Tracing family history often feels like assembling a puzzle with missing pieces—and sometimes a few pieces seem to belong to an entirely different puzzle set. One of the most elusive figures in my ancestral search is Eliza Huguenin Thomas Magill, the eldest sister of my second great-grandfather, Edward Jonathan Thomas. Like her sister, Mary Jane Thomas Gaden, Eliza’s story required time, patience, and detective work.
While this blog doesn’t cover Eliza’s story, it starts with her only child, who was a cherished cousin to my grandmother Ethel Butler Thomas Hunter.
The Mysterious Correspondent: “Cousin Rosa”
Tracing ancestors is rarely a linear affair. I begin with primary documents and then look for clues that intersect with official records such as census reports and other national data. Primary documents are tangible, fragile, personal, and enlightening. Public records contextualize my ancestors’ lives, helping me give them a more accurate voice as a family historian. I’ll never have the full puzzle, but when pieces come together, I often sit, gasp, double-check, and smile with gratitude.
Among my grandmother’s belongings, I have letters and a mahogany sewing table that now sits in my home. My grandmother always kept the table in her bedroom after moving to a senior living community, and it has been a constant link to the past.
Eliza Huguenin Thomas Magill’s story partially emerged through a stack of letters written by a woman identified only as “Cousin Rosa.” These letters, addressed to my grandmother, were written in pen or pencil on whatever paper Rosa had on hand—stationery, scraps, and notepads. The erratic formatting and nearly indecipherable handwriting made reading them a challenge. Rosa wrote in large loops, and her “t” often looked nothing like a standard cross with the line no where near its intersection.
In earlier efforts, I failed to follow the golden rule of archiving: label and organize everything. Envelopes were often separated from letters, and I didn’t keep them all. Some letters clearly do not match the envelopes I have. However, as I transcribed the correspondence over time, dates and details emerged through return addresses, dates written at the top of pages, postmarks, and stamps.
When I first began building my family tree on Ancestry, FamilySearch, and MyHeritage, I repeatedly encountered the names Eliza, Rosa, and Huguenin across generations. Sorting which Rosa or Eliza belonged to which family line required cross-referencing birth and death records, census data, and family unit configurations.
For over a year, I believed that the letter-writing Cousin Rosa was Rosa Huguenin Delony. The names, locations, and time periods seemed to align—until they didn’t. A closer look at the envelopes—most postmarked in the late 1940s and early 1950s—revealed that Rosa Delony was not the author. She is related, though.
Cousin Rosa is Mrs. E. D. Weston (wife of Edmund D. Weston)—Rosa Weston. The letters describe the life of an elderly widow living on West 119th Street in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. After her husband’s death in 1928, she supplemented her income by renting rooms in her apartment.
Cousin Rosa had a close relationship with my grandmother. In one of the earliest letters in my collection, she announced her pending move to St. Luke’s Home for Aged Women, as she could no longer maintain her roomers and care for herself. This move required that she sell or dispose of her personal estate items—furniture, family heirlooms, and other belongings—as the Home would manage her affairs and inherit any remaining items upon her death.
This detail touched me deeply. The Church will take everything. She would have to relinquish her bank book, prized possessions, and other items of personal significance. While she would receive a cash allowance (“pin money”), a physical examination, and a room with essential furniture, many personal treasures, like portraits and letters, could not pass to family members—they would become the property of the Church. Rosa accepted this arrangement as fair, given her inability to continue independently.
“M” is Magill
Rosa wanted my grandmother to have all the belongings that meant something to her, which she details at one point in a scribbled “will” signed Rosa M. Weston in the event she dies prior to or during her move to the Home. This M would come to mean something by 1950. Married, divorced, and widowed women were now using their maiden last names in their signatures for middle initials. M is Magill. We take for granted the ways women sign their names now as a signature, perhaps, of their birth surnames, but if we were tracing women back much further, knowing a woman’s middle maiden name prior to marriage is such an important detail (which I discussed in my blog post “Follow the Women”).
