Transcriber's LOG #001 - The begining of MDE1857

Welcome to... My Darling Emma 1857

I’m starting this Blog (just as they are intended) to document my journey on a LARGE project that I began almost a year ago - I am transcribing 19th century family heirloom letters. Exciting right!?! Do I know anything about transcribing documents? No. Can I read cursive writing? Yes. Can I read 19th cursive writing? Eh.

Why am I transcribing 19 century family heirloom letters? Simple, I thought they would help me in my (on & off hobby of 25+ years) genealogical research… BUT what I found in them was something much MUCH MUCH more than adding another “branch” on an internet tree!

I have a hard time explaining what these letters are all about as each letter writer had their own journey and essentially their own unique story to tell AND there are DOZENS of said letter writers within this collection. They pen of their day-to-day lives in the mid/late 1800s, family deaths, sickness, dating, marriage, kids, divorce (uncommon but it happened), church, adventurous travels & luxurious spending for some and struggles & crap luck for others.

The letters were mostly addressed to my 2nd Great Grandma (my Grandfather’s Grandmother) Emma Elizabeth Childs (1857-1935) from the near parts of Winchester, Virginia as a relative used to say. If you haven't already counted, that's four generations ago! These 150+ year old collection of correspondences include Emma’s school friends at Millberns and some of those letters lasted decades til the young besties were married and had children of their own.

Of course mail also came in from relatives on both sides of Emma’s family. Her father’s side of Childs kin and a few Griffin folk too. Emma’s maternal side - The Pidgeon Family - who were well known Quakers in the Pennsylvania & Virginia area. These Quaker women sure kept themselves busy with more than just the “housework & sewing” they wrote lots of letters to each other and complained about said housework!

Want to read these letters yet?

Well, I am not done transcribing them... But I do have a good portion finished. What I have decided to do, is publish a portion of the letters in a book to share with other ancestors, American History buffs and readers who enjoy correspondences. I find these letters truly fascinating. They are writing in the times of horse & buggy and telegrams, penning their thoughts (literally) under candlelight when the sun set. It was definitely more “simpler times” than we know today. But yet some wrote wishing for time to slow down!

So where do I start even with this project? That's a good question. I searched the question online like most sensible adults under 50 do and really got nowhere. Looks like I stumped Gaggle when I asked “what do you do with 200 year old letters you inherited?”

Let me tell you what I did do with the letters so far:

Organized the 400+ letters by postmark stamped on the envelopes - if they had one
CAREFULLY unfolded each letter
Put each letter in an acid-free protector sheet
Labeled each one with the date and letter writer’s name
Salvaged 5 LARGE binders and organized the letters in chronological order
Filled ALL said 5 LARGE binders

After about a month of organizing these handwritten treasures, I finally started transcribing! I began with “Uncle Tom’s” letters because, well, at the time he had the MOST interesting story that I really wanted to know more of! I have now completed Tom's letters and all Emma's siblings letters for that matter...

So… where am I NOW with this project after almost a year of my life being dedicated to it? I have about 65% of the collection of letters transcribed. Don’t judge. I have a family, job, house, chickens and way more other hobbies than I’d like to admit publicly that take priority to what my 13 year old year calls “my dumb letters.” But.. what I"m currently working on is making bios for a few letter writers, figuring where a few folks fit into the picture, waiting to hear back from historical societies and then juggling some big decisions, like how I plan to map out all the letters into book(s) to get them out there! And of course all the decisions of where and how to publish said books!!

In closing of my VERY FIRST BLOG entry I shall end with a little more of my intentions of said blog. I hope to highlight some of these letter writers, showcase bits of their fascinating stories, forever memorialize them in writing, connect with other descendants who could enjoy our ancestor's writings and really I am looking for an outlet that I can think out loud while I figure this journey out!

Is there anyone out there excited to read these letters from the late 1800s?

Sincerely,