This letter, written to Mary Elva Stilwell in June 1882, confirms my suspicions that the writer of the previous letter was indeed Jennie Pinch.
Transcription:
Letter to Miss M.E.
Stilwell, Ripon, Wisconsin
From Jennie Pinch
Postmarked: Rockford, Ill June 2, 10 AM
Rockford, Ill.,
June 1, 1882
Dear Love:
You are longing for a letter from me and
this I know but my but my young gentlemen cousins - don’t be jealous now – have
taken up so much of my attention that I have for a moment at a time perhaps,
ceased to think of you. Well what shall
I tell you of first. Possibly I may be
somewhat egotistical but tell me truly would you not rather hear of me than all
besides? I love to tease, though, as you
well know my dear one, so I shall write only of my extensive journey and the
friends I have met since I came here. It was with a downcast heart that I seated
myself in the car at F.D.L. which was to carry me out of my native state, but
once under headway my drooping spirits revived and I managed to scrape
acquaintance with a gentleman so had a pleasant time as a matter of course. At Harvard I had to wait four mortal hours
with only my own thoughts and a not over interesting novel for company.
Nevertheless
I managed to live through it all and when I arrived in R. there were only
eleven of my numerous relatives at the depot to meet me. It brought back recollections of “Pinafore”
with its uncles and cousins. The aunts
were minus. Those that I had seen before
all looked natural but those that I had not seen were entirely different from
what I expected to find them. I wonder
if any one ever did picture out their unseen friends rightly. I think I shall have a very pleasant
visit. Have not seen much of the city
yet as the weather has not been very favorable for drives or walks thus
far. I tell you my cousins are simply
immense. George, the one you have heard
me speak of so often, is a “irresistible duck.”
I do believe after all that I will fall in love with him and give some
other folks the grand bounce. Pardon the
slang but nature will out once in a while.
Oh yes, then there is a certain Horace Wellington here who is one of the
finest tenor singers in the city, a cousin of my cousins. So you see I have a good chance of getting
well acquainted with him.
Well
Minnie, dear, I have fooled my cousin completely. Told him that I was writing to my fellow and that
he could read the letter and now I will finish it in another strain. I am having a perfectly delightful time. My uncle lives in a grand house. I feel almost lost. I don’t know whether I shall be home in time
for commencement or not. If the girls decide
to go home with me, I shall have to wait until after their school closes. I am going East in the fall so my visit here
will have to be much shorter than I intended it to be. Be sure and answer this as soon as you
receive it and I will tell you all about the place in my next. The first of this is rather sentimental but I
wrote it so just to fool George. He read
it and actually thinks I have written to the One. Love
to all the folks.
Your
loving,
Jennie
How is J.R. Do not
fall in too deep.
Is Warren home
from Minn. Effie said she thought she saw him in
church. Did he get tired of the
place? Again, Jen.
Address Jennie Pinch
Rockford,
Ill Box
1050.
I have made no attempt to do additional research on the Pinch family. From this letter, Jennie clearly had relatives in Rockford, Illinois, but it is unclear whether they are her mother or her father's family.
The only other people mentioned are someone named Effie who I cannot identify from the letter's information; Warren, who is Minnie's brother, Warren Stilwell; and J.R. who must be Minnie's future husband, John R. Jones. From the comment "How is J.R. Do not fall in too deep." it seems that Minnie has confided to Jennie that she is interested in John R. It should be noted that John R. left Ripon College (where he and Minnie met) in 1882. In 1886, he married Victoria Hamilton. He and Minnie Stilwell did not marry until 1892, ten years after this letter was written.
No comments:
Post a Comment