Billie Eilish, American Widow of Frederick I, Prince of Wales, Owns Marvelous Collection of Genuine Memorabilia
Last week, the show Family Tree screened an episode called “Family Business” that featured Billie Eilish (Caroline Rhea), who was of a younger generation when our country was formed. She witnessed the Civil War in a prisoner of war camp and became a teacher at a reform school. Years later, she decided to write her memoirs, which were later published in hard cover. The following are some of the more interesting tidbits from the episode:
There was a lot about her American history that Billie didn’t know. After all, the lives of young women of that time weren’t discussed back then. She found out that her family owned a barge, as well as that they were active in the Atlanta industrial revolution and had many contacts in the city.
Billie learned how “enlightened” she was to be an American woman during the nineteenth century. She was even married for a brief time, but it was only to a man of German descent. Still, she really enjoyed the fact that she was considered an American. Her family had many Germans living on the plantation. Some of her relatives were prosperous and intelligent, while others were not.
Billie loved the freedom that she experienced during the civil war. When the north and the south fought, the southern soldiers were treated well by the white people in the south. This seemed strange to Billie, because she was an orphan with no family to turn to. What made it okay for them was that the soldiers were fighting for their country. Despite this fact, she felt that there were more soldiers going home than were coming to fight.
Billie did not like reading at all. She never read a book on her own until she was eighty. She just wanted to read old things that had been around for a long time.
Billie was a very successful person in her career. She worked for big companies, a lot. She became very wealthy during her life, as did a lot of other women in the years following the war.
Billie thought that George Washington owned his own slave, because he held him in Virginia. It was in Virginia that the slave trade took place. Washington owned more than twenty-five slaves. Unfortunately, all of his slaves died, which forced him to get rid of some of them himself.
Last week’s episode of Family Tree was a good look at some of the people and things that Billie had to deal with, as well as learn from, growing up. Billie has some interesting things to say about the Civil War, as well as about women and their ability to make it in the world. She told interesting stories about her past.