Rosa M. Weston was the daughter of Eliza Huguenin Thomas Magill and John W. Magill, the only child of that marriage. Her impromptu will mentions her grandmother’s sewing table chest with glass knobs. This table belonged to Malvina Henrietta Huguenin Thomas (1818–1890), Rosa’s maternal grandmother. In a separate letter, Rosa wrote:
“It would please your father, Aunt Mell [Malvina Huguenin Thomas, another sister of my 2nd great-grandfather], & mother to know that the table is to be yours. I have always considered it my greatest treasure and have taken good care of it. I know you will do the same—it is hand-finished. Just think it has been mine for over forty years.”
Her “will” at the end of a letter to my grandmother reads:
In case I—Rosa M. Weston—should pass on, before going into a Home—the following pieces of furniture, rugs, lamps, &c. are to be given to Ethel Thomas Hunter (Mrs. F. C. Hunter), 3021 45th Street N.W., Washington, D.C.
Front Room: Poster bed, chest and portable mirror, tip table, 2 ladder-back chairs, 1 Windsor chair, 1 wall lamp, one table lamp/Early American lamp (floor)
Middle Room: Grandmother’s sewing table chest with glass knobs, colonial mirror above, 2 carved side chairs, 1 Windsor, tea cart, x leg table lamp, ornaments on grandmother’s table, Early American floor lamp
Single Room: Chest on chest, table and mirror above, spenicet (?) desk, lamp, bookcase above table—these are not valuable but useful
Rugs may be too worn—2 large ones in the middle room, others domestic
Executor: Thomas Morrison, 200 Fifth Ave., Room 1177—Lee-Gr. 5-6185
Rosa M. Weston
The Sewing Table
Among my grandmother’s belongings were two small black-and-white photographs of the antique sewing table, now in my home. Rosa’s handwriting on the backs reads:
Photo 1:
“37 x 20 inches with leaves extended – 29 ½ inches high. San Domingo Mahogany solid throughout. No duplicate found so far. Sewing Table.”
Photo 2:
“Live view of Sewing Table. San Domingo Mahogany solid throughout. No duplicate, so far, found.”
The table, much like the Thomas family Bible, has been in my home since my grandmother’s death in 2009. Rosa’s mother, Eliza, died in New York in 1925, so the sewing table likely came into Rosa’s possession soon after her 1903 marriage. It is likely over 180 years old. The leaves fold down on the sides, and casters allow it to roll. The glass knobs are distinctive; I have found only two similar pieces online: one identified as Empire furniture (popular 1815–1840) and one belonging to Henry David Thoreau’s mother (c. 1845) in the Concord Museum, Massachusetts.
The sewing table was a “ladies’ work table”, the command center of a 19th-century household. It allowed a woman to oversee her domestic domain while working near windows, children, or guests.
Even the material itself tells a story. Rosa’s note identifies it as made of San Domingo Mahogany, prompting reflection on its history: who felled the trees, crafted the lumber into boards, shipped it from the Caribbean, and assembled it into furniture? If made before 1865, enslaved labor may have been involved at some point in its creation. This table connects tangible family history with broader historical realities, linking domestic life to global trade and the legacies of slavery.
The sewing table also traces a lineage of ownership and locations over generations:
- Originally in the hands of Malvina Henrietta Huguenin Thomas (1818–1890), Rosa’s maternal grandmother.
- Passed to Eliza Huguenin Thomas Magill (1842–1925), Rosa’s mother, likely while living in Iowa and New York City.
- Came into Cousin Rosa’s possession after her marriage in 1903, remaining in her New York City apartment until her move to St. Luke’s Home for Aged Women.
- From Rosa, the table passed to my grandmother in Washington, D.C., who later kept it in a farmhouse in Virginia.
- Subsequently, it moved with my grandmother to Hilton Head, South Carolina, where she kept it in her bedroom.
- Finally, it arrived in my home in Roswell, Georgia, where it resides today.
