This 1866-1871 diary was kept by Margaret Anna Robertson Burwell (1810-1871), frequently referred to as Anna instead of Margaret. Margaret Anna Robertson Burwell was born in Virginia on October 3, 1810 to William Bruce Robertson (1790-1835) and his wife Ann Spotswood Robertson (1792-1869). She was raised primarily by her mother’s sister, Susan Catherine Robertson Bott (1774-1853). Known as Anna, she was well educated and had some teaching experience before her marriage to Presbyterian minister Robert Armistead Burwell (1802-1895) on December 22, 1831. In 1835, Anna, Robert and their two children moved from Virginia to Hillsborough, NC. Shortly after the move, Anna would deliver her third child. To supplement her husband’s income and support their ever-growing family, Anna started a school for young ladies in 1837. For the next 20 years, the school would educate more than 200 young white women. The Burwell family would grow to 12 children before they left Hillsborough in 1857 to start the Charlotte Female Institute. While Robert was listed as the main principal of the school, Anna shouldered much of the workload. She taught, wrote the circulars, completed progress reports and kept up correspondence all while fulfilling the requirements of a mother and the wife of a minister. She did not complete this work alone, however. The Burwell household was served by numerous enslaved individuals and employed servants after the Civil War. Anna Burwell died on June 21, 1871 at the age of 60. She is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Charlotte, N.C.