by Osa Ann Bracken
The
following 52 letters and 9 postcards date from
April 25, 1907 to May 1, 1914. They were written to my
Grandmother,
Augusta Ann Bernoska Rutledge,
from Harry S. Hess, apparently her boyfriend during that time frame.
Augusta was 20 years old in 1907. She was living
with her "adoptive"
family, home of Henry and Rebecca Rutledge and
sons, (Henry died June 25, 1907) on the family farm (Locust Lawn Farm)
in rural (RFD #3), Union Township, Carroll County, Carrollton, Ohio.
Augusta
married my Grandfather, William Jacob
Brackin, December 25, 1915. They immediately moved to his
Mother's
(Mary Elizabeth Everhart/Brackin)
farm in Nodaway County, Missouri and eventually raised four children,
three sons (one of whom was my father, Harold Henry Bracken), and one
daughter. The Brackin surname spelling was changed to
Bracken early in their marriage. They lived on farms in
Nodaway County
or Gentry County, Missouri until their deaths a little more than a year
apart in 1956 and 1957. Apparently, Grandma
carried these letters with her to Missouri.
After
her death, her daughter, Mary Christine
Bracken/Neff, stored them in a shed in Augusta's camel backed trunk at
her farm in the NW part of Nodaway
County, Missouri. Aunt Christine was never allowed near the
trunk when
she was a child. She gave the first 32 letters to me, Osa Ann
Bracken,
in October, 2000, still tied with the string that Grandma
had tied them with so many years ago. They are all hand
written
(cursive), most of them in pencil. They all have their
original
envelopes with 2 cent stamps but no return addresses on the
envelopes.
Most have been hand stamped/cancelled on the 2 cent stamps, but some
from 1907 are cancelled by an hand written X. They are
addressed to
Miss Augusta Rutledge, RFD#3, Carrollton, Ohio, except where
noted. A visit to Aunt Christine in March, 2001 produced 20
more
letters plus 9 postcards, this time tied with a strip of cloth.
Altogether they give a delightful "picture" of life in and
around
Union Township, Carroll County, Ohio, during the very early 1900's as
seen through the eyes of a young man in the midst of a romance.
Spelling, punctuation, etc. are transcribed as written by
Harry.
I have titled this transcription project:
"Letters From Harry"