It appears my maternal grandmother, Myrtle, kept every letter my grandfather, Martin, sent home during the war, and preserved them in their original envelopes inside a shoebox.
Martin didn’t save every letter Myrtle sent him. Realities of war probably prevented that. He moved around from base to base, and there wasn’t a lot of room for personal belongings. But I suspect all the letters that he did bring home with him ended up being preserved with everything else the two of them saved.
Myrtle also saved a large number of letters her father sent her during the latter half of the 1920s. He wrote her weekly, and the letters indicate she wrote him weekly as well. Though we don’t have any of the letters she wrote to him.
On the other hand, Martin’s mother, Helen, saved many of the letters Martin and Myrtle sent her. And when she passed, those letters were discovered and preserved by my grandfather.
***
A recent conversation brought to mind the unusual nature of the letter. It is one of the few mediums where it is rare that the author maintains a copy of his/her work.
I am addicted to writing. Blog posts, poetry, fiction, emails. For all of these, I have preserved electronic copies of that which I consider important. However, this isn’t the case with the letters I have written.
I have had a computer since the mid-1980s, and there are a handful of letters I’ve written that were saved, and somehow made it through multiple hard drive crashes. (some were sent, some unsent). However, other letters didn’t get preserved. At least, not by me. And I wonder if the recipient still has a copy.
Showing posts with label Letters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Letters. Show all posts
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Amanuensis Monday: I Know You Will Come Back to Me
Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.
I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them. If you choose to join me in Amanuensis Monday and post your transcriptions, feel free to add a link to your post in the comments.
I meant to spend the last two Mondays of January with the transcription of the final 20 minutes of the tape my grandfather, Martin Deutsch, and his siblings recorded in 1977. However, I only managed to transcribe seven of the ten minutes necessary for today's post. So, I will push that back a week and share part of a letter my grandmother, Myrtle (Van Every) Deutsch, wrote my grandfather in March of 1943.
I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them. If you choose to join me in Amanuensis Monday and post your transcriptions, feel free to add a link to your post in the comments.
I meant to spend the last two Mondays of January with the transcription of the final 20 minutes of the tape my grandfather, Martin Deutsch, and his siblings recorded in 1977. However, I only managed to transcribe seven of the ten minutes necessary for today's post. So, I will push that back a week and share part of a letter my grandmother, Myrtle (Van Every) Deutsch, wrote my grandfather in March of 1943.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Amanuensis Monday: Letter from Willa - 1916
Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.
The below letter was written by my grandmother Myrtle's sister, Willa, to their father Melvin Van Every. The year was 1916. Willa died one month later on July 8th. There's a lot of slang I have difficulty deciphering, but it is clear she is not happy with the man she married, and is only staying with him out of a sense of duty. When Willa dies, it is clear from other letters Willa's daughter is raised by her maternal grandparents, and not by her father.
Lockhart, Texas
June 6, 1916
My Dear Papa
Well how are you all to-day? I am not feeling so very good to day. I bet you are enjoying yourself on that good sleeping porch to day. I say that is the life.
I have not answered your letter any sooner because news is scarce here. Every one is in the grass pretty bad, but cotton is pretty. If it does not rain in a few days corn will not amount to much. We are eating roasting corn now. We also have beans, squashes and radishes in garden to eat. My tomatoes are large as eggs. I am glad you bought my honey. If I can get off I want to come home. I might make some money next week chopping cotton. Agnes Lee is fine, she surely got scared when I read that tiger story to her, she never got out of my sight for 3 or 4 days.
Did mama go to see Evva? Is Myrtle coming up here on a trip? How’s that trouble with your lungs? I do hope you are getting better. The people are surely moving out of the country about Robstown and Alga Dulce, The Woodmen here sent after one fellow that was nearly all in, and lots are coming back on their own hook.
How is Aunt Let and Red making it? I hope all OK. We went to a picnic at New Braunfels last Friday. Sure had a nice time. We played some 2x2 last night. Pa taken the kids all to the picture show. Agnes Lee talks every day about all and especially you. She is surely anxious to come down there.
Well I don’t believe the Mexican situation looks bad to these people around here. There has been no disturbance whatever. I wish they would go to war and quit this foolishness. I think something exciting would be fine. Maybe a war would kill off a whole lot of these parasites that is always digging the other fellow and never pays his debts.
Say, Lex has sold his crop and for just what our store account is. At least they just took up his debt. He carpenters some and chops cotton. I hope we don’t starve. Sometimes I think I ought to have done like you suggested and never come back up here.
Duty is all that made me come. As far as love is concerned, that is a thing of the past with me. But it seems like I am not giving Agnes Lee a fair chance. I do believe she’ll be ashamed of him when she’s older. I am now. That’s one reason I hate to come back down there. He owes everybody and told so many lies, that I do hope the people don’t blame me. The worst part of all is he has not got any chance to pay any of his debts this year. It’s just disgusting. He has no management whatever about him.
Well it gives me a headache to think of all this mess. I don’t know nothing to write so I will close with lots of love to you and mama and Myrtle, and love and kisses from Agnes Lee to you all. I am as ever your little girl Bill.
Willa is the author of the poem, Mother, which I posted last August.
If you choose to join me in Amanuensis Monday and post your transcriptions, please add a link to your post below.
The below letter was written by my grandmother Myrtle's sister, Willa, to their father Melvin Van Every. The year was 1916. Willa died one month later on July 8th. There's a lot of slang I have difficulty deciphering, but it is clear she is not happy with the man she married, and is only staying with him out of a sense of duty. When Willa dies, it is clear from other letters Willa's daughter is raised by her maternal grandparents, and not by her father.
Lockhart, Texas
June 6, 1916
My Dear Papa
Well how are you all to-day? I am not feeling so very good to day. I bet you are enjoying yourself on that good sleeping porch to day. I say that is the life.
I have not answered your letter any sooner because news is scarce here. Every one is in the grass pretty bad, but cotton is pretty. If it does not rain in a few days corn will not amount to much. We are eating roasting corn now. We also have beans, squashes and radishes in garden to eat. My tomatoes are large as eggs. I am glad you bought my honey. If I can get off I want to come home. I might make some money next week chopping cotton. Agnes Lee is fine, she surely got scared when I read that tiger story to her, she never got out of my sight for 3 or 4 days.
