Emily Jane Liles Harris

Emily Jane Liles Harris (1827–1899) was a farmer and writer whom lived in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Emily was the only daughter of Amos Liles and Sarah Daniels. Her father Amos, who was also farmer as well as a slave owner, while her mother, Sarah, stayed home and tended to the children. Harris studied under Pheobe Paine, who was a schoolteacher from Windham, Maine. In the 1980s, Phillip Racine transcribed Emily's journals and says that he could see Paine's influence in Emily's writing and that it showed elegance and emotion. Together they had nine children. David was the only son of a thriving farmer and real estate investor. Before the Civil War, David was a small slaveholder in Spartanburg, South Carolina. David's father gave him 50 acres so he would be able to start his own farm. Same with Emily, she inherited her father's farm and five of his slaves. Together, the two had 1,000 acres of land and ten slaves. From 1855 to 1870, David kept a journal in which he described the life of a slaveholder and small town Spartanburg farmer, as well as what he thought about emancipation and the Confederate defeat.

In 1862, David joined the state militia which left Emily to take care of the farm by herself. During this time, she continued David's journal and wrote about her time taking care of the farm. She mentioned how the burden of being in charge was very heavy on her and how she lacked self-confidence. Some of the responsibilities Emily had were, supervising the slaves, oversaw the responsibility of the animals, planted and harvested crops, she also dealt with the taxes and accommodating the farm to the weather conditions.

End of life In 1865, David returned home for good during the end of the Civil War. When he got back there were some financial troubles due to the abolition of slavery which was the majority of their wealth and labor. It got to be too much trouble and David ended up splitting the farm into 50-acre plots and rented it to other farmers. It ended up not working out and Emily, David, and their children had to sell some of their land.

David Harris passed away in 1875 which left Emily and their children to take care of the farm. But this is until Emily passed on March 26, 1899. She was buried in the family cemetery in Spartanburg County.