary began poignantly recording her thoughts, poetry, prayers, and daily activities in 1854 upon the death of her eight-year-old son. She continued her writings through the Civil War years and until late 1901 when she was almost 80 years old. Fortunately, these diaries have survived for over a century and a half and, because of their delicate condition, now rest in a fireproof, humidity and temperature controlled vault in the South Caroliniana Library on the campus of the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Oil In Our Lamps is the culmination of many years of painstaking effort by the descendants of Mary Davis Brown. Her diaries, more than worthy of publication, can now be enjoyed by modern-time folks who will find them enlightening, enriching, and heart-warming.