Did mama go to see Evva? Is Myrtle coming up here on a trip? How’s that trouble with your lungs? I do hope you are getting better. The people are surely moving out of the country about Robstown and Alga Dulce, The Woodmen here sent after one fellow that was nearly all in, and lots are coming back on their own hook.
How is Aunt Let and Red making it? I hope all OK. We went to a picnic at New Braunfels last Friday. Sure had a nice time. We played some 2x2 last night. Pa taken the kids all to the picture show. Agnes Lee talks every day about all and especially you. She is surely anxious to come down there.
Well I don’t believe the Mexican situation looks bad to these people around here. There has been no disturbance whatever. I wish they would go to war and quit this foolishness. I think something exciting would be fine. Maybe a war would kill off a whole lot of these parasites that is always digging the other fellow and never pays his debts.
Say, Lex has sold his crop and for just what our store account is. At least they just took up his debt. He carpenters some and chops cotton. I hope we don’t starve. Sometimes I think I ought to have done like you suggested and never come back up here.
Duty is all that made me come. As far as love is concerned, that is a thing of the past with me. But it seems like I am not giving Agnes Lee a fair chance. I do believe she’ll be ashamed of him when she’s older. I am now. That’s one reason I hate to come back down there. He owes everybody and told so many lies, that I do hope the people don’t blame me. The worst part of all is he has not got any chance to pay any of his debts this year. It’s just disgusting. He has no management whatever about him.
Well it gives me a headache to think of all this mess. I don’t know nothing to write so I will close with lots of love to you and mama and Myrtle, and love and kisses from Agnes Lee to you all. I am as ever your little girl Bill.
Willa is the author of the poem, Mother, which I posted last August.
If you choose to join me in Amanuensis Monday and post your transcriptions, please add a link to your post below.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Amanuensis Monday: Bees, Chicken and Corn
Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.
The below letter was written by my great grandmother, Margaret (Denyer) Van Every to her daughter Minnie in 1917. Minnie was my grandmother Myrtle's oldest sister. Evva was another sister. Marguerite and Shirley were Minnie's two eldest children. Agnes was the daughter of Willa, another sister of my grandmother's; Willa had died in 1916. Jud was my great grandfather Melvin Van Every's brother. Melvin was an apiarist (beekeeper).
Phoenix June 1, 1917
Dear Daughter Minnie
As I have a few minutes time I will write you few lines. We are all well but have not found a location yet altho we have bought 35 colonies of bees. I believe this is a good honey country but there is so many bees here it is hard to find just what you want. Agnes and I are here in town waiting for Daddy to go look at some places we were told we would like. It seems like every body here is so busy they just don’t have time to do anything. How do the crops look by now. I guess everybody plowed up their corn. There is some tasseling here about 3 feet high which will never amount to much. I see some cotton which looks good but the people have very few gardens. it seems tat every body lives in town. When we go out in the country nearly every house we see is closed. This seems to be the ideal chicken country for the small breed of chickens. They say it is too hot here for the large kind. How is every body. Do you see Myrtle much? I wish you could see her real often. I believe she is grieving for me. Tell her I am alright and if anything happens I will let her know first of all.
I write Myrtle oftener than anyone because I am afraid she worries about me.
I sure sleep well. The nights are so cool you have to have blankets on the beds. They say this is unusual here.
I am getting tired of this traveling around no place to lay your head. It was fun at first but now it is more like work. I wish I could step right in your house and see what you are doing .
Tell me all the news. Do I know the man Miss Della married? Tell Marguerite and Shirley I will write to them soon. You see my knee is my table and I don’t enjoy writing much. Tell every body hello for me.
What is Horace doing. Are the bees doing anything yet. I wonder if Evva is with you yet. I sure enjoyed myself while I was with her.
She intended coming your way there real soon. I am looking for a ltetter from you real soon and I hope I will not be disappointed. If I got a letter from you one week and one from Myrtle the next and one from Evva and Bro Jud inbetween I am all right. Agnes is just the same. It takes a clean dress every day to keep her any way clean at all. Every thing she sees she wants me to buy it to send Myrtle. Kiss all the children for me. Write when you can.
Lovingly, your mother
Here's a blown up section containing the one word I can't identify. It looks like lassalin, and from context it has to be something grown on a farm.
If you choose to join me in Amanuensis Monday and post your transcriptions, please add a link to your post below.
The below letter was written by my great grandmother, Margaret (Denyer) Van Every to her daughter Minnie in 1917. Minnie was my grandmother Myrtle's oldest sister. Evva was another sister. Marguerite and Shirley were Minnie's two eldest children. Agnes was the daughter of Willa, another sister of my grandmother's; Willa had died in 1916. Jud was my great grandfather Melvin Van Every's brother. Melvin was an apiarist (beekeeper).
Phoenix June 1, 1917
Dear Daughter Minnie
As I have a few minutes time I will write you few lines. We are all well but have not found a location yet altho we have bought 35 colonies of bees. I believe this is a good honey country but there is so many bees here it is hard to find just what you want. Agnes and I are here in town waiting for Daddy to go look at some places we were told we would like. It seems like every body here is so busy they just don’t have time to do anything. How do the crops look by now. I guess everybody plowed up their corn. There is some tasseling here about 3 feet high which will never amount to much. I see some cotton which looks good but the people have very few gardens. it seems tat every body lives in town. When we go out in the country nearly every house we see is closed. This seems to be the ideal chicken country for the small breed of chickens. They say it is too hot here for the large kind. How is every body. Do you see Myrtle much? I wish you could see her real often. I believe she is grieving for me. Tell her I am alright and if anything happens I will let her know first of all.
I write Myrtle oftener than anyone because I am afraid she worries about me.
I sure sleep well. The nights are so cool you have to have blankets on the beds. They say this is unusual here.
I am getting tired of this traveling around no place to lay your head. It was fun at first but now it is more like work. I wish I could step right in your house and see what you are doing .
Tell me all the news. Do I know the man Miss Della married? Tell Marguerite and Shirley I will write to them soon. You see my knee is my table and I don’t enjoy writing much. Tell every body hello for me.
What is Horace doing. Are the bees doing anything yet. I wonder if Evva is with you yet. I sure enjoyed myself while I was with her.
She intended coming your way there real soon. I am looking for a ltetter from you real soon and I hope I will not be disappointed. If I got a letter from you one week and one from Myrtle the next and one from Evva and Bro Jud inbetween I am all right. Agnes is just the same. It takes a clean dress every day to keep her any way clean at all. Every thing she sees she wants me to buy it to send Myrtle. Kiss all the children for me. Write when you can.
