From Amanda to A. Smith June 30 1898

The oldest letter we have is from June 30 1898.  It has a 3-cent stamp on it. The stamp has a profile view of George Washington, and is from the 1851 series of stamps, first issued July 1, 1851.  It has been postmarked with only half of a circular postmark showing -- the other half being off the envelope.

The stamp is in the upper left corner of the envelope.

The address of the envelope is to:

M. A. Smith
Scovil + Mead, Traveling Agent
Nashville,
Tennessee

and in the corner

Care of
Berry + Demoville

The handwriting is in ink, in cursive, and not easy to read.  It seems to lack punctuation and the spelling is not always as we would expect.

The envelope, on the back, has an embossed section and a stain, which presumably was left by a sealing wax stamp, now gone.

The envelope is 13mm wide by 7.2 mm high -- slightly over 5 inches by 2.75 inches.

Inside the envelope is a one page letter, folded in half and then folded roughly in thirds. Laid flat, the paper is 8 inches by 6.25 inches, but is effectively 4 pages, each being 6.25 by 4 inches (front and back).

Looking closely, it seems the paper has a gilt-edge, but being only one sheet, it is hard to tell.

Creating the transcript of the letter, it became clear that just as the stamp being on the left and not the right, and spelling and punctuation being not the same as they currently are, I'm not sure of the order of the text.  There are 4 pages.  Normally, you might expect some flow from one page to another to help guide which page comes first and then next, and so on.  But in this case, each page seems sort of self-defined.

The "front" page starts with the location and date, and a salutation, so it seems like the first page.  The "back" page is only half full and ends with some sort of sign-off, so it must be last.

The two inside pages could be 2 and then 3 or 3 and then 2, but since they don't seem to be clearly one or the other, let us assume it is read like a book, so 2 would be the left page and 3 would be the right.

Starting then, with Page 1.

New york Mills June 30 1898

Dear Friend Albert     yours of
the 21 I have received and rede it
with plesure I hasten to Answer it
I am well but some what tired
to Night but it cheers your friend
Amand to hear from Albert it dose
my very sole Good to receive and
reade letters from Dear Albert for
I hope soon to see and Greet
him I trust it will be A time
long to be remembered with us
if he like to See Each other we are
All well hear at home but Sister
Merceones She is so she can sit
up Some of the time now I
think She will soon be Able to
be Around but not to do any
thing like mark yours truly S A f

Albert your Amand remains
the Same true friend as when you
left her in york state Albert I
think times is some better hear
then thy woar last winter but
we can not tell how long it
will reamin So Albert our
folks dont think that I have
any thouts of Getting Maried
this fall if thy did you would
hear them colde and I do not
know as I shal I can not till
untill I See Albert and have
A taulk with him I hope and
trust what is don it all will be
for the best hope is the stuf
of life Albert be carful of your
mony and your Self to ok home
want to see you Albert Smith
do you know him evr yours SA

Then the line in the middle

keep up your courage and remember Amanda

Albert you wish to know how
Nancy's helth is I think She must
be the Same She could to see the
Doctor hear so Mother said I
presume you will see her if you
like when you come home Sir
Mircini says tell Albert She
is sick but sends her regards
to him Albert I wish you was
hear and we would walk out it
is very plesant this Evening
perhaps you would like to
know how I Amand will
Spend her fourth of July I
shal helpe Mother clean her
house if all is well Albert I
had A strawberry shortcake
for tea would you not like some
yes I think you would it is Good
write Soon my love to your self yours

Albert is your Minde made up
to setle in any place yet or not
pleas let your friend Amanda
know if you pleas Sir Albert
I shal expect to see you by
the first of Ausust if not
befor from your Absent Love
     S. A. Smith this suits
                    Amanda
A Good time
coming I think I had better stope
now Good Night


Again, the spelling, punctuation and even structure of the letter could all be wrong.  It could be my difficulty in reading her cursive, or it could be the difference in the way things were done in 1898.

And what ever happened with Amanda and Albert?  I have no idea.  I can't find anything in an internet search for either, although their names are not very helpful -- not even knowing Amanda's last name, for example.

But we did find some information about "Berry, Demoville & Co" on the web.  Apparently they were a successful "Wholesale Druggist" in Nashville from before 1870.

and they even had a building.

(Theirs is the 3rd building from the right, or second from the right.)

Possibly there would be something in the Census of 1900 for either Albert Smith (or Scovil or Mead) in Nashville or Amanda (with a sister Merceones and/or Nancy and/or Mircini) in New York Mills.

Oh, now we have a fly in the ointment.  There are two "New York Mills" -- one in New York and one in Minnesota.  In 1900, Minnesota had 353 people;  the New York one had 2552 people in 1890 (according to Wikipedia).


Update:  I listed this on eBay, and sold it 1 Dec 2018 for $8.50 plus $6.70 in shipping costs.