My Darling Emma 1857

The back of an envelope in my letter collection of an advertisement for the St. Louis fair of 1877 Welcome to... My Darling Emma 1857 If you are NEW HERE be sure to read the beginning of the journey I am on transcribing my family's 19th century letter collection! A few months ago a new word came into my existence. I can't be the only person that had never heard this tongue twister term before. S emiquincentennial is the word.  It means the 250th anniversary of something! And in this case, it is being used to celebrate America's birthday yall .  2026 marks our country's 250th anniversary of independenc e,  commemorating  the signing of the declaration of independence in 1776.  Across the country, individual states and small American towns have planned festivities with block parties, parades, concerts and all sorts of community gatherings in between. Lots of 250th memorabilia are lining the stores and gas stations.  Its a BIG year of honoring our good ole ...

Welcome to... My Darling Emma 1857 If you are NEW HERE be sure to read the beginning of the journey I am on transcribing my family's 19th century letter collection!   Lieutenant Griffin Chiles Jr.  (1829-1864)  💙💔🤍 The war hero...  By the age of 30, Griffin Jr. had found himself all the way from the green lush beauty of the Shenandoah Valley to the dry lands of Texas! He strayed the furthest from home out of all Emma's siblings ...  T exas is where  Griffin Jr.  met and married Prussian native Pauline Julia Bohne  (1836-1898.) She had immigrated to Texas with her family around the age of 9. The couple had three children (one surviving son) and  lived in Huntsville, Texas where  Griffin Jr.   was a carpenter and cabinet maker by trade.    *Interesting note written in the 1960s stated "the late cousin Drury Clevenger who was a nephew of Griffin Jr. of Winchester, VA. owned a small table or stand in which is written o...

Welcome to... My Darling Emma 1857 If you are NEW HERE be sure to read the beginning of the journey I am on transcribing my family's 19th century letter collection! The Pidgeon surname in my letter collection are from Emma’s maternal side of the family tree. Emma’s mother, Susan Garretson Pidgeon  was the daughter of Issac E. Pidgeon, a farmer (1791-1879) and Mary Saunders (1790-1872) who resided in Fredrick   C ounty , Virginia . Emma's grandpa Issac  was born in York , Pennsylvania to a well known  Quaker family who would eventually relocate to Virginia . At some point, it seems grandpa  Issac's  parents left the church as I did not continue to see them mentioned in Meeting minutes AND grandpa  Issac  himself  is buried in a Methodist cemetery...      I should add a note here that Emma herself IS buried in a Quaker cemetery - Hopewell Friends Burial Grounds in Clear Brook, Virginia to be exact, but she had marr...