Lovingly, your mother
Here's a blown up section containing the one word I can't identify. It looks like lassalin, and from context it has to be something grown on a farm.
If you choose to join me in Amanuensis Monday and post your transcriptions, please add a link to your post below.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Jan 31, 1925: Of Marriages and Mexicans
Below is one of a series of letters my great grandfather, Melvin Van Every, wrote to my grandmother, Myrtle. The year was 1925. This is actually one of the earliest letters I have from him written to her after she had moved to St. Louis in 1920. At this point he was writing weekly, and I have no reason not to believe he wrote weekly in the five years previous. I just don't have those letters.
Minnie was Melvin's eldest daughter, and her two eldest daughters were Margie and Shirley. Josie was Melvin's second wife.
Garfield N.M.
Jan 31 – 1925
Dear Machen
Your letter received Wed. Was glad to hear from you. You say you are having some very cold weather. We are also. It freezes every night but the days are warm. The coldest we have had was 6 above zero and it hangs around 20 any night.
We have had quite an excitement among the Mexicans the past week. A Mexican man on my place give me $10.00 to take him and his girl to Hillsborough the next county seat to get married and I found out on the road the girl was only 15 and they swore she was 18 and was married. They stopped with some other Mexicans before they got home and ask me to find out how the old took it and when I got home I found them very mad. They scoured the country far and wide but did not find them. They about give them up they came to me and tried to get me tell where they were. They came home today. There was no one hurt but they may prosecute them for swearing a lie.
Got a letter from Minnie they were well. Roswell and Margie were with them and Shirley was about to get married. The man she intends marrying seems like a good fellow But
I hope you do well and get a man who can make a living. How about his parents? Do you know them? You know children take after their parents and if their parents are worthless they will prove so also. I believe Roswell will prove good soon as his parents good people and have made a success.
We went to Sunday school this morning and took dinner with a neighbor. Josie was afraid of the Mexicans and they were to come home at noon.
... We have our trees pruned and the orchard looks good. I have to spray for scale while the trees are dormant. and then several times later for other Bugs.
We are getting on nicely farming...
Love and Best Wishes Dad
In some of his letters my great-grandfather illustrates some disappointing views on Mexicans, however, his views were likely typical in 1920s Texas. Still, he was willing to help out a young couple getting married. It's not clear whether he discovered the girl was underage before or after the marriage. Considering his religious nature, I suspect it was the latter.
He repeats the advice of judging a potential spouse by their parents several times in his letters.
Minnie was Melvin's eldest daughter, and her two eldest daughters were Margie and Shirley. Josie was Melvin's second wife.
Garfield N.M.
Jan 31 – 1925
Dear Machen
Your letter received Wed. Was glad to hear from you. You say you are having some very cold weather. We are also. It freezes every night but the days are warm. The coldest we have had was 6 above zero and it hangs around 20 any night.
We have had quite an excitement among the Mexicans the past week. A Mexican man on my place give me $10.00 to take him and his girl to Hillsborough the next county seat to get married and I found out on the road the girl was only 15 and they swore she was 18 and was married. They stopped with some other Mexicans before they got home and ask me to find out how the old took it and when I got home I found them very mad. They scoured the country far and wide but did not find them. They about give them up they came to me and tried to get me tell where they were. They came home today. There was no one hurt but they may prosecute them for swearing a lie.
Got a letter from Minnie they were well. Roswell and Margie were with them and Shirley was about to get married. The man she intends marrying seems like a good fellow But
I hope you do well and get a man who can make a living. How about his parents? Do you know them? You know children take after their parents and if their parents are worthless they will prove so also. I believe Roswell will prove good soon as his parents good people and have made a success.
We went to Sunday school this morning and took dinner with a neighbor. Josie was afraid of the Mexicans and they were to come home at noon.
... We have our trees pruned and the orchard looks good. I have to spray for scale while the trees are dormant. and then several times later for other Bugs.
We are getting on nicely farming...
Love and Best Wishes Dad
In some of his letters my great-grandfather illustrates some disappointing views on Mexicans, however, his views were likely typical in 1920s Texas. Still, he was willing to help out a young couple getting married. It's not clear whether he discovered the girl was underage before or after the marriage. Considering his religious nature, I suspect it was the latter.
He repeats the advice of judging a potential spouse by their parents several times in his letters.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Amanuensis Monday: Stop, I L__ You!
Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.
Below is a letter from one of my maternal grandmother's male callers, likely sent in 1919. He was trying to stop my grandmother from marrying a man named Jack. I haven't yet figured out his last name. In his letter he provides more information about Jack than either of my grandmother's parents provided in their letters consoling her on her divorce (which I posted last week). I don't think the marriage lasted long.
The author of the below letter only signs it "H. May." May is a fairly common surname, and there are several given names beginning with H. H could also reference the individual's middle name or nickname. I have found a couple possibilities in the 1920 census.
Dear --- Dearer --- No Dearest Myrtle
Again I come as one who is trying to bar your happiness, perhaps; but hope not.
Myrtle, I hear you are to be married. Can it be? God forbid it. I admit, by saying that, I hope to benefit myself; but, also, I believe it would be a favor to you. Should you marry that man, it cannot help but make your life a sorrow. Forgive me, Myrtle that I talk thus. Two things there will be to take away your young and just begun happiness. The main one is his disposition that will make it unpleasant and miserable for you. The other is you will leave a home of plenty. Jack already has a family to care for. Another thing, girl, you are his superior.
Wait. Go with a few other men. See the difference between this one and others. Then, if you still believe you would be satisfied with his ways go ahead. What future can you look ahead to by marrying him? Only one thing do you know, and that is that he thinks a lot of you. But can that make you happy to be around one who loves as he does? As for being a nice man, there is no comparison between this man and any other in Berclair. But think ahead – of your happiness, etc.
Myrtle, if you will not marry yet, and think you could care the least for me, I will promise to do my best that you won’t regret not marrying him.
Being I have gone with you but one time, you will perhaps think me a liar, or, as you once before called me – “silly” – when I say that I have fallen in l___ with you. That one night alone, especially, when you shook hands good-night, left in me a feeling for you that I have felt for no other girl. That night, perhaps had no effect upon you other than to want to consider me an intruder and a quarrel maker. If it had no other effect upon you, you will consider this different from how I mean it; then pardon me for what I write.
