Mary+Lane's+Letter-+Nada+Wafa

It was year 1832, and Dr. Henry was looking at this old piece of brownish colored torn sided paper and he was amazed at its content. He thought to himself, “Wow! This letter was written 38 years ago!” He went down from the attic and saw his daughter sitting on the outside porch in the beautiful bright sunny weather, crocheting a shawl for her dear father. “Mary, check this out! I’ve found a letter from your great-grandmother's best friend, written almost 40 years ago!” “Father, that’s amazing! What did she say in it?” She asked. “Well, it was written from her best friend, Mary Lane, and she sent it to her  in New York. In the letter, Mary Lane described her lifestyle and she talked about her husband, Joel Lane” He said. “Joel Lane? The Father of Raleigh! That is really neat! Can you read it for me?” “Sure” Her father said. He pulled up a chair and sat next to her outside, and he read the following letter to his daughter:

Mary Hinton’s Letter to her best friend in New York: December 19th, 1794 

Dear Laura,

I sincerely hope this letter finds you well. It has been over 20 years since the last time we hath spoken or seen each other! I am sitting on my armchair writing this letter to you and with hope everything is okay and life has been treating you well. How are your husband and your children doing? I am sure they are all grown now! As far as for me, I am doing well. I married my beloved husband, Joel Lane in 1772. He is a great man. We have nine children, six girls and three boys. My youngest, Grizzle is one years old now. We named her after my beloved mother, may God rest her soul in peace. She passed away 2 years ago. My husband also has three other children from my sister before she passed away in 1771. They are all very wonderful! Joel is always very busy with his work. He introduced a bill for Wake’s creation, served in the militia, justice of peace, and a senator for Wake County in the General Assembly. He also became a delegate in the 1788 Constitutional Convention in Hillsborough. Henry, my sister’s son, also went with him, and he was delighted being part of the convention. In the 1789 Constitutional Convention, the U.S. constitution was ratified. Isn’t it marvelous! He is now a member of the Board of Trustees of UNC. Hinton, who is my sister’s son also, is now studying there too! Life has been busy here in our house.

Our home is in Raleigh, North Carolina. Can you believe that Raleigh was declared the capitol of North Carolina just this year! I love it here. It is very calm and peaceful. It does get busy with people coming over and having meetings. We remolded the house three years ago and added a second floor and enlarged the upstairs rooms because our family has grown a great deal! I asked Joel to build me a kitchen outside when he remolded the house. It is beautiful! I also spend my time in the garden behind our home. I am always running after the wild chickens and animals and cattle’s, such a delicacy a person can dream for. The fruit trees provide us with plenty of food during the seasons.I am always busy with the children and the Negroes. We all work hand in hand to keep everything in place. There are 27 slaves who help around the house and the plantations. The women on the plantation work to produce woven material with me. We make enough cloth for everyone during the winter to keep them warm. I hath a few woolen wheels that help us with making cloth.

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As you may imagine with a big family, it is typical to wake up early in the morning and start working around the house and the plantation immediately. Imagine 10 beds and a cradle and cords to put together. Then I hath to fix the coffee using the coffee mill, and take care of the six horses, thirteen calves, and twenty-five cattle’s. Then, we must start cleaning the house’s rugs, cotton wheels, chairs, chamberpots, and sifters. Of course, there are many more to clean! Because of the large number of family members we hath, we run out of candlesticks quickly! The brass candlesticks and iron candlesticks last, but not for too long. The one lanthurn is usually lit during holidays and important events in the house. The Negroes help a great bunch. The always take their grubbing hoes and help in the garden. At the end of the day, the family comes together to pray, read a story, and talk about something important they learned during the day. We sit around the living room and drink tea while discussing our subject matter. I love family time. I feel like I reconnect with everyone even after a very long hardworking day. I couldn’t have wished for a better life with my husband, Joel and our children and their wives.

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I must go to prepare Joel for the first Grand Lodge of Masons organization meeting in Raleigh. I am blessed by God to have the benefit of finding your address and do hope this letter meets its destiny. I miss our old days together and I hope to reunite with you soon. You are welcome to visit anytime you delight. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Please take care of yourself. Have a wonderful rest of the day.

