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Title: Mary Anderson Chattanooga Tennessee to Sister Hal, Ireland
ID75
CollectionIrish Emigration Database
FileAnderson, Mary/33
Year1888
SenderAnderson, Mary (Minnie)
Sender Genderfemale
Sender Occupationhousewife
Sender Religionunknown
OriginChattanooga, Tennessee, USA
DestinationIreland
RecipientHal
Recipient Genderfemale
Relationshipsisters
SourceT3258/4/13: Photocopied by Courtesy of GENERAL SIR JOHN ANDERSON
ArchivePublic Record Office, Northern Ireland
Doc. No.9411002
Date22/11/1888
Partial Date
Doc. TypeEMG
LogDocument added by LT/JW, 10:10:1994.
Word Count578
Genre
Note
TranscriptBox 345
22nd Nov. 1888

My Dearest Hal [Henrietta?],

The spirit moves me to make an
effort to answer today your very
interesting & welcome letter, received
so long ago! I know you will
excuse my long silence - first
the inevitable settling of our house,
then my illness, & since then such
quantities of sewing to be done that
I thought I never should get through
it all. Just now I have finished
all the more important jobs, so
must try to get some writing done
before finishing the lighter ones.
How I have wished for a pair
of clever maids to help me these
past weeks - If I had yours
for instance I should have had
all done in half the time - my
work was all of a very uninteresting
description - not like your dainty
dresses, bodices &c - Trousers
for the boys, to be made out of old
ones of Henry's. Winter coats to
be re-made for them. Shirts to
be mended - winter dresses &
petticoats for Violet, cloak to be
made up for her - petticoats for
myself - new necks & sundry
mendings on Henry's shirts, besides
bundles darnings, patchings & alterings
I sat that a prosaiic [prosaic?] best?
Mamma's letters give me a full
account of all your & William's
doings - What a delightful
Summer you have had I it is
very good as well as pleasant
for you to see something of society
and especially of such good society
as there seems to be at Ashford -
What you say is very true, that
it is half the pleasure of life
to have refined & cultivated people
to associate with. I fear we shall
have very few of that kind -
Mr.Dambell our clergyman is
a gentleman I had a pleasant
visit from him lately - Tho' [though?] 10
years in this country he seems
greatly to dislike it, & says "Tho'
it doesn't do to say so here, we
wd [would?] all go home if we could".
His wife however is consumptive
and this climate suits her, she called,
but I was out. The Southerns are
quite different - to the Northerners, &
the old ones of them are nice,
but the young people vulgar in
the extreme. They are a very
worthless set.
We have mild, pleasant weather
here now, tho' rather damp. We
have all the doors & windows open
tho' there is a fire, which we find
pleasant - In the north they have
had terribly cold weather, & there
was snow in Kansas not long ago.
The children are getting on well
at school. I went there one Friday
on which day they all repeat
pieces of poetry - You wd [would?] have
laughed to see the Twins walk
forward hand in hand, make
a low bow & together repeat, their
"piece" which was,
"Do your best, your very best,
And do it every day,
Little girls & boys
That's the wisest way"
And then with another bow they
gravely returned to their seats, still
hand in hand - Everybody roared
it was so comical - They all
practiced [practised?] bowing for a long time
beforehand. I think it is very
good for them to learn to Speak.

When you have a leisure hour write to me, Box 345
Such pleasure to me to get letters from home
Tell me of all your amusements
what are the fashions at home now
Here everything looks very fly-away.