Yet will I ask that you consider me in earnest, and as one who would like to have your love.
Myrtle, please do not marry for your own sake. Some one has, no doubt, insisted that you do; but you say for yourself, and consider well
I wanted to get to talk with you Sat. but had no chance. So have taken this my only chance before it is too late. Will you please write me an answer tomorrow? I will keep it a secret.
Your friend – enemy, lover --- or what?
H. May.
PS Excuse lead pencil, bad hand writing, etc. I wrote this late last night expecting to recopy it today, but will not have time before you all with Loyd, my message boy, leaves. Again I say I sure would hate to see you marry that man. Destroy this when you read it, if you do read it.
My grandmother didn't listen, to any of his requests, even that of destroying the letter.
'H' mentions Jack's 'disposition', and suggests my grandmother wouldn't want to be around someone who 'loves as he does.' In the letter from Myrtle's father, he expressed concern that Jack might become violent after their divorce. My grandmother moved to St. Louis in the fall of 1920, and I wonder if there was an element of escape involved. Her brother, Sam, was attending college in St. Louis at the time which would have provided a reason for her to choose St. Louis.
It appears that Jack was from Berclair, TX, which is about 650 miles from El Paso. However, I do know that Myrtle's father opened a cheese manufactory in Berclair in 1914. And the Van Everys had farms in San Marcos and Caldwell, TX, both within 100 miles of Austin, prior to moving to El Paso, and Berclair is in the same general vicinity, about 140 miles from Austin.
The Van Every deed to the land in Fabens/El Paso, TX was purchased in July 1917. I wonder if they could have maintained farms at both locations for a couple years, despite the large distance inbetween.
Below is a letter from one of my maternal grandmother's male callers, likely sent in 1919. He was trying to stop my grandmother from marrying a man named Jack. I haven't yet figured out his last name. In his letter he provides more information about Jack than either of my grandmother's parents provided in their letters consoling her on her divorce (which I posted last week). I don't think the marriage lasted long.
The author of the below letter only signs it "H. May." May is a fairly common surname, and there are several given names beginning with H. H could also reference the individual's middle name or nickname. I have found a couple possibilities in the 1920 census.
Dear --- Dearer --- No Dearest Myrtle
Again I come as one who is trying to bar your happiness, perhaps; but hope not.
Myrtle, I hear you are to be married. Can it be? God forbid it. I admit, by saying that, I hope to benefit myself; but, also, I believe it would be a favor to you. Should you marry that man, it cannot help but make your life a sorrow. Forgive me, Myrtle that I talk thus. Two things there will be to take away your young and just begun happiness. The main one is his disposition that will make it unpleasant and miserable for you. The other is you will leave a home of plenty. Jack already has a family to care for. Another thing, girl, you are his superior.
Wait. Go with a few other men. See the difference between this one and others. Then, if you still believe you would be satisfied with his ways go ahead. What future can you look ahead to by marrying him? Only one thing do you know, and that is that he thinks a lot of you. But can that make you happy to be around one who loves as he does? As for being a nice man, there is no comparison between this man and any other in Berclair. But think ahead – of your happiness, etc.
Myrtle, if you will not marry yet, and think you could care the least for me, I will promise to do my best that you won’t regret not marrying him.
Being I have gone with you but one time, you will perhaps think me a liar, or, as you once before called me – “silly” – when I say that I have fallen in l___ with you. That one night alone, especially, when you shook hands good-night, left in me a feeling for you that I have felt for no other girl. That night, perhaps had no effect upon you other than to want to consider me an intruder and a quarrel maker. If it had no other effect upon you, you will consider this different from how I mean it; then pardon me for what I write.
Yet will I ask that you consider me in earnest, and as one who would like to have your love.
Myrtle, please do not marry for your own sake. Some one has, no doubt, insisted that you do; but you say for yourself, and consider well
I wanted to get to talk with you Sat. but had no chance. So have taken this my only chance before it is too late. Will you please write me an answer tomorrow? I will keep it a secret.
Your friend – enemy, lover --- or what?
H. May.
PS Excuse lead pencil, bad hand writing, etc. I wrote this late last night expecting to recopy it today, but will not have time before you all with Loyd, my message boy, leaves. Again I say I sure would hate to see you marry that man. Destroy this when you read it, if you do read it.
My grandmother didn't listen, to any of his requests, even that of destroying the letter.
'H' mentions Jack's 'disposition', and suggests my grandmother wouldn't want to be around someone who 'loves as he does.' In the letter from Myrtle's father, he expressed concern that Jack might become violent after their divorce. My grandmother moved to St. Louis in the fall of 1920, and I wonder if there was an element of escape involved. Her brother, Sam, was attending college in St. Louis at the time which would have provided a reason for her to choose St. Louis.
It appears that Jack was from Berclair, TX, which is about 650 miles from El Paso. However, I do know that Myrtle's father opened a cheese manufactory in Berclair in 1914. And the Van Everys had farms in San Marcos and Caldwell, TX, both within 100 miles of Austin, prior to moving to El Paso, and Berclair is in the same general vicinity, about 140 miles from Austin.
The Van Every deed to the land in Fabens/El Paso, TX was purchased in July 1917. I wonder if they could have maintained farms at both locations for a couple years, despite the large distance inbetween.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Amanuensis Monday: Consoling a daughter on her divorce
Below are two letters from my maternal great grandparents. They were trying to console my grandmother, Myrtle Van Every, on the end of her first marriage. All signs indicate it was a brief marriage, and all I know is that the guy's name was Jack.
Sunday Evening
Darling Baby your dear little blue letter came a few days since. darling I know how you feel about your divorce but dear it seems it cannot be helped you will have to wait with as much grace as you can and don’t fret keep just as sweet and cheerful as you can. don’t think about it so much you know it is a long lane that has no turn.
I am just sick about your dress and just to think I am to blame. I am heartly sorry but that don’t buy you a new dress. dear I had a real good time while I was with you what better did I want than to look forward to my baby coming in and being with her the rest of the evening and besides I had such a good rest I feel like coming back.