In my home, the table now serves as a 21st-century storage space for technological relics—old iPods, cell phones, cords, and other obsolete electronics—marking the passage of time. I preserve it carefully, keeping the top leaves down to prevent damage. The underside of the top drawer bears markings I cannot decipher: “Miller” and “415 E. 51,” possibly an antique dealer at the time of purchase or transfer.
Rosa Elizabeth Magill Weston
Rosa Elizabeth Magill was the only child of Eliza Huguenin Thomas Magill and John W. Magill. Born in 1872 and passing in 1957, Cousin Rosa was closer in age to Ethel Butler Thomas Hunter’s mother than to Ethel herself. While Ethel and Rosa were cousins, a generation separates them. Ethel’s mother, Ethel Ray Butler Thomas, was born in 1883, after Rosa, and died in 1950.
Little is documented about Rosa’s early years, but she likely lived in Darien, Georgia, while her parents operated the Magnolia House hotel until 1879. In 1880, after her father lost much of his money and sought a fresh start, the family moved to the Atlanta area. John W. Magill died by suicide in 1881, and by 1884, Rosa and her mother relocated to New York City.
For her education, Rosa attended St. Katharine’s School in Davenport, Iowa, a boarding school where she either lived on campus or stayed with her mother temporarily. She graduated in 1892 and became a high school teacher in Waverly, Iowa, rising to the rank of assistant principal. I found one photograph of her in all of my research over the years, and it was found just this week. Never give up looking folks!
To see the only existing photograph I have found of Rosa, go here where she is featured in a book on Waverly: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHK-93RT-FN9H. You will need a FamilySearch.org account to view the page and book.
In 1903, Rosa returned to New York and later married Edmund D. Weston in Philadelphia. Following their marriage, the couple primarily lived in Harlem on W. 136th Street. They had no children. After Edmund’s death in 1928, Rosa supplemented her income by renting rooms in her apartment. By late 1950 or 1951, she moved to St. Luke’s Home for Aged Women. She was in her residence in the 1950 Census, so the move comes after the census is taken. At one point, her mother, Eliza, lived with Rosa and Edmund (evidenced by the 1920 Census); Eliza died in 1925 and is buried in Savannah with other Thomas family members.
I currently have eleven letters from Rosa, dating from the late 1940s to the early 1950s. Not all letters include envelopes, and some may have been mismatched over time. I am including my current transcriptions for any family members who would like to wonder what the correspondence was between Ethel Butler Thomas Hunter and Rosa Elizabeth Magill Weston. In many ways, Rosa is a substitute mother to my grandmother.
Below are the residences I have found for Rosa:
Residences of Rosa Elizabeth Magill, Mrs. E. D. Weston (as recorded in censuses and correspondence):
- 1880: First appearance in the census, residing in Sugar Hill, Gwinnett County, Georgia.
- 1900: Lodger at 67 W. 48th Street, New York, NY.
- 1920: Living on West 136th Street, Harlem, New York, NY, with her mother Eliza and husband Edmund. While looking at the population of their street and building, there are rarely people who identify as Black; rather, the area in which they lived was diverse in immigrant populations with parent birthplaces from the following countries: Russia, Ireland, Greece, Germany, Austria, Poland, England, Belgium, Phillipines, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and many other locations.
- 1925 (New York State Census): Residing at 614 W. 136th Street, Harlem, NY; Eliza no longer present.
- 1930: At 616 W. 136th Street, Harlem, NY, with a lodger.
- 1940: Living at 420 W. 119th Street, Apt. 24, NY, still renting and with one lodger; had already been living there in 1935 per census.
- Later years (per correspondence):
- Letters sent from both 420 W. 119th St. and her final address:
- Mrs. E. D. Weston, 2914 Broadway, Room 309, NY 25, NY – St. Luke’s Home for Aged Women, located at 114th Street and Broadway.
Letters Transcribed (11 in total, with some notations to myself, with a bonus letter that Rosa sends to my grandmother at some point detailing the Huguenin family in 1895)
Letters are not necessarily in proper order, so I may edit this page later when I can determine the chronological order.
