Well I have nothing of interest to tell
you.
-Carrie H. Blair, 1893
-Carrie H. Blair, 1893
I have reread
these letters dozens of times, but each time I see something new, like this
line above, which just now jumped out at me. I almost laughed out loud.
Carrie’s news is beyond fascinating to me, and yet she feels the topics she
writes about wouldn’t interest her nineteenth-century audience.
Carrie’s final
letter gives an especially rich picture of the big and small issues in her
world. From something as threatening as a potential small pox outbreak to her
unremarkable report of sewing velvet on her dress, Carrie’s news illuminates
the corners of her 1893 boarding house.
And yet, some
of her concerns could as easily have been written by a college student away
from home for the first time in 2017. She misses her family. She has room-mate
troubles. She awaits her report card. She doesn’t like to walk to the college
at night alone. (I remember the same anxiety when I had night classes at San Francisco
State University and had to make my way back to my dorm room or car.)
That being
said, several topics are missing: there is no mention of national or
international news, or of God. It’s not unusual that the former is missing. The
domestic spheres that most nineteenth-century American women inhabited were
rarely touched directly by national or international events, at least initially.
A look at the headlines in the nearby Pittsburgh newspapers shows us what was
happening that Saturday in April when Carrie wrote her letter:
Internationally
-The Second
Home Rule Bill, introduced by UK Prime Minister William Gladstone to give
self-government to Ireland, passed in the House of Commons. (It would be
defeated by the House of Lords later that year.)
-Aftershocks
from an April 17 earthquake that devastated the Greek island of Zante (and that
was supposedly predicted by Austrian meteorologist Rudolph Falb) continued.
-An extradition
treaty between Tsar Alexander III of Russia and U.S. President Grover Cleveland
was close to being ratified. (President Cleveland began his second first term
as president on March 4, 1893.)
 |
| President Grover Cleveland |
Nationally
-The four U.S. territories Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma were being considered for
statehood.
-The Kingdom
of Hawaii, on the other hand, whose Queen Liliuokalani had recently been
overthrown, was resisting annexation.
-Panic of 1893. It's beyond the scope of this blog and this blogger to explain the financial crisis that began in February 1893 and lasted until 1897, but one of the initial events that brought about the economic depression was the bankruptcy of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad on February 23, 1893. I suspect that Carrie only attended one term at Grove City College, and this national economic crisis may explain why.
-Panic of 1893. It's beyond the scope of this blog and this blogger to explain the financial crisis that began in February 1893 and lasted until 1897, but one of the initial events that brought about the economic depression was the bankruptcy of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad on February 23, 1893. I suspect that Carrie only attended one term at Grove City College, and this national economic crisis may explain why.
-Debate
swirled around whether or not the Chicago World’s Fair, which was set to open nine
days later on Monday, May 1, would be open on Sundays.
Closer to home
-Ohio miners
were set to strike on May 1.
-The Pennsylvania
Steel Company was experiencing financial difficulties.
Just because Carrie
didn’t write about any of these events doesn’t mean she didn’t know about them,
and I assume she knew about the recent inauguration of the president, and the
upcoming World’s Fair, and maybe the potential coal strikes. But either way, none
of these topics was important enough to her to mention in her letters. Like the
other women in her community, Carrie’s world was a close one, and the fact that
she was experiencing so many new things so far away from home was unusual.
The omission
of God, or of anything religious, is more surprising, based on the letters and
diaries of other nineteenth-century women that I’ve read. Except for one mention of
going to chapel, there is no suggestion that Carrie is relying on God to keep
her safe from the small pox, or to keep her father safe building derricks in
the wind, or that she believes it was God’s will that her siblings Martha and
Sam died.
Very apparent, on the other hand, is the closeness she
feels to her family. The casual way she writes to her parents reveals a family
of warmth. Her father, O.S. Blair, is clearly enmeshed in the family circle,
and Carrie is intimately aware of the work he does, and the dangers. Her
familiarity with her father’s world and his willingness to send her to college suggests
a more inclusive paternal philosophy, where daughters are allowed experiences
previously reserved for sons.
One last thing that is unique about Carrie: her name. All of her other
siblings are named after a family member or friend, but I can find no Carries
or Carolines in either family tree. It’s as if Josephine and O.S. decided to
give their first child an original name, one that they chose simply because
they liked it.
Her last letter is written on large paper, so I couldn't fit the entire pages on the scanner. I've added separate clips of the sentences that are cut off, as well as the final P.S., upside down on the last page.
[Third letter:
[Third letter:
Postmarked April 22 1893 Grove City
Addressed Miss Sadie Blair,
Perryopolis, Fayette Co., Pa]
Grove City, Pa, Apr 21, 1893
My
Dear Ones at Home:
I
received your welcome letter of 17th, but have received no jacket yet. How did
you send it? Did you send it by mail?
Am
so glad you are all well and getting along so nicely. You, I presume, are all
anxious to know about the small pox. There has been but the one case, and I
doubt if it was the small pox at all. The young man was not a student, but he
clerked in his father’s store which is on the same street that the college is.
I am real well. Have such a good appetite now. I could scarcely bear to eat any
thing when I first came, but I’ll get fat since I eat so well. Oh, we are
having such disagreeable weather. It is so wet and cold that nothing can grow
much. Is it so wet and cold there?
