November 10th, 1912

This is the only letter I have from Louise, another sister of Amy. I don't know how many sisters Amy had, but it sounds like three, possibly: Annie, Ethel and Louise. From the tone of this letter, I would guess that Louise is the oldest sister, or at least older than Annie. From what I understand, this is not the "Aunt Louise" that Dick Martin spoke of on Laugh-In.

I love the way Louise writes in her letters!

17. Hicks Road

Seaforth
Nov. 10 - 1912

Sunday

My Dearest Annie

I would have written you last night, but it would have been too late for this to be delivered this morning. I think you need not worry about the tickets, & George thinks you will be able to make an arrangement with the agent in Grange as to when you can be ready to sail. So do not hurry your sale too quickly as your lovely furniture will have no chance of fetching a fair price for you. George will try & come for a couple of days & help, if he can possibly manage it, & you will let him know when it is to be as soon as you can. He has a few days due to him yet of his summer holidays. The travelling skips George hunted L.pool for yesterday but could get none second-hand. The new ones are 30X20X30 16/6, 33X21X21 18/16. Of course they are well worth the money being so strong. Just what the steam Laundries and Large Dryers use. But it is a lot of money when one has it not. Do not get anything yourself because George will certainly get secondhand ones if there are any to be had in or about Lpool. He is a regular ferret.

Yes dear, I should much like the baby things and any old pieces you find you cannot pack up. About the pans. The carriage would not be much by goods train (carr. form) & really I have a very small supply. Have broken two lately by dropping. They have lasted you & I daresay would be in as good condition as any I might pick up at a sale here. They are such a price now. Your bedlinen & blankets etc you will need to take with you, but if you find any too many or too thin to pack for so long a journey, just make a parcel of them & George can bring them & I will give you whatever you think you would get there for them. 

Yes, Aunt Lizzie has Amy's watch still I believe. If you reflect, Amy pawned it & Aunt L gave her the money & interest (£1-0-0) to redeem it, & told her she could have it back any time she had the money to pay for it. I have not seen Aunt Lizzie since about June. No, I think it was May. So I do not see much of her. She generally comes when I least expect it. I will drop her a p.e (?) & let her know you are going away.

Lots of love dear & do not overtax yourself.

Your loving sister 

Louise.     

March 8th, 1911

Amy's writing to her sister after the death of her son, John, and the birth of her daughter, Margaret. I don't know if Amy was the stoic type and tried to mask her emotions in front of her family, but what seems to start out as "just a line" grows into a six-page letter. Amy pours out her her feelings of grief and guilt over her son's death, who it seems probably died from the concussion from the fall, rather than diptheria, as I had sided with the doctor, previously. But once the doctor made his diagnosis, the family was quarantined and the consequences were traumatic, to say the least. It sounds like the city tried to be as civil as they could about it, though.

It sounds as though Amy didn't even want to go to the U.S. in the first place. After her initial experience there, I can't say that I'm surprised. She tells her sister that no one wanted to let her stay with them, but then adds that Matthew's family in Scotland offered to let her stay. Whatever the reason was, she decided not to. She also becomes very pasionate about promising her sister that she will pay them back all the money they have borrowed. Not only Annie, Jack and Ethel, but also another relative, Aunt Lizzie. I don't know if Amy was aware of everyone Matthew was asking to borrow money from, or just how much. Most likely, she did, or at least had a very good idea.

Again, I am taking liberties and adding punctuation where I feel it's absolutely necessary. You can read the letter if you'd prefer to read Amy's writing. I realize that the letter in the previous post did not show up. I thought maybe it was just my own computer acting up, but I've fixed it and you should be able to read her first letter now.

March 8th 1911

Mrs. Matthew Nelson

112 North Eagle St

Marshall

Mich

U.S.A.

(I hope you are having plenty of visitors in and have not been worrying about us.) 

Dear Annie,

Just a line to let you know we are still living. I had a little daughter 21st Jan. I expect you got my postcard to tell you I had lost my Son. It was so sudden he was he was only in bed from the Thursday and he died on the Saturday morning about 1/2 past one. It was such a blow to us. The doctor said he had diptheria as well as the fall but he had no such thing. He hardly knew himself what was wrong with him. He had tonsilitus, but Matt was talking to another doctor and he said the fall killed him when he was in bed. It was all oh (on?) my head and they buried him like a dog. They would not let us go to the funeral. We all had to stay in the house for 14 days. (We) dare not go out the door for fear of being arrested. If you have anything catching in the house here they keep you all in and won't let any one come and see you till you are better. They put you a telephone in and you have to phone for everything you want and they put your things outside and hurry away as fast as they can as if you had the plague.

Dear Annie, I will try and send you some money on the 17th if I can. We have had bad luck since we came, what with Jack dying it cost me 50 dollars* to bury him. You have to pay dear for everything here and Matt had a accident on Saturday. Knocked some of his teeth and that cost me 10 dollars*. I would have sent you some now but I have only got a dollar* to carry me through till the 17th. Matt gets his pay once a month. If I had of been able to have stayed in England we should have been able to have paid Jack all his money, but it took it all for our passage. Nobody wanted me so I had to come with Matt and I did not want to stay in Scotland, although they begged me to.

Dear Annie, you need not tell Aunt Lizzie our address. I will send hers as soon as I have paid Jack and Ethel. I shant rest till I have paid you both every penny of it back. Will you send wordhow much it is we owe you all together. Send the letter to the above address. It will find us, but you must put "Mrs. Matthew" on the envelope as Matthew('s) aunt('s) named Martha and she will think it is for her. We are in a house of our own but the postman won't bring letters to us till we have a mail box and put it at the end of the street. We have a nice house in its own grounds and we only pay six dollars* a month. Matt has to go 12 miles to work every day and 12 back. We are up at 1/2 past 4 every morning but he is leaving there about the 16th of this month. He has got a situation here in Marshall and he will get 21 dollars* a week.

I must conclude now with love from your loving sister, Amy XXXXX

Write soon!

I did not get any death cards.

I could not afford them.

I have Nellie under the doctor.

*$50 in 1911 would be about $1137, today.

*$10 in 1911 would be about $230, today.

*$1 in 1911 would be about $23, today.

*$6 in 1911 would be about $137, today.

*$21 in 1911 would be about $478, today.