Letter #1
September 28 [no year]
Dearest Ethel,
By now, you have the postal saying my telephone service has been discontinued. So you will know what a nice landlord we have!! Be thankful you own your own home and are settled.
I wrote you after Xmas a load of postal card letters with news on ?, expecting to write again but I was a long while getting on my feet again after my attack of grip, and time has passed and here I am—
I have made up my mind to go into the Home when there is a vacancy. The land lords and roomers are getting too much for me. So I feel it is best to go in where I can pass in health. I will let you know at once when I make the move.
I’m afraid I shall be obliged to sell off my belongings, much as it will hurt to do so, I wish you were near, so, we could talk it over.
Grandmother’s table is to be yours and should I pass on before going into Home – the furniture which I shall list is to be for you.
You see the Home requires a good amount for entrance and in addition they take over your bank book – or securities if you have any. I haven’t. I put all I had into – cash and into – bank. At my age that seemed the wisest thing to do. I shall have security and peace of mind, anyway for I shall be relieved of responsibilities and it won’t be for too long at my age.
So sit down and write me a long letter, for I do want to hear all about the new home and how you like Washington, and the children and how Bill is progressing in his wonderful promotion. It’s about this time of year that you have come to N. Y. C. Wish you were coming again this year—
Did you have a vacation this summer or remain at home? I was in city all summer—
In reading over your Xmas letter I read again, how you wanted me to visit you sometime, now we are nearer one another. Nothing I would rather do, when it is possible. It is dear and kind of you to want me—New York is so full of refugees and foreigners and everything else that comes after a War that is does not seem natural any more, not like home. It’s probably the same everywhere else, but our city old island is just top heavy with 8 million people—
You are in the most interesting city in U.S.A. but, you no doubt have your views about it too. Registration is on now, and N.Y. is buzzing with speculations about the future president? I expect Bill is full of news at night when he returns home, being with all the men who are affected by elections and therefore vitally interested.
Let me hear from you and do write me a long letter.
Find the love enclosed and share it with the family—keeping and extra for yourself—
Lovingly—
Cousin Rosa—
(over)
I just made out a quick list, as that’s all I can do at moment.
The rugs in hall and bedrooms will be pretty well worn, I’m afraid.
The contents of single room I bought after moving here. The little chest and mirror above were new. The table and desk I picked up at auction room—both can be refinished.
[new page]
In case, I – Rosa M. Weston should pass on, before going into a Home—the following pieces of furniture, rugs and lamps & c. are to be given to – Ethel Thomas Hunter, (Mrs. F. C. Hunter) 3021 45th Street N. W. Washington, D.C.
Front Room—Poster bed, chest and portable mirror, – tip table – 2 ladder back chairs, 1 windsor 1 wall lamp – one table lamp/Early Amer. Lamp (floor)
Middle Room—Grandmother’s sewing table chest with glass knobs, colonial mirror above – 2 carved side chairs – 1 windsor – tea cart – x leg table lamp and ornaments on grandmother’s table, Early American floor lamp—
Single Room – chest on chest – table and mirror above – spenicet (?) desk – lamp—book case above table – These are not valuable but useful—
Rugs may be too worn – 2 large ones in middle room – others domestic.
Thomas Morrison—Executor—200 Fifth Ave. Room 1177—Lee-Gr. 5-6185
Rosa M. Weston.
Letter #2:
Note: This letter goes by fronts of pages 1-3, then 2-6 on backs, then last page is page 7!
Jan 4, ’50 (Finished on the 5th)
Dearest Ethel,
Happy New Years to you, one and all!
I’m a bit (?) in writing as I was invited to E. (Orange?) Earlier than planned and stayed on longer, so I found my mail – – and letters and packages here to greet me upon my return. Thank you, dear, for the card with its little ? from ? and he – lovely “?” enclosed. A box arrived from Sue, so, I am mailing her under separate cover. It was so dear of her to remember me.
With your devoted group, I know you have had a Merry Xmas, and I’m feeling Mike gave plenty of barks as his contribution. It’s good to know that the new maid is giving satisfaction. You can have her to cook as you wish—so, I hope she will be permanent and give you rest.