I
received such a nice letter from Emory Tues. He said perhaps he would go home
Sat. and would come up and see you folks. I’d like to be there too. I have not
been home sick yet though. Well, I’m glad if some of you do get the fever bad
enough to come and see me. I would only be agreeably surprised to see Pa. I have
no room mate. The young lady that intended being my room mate came yester-day,
but the mean thing coaxed a lady from the same place to come with her; so you
see I’m out like a pot’s foot. I don’t care, excepting when I have to go to the
college at night. And it is too far for me to come home alone.
I
wrote to grandma Bell, grandma Blair, and uncle Jimmy last week. I tell you I
can’t find much time to write letters. But I will write to you folks and to
Emory any way. I took a music lesson to-day at 1:30. Got along very well. Miss
Naeter brags on my time very much, but I have some trouble with my hands. The
piano requires such a firm touch, but I think I can, with practice, learn to
play with more decision. I am working very hard. I got velvet and am fixing my
dress; can’t have much time except in evenings to sew. Think I will like it so
well.
How
are you all any way? I’d like to have Earl here now and I’d kiss him and shake
him. I received Willis’s letter Wed. Sadie, I like to hear from you every time,
write me a long letter. Sutton, I do love to read such good poetry as you
write.
Think
of Myrta,
Think
of me,
And
take a drink of cat-nip tea.
Write to me when-ever you can.
Pa, I have been thinking nervously of
you since I know you are raising that derrick. It is too windy for such high
work, I think.
Would be very glad to see you and Ma any time you could come.
Would be very glad to see you and Ma any time you could come.
Ma I’d like so much to be at home and
help you clean house. Is it too cold to clean house there? I had the pleasure
of attending a grand, free recital Mon. It was very nice. I just wish you could
hear Miss Cory sing. I did not like to hear her when I first came, but now I
just listen spellbound to her.
I have just returned from the Ladies
Chorus Class. Like it so much.
In
about three weeks you will receive a card, with Dr. Ketlers opinion of me. You
must write and tell me what it says when you get it. I can scarcely think that
our term is about one fourth gone already. It seems to me that time does fly so
fast.
I
must tell you that I get excellent boarding all the time. That is a good thing.
Miss Naeter said she was so glad that I boarded because in the clubs they just
have the same thing over and over again and then the students are apt to get
home-sick. I presume you folks will laugh at my large paper, but it suits the
occasion. I have not gained much in my penmanship you will say. I have an easy
movement now to what I had when I came. And I have written this very hurridly
-- just by spells. I commenced to write before dinner, and now it is about 10
o’clock at night.
The
other morning Prof. Hovis, our writing teacher, could not be there and Dr.
Ketler came into our recitation room and asked Mr. Daugherty to take charge of
the class, which he did. He is a good writer. Sutton asked me if I received a little
pickle in one of my letters. Yes: I did, but didn’t know what in the world it
was. Where did you get it?
Ma
asked me how my clothes corresponded with other girls’ clothes here. I don’t
have the finest clothes that are here, but then I don’t feel as if I look
shabby. Last Tues. I put on my new black dress, when I went down to take my
lesson and Miss Naeter said “Why Miss Blair you look awful nice.” I was in a
pretty good humor anyway; had just received a letter from J.E.M.
Well
I have nothing of interest to tell you. Will close, hoping to hear from you all
soon. Good night, Carrie
P.S. I must send a bunch of kisses to
little Earl Emory. Tell him, tad will come and play the organ.
Good
bye to all.
Carrie mentions writing to two grandmas. Grandma Blair is undoubtedly her father’s mother, Minerva Sutton Blair. I’ve had a harder time locating Josephine Gallatin’s mother, Sarah Strickler Gallatin, but there’s a memorial for her on Find A Grave, and there she’s listed as Sarah Bell Gallatin, so maybe her grandchildren referred to her as Grandma Bell. I don’t know who Uncle Jimmy is, but he could be James Blair, a bachelor uncle of her father’s.
Carrie mentions writing to two grandmas. Grandma Blair is undoubtedly her father’s mother, Minerva Sutton Blair. I’ve had a harder time locating Josephine Gallatin’s mother, Sarah Strickler Gallatin, but there’s a memorial for her on Find A Grave, and there she’s listed as Sarah Bell Gallatin, so maybe her grandchildren referred to her as Grandma Bell. I don’t know who Uncle Jimmy is, but he could be James Blair, a bachelor uncle of her father’s.
I think the poem, “Think of Myrta…” must
be an original by Carrie to her brother Sutton, or vice versa.
I’m not sure about the pickle reference.
The first Heinz pickle pin was distributed at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago,
but the Fair didn’t open until May 1, 1893, ten days after this letter was
written.
The saying “out like a pot’s foot,” according
to the Dictionary of Scots Language, is actually “out like a pot’s fit,” a
“fit” being a pot’s foot. The phrase means to be in a state of discord or not
on speaking terms, but Carrie seems to be using it more as if she’s out like a
third (or fifth, depending on the carriage) wheel.
I haven’t been able to figure out what
the nickname “tad” might mean, in the postscript. Earl was too young to talk at
that age, but maybe he made a babbling baby sound like “tad” when he wanted
Carrie’s attention, or when he watched her play the organ.
Sources:
https://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/HIST312-10.1.2-Panic-of-1893.pdf
© Kristin Luce, 2017
© Kristin Luce, 2017
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