-
George Kipple, adventurer
Among the Patterson papers is a letter dated August 27, 1880, six days shy of one century before my birth. It’s addressed to J. Patterson, and here’s where I get a bit confused. My family, as I’ve noted, has many people named John Patterson–direct ancestors as well as varying degrees of cousins. I know that some of these Pattersons were involved in the Tuscarora Academy and Tuscarora Female Seminary, two schools in Academia, Juniata County. This letter, from George Kipple in Willow Creek, Nevada, is sent to a J. Patterson who had been, it seems, Mr. Kipple’s former teacher. I’m guessing this was at the Tuscarora Academy, sometime in the…
-
Miss Margaret Sigler
Tucked among the many pieces of correspondence, envelopes, notes–and locks of hair–of my three-greats grandmother, Ellie Stoneroad Patterson, is this beautifully lettered acrostic. The poem spells out the name of Ellie’s mother Margaret Sigler. No author is listed, but assuming Margaret wrote it about herself and she did so while she was Miss Sigler and not Mrs. Stoneroad, the paper would predate 1835–the year of birth of Margaret’s first child, daughter Emeline. Many are the charming virtues of a lovely maid; In all her beauties there is no gloomy shade, Since the fair and lovely train, with spirits glow, So shall their modest actions and deportments show. Many are the direful modes…
-
James Sterret on abolition and the election of 1856
One of the most fragile and tattered letters in this collection is one from James Sterret to his brothers, Robert and William, on September 24, 1856. (Note: In this letter, he spells his last name as “Sterret,” while other sources say “Sterrett,” so I will use his spelling in this post.) James was brother to Mary Sterret, who married Alexander Patterson, my five-greats grandfather whose past is well documented in this collection. James lived in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and was writing to his brothers and his friends back in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, in the final year of his life. In his letter, James was looking forward to the election of 1856, which was…
-
She didn’t even mention Abe
In a falling-apart expanding file are a number of beautiful little envelopes of private correspondence to Ellie Stoneroad Patterson, my three-greats grandmother. Inside are handwritten letters, embossed, on paper still substantial and barely yellowed, even after all these years. The handwriting is exquisite but light, not written darkly and faded over time. They’re tough to read, but not impossible. One letter, dated March 9, 1861, comes from S.E. Dixon, one of Ellie’s friends. Mrs. Dixon writes from Harrisburg of her travels to Baltimore, Annapolis, and Maryland over the previous week. We spent Sunday at Annapolis, had a delightful time, Monday we went to Washington, where we remained until Wednesday afternoon.…
-
Letters from 1827
I opened a yellowed folder, filled with equally yellowed, folded scraps of brittle paper. Inside were five letters–single sheets, folded numerous times, and addressed and mailed. No envelopes, no staples, no tape. Just folded correspondence. It was a series of four letters from 1827 and one from 1828, written by my five-greats grandfather, John Patterson, to his son, Alexander, my four-greats grandfather. John was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for three terms, representing Mifflin County and living in Tuscarora Township in what was to become, in a few short years, Juniata County. The father-to-son correspondence was unfailingly businesslike, discussing such things as crop prices and the business before…