I’m so glad you had such a good time while in N. Y. C. and saw so many good plays – Understood why you could not come up to me. Bill brought you for a complete change and good time and you had just me! A Xmas message arrived “Special” from the Bells. It was so nice of them to think of me. So, I’m enclosing a note to them and will appreciate – your adding their address and mailing in for me—
I suppose Mr. Morton [not sure of spelling] reached home for Xmas. So “Eeey” and children had a Xmas re-union. Give them my best when you see them. Florence Varney and Sees band are now on L. I. He was transferred to Air Force. So I’ll see her in 1950 again.
I am going over my cards since my return. One opens each as it comes, but in the rush so X’s pleasant to sit down and really enjoy them again. So warms up my heart to hear from the old friends who are left, and my former “summer children”. Love their cards are “Swaks” of their little children. It’s so nice to know they do not forget me, though the years pass – after having lived with me!! Summer after summer. Your notes came yesterday and I’m so glad the stool pleased you in color & c. It’s old enough to vote! Here’s the best in every way for your Bill and fam, dear, in 1950. You are blessed now, in love and security and with such dear children. May these blessings continue & with good health and good business for Bill. I know how proud you are of him, and I’m sure he will make you more so, in this year of 1950.
Share my love keeping an extra for your own dear self. Give my greetings to Ethel [note: Ethel’s mother Ethel] when you meet her in Atlantic City. I judged from your letter she had returned there.
Lovingly, Cousin Rosa
Letter #3
March of 1950
Sat. Evening
Dearest Ethel,
Please forgive pencil but I am on couch under lamp and near radiation. Our mild winter suddenly disappeared and in Feb. a real one descended upon us, with furor. Sleet and rain and now March is roaring and blowing and it’s hard to keep on one’s feet and be warm.
This letter is to give you some news—In April around the week after Easter, I expect to go into the Home—There are 80 women on the list (waiting ahead of me) and I feel I can’t refuse this opportunity at my age and with conditions as they are. I can’t pretend to be happy over giving up my home and possessions but all things considered it solves a problem for one so alone as I am. I shall at least be safe and have people of mind which comes from security. So, I want you to have grandmother’s table and some other things. So, think over this for you know I can give them but can’t afford to pay for moving. I shall go into Home but will be back and forth at apart[ment] as I have to pay April rent. My roomers know they must leave by middle—that gives me two weeks to see about your things and dismantling entire apart. I shall try to have same movers who moved me here 20 years ago (hope they are alive), as they understand packing antiques, and know they must be lifted from bottom and not from top. Whatever I take to Home to furnish my room, becomes theirs when I pass on, so I am taking just enough to make my place home-like—and comfortable—a chest and mirror and my desk & c.
It would please your father, Aunt Mell & mother to know that the table is to be yours. I have always considered it my greatest treasure and have taken good care of it. I know you will do the same—it is hand-finished. Just think it has been mine for over forty years.
In one way it will be a relief to turn my back on land lords and roomers—but, not on my bank book which I must turn over. This letter is just a fore runner to tell you my plans. I wish you were here to talk over things—I will send you my address next month and go into details—Have to do house Dr. for the “once over”. Went to my own [Dr.] last Tuesday. I feel “panicky” when I look around and see all my things that must be out of here by end of April, after 20 years of living here.
Love to Bill and Sue and Tom, and for you, dear. Do write soon
Lovingly—
Cousin Rosa—
Monday a.m. rain prevented my mailing this last evening.
To-day a full night of rain is terrific—wind-sleet-rain & c.
Hope to mail this eventually–
Letter #4:
1950 Letter March 1950 (note: this letter is before she moves from her current home (address: 420 W. 119th St. Apt. 24, NY 27 NY)(“roomers” included) to 2914 Broadway for final years of life. It also mentions the death of Ethel Ray Butler Thomas, which was 14 March 1950 .)