I really think it’s mean of them not to of giving more than five dollars raise. I know you are worth much more than you are getting. Daddy told me to tell you to come home and stay if you would like to as he thinks it best. I really don’t think Minnie and Aug are in with Jack although he was here Tuesday and today also. Well as it is time for Sunday school I will say goodbye. Write just as soon as you get this,
Loving,
Mother
***
Letterhead: The Texas Honey Producers Association
Office of ME Van Every
Producer of Pure Comb and Extracted Honey
Sunday June 8, 1919
Dear Machen: -
As I did not get to see you Tuesday when I was in El Paso, I will write you a few lines. I was very busy with the Reclamation people and did not get out until after your noon hour.
We are about as well as usual, except myself I am suffering from a severe attack of lazyness.
Say Jack is out here every week and twice the past week, and he is here again to-day, I can’t account for it without he is expecting to catch you here and kill you and himself, as it is the “fad” now-a-days. Kind of keep your eye on him as there is no telling what he may do. I would come in after you Saturday if I thought he would not hurt you.
Say this ribbon on the typewriter is about gone, if you have another you have throwed away, save it for me.
Have not sold the cotton yet, at least I have not received the “dough.” If you need the money before I got it let me know and I will “dig up” some how. I have just paid half on a cow for Minnie as they need milk so bad.
[...]
Best Wishes, Dad.
image above was edited as I decided not to share the entire letter.
I'm guessing the 'five dollars raise' referred to a job Myrtle had before getting a job with the QuarterMasterCorps in El Paso. She began her job at the QMC in August of 1919, and I have a record of her career after that.
I hope my great grandfather was exaggerating, or at least not being literal, when he talked about Jack's potential for violence.
Next week: A letter from one of Myrtle's male friends, before she married Jack, trying to stop the wedding with a proposal of his own. Unfortunately, he didn't sign his full name, nor did he put a date on it.
Sunday Evening
Darling Baby your dear little blue letter came a few days since. darling I know how you feel about your divorce but dear it seems it cannot be helped you will have to wait with as much grace as you can and don’t fret keep just as sweet and cheerful as you can. don’t think about it so much you know it is a long lane that has no turn.
I am just sick about your dress and just to think I am to blame. I am heartly sorry but that don’t buy you a new dress. dear I had a real good time while I was with you what better did I want than to look forward to my baby coming in and being with her the rest of the evening and besides I had such a good rest I feel like coming back.
I really think it’s mean of them not to of giving more than five dollars raise. I know you are worth much more than you are getting. Daddy told me to tell you to come home and stay if you would like to as he thinks it best. I really don’t think Minnie and Aug are in with Jack although he was here Tuesday and today also. Well as it is time for Sunday school I will say goodbye. Write just as soon as you get this,
Loving,
Mother
***
Letterhead: The Texas Honey Producers Association
Office of ME Van Every
Producer of Pure Comb and Extracted Honey
Sunday June 8, 1919
Dear Machen: -
As I did not get to see you Tuesday when I was in El Paso, I will write you a few lines. I was very busy with the Reclamation people and did not get out until after your noon hour.
We are about as well as usual, except myself I am suffering from a severe attack of lazyness.
Say Jack is out here every week and twice the past week, and he is here again to-day, I can’t account for it without he is expecting to catch you here and kill you and himself, as it is the “fad” now-a-days. Kind of keep your eye on him as there is no telling what he may do. I would come in after you Saturday if I thought he would not hurt you.
Say this ribbon on the typewriter is about gone, if you have another you have throwed away, save it for me.
Have not sold the cotton yet, at least I have not received the “dough.” If you need the money before I got it let me know and I will “dig up” some how. I have just paid half on a cow for Minnie as they need milk so bad.
[...]
Best Wishes, Dad.
image above was edited as I decided not to share the entire letter.
I'm guessing the 'five dollars raise' referred to a job Myrtle had before getting a job with the QuarterMasterCorps in El Paso. She began her job at the QMC in August of 1919, and I have a record of her career after that.
I hope my great grandfather was exaggerating, or at least not being literal, when he talked about Jack's potential for violence.
Next week: A letter from one of Myrtle's male friends, before she married Jack, trying to stop the wedding with a proposal of his own. Unfortunately, he didn't sign his full name, nor did he put a date on it.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Decline of Letter Writing
The BBC and Lee Drew at FamHist both write on the Slow Death of Handwriting.
I blogged last April on how I do not blame computers and email, as the stuff I send and receive via email doesn't resemble what I see in family letters. I feel the phone, and unlimited long distance cellular plans, have had a greater effect on the decline of letter writing.
Regardless of the blame, though, one can't deny it's happening. The BBC writer ends their article with:
The best method, I think, is to print out emails you wish to save twice - once to paper, and once to a PDF file to store digitally.
Lee Drew asks
However, when I write with a pen, it is rarely in cursive script. I attended one of the best school districts in the State of Missouri, and they gave up teaching me to write legibly. The summer after fourth grade, they forced me (and no others in my class) to learn to type. I probably shouldn't be proud of the causes, but my early learning of typing has served me well in this computer age.
I blogged last April on how I do not blame computers and email, as the stuff I send and receive via email doesn't resemble what I see in family letters. I feel the phone, and unlimited long distance cellular plans, have had a greater effect on the decline of letter writing.
Regardless of the blame, though, one can't deny it's happening. The BBC writer ends their article with:
Perhaps the best argument for keeping our pens is that otherwise, in a society that is recorded in more detail than any which came before it, we will leave plenty of data but very little of our personalities behind.At the moment I don't think there is a way to save text messages for posterity. However, those who delete their emails are doing the same thing as our ancestors who threw away their letters. Many do delete their emails; and many did throw away letters. In both cases, it's a conscious action that can be changed.
Our descendants may struggle to read our letters, but they'll never even see most of our texts and e-mails.
The best method, I think, is to print out emails you wish to save twice - once to paper, and once to a PDF file to store digitally.
Lee Drew asks
How about you? Are you contributing to the mass extinction of the art? If not, how are you feeding its continued existence?I write a lot of poetry, and while I often compose on a computer, I also often compose with pen and notebook. I haven't discarded these notebooks. So in addition to my saved emails, and blog posts, future generations will see my handwriting.
However, when I write with a pen, it is rarely in cursive script. I attended one of the best school districts in the State of Missouri, and they gave up teaching me to write legibly. The summer after fourth grade, they forced me (and no others in my class) to learn to type. I probably shouldn't be proud of the causes, but my early learning of typing has served me well in this computer age.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
A Family Language
This is being written for the 54th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy
Cherry and Jerry still suck the hose?
I don't know who or what Cherry and Jerry were, but the possibility occurs that they were two pets (or two farm animals) that might have enjoyed getting their water from a water hose.
