Thanks to our partner, Chatham County Public Library, a transcript of R.B. Paschal’s diary entries dating from 1860-1861 and 1863-1864 are now available on our website.
In 1854, R.B. Paschal was elected the Chatham County Sheriff and served six consecutive terms. In addition to his career as sheriff, Paschal served in the House of Delegates in 1865 and North Carolina Senate in 1866. Entries are brief and focus mainly on the weather, daily activities mostly related to farming, and sometimes news of the war. The diary as a whole gives a window into how the Civil War affected Chatham County directly, with accounts of local men who were arriving back from fighting or taken prisoner of war. It also includes accounts of Paschal overseeing the trade of enslaved people in Chatham County, a reminder of the duties assigned to the position of sheriff. Place names and people’s names, white and Black, are included in the diary.
A page from the R.B. Pashcal diary transcript.
For more information about the Chatham County Public Library, please visit their website.
More information about the diary and R. B. Paschal can be found here.