Friday after 3 o’clock Service
Dearest Ethel,
This message is to put my arms around you and clasp your hand and tell you how sorry that such sadness has touched you in the loss of your mother. It must have been a great shock and in addition the long trip South and all the nerve strain and hurry and sudden plans. I have been through grief and I understand only too well all about the dark days ahead that are bound to come. Try to be comforted in the thought that you were a devoted daughter and gave your Mother understanding and the joy of being with you and knowing how happily married you are. She could go on knowing you had Bill and the children to love you. She is with your father now and let’s pray they are at peace and reunited. Fate is strange in her ways. Your mother was younger than I and she had all of you to live for. Here I am alone and yet I stay on.
And now, about coming up. I couldn’t let you do that, dear, after all you have been through, I can manage with Richards to help and it will cost you something for shipping to add railroad fares toward that. You see I am sending more than the tables. First of week Hahn Bros. will be here for any estimates and then I’ll write you. You see they move me a short distance just to corner of 114th St. and Broadway, but to Washington, is a different matter. Just as soon as I know I’ll send you word.
My roomers are still here, one is going soon and about the other I can’t say. I’ll go into home sometime after middle of April but will come here daily to sell off what I haven’t disposed of before. I don’t imagine C.O.D. will be allowed. Maybe part here and part on delivery. Can’t say will know on Monday, or Tues. when the estimate is given.
Yes, I can leave home whenever I want, provided they know where I am going. It will be best for me to “stay put” for a while after I enter. One is on 6 mos. Probation so you see I have to behave!! I was so touched by your letter and understanding. Giving up isn’t easy, but, I have learned to face issues and I shall be safe and it’s a very nice place. I shall have a nice front room and some of my own things and no more responsibilities. And that’s a lot. I can’t pretend that I won’t miss many things, but, the last 20 years have taught me many things and one more problem won’t be too hard and at my age, it won’t be forever. I have made the best of what has happened and I can again.
I want to send this off to you so you will receive it tomorrow. I shall think of you four in church, the happy quartette kneeling together. May your memories be blessed ones, and may you be comforted by the Easter Service with Bill, Tom & Sue to keep you—is the wish of yours as always, with God bless you
Lovingly –
Cousin Rosa –
Write me here until I send you word—Don’t forget new address when you need it (Building has no name on it)
2914 Broadway
New York 25 – N. Y. –
Hope my wire reached you at once—
Letter #5:
This letter is written the DAY Rosa has moved into her new home on Broadway at 114th street.
Monday 8:30
Dearest Ethel, just a note to say I am moving this a. m. into home 2914 Broadway, Room 309 – your things left on Friday looking like “baby buntings.” I cautioned them to notify you, when the van goes to Washington, D. C. Hope they do as requested. The packers are first class.
Careful when you move blue spread. Things tucked in for safety. Will write at length when I have time. Am very weary at present – Sent you my set of skunk. It can be made into a nice cape by using muff – Love, Cousin Rosa
Letter # 6:
This letter is after Rosa has moved into a new home at 2914 Broadway at 114th Street.
Sunday 10:30
Dearest Ethel,
This paper is a disgrace, but it is all I can find in my desk, plenty of envelopes, but nothing else. So here goes. Yesterday I left my old apartment and turned over keyes [sic] to landlord. It was not home any more. The things I had treasured for over forty years were not there any more – but in good hands. So I just passed on the happiness they had given me and it’s a real comfort to know they are in loving hands. Before I continue I want you to know, I am very comfortable: I have a nice front room, looking out on B’way and two large closets, so when I open my door, I am greeted by my own belongings – my desk, chest & mirror, table lamps, rugs and the little home like accessories. I am safe and relieved of all responsibilities for the rest of my life. I wouldn’t go back to roomers again. Though I was grateful when I had nice ones before cash war that they enabled me to keep my home. When I get some postals, I’ll send you some so you will be able to have some idea of the building and interior. By the way, from now on, please send me letters, no postals as they will be read for me before I see them. We have good food, good service in dining-room and throughout the house. It’s a very nice place – not at all Institutional, just like a well managed private home on a large scale – Service in little Chapel this morning, one of Cathedral clergy is chaplain. It’s raining so the attendance was good, members here from Episcopal churches all over N.Y.C. and Brooklyn.