Any other ideas?
The Family Language...Does your family use words and phrases that no one else knows or understands? Where did they come from? Did you ever try to explain your "family language" to outsiders? Tell a story about your family-coined words, phrases, or nicknames.
I'm not aware of any distinctly family-coined words or phrases. I've blogged previously about how I discovered the origins of why my great-grandmother referred to her father as, "Moshe Leyb, The King," at a most unlikely spot - his grave. Moshe Leyb Kruvant's initials spelled the Hebrew word, King. He spelled his surname with a "C" though, so I didn't notice this until I saw his tombstone carved entirely in Hebrew.
However, the Notaricon code is not unique to my family, though it has been passed down the generations as my parents have exchanged notes written with just the first initial of each word, as did my paternal grandparents, my paternal grandfather being the son of the great-grandmother mentioned in the previous paragraph.
Recently, as I've read old family letters I have come across a twist of this question - words and phrases in letters that I don't understand.
My great-grandfather addressed his daughter, my maternal grandmother, as Machen. Through the help of several readers back in March I decided that was a misspelling of the German, Madchen, meaning "little girl." My grandmother was his youngest child, and it's not unusual for the youngest to be referenced in a diminutive fashion forever. As a youngest child, I speak from experience.
However, I'd appreciate some help interpreting the final words from the last letter my maternal grandmother received from her father's second wife, Josie - in November of 1927. Josie may have sent letters after this one, but they didn't survive, or haven't been uncovered.
However, the Notaricon code is not unique to my family, though it has been passed down the generations as my parents have exchanged notes written with just the first initial of each word, as did my paternal grandparents, my paternal grandfather being the son of the great-grandmother mentioned in the previous paragraph.
Recently, as I've read old family letters I have come across a twist of this question - words and phrases in letters that I don't understand.
My great-grandfather addressed his daughter, my maternal grandmother, as Machen. Through the help of several readers back in March I decided that was a misspelling of the German, Madchen, meaning "little girl." My grandmother was his youngest child, and it's not unusual for the youngest to be referenced in a diminutive fashion forever. As a youngest child, I speak from experience.
However, I'd appreciate some help interpreting the final words from the last letter my maternal grandmother received from her father's second wife, Josie - in November of 1927. Josie may have sent letters after this one, but they didn't survive, or haven't been uncovered.
Cherry and Jerry still suck the hose?I don't know who or what Cherry and Jerry were, but the possibility occurs that they were two pets (or two farm animals) that might have enjoyed getting their water from a water hose.
Any other ideas?
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Sharpened Edges
A few of the letters I scanned yesterday had been written in pencil, which tends to fade over the years quicker than ink. I used a filter on my graphics program to "sharpen edges". (I use GraphicConverter for the Mac, but many different graphics programs have this function.) I didn't delete the original scan. That way - if I want to try other techniques to improve the legibility, I can start with the original image.
(Click to enlarge)
I couldn't fit both images on my screen at the same time, so I show you more of the sharpened half. Both images are at 50% size. At 100%, you can squint your way through most of the non-altered text, but there are still some bumpy spots. At 50%, the altered text is still difficult in a couple of places, but at 100% it is readable.
My great-grandmother, Margaret Van Every, is writing to her daughter, Minnie (a great-aunt).
The dateline says Phoenix. I believe they didn't find a location there. They had purchased land in El Paso in January of 1917, which is where most of the family lived. They had a farm in Fort Hancock, TX, just south of El Paso. They often had multiple farms, but Phoenix is a good 450 miles from El Paso, so it's not likely. Agnes is the daughter of Willa Van Every, who wrote the poem, Mother. Willa died in 1916, and in 1917 Agnes, age 10, had moved in with her grandparents.
I have always had a large fear of bees, and apiarist is one profession I would never have considered as an option.
I couldn't fit both images on my screen at the same time, so I show you more of the sharpened half. Both images are at 50% size. At 100%, you can squint your way through most of the non-altered text, but there are still some bumpy spots. At 50%, the altered text is still difficult in a couple of places, but at 100% it is readable.
My great-grandmother, Margaret Van Every, is writing to her daughter, Minnie (a great-aunt).
Dear Daughter Minnie,
As I have a few minutes time I will write you [a] few lines. We are all well but have not found a location yet [although] we have bought 35 [colonies] of bees. I believe this is good honey country but there is so many bees here it is hard to find just what you want. Agnes and I are here in town waiting for daddy to go look…
The dateline says Phoenix. I believe they didn't find a location there. They had purchased land in El Paso in January of 1917, which is where most of the family lived. They had a farm in Fort Hancock, TX, just south of El Paso. They often had multiple farms, but Phoenix is a good 450 miles from El Paso, so it's not likely. Agnes is the daughter of Willa Van Every, who wrote the poem, Mother. Willa died in 1916, and in 1917 Agnes, age 10, had moved in with her grandparents.
I have always had a large fear of bees, and apiarist is one profession I would never have considered as an option.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
GBGames Statistics: Day One
Day One of the 2008 GeneaBloggers Games is near completion. We are supposed to keep daily stats.GB Games - Team TransylvanianDutch - August 9
Competition: Go Back and Cite Your Sources
Event: Create Proper Citations
Number of Citations Entered: 0
Competition: Organize Your Research
Event: Create data entries in your database, or scan photos, or scan documents.
Number of data entries: 0
Number of photos/documents scanned: 20, comprised of 40 separate scanned images -- several documents were multiple pages in length. Documents included the Declaration of Intents for Barney, Solomon, Myer Wolf, and Israel David Newmark. Divorce documents for Myrtle Van Every and Dale B Ridgely. Several letters to and from the siblings and parents of Myrtle Van Every. A handful of photographs.
TV Commentator: Team TransylvanianDutch's post-scan usage of the "Sharpen Edges" filter in his graphics program to darken letters written in pencil was especially impressive. He should consider a post with before and after images.
TransylvanianDutch: hmm. Not a bad idea. Tomorrow maybe? It's getting late.
TV C: Tomorrow will be fine.
Friday, August 8, 2008
False Start
The opening ceremonies of the GeneaBloggers Games were five hours ago at 3 pm Pacific. It was a beautiful ceremony, with a lot of well-designed flags, and music. Luckily, you can still view it yourself by just following the link.
