Notes from Martha (Abbot) Thorndike to Hannah Rantoul, 1862-1864
Martha Eliza Abbot, the daughter of George Abbot and Nancy Stickney, and sister of Elizabeth (Abbot) Bowditch, was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, on 28 December 1835, and married William H. Thorndike on 17 April 1862. They moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, about 1866, and she died there on 15 September 1870 at age 34, about a month after giving birth to her third child.
[This note, written eight days before Martha's marriage to William Thorndike, is apparently a thank-you note for a wedding gift. BHS ID# 948.001.1297.]
My dear Miss Hannah,
It gave me great pleasure to receive such an elegant token of your love and regard for me.
We shall value and use it, not only for its intrinsic beauty and worth, but for the sake of the donor, whom we have always felt to be one of our nearest and dearest friends. With a great deal of love
I remain your true friend,
Martha E. Abbot
Beverly
April 9th 1862
[This note informs Hannah that a servant girl named Sarah Davis, who Hannah had apparently planned on hiring, had decided to remain working where she was. This may have been for (the widow?) Sarah F. Collins. In the 1860 census, Sarah Davis (age 23, born in Nova Scotia) was listed with Sarah F. Collins (44), Elwin C. Collins (23), and George F. Flint (30) in Lynn, Massachusetts.
At the top is the embossed initial "T." BHS ID# 948.001.1298.]
My dear Hannah,
I most unwillingly take my pen to write you, because my object is to give you information that will disappoint you.
The lady that Sarah Davis is living with felt, as the time approached for her to leave, that she could not part with her at any rate, and accordingly raised her wages to $1.75 per week, promising to give her a vacation of two months (when they go into the country) to visit her home in Nova Scotia, paying her passage there and back, and her wages meanwhile. These inducements held out to her, have proved too much, and she yesterday wrote my girl she had decided to remain. She also wrote a week ago, telling her how badly her mistress felt, and asking advice. I sent word that you had left town, hoping to open your house with her on your return, and that I felt you had the prior claim, as she was really engaged to you. She however thinks that she is more important where she is, and says "It would be sheer ugliness in me to leave."
I don't know but that I am almost as disappointed as you will be (though not so inconvenienced) had I not done anything about it, you would have doubtless secured a good girl elsewhere.
If I can do anything for you in that way I would be most happy to, and shall not feel easy till I know you have a good one.
Please remember me kindly to Mrs. Lyman, and with a great deal of love, believe me to be
Truly your friend,
Martha E. Thorndike
Beverly, March 25th ‘64