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">With the grace of God and love, <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Warm farewell, <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Mary J. Lane <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Father, their lives must have been difficult! I wonder how their home looked like and what happened to the slaves? Also, where were all these animals?” Mary asked. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Yes, I wonder too. How could they take care of so many things all at once? Their lives must have been tremendously busy!” Her father exclaimed <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“That’s true. But my big question is, what happened at that General Assembly meeting?” Mary asked. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Well, in Raleigh, the first General Assembly meeting was held in sometime in the 1600’s, but this letter was written in 1794” Her father said. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“I see. That’s over a hundred years later!” Mary exclaimed. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Those were so many years. I remember hearing about the General Assembly meeting when I was young. In 1794, the General Assembly had its FIRST meeting in the capitol building in Raleigh. That’s why it was so special!” Father said. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“But, what did they do at the general assembly meeting?” Mary asked. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Usually, at general assembly meetings, there are the legislators of the U.S. Senate of North Carolina. They draft and legislate the state’s laws of North Carolina. There are North Carolina House of Commons and North Carolina Senate seats. I also know that there is a specific number of seats for the House, and a specific number of seats for the Senate” Her father said. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Really? I wonder how much..How long do they stay in their position?” Mary asked. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Well, that hasn’t been decided yet. The legislators serve for a two-year term, but I am not sure how it was back then” Her father said. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Yes, but I wonder what happened then” Mary asked curiously. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Well, I knew Joel Lane’s family pretty well. Lane successfully lobbied to create Wake County in the General Assembly. He was a member of the court as well. But before they started having meetings at the capitol building, his property was the setting for the state General Assembly. Raleigh was the new center of the government two years before this letter was written and he died a year after the letter was written, so he must have changed some things in the General Assembly within that year” Her father said. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“He must have wanted to reshape something in Raleigh” Mary said. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“I think he must have too. I recall that at the General Assembly, I think, the legislative it was..” He pondered for a while to think. “Yes, it was the legislative body. They granted Raleigh a charter with what they called a “Intendent Police” which is a Mayor. They also granted Raleigh seven commissioners! Oh...remember the Haywood family?” Her father said. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Yes, of course, they were the Intendent Police, weren’t they?” Mary asked. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“They were. John Haywood was the first 'Intendent of Police.' They protect the countryside from beggars and robbers. You see, Raleigh started to grow and it is still growing as you can see. Hopefully, many improvements will come along. Only time will reveal the changes we will face!” <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In 1832, the General Assembly ordered that a new Capitol to be built. They hired employees to prepare a plan to construct a similar capitol building. The principals they planned greatly improved the earlier design of the capitol building, leaving the capitol buildings present appearance. In 1835, the constitution was amended to make the Governor elect, but the legislatures still elected officials. Also, in 1835, they set the number of senators to 50 and House of Representatives to 120. In 1868, the constitution changed the name of House of Commons to the House of Representatives. <span style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color windowtext; border-style: none none solid; border-width: medium medium 1pt; display: block; padding: 0in 0in 1pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">-What I want my students to know? <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">First and foremost, the students will be completing competency Goal 3.03, which is that they will be able to identify and evaluate the impact of individual reformers and groups and assess the effectiveness of their programs. They will also complete competency Goal 9.02 and 9.03, which focus on identifying past and present state and local leaders from diverse cultural backgrounds and assess their influences in affecting the change, as well as describing the opportunities for and benefits of civic participation. They will focus on Joel Lane's house, including its size, style, and location. They could find pictures of different types of architecture, and compare their homes and collage’s homes to Joel Lane’s home. They should be able to recognize the differences and similarities between the way we live today and the way Joel Lane lived.

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">-How will I facilitate the students learning? <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The way I would facilitate the students learning is by providing them with the information necessary including a handout, background information about Joel Lane and his family, have a field trip to Joel Lane Museum House, and discuss the architecture and the location of Joel Lane's house.

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">-How will I determine what the students have learned? <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The way I would determine what the students have learned is by completing a teacher-made handout. I would also have them make a chart about the differences and similarities of the house and their own home. They will also write a paragraph about what they would tell Joel Lane’s children about the house and about their current houses. They will also model one of Joel Lane’s plantations and write a narrative about a day in the life of a slave that is working on it. They will also compare and contrast their family with Joel Lane’s family. In addition, we could integrate Language Arts in our class by having the students read a book from a colonial time and give a group oral report about the book and how it may or may not relate to Joel Lane’s life circumstances and situations. They could also do buddy journals and turn them in after reading the book.