I was supposed to wait until tomorrow to start competing. But unfortunately, the spirit of the games grabbed a hold of me, and I have suffered a bit of a false start. I transcribed six letters tonight. My transcription project is outside of the official competitions, so I am hopeful no one gets upset. All six letters had been scanned back in March.
On April 4th, 1926, my great-grandfather Melvin Van Every, living in Garfield, N.M., wrote to his daughter, Myrtle, my grandmother:
I was supposed to wait until tomorrow to start competing. But unfortunately, the spirit of the games grabbed a hold of me, and I have suffered a bit of a false start. I transcribed six letters tonight. My transcription project is outside of the official competitions, so I am hopeful no one gets upset. All six letters had been scanned back in March.
On April 4th, 1926, my great-grandfather Melvin Van Every, living in Garfield, N.M., wrote to his daughter, Myrtle, my grandmother:
Our radio is fine. We got St. Louis one night but there are so many stronger broadcasting stations that some stations are hard to get. We can't get El Paso. We tried to get the Easter sunrise service at 6:00 this morning at El Paso but could not. We got the sunrise service at Los Angeles. It was fine.Attached to the letter is an 82 year-old flower blossom labeled "White Pear Red and White Apple." It's not the only dried flower that has been preserved with these letters.
I believe I told you Josie is boarding two school teachers. Gets $60 dollars a month for the two. What are you looking for a new boarding place for? You said you had a good place. Our apples have just begun blooming. I will send you a bloom.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Xmas in July
Last night I was helping my mother organize photos, and a previously undiscovered box was found in a storage room. This box contained about two dozen letters from my great grandfather Melvin Van Every to my grandmother, Myrtle Van Every, (in addition to another dozen I had found in another box and had begun to transcribe.)
It also contained a letter my great grandmother, Margaret (Denyer) Van Every wrote to my grandmother at some point in time before 1923 (I think it was written in 1919 or 1920.) Margaret consoles her daughter on a divorce. I already knew about a later marriage to a Dale Ridgely, but I now know my grandmother had at least three marriages. (The divorce papers from Dale Ridgely were also in the box providing the exact date of marriage - and an unexpected location - Oakland, California. hat marriage certificate will now be easy to obtain, though I now have another to search for.)
There was a sizable collection of telegrams and letters my grandfather sent my grandmother in the 1930s and 1940s.
I found high school and college transcripts for my grandmother.
There was also a handful of unused humorous holiday postcards. The references to the New Deal suggest they were either purchased or received by my grandmother in the early 1930s.
It also contained a letter my great grandmother, Margaret (Denyer) Van Every wrote to my grandmother at some point in time before 1923 (I think it was written in 1919 or 1920.) Margaret consoles her daughter on a divorce. I already knew about a later marriage to a Dale Ridgely, but I now know my grandmother had at least three marriages. (The divorce papers from Dale Ridgely were also in the box providing the exact date of marriage - and an unexpected location - Oakland, California. hat marriage certificate will now be easy to obtain, though I now have another to search for.)
There was a sizable collection of telegrams and letters my grandfather sent my grandmother in the 1930s and 1940s.
I found high school and college transcripts for my grandmother.
There was also a handful of unused humorous holiday postcards. The references to the New Deal suggest they were either purchased or received by my grandmother in the early 1930s.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Decline of Letter Writing
It’s not difficult to find news stories lamenting the decline of letter writing. The main culprit almost always seems to be email. Personally, I find this laying of blame a good example of post hoc propter hoc fallacy. That’s Latin for, “after this because of this.” People notice the decline of letter writing, look around for something that has happened recently to blame it on, and email appears to be a likely scapegoat.
But I look at the things I send and receive most often via email, and they’re not the things I think prior generations put into letters. Jokes. Arrangements to meet for lunch somewhere. Yes, photographs that would have been enclosed in letters get sent via email. But I think the real culprit is the telephone, and in some instances, email is bringing back the art of letter writing, not causing its decline.
Yes, the telephone has been with us since the early 1900s. But long distance phone service was expensive until recently. My mother was recently telling me that the daughter of one of her aunts who lived in El Paso, TX was an early Bell Telephone employee, and was able to call long distance for free…and did, regularly. She also sent my mother a few letters over the years, but I am sure if she couldn’t call long distance for free, she might have sent more. And today many have calling plans allowing unlimited long distance.
Email can be just as easy as picking up the phone, though, and the other person doesn’t have to be on the other end in order to send the message. And email can be saved, either digitally, or printed out. It is true, a lot of people delete all their email. But it is also true that in the past a lot of people disposed of the letters they received. I’ve heard some complain that the handwritten letter has disappeared, but the nail in that coffin was the typewriter, not the computer. Most of the letters I have that were written by my maternal grandmother were typed, and she passed away in 1951. They do have her signature, but that is the only thing handwritten. I am thrilled to have the letters I do, and it doesn’t matter to me that they aren’t handwritten. Actually, I am kind of happy they aren’t because typed letters are easier to read.
In November of 2004 several members of my family had a lengthy email discussion about the results of the election. My email provider – Gmail – allows you to view an entire email thread, and print the whole discussion as one document. And one option is to print it to a PDF file instead of the printer. Which I have done. I’ve had Gmail since June 15 of 2004, and I have never deleted any email I have received from a relative. Not even the “are you available for breakfast on Saturday” emails I’ve gotten. I think I have all of those. (Maybe not all – a quick search suggests I only have 70, and I should have a few more of those.) I have issues 153-298 of Volume 3 of the APG Digest. I know the archives are online, but I haven’t yet seen a reason to delete them. I have 585 emails (6 a week) from wordsmith.org providing me with a word for the day. All 6415 messages I have sent to anyone between June 15th 2004 and now are also still in my sent folder. Not everything is saved as a PDF though – I’m not that insane. And at some point I will probably have to go through and start deleting, but I am only using 20% of my email space, so theoretically I have at least 16 years before that is a problem if my usage remains constant, and if the space available remains constant, and the latter is constantly growing. (Furthermore, before I deleted email from relatives, there is a lot of other email I haven’t deleted that could be deleted first. Perhaps the Word of a Day emails. I do own a dictionary.)
The biggest problem is that your descendants aren’t going to find a stack of your emails in a box in your attic after you die unless you do print them out, or provide instructions on where to find them on your computer. So it's not a bad idea to let your children or a close relative know your passwords.
