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Miscellaneous Letters

The following are miscellaneous letters in the Abbot/Bowditch Family Letters collection, written by Sarah Lauretta (Murphy) (Gaston) Erwin, the Barnum and Bailey circus, Joseph Blount Cheshire, and Anna Wales Abbot.

  • 1843. From Sarah Lauretta (Murphy) Gaston to her sister Harriet Louisa Murphy. She says she hope's Harriet's children have avoided scarlet fever; notes that Eliza has been sick; asks her to send some vegetable seeds, and various household items; and talks about various family members. [Transcription]
  • 1844-50. From Sarah Lauretta (Murphy) Gaston to her sister Eliza Margaret (Murphy) Walton. She says they reached home safely, but the roads were bad; says Becky lost her baby; talks about their garden; and says thay spent the night at Mr. Brown's on their way home and woke up with bites all over their necks and faces. [Transcription]
  • 7 March 1847. From Sarah Lauretta (Murphy) Gaston to her sister Eliza Margaret (Murphy) Walton. She talks about some financial dealings with Mr. McKesson concerning his attempt to collect money he claimed was owed him, and also concerning his purchase of slaves from Sarah's husband, and says they're completely out of sugar and coffee, have plenty of potatoes, cabbage, and hay, but only one horse. [Transcription]
  • 3 February 1884. From Barnum, Bailey, and Hutchinson to Joseph Henry Bowditch. This is apparently a response to a letter Joseph Bowditch had sent them offering a wooley horse, saying they don't want it. [Transcription]
  • 21 December 1893. From Joseph Blount Cheshire to Joseph Henry Bowditch. He responds to Joseph Bowditch's letter about the consecration of Joseph Blount Cheshire's son as assistant bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina; says it's been an eventful year; and says he's been seriously ill three times during the past year. [Transcription]
  • 26 March 1897. From Anna Wales Abbot to Elizabeth (Abbot) Bowditch. She talks about her age (88) and that of her sister Emily (98); reminisces a little about her childhood; says she remembers her father and Elizabeth's father looking at old records, trying to find a link between their families; mentions some of her correspondents; talks about the time she and Hannah Rantoul visited Europe; and mentions various old friends and family. [Transcription]