"Queen of the South: New Orleans, 1853--1862 consists of the diary of the British-born architect Thomas K. Wharton (1814-62), who was responsible for building the huge New Orleans Custom House on Canal Street. Though he had spent his youth in the North, Wharton was a committed Southern loyalist, defending states' rights and railing against the "demonic" actions of the North. His narrative is accompanied by splendid images of antebellum New Orleans---photos, drawings, engravings---up to the Union occupation of 1862. Any New Orleans enthusiast will find abundant detail and local color in Wharton's entries, which are preceded by the "meteorology of each day, and thermometrical observations taken at 9 a.m., 12 m., and 4 p.m. Fahrenheit's grade---and the instrument placed in a selected, shady place at the office of the New Custom House N. Orleans." --C&RL News
Thomas Kelah Wharton was born in Hull, England in 1814, and when he was sixteen immigrated with his family to Ohio where they lived in a succession of small towns. When he was eighteen young Wharton apprenticed to prominent New York architect Martin Thompson and began moving in circles that included such figures as Washington Irving, Joel Poinsett, and Gen. Winfield Scott. Following his apprenticeship Wharton taught drawing, painting, and mathematics at three different boys schools on Long Island. When the last of those failed, Wharton and Francis Lister Hawks, an Episcopal clergyman, came south and opened their own school at Holly Springs, Mississippi. After about a year Hawks accepted the rectorship of talents to design a new Christ Church. In New Orleans Wharton became associated with the firm of James Gallier, Sr., whose son earlier had been one of Wharton's students both on Long Island and in Holly Springs. And for the next several years Wharton was intimately involved with the design and building of the New Orleans Customs House, serving variously as architect pro-tem and acting superintendent of construction, eventually becoming assistant to Maj. P.G. T. Beauregard of the U.S. Corps. of Army Engineers who became permanent superintendent. At the same time Wharton pursued an active architectural practice, designing residences in New Orleans, the most imposing of the latter being the Bosworth house at 1126 Washington Avenue... In his journal Wharton reported on local professional, social and public affairs---noted local elections, church attendance, illnesses in his family, i.e., local medical practice, commented on national and international affairs, and, of course, on architecture and the physical growth and development of the city. All in all he provides a remarkable picture of New Orleans and its life during the 1850s and the critical early years of the Civil War. --University of New Orleans
Very few books that come across my desk have impressed me as mich as "Queen of the South, New Orleans, 1853-1862, The Journal of Thomas K. Wharton." This is quality that can come from only the best archival facility in the state, The Historic New Orleans Collection....Anyone who loves the city of New Orleans will delight in the way Wharton's journals offer a look at the city as it was in the 19th century. It's the sights and sounds that are often overlooked by most people, but for those who enjoy the minutest detail, "Queen of the South" is just the answer to what you need. --Times-Picayune
Queen of the South: New Orleans, 1853--1862 consists of the diary of the British-born architect Thomas K. Wharton (1814-62), who was responsible for building the huge New Orleans Custom House on Canal Street. Though he had spent his youth in the North, Wharton was a committed Southern loyalist, defending states' rights and railing against the "demonic" actions of the North. His narrative is accompanied by splendid images of antebellum New Orleans---photos, drawings, engravings---up to the Union occupation of 1862. Any New Orleans enthusiast will find abundant detail and local color in Wharton's entries, which are preceded by the "meteorology of each day, and thermometrical observations taken at 9 a.m., 12 m., and 4 p.m. Fahrenheit's grade---and the instrument placed in a selected, shady place at the office of the New Custom House N. Orleans. --C&RL News
Very few books that come across my desk have impressed me as mich as "Queen of the South, New Orleans, 1853-1862, The Journal of Thomas K. Wharton." This is quality that can come from only the best archival facility in the state, The Historic New Orleans Collection....Anyone who loves the city of New Orleans will delight in the way Wharton's journals offer a look at the city as it was in the 19th century. It's the sights and sounds that are often overlooked by most people, but for those who enjoy the minutest detail, "Queen of the South" is just the answer to what you need. --Times-Picayune
The late Samuel Wilson, Jr., editor of this book, was an architect's architect. A graduate of the school of architecture at Tulane University, he was honored by his profession as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He maintained a demanding architectural practice with the firm of Koch and Wilson, while lecturing on Louisiana architectural history at Tulane for more than thirty-five years.
Mr. Wilson, a stalwart in the preservation community, was a founder of the Louisiana Landmarks Society. He served as president of Landmarks, the Louisiana Historical Association, and the Friends of the Cabildo. A prolific author, he wrote about the architecture of the Gulf Coast region and served as editor of Impressions Respecting New Orleans, the journal of Benjamin H.B. Latrobe. In 1986, the Historic New Orleans Collection published another work edited by Mr. Wilson, Southern Travels: Journal of John H.B. Latrobe, 1834. Samuel Wilson, Jr., brought an unequalled commitment to the understanding and preservation of New Orleans architecture. He died October 21, 1993.