But I look at the things I send and receive most often via email, and they’re not the things I think prior generations put into letters. Jokes. Arrangements to meet for lunch somewhere. Yes, photographs that would have been enclosed in letters get sent via email. But I think the real culprit is the telephone, and in some instances, email is bringing back the art of letter writing, not causing its decline.
Yes, the telephone has been with us since the early 1900s. But long distance phone service was expensive until recently. My mother was recently telling me that the daughter of one of her aunts who lived in El Paso, TX was an early Bell Telephone employee, and was able to call long distance for free…and did, regularly. She also sent my mother a few letters over the years, but I am sure if she couldn’t call long distance for free, she might have sent more. And today many have calling plans allowing unlimited long distance.
Email can be just as easy as picking up the phone, though, and the other person doesn’t have to be on the other end in order to send the message. And email can be saved, either digitally, or printed out. It is true, a lot of people delete all their email. But it is also true that in the past a lot of people disposed of the letters they received. I’ve heard some complain that the handwritten letter has disappeared, but the nail in that coffin was the typewriter, not the computer. Most of the letters I have that were written by my maternal grandmother were typed, and she passed away in 1951. They do have her signature, but that is the only thing handwritten. I am thrilled to have the letters I do, and it doesn’t matter to me that they aren’t handwritten. Actually, I am kind of happy they aren’t because typed letters are easier to read.
In November of 2004 several members of my family had a lengthy email discussion about the results of the election. My email provider – Gmail – allows you to view an entire email thread, and print the whole discussion as one document. And one option is to print it to a PDF file instead of the printer. Which I have done. I’ve had Gmail since June 15 of 2004, and I have never deleted any email I have received from a relative. Not even the “are you available for breakfast on Saturday” emails I’ve gotten. I think I have all of those. (Maybe not all – a quick search suggests I only have 70, and I should have a few more of those.) I have issues 153-298 of Volume 3 of the APG Digest. I know the archives are online, but I haven’t yet seen a reason to delete them. I have 585 emails (6 a week) from wordsmith.org providing me with a word for the day. All 6415 messages I have sent to anyone between June 15th 2004 and now are also still in my sent folder. Not everything is saved as a PDF though – I’m not that insane. And at some point I will probably have to go through and start deleting, but I am only using 20% of my email space, so theoretically I have at least 16 years before that is a problem if my usage remains constant, and if the space available remains constant, and the latter is constantly growing. (Furthermore, before I deleted email from relatives, there is a lot of other email I haven’t deleted that could be deleted first. Perhaps the Word of a Day emails. I do own a dictionary.)
The biggest problem is that your descendants aren’t going to find a stack of your emails in a box in your attic after you die unless you do print them out, or provide instructions on where to find them on your computer. So it's not a bad idea to let your children or a close relative know your passwords.
Monday, April 28, 2008
April Scanfest
Sunday afternoon I participated in the April Scanfest. I scanned five or six letters written to and from my maternal grandparents and their supervisors while they were employed at the post office.
1) There was the letter in 1933 from my grandfather to the Chief Postal Inspector in Washington DC, accepting a promotion and a position in St. Louis. He also requested the spelling of his name changed from Deutsch to the way it was pronounced Dyche. I don't have the response, so I don't know whether the request was denied, or my grandfather changed his mind. However, when I showed my mom the letter, she expressed gratitude that it never happened.
2) There was a letter from the Chief Postal Inspector in December of 1936 congratulating my grandfather on his recovery from an attack of appendicitis, as well as congratulating him on his engagement to my grandmother. I don't have the letter that my grandfather sent informing him of both of these events.
3) There was also a letter congratulating my grandparents in January of 1937 on their marriage, and a letter from my grandfather requesting vacation.
4) I also have a letter from my grandmother in 1944 resigning from a war-time position in St. Louis, as she wished to join her husband who was now stationed in the states in Florida. Her war-time employment in the Post Office was not part of her Personnel File which I received from the archives. I am rerequesting it under her married name as I suspect that somehow the two files were kept separate. I find it hard to believe that when she applied for the position she didn't make it clear that she had worked for the post office for sixteen years between 1920 and 1936, and if she had, I don't know why her employment between 1942-1944 wouldn't have shown up with her earlier records. But perhaps "it's the government" is simple explanation enough.
I should note that none of the letters from my grandparents are signed copies. I have no evidence they were sent as typed. They could have retyped something else and sent it, and kept the first draft. I don't know why they would have done that, but they could have.
I also scanned about 30 photographs. Here are two of my favorites from the bunch.
An oldtime postcard. Nothing was written on the postcard, so it appears it was in my grandfather's collection for the humor, and for its relationship to his postal employment.
And an excellent photograph of my grandmother laughing. It's unknown what she was laughing at.
1) There was the letter in 1933 from my grandfather to the Chief Postal Inspector in Washington DC, accepting a promotion and a position in St. Louis. He also requested the spelling of his name changed from Deutsch to the way it was pronounced Dyche. I don't have the response, so I don't know whether the request was denied, or my grandfather changed his mind. However, when I showed my mom the letter, she expressed gratitude that it never happened.
2) There was a letter from the Chief Postal Inspector in December of 1936 congratulating my grandfather on his recovery from an attack of appendicitis, as well as congratulating him on his engagement to my grandmother. I don't have the letter that my grandfather sent informing him of both of these events.
3) There was also a letter congratulating my grandparents in January of 1937 on their marriage, and a letter from my grandfather requesting vacation.
4) I also have a letter from my grandmother in 1944 resigning from a war-time position in St. Louis, as she wished to join her husband who was now stationed in the states in Florida. Her war-time employment in the Post Office was not part of her Personnel File which I received from the archives. I am rerequesting it under her married name as I suspect that somehow the two files were kept separate. I find it hard to believe that when she applied for the position she didn't make it clear that she had worked for the post office for sixteen years between 1920 and 1936, and if she had, I don't know why her employment between 1942-1944 wouldn't have shown up with her earlier records. But perhaps "it's the government" is simple explanation enough.
I should note that none of the letters from my grandparents are signed copies. I have no evidence they were sent as typed. They could have retyped something else and sent it, and kept the first draft. I don't know why they would have done that, but they could have.
I also scanned about 30 photographs. Here are two of my favorites from the bunch.
An oldtime postcard. Nothing was written on the postcard, so it appears it was in my grandfather's collection for the humor, and for its relationship to his postal employment.
And an excellent photograph of my grandmother laughing. It's unknown what she was laughing at.
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