Now about safe arrival of the furniture. I’m glad it was in good condition, and I’m so happy you were pleased with things. Grandmother’s table is really a good (?) to hold onto all these years. The wooden hinge on right side needs coaxing at times just keep it well oiled especially in summer and damp weather. Isn’t the top of table lovely after a hundred years. Did you find the jelly spoon in maroon feet case? You didn’t mention it. It was (?) in spread. Your father and mother gave it to me in 1903 when Cousin Ed [Edmund D. Weston was Rosa’s husband] and I were married and I wanted you to have it. In re furs, no, I want you to have them. The tabs are all good deal and can be used in some way, while the muff can be used to renovate the cape and make you a nice piece, when you want to use it – It came from Jackels and is of good quality. If you put it away carefully, it will be useful some day – I shall never be able to afford furs again, my good coat and old one have fur collars and will last my life time I hope. Skunk will be in vogue again, when you are older. I must tell you about my physical examination. In all the years, I have lived, I never had such an one – I haven’t felt private (?) – Nothing internal—but all else—When the Dr. came in, I was wrapped in a medical sheet, so, after we exchanged good morning, I said to him, “I feel like a candidate for the Ku-Klux-Klan.” I was florescoped (not sure of spelling) and given the “once over” in every way. When it was all over, I realized that my ear rings were still on!! The week before I moved in, I had to turn in my bank book, and begin over even so, if any one leaves me a million, the Home gets it!! – any legacies that that means no danger!! When I see you, I can go into details, can’t explain in letter. The arrangement is fair – we are allowed “pin money”.
The picture with curls and (?) are tin type & are both of Aunt Mattie and will go in your book of drawings, the daguerreotype is of mother – she was pretty from a baby. The other is my grandfather Thomas, and your great grandfather – He was blond in coloring – Eddie and Bea have the portrait of his father.
Yes, I am tired but I have the rest of my life to catch up and rest – and I am glad to be free from cares and rent and gas bills and roomers. It’s a real joy to me to know you have my treasures and I hope, your father and Aunt Mell and mother know too. Did you find the little picture of him in the old Bible, where mother had put in? Yesterday, May King called for me and I went up to see how she had placed the things she bought from me. Put her address down in your book.
Miss May Bell King (Home address)
45 Tiemann Place
N. Y. City, N.Y. (Don’t know zone)
Chapel of the Intercession (Bus. Address)
B’way and 155th Street
N. Y. City, N.Y. (Don’t know zone)
She is Sec’y to our Vicar – Dr. Minnis.
Will look for a letter from you soon. Ask any questions you want answered. No more paper, so, here’s lots of love for you, dear, and a share for Bill and children. God bless you always. Lovingly, Cousin Rosa
Letter #7:
May 30, 1950
Dearest Ethel,
It was a joy to have your nice long newsy letter.
You have my sympathy if you are in the hands of painters & c. I went through that last May, and with two women in the home and no place to move things it was awful. You are on a large scale but at least you have up stairs and down stairs but I know in spite of that it must be terrific. However, it’s such a satisfaction when it is over!
