1857-St. Louis, Missouri

 It is now late autumn. Julia is pregnant with our newest baby boy. She looks like it will only be a few more months until he will be born. We haven't decided on a name yet, but I'm am thinking to name him after my father. About a month ago an abolitionist by the name of John Brown raided a federal reserve in Virginia. His plan was to hand out arms to slaves and start a revolt all over the country. Brown claimed he was one of the few seeing the truth clearly. He said that slavery can not be ended by legal means. I have to agree with him. The court believes that slaves are much too important to be freed. I have never advocated war except as a mean of peace. If there was to be a war it would be about more than slavery, it would be about a way of life. Abolitionist are so daft they don't even dare to think the economy will collapse if slavery is abolished. The economy is not in an amazing state today as a matter of fact. I have been struggling to find a steady job. Julia's father offered me a job on his ranch, but that would mean that I would have to move away from her and our children. I politely rejected his kind offer. Julia and I made a promise we would always stay together. I'm considering saving up for a slave so he can help us tend the land we own. We have a farm that isn't much, but it is enough to get us by. I built our cabin myself. I called it "Hardscrabble" because of hard times. When our farm wasn't enough I farmed on my brother-in-law's ranch in St. Louis with many slaves. There was a plague and we were unable to harvest the crops. I just hope they punish John Brown for what he did. He got his own two sons involved and they were both killed. What a shameful man. I heard that he was almost stabbed to death as well. Someone needs to stand up and resolve this huge political mess.