One of the treasures found in the family Bible was a letter my great-great grandmother had written to my great grandfather after he left home. He is listed living with his parents in the 1880 census in Allegheny Co, PA. The year of the letter has faded but we do know it was written in Nov of either 1880 or 1881. She writes "Pleasant Hill" as the location of the letter. Does this correspond with the Banksville area in which she was born, raised, married and died?
How can I deduce the year the letter was written? Apparently, the six page letter is full of admonishments and worry from an aging mama to her youngest child who has now left home. She is concerned he has yet to marry at the ripe old age of 22 and fears he has resigned himself to being an old bachelor. The young man has fled to his older brother's home in Washington County.
The letter tells us he has only written home three times in the three months he has been gone. His mama really wants to see him and see him married soon. She describes the menu she will have if he comes home for Thanksgiving dinner. How she longs to see him settled!
Did her letter work? We don't know if he came home for a grand turkey dinner, but he married in June 1882 and lived to celebrate over 50 years of wedded bliss.
Ah- genealogy. What great treasures there are to find tucked away.
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