Earlier in this blog, I wrote of the Vick letters that are transcribed and annotated on RootsWeb.
Jack Landers did quite a bit of research on the letters for the Vick descendants.
From what I understand, the original letters are archived in the Special Collections Department of the University of Virginia's Alderman Memorial Library in the "Papers of Amanda Sarah Boyd" collection.
The particular letter below was written by Mary Caroline Boyd Vick, my great-great-great-grandmother and Amanda Boyd's sister. To read more about the letters, go to the Vick section of RootsWeb.
I think one of the most interesting things is that Mary Caroline realizes that there are some things you just shouldn't put in writing. It seems many people today still haven't learned that lesson.
Here's the letter. Mr. Landers added in some punctuation, which I have included in this copy of the letter to make it a little more readable.
Lexington, Texas
Sept. 18th 1870
Dear Sister,
Your kind letter of the seventh of July was gladly received. We are not all
well here. We have all been sick mostly with colds and fever. Old Mrs.
Vick has been down with congestion of the liver but is better. Thomas's
folks have been sick. Judy has congestion of the stomach and brain - but
she is better. The doctor said there was a great deal of sickness on Santone
Prairie. That is about ten or twelve miles from here. Mrs. Perry has
lost most of her school - there was a teacher come here from Miss. And
they stopped to go to him - he was the President of the male Academy in
Miss. Nelly and Chely Sykes is going to Mrs. Perry. John Valentines
wife has a daughter. I have not been over to see her yet. Joe recieved
a letter from Sister the other day and I was glad to hear from all, but
sorry to hear of so many deaths. Where was old aunt Harriet living at?
Della said tell sister to please answer her letter and you to not answer it
to Vicy. It looks like she gets more letters than anybody and don't
write no more than the rest. I think your dresses is pretty. Mr. and
Mrs. Parker was over to see us Saturday. Her baby is so pretty and
fat. Mr. B. Sykes has bought land joining Johnson Perry's. I have picked
1100 lbs of cotton out of my patch and it is ready to pick again. They
are all over their heads picking cotton. They pick from 100 to 250 lbs.
It opens so fast it looks like they never will get it out. We have
beautiful dry weather to gather it in. The association will commence next
Friday. It is about twelve miles from here. Our garden is sorry. It
burnt up. Our potato patch is sorry but we will have plenty to eat.
The ground is too rich for them. Britton Valentine has been quite sick
, but he is better. I have wrote everything I can think of. If I could
see you I could tell you a heap of things that would not do to write. Tell
sister I wrote to her not long ago and for her not to wait as long as I did.
I must close. Write soon and write about everything and everybody. Is
crops as good as they are every year when they have been worked? We hear
different reports about it. I close. Your devoted sister
M.C. Vick
That letter has been saved and cherished by generations of people for almost 140 years. Can we still write such letters today?
Showing posts with label Vick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vick. Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Family Tradition
Letter writing was always an important part of our family communications. Up until e-mail was invented. But, I suppose it was that way with most families.
One thing that makes our family's letter writing even more interesting is that the people in my family, especially the women, are savers. That means we save everything, including letters. So, I have many of those letters or copies of those letters to rely on for family history information.
The oldest letter that I know of from one of my direct ancestors was written in 1869. I don't have the original letter, or even a copy of it, but I do have typed transcriptions and interpretations of the letter. There are four other letters that I know of, with the last one written in 1871.
The letters are from Mary Caroline Boyd Vick, my great-great-great-grandmother. She married Littleberry (or Little Berry) Fletcher Vick, and they came with several other relatives to Texas from Mississippi. Along that trip and after having settled in Texas, Mary and several of the others wrote letters to the folks back in Mississippi. Thankfully, from my point of view, those Mississippians saved the letters.
She was writing from their camp at Caldwell, Texas, which is just a few miles from Lexington, Texas, where they eventually settled, at least for a while. The family ended up in Stephens County, Texas, where my family and I now live.
Mary Caroline's grammar leaves a little to be desired, but she asks her sister to overlook the mistakes since she is writing from the swamps and is watching over the "brigade," presumably her kids.
She tells about the mules and wagons being stuck in the marsh and not able to cross a creek. "We have had hard times but no worse than I expected," she wrote.
I don't know where the original letters are, and I've never even seen a photocopy of the originals, just typed versions. Still, the information they contain is priceless. It gives me such a wonderful glimpse into the lives of my ancestors that I wouldn't have if the letters had never been written or hadn't been saved.
The letters can be read online at www.rootsweb.com. Go to the Mailing List section and search out the "Vick" section. Then, look in the archives in 2001, starting in about June. The letters continue, month after month, through most of that year.
This is one reason why I like to write "real" letters. Who knows how many e-mail letters I've already lost through the years. But, I still have most of the pen and paper letters. Hopefully, someday in the far away future, some descendant of mine will find my collection of letters as fascinating as I find Mary Caroline's letters.
One thing that makes our family's letter writing even more interesting is that the people in my family, especially the women, are savers. That means we save everything, including letters. So, I have many of those letters or copies of those letters to rely on for family history information.
The oldest letter that I know of from one of my direct ancestors was written in 1869. I don't have the original letter, or even a copy of it, but I do have typed transcriptions and interpretations of the letter. There are four other letters that I know of, with the last one written in 1871.
The letters are from Mary Caroline Boyd Vick, my great-great-great-grandmother. She married Littleberry (or Little Berry) Fletcher Vick, and they came with several other relatives to Texas from Mississippi. Along that trip and after having settled in Texas, Mary and several of the others wrote letters to the folks back in Mississippi. Thankfully, from my point of view, those Mississippians saved the letters.
She was writing from their camp at Caldwell, Texas, which is just a few miles from Lexington, Texas, where they eventually settled, at least for a while. The family ended up in Stephens County, Texas, where my family and I now live.
Mary Caroline's grammar leaves a little to be desired, but she asks her sister to overlook the mistakes since she is writing from the swamps and is watching over the "brigade," presumably her kids.
She tells about the mules and wagons being stuck in the marsh and not able to cross a creek. "We have had hard times but no worse than I expected," she wrote.
I don't know where the original letters are, and I've never even seen a photocopy of the originals, just typed versions. Still, the information they contain is priceless. It gives me such a wonderful glimpse into the lives of my ancestors that I wouldn't have if the letters had never been written or hadn't been saved.
The letters can be read online at www.rootsweb.com. Go to the Mailing List section and search out the "Vick" section. Then, look in the archives in 2001, starting in about June. The letters continue, month after month, through most of that year.
This is one reason why I like to write "real" letters. Who knows how many e-mail letters I've already lost through the years. But, I still have most of the pen and paper letters. Hopefully, someday in the far away future, some descendant of mine will find my collection of letters as fascinating as I find Mary Caroline's letters.
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