Manuscripts

Cora A. Juel letter to Augusta Bjeldanes

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Description: Writing from Los Angeles, California, Juel describes the weather conditions, social activities, work and home life. She mentions a "novel experience," which was a flood along the base of the mountains as a result of heavy rainfall during the month of January. She also writes about her Spanish lessons and leisurely drives in the afternoon with a friend. In one passage about the popularity of the cañons, she describes, "Among the Mts. are so many pretty cañons and retreats that the roads are lined up with autos like a funeral procession every Sunday." Although she misses her friends and family, she would not change living in Southern California "for the middle west again unless necessity demanded it." Referred to in the letter are her brothers Melvin (born 1890) and Edwin (born 1892), and sister Polly (Palma) (born 1899), all in Canton, South Dakota.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1916, February 26.
Call number: mssHM 80837
Creator: Juel, Cora A

Ella P. Starkweather letter to "Mrs. Dwight and Family,"

Manuscripts

This letter was written by Ella P. Starkweather, a school teacher, living in the town of Bridgewater, now part of South Dakota. Starkweather describes her experiences in Dakota Territory to her friends back home. To her surprise, she likes the school where she is teaching. There are new series of books, a school room that is large and pleasantly furnished. She writes that some of her students could benefit from a lesson on cleanliness: "...a few would be rendered much more attractive by a vigorous application of soap suds..." Regarding life on the frontier, she writes: "You may imagine the people here are sick of the country, and I can hardly give you an idea how happy and contented they all seem to be. They say the most scant time for provisions they have known is since I came and I know of no one suffering." She also touches upon the weather and the farmers. "The country looks lovely, farmers who had seed here and sown find everything encouraging." Near the end of the letter, she describes her layover in Sheldon, Iowa for five days and her amusement regarding a car half-filled with Bohemian immigrants.

mssHM 80839

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Berenice J. Scoville letters to Anne Kerckhoff

Manuscripts

In these two letters, Berenice J. Scoville describes her experience in the San Francisco earthquake and its aftermath. Shortly after the earthquake, Scoville and her family were forced to evacuate their house on Pacific Avenue; their house was saved and they were later allowed to move back. She describes the destruction around her, including the building in which she worked, which was one of the first buildings to burn down, the conditions in the city, and the continued threat of fire.

mssHM 67916-67917

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Jane Elizabeth Bayard Wilson letter to Caroline A. Bayard

Manuscripts

In her letter written from Monrovia, Liberia, Jane Elizabeth Bayard Wilson describes her life in Monrovia and her travels in Liberia, including a visit to New Georgia. She also mentions James Eden, a Black missionary who came to Liberia in 1833. The letter is addressed to her cousin Caroline A. Bayard in Philadelphia.

mssHM 84006

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Hannah Milhous Nixon letter to Elisabeth F. Payne

Manuscripts

In this letter, Hannah Nixon describes Seattle and the backyard of her son (Edward) and daughter-in-law's (Gay Lynne Nixon) house. She mentions her grandchildren and notes that Gay is taking a teaching course and "Eddie" must log a certain amount of flight hours in addition to his teaching and lecturing.

mssHM 30951

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Sarah Bixby letter to Martha Hathaway

Manuscripts

In this letter addressed "Dear Sister Martha," Sarah Bixby writes from Rancho San Justo in San Benito County, California. She describes the cold weather, and tells of the recent wedding of Margaret Hathaway, who, Sarah writes, has moved from "the heights of the betrothed young lady to the every day duties of the plain married woman, and now is her time, to make her mark in the world, by making her husband happy and her home attractive." She wonders "if Margaret will be a good correspondent now that she is married." The rest of the letter concerns family members and mutual acquaintances. Also included are three black-and-white portrait photographs: one of Mr. & Mrs. Lewellyn Bixby, one of Martha Hathaway, and one of Mrs. Jotham Bixby. Photos have identifying information on backs.

mssHM 15208

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Mary Jane Brooks letters to Thomas and Priscilla Marsh

Manuscripts

In this first letter (HM 19797, dated 1853, September 14), Mary Jane Brooks describes her journey to California "according to agreement" to her sister Priscilla and her husband Thomas Marsh. Much of this letter contains Brooks' description of Kingston, Jamaica, where she stopped en route to California. She laments that she has not yet found a man to run away with her. HM 19798, written August 12, 1886, and includes an envelope. Brooks is still in San Francisco, and writes of people she is seeing and letters written and received. The last letter in this sequence was written 1886, September 2. Brooks writes that she has reached her sixtieth birthday, but feels "old beyond my years." She discusses the possibility of getting her share of the farmstead left by her father, and hopes her sister will cooperate.

mssHM 19797-19799

Cora A. Juel letter to Augusta Bjeldanes

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Ella P. Starkweather letter to "Mrs. Dwight and Family,"

Berenice J. Scoville letters to Anne Kerckhoff

Jane Elizabeth Bayard Wilson letter to Caroline A. Bayard

Hannah Milhous Nixon letter to Elisabeth F. Payne

Sarah Bixby letter to Martha Hathaway

Mary Jane Brooks letters to Thomas and Priscilla Marsh