Note from Sarah (Bowditch) Abbot to Hannah Rantoul, about 1855
Sarah Morse Bowditch, the daughter of Joseph Bowditch and Lucinda Morse, and sister of Elizabeth (Abbot) Bowditch's husband Joseph Henry Bowditch, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, 20 January 1816. She married Elizabeth (Abbot) Bowditch's brother George William Abbot on 17 July 1855, and died in childbirth on 14 May 1856, while her husband was at sea.
[A Havelock, mentioned in the note, is a cloth covering for a cap, with a flap to cover and protect the back of the neck from the sun. It was named after Sir Henry Havelock (1795–1857), an English general in India.
The note is undated, but based on what is known of her life, was probably written in 1855 or 1856. At the top the paper is embossed with the initials "GWA." BHS ID# 948.001.1296.]
Can you not oblige me be sending a Havelock by the bearer? As I have company and cannot well leave it will give me great pleasure to sew at home for you.
Yrs truly
Mrs. G. W. Abbot