I’ll answer your questions as I reread your letter—The face was in in drawer of table where it came up from South. It was no doubt, Grandmother’s or Aunt Mell’s—
I’m glad Bill is enjoying the chest and mirror and I’m sure the latter is glad to have a good looking man, looking in. Surely it couldn’t say as much for the last occupant who used it! You didn’t mention the box of books but I know it reached you. Hope Sue found the book on art and pictures that I told her I would send her. Can’t recall others, except set of John Fisk. It is good to know they are all in your care—
Sue will love Vermont. For many summers, after Cousin Ed’s death, I visited my old friends the Parcells at their camp on Lake Dunmore and when it was a clear day, we drove every afternoon all over, even to Lake Champlain. So I have many lovely memories of the State. I was so interested in hearing about Tom’s part in the play—
We too have had much rain, and it has been damp and chilly but they take good care of us. So we have heat. Even this a. m. it was on. Last Wednesday, Myrtle, Tommy Morrison’s wife invited me to see Helen Hayes in “The Wisteria Trees” She is always good so I enjoyed the afternoon. It was a Mother’s Day, though childless, some of the younger folks think of me on that day, which warms my heart. She and Tommy will soon be grandparents, as Dick and Shirley are expecting in June—I’m so glad you will be seeing many of your old friends, have a good time and a glorious reunion. Has your friend “Elly” left Washington yet. You haven’t mentioned her lately. I’m always pleased to hear that the Bells have sent me a message. Be sure to give them my love. I laughed over the farmers and the freeman (not sure this is spelled correctly—Tree man?).
There are several ladies here who came from South. Also two sisters whose mother was a Telfair or however they spell it. Savannah has the family portraits in museums. There is a Miss Barnwell here. I wrote you all about the service and appointment of home so I’ll repeat that I am most comfortable and glad I made the move. I’m feeling weary but that will pass with time. I had been tired for a long time especially after ordeal with teeth.
Today is maids day to clean my room. We are expected to get it ready, putting away all accessories & c. As I said in former letters, our service is good—
The sun is trying to come out. It will please those who go to parade!
Share my love with Bill and Tom and Sue. Keep an extra for your own dear self and know that I am as always –
Lovingly—
Cousin Rosa
2914 B.way-N.Y.C. 25-Room 309
Letter #8:
This letter is after Rosa has arrived at the home for women and after a visit to Washington DC via train (reference to a porter makes sense). Possibly as late as 1952.
Friday Night
Dearest Ethel,
Before “I lay me down to sleep” I want to send you a message, so, you will know that I arrived safe and sound. I don’t know that you said to the porter, but he was most attentive.
When I reached the Home I found the back and living room very festive and fragrant. The Bishop has sent a large pot of Easter Lillies and many of the churches had followed suit with lilies too and hydrangea.
At supper time, I was given a nice welcome by the residents some asking about “my mink coat” because that is to be expected when one goes to Washington!
May King came in earlier to see me and hear about my visit. So that’s why I am writing at this hour. I had a lot of fun telling the old maids at my table, how I had been to dinner at The Army and Navy Club with three married men! But I finally ended my late date properly!
Oh, I have missed you “just heaps” as the kiddios say. No one to kiss me good-night or good morning, so, I must be content with memories. Thank you for being so dear and kind to me in every way, and for making my trip possible.
Every day is busy here, for the staff and the servants, toward the 100th celebration, window cleaning man was in this morning.
Please give my very best to the Marstons and Towers and to the Bells when you see them. And now, I must say good-night and God bless you. Share my love with Bill and Sue and Tom will you, and pat Mike for me. Keep an extra for your own and know that I am as always,
Lovingly—
Cousin Rosa
P. S. Greeting to Greg [not sure of this name and spelling—Inez??]
Letter #9, March 21, 1951:
(note: cardinal stationary with a green branch and flowers and red cardinal in top left corner)
Dearest Ethel,
According to calendar, this is the first day of Spring! So, I’ll use some of my holiday paper and send you a robin. He always heralds a promise of the morrow. I do hope that you and Bill had the trip you were planning when you wrote. Men these days are so driven it behooves them to take a rest now and then. Since I lost my good young friend Tommy Morrison, I am more convinced than ever, and I’m glad you take good care of your Bill –
We have been busy here with Lenten activities and services in our Chapel. Every Thursday a noted clergy man has conducted service in afternoon. So our regular chaplain had just the 7:30 a.m. which I do not attend. A goodly number of us caught the bug and some were sent to the Infirmary, but, I managed to take care of myself, and headed off my cough and fever with “Rach n Rye” much to amazement of Supt. and head nurse. It comes all prepared with fruit & c. and it really kept me off my feet. After 22 years of taking care of myself it isn’t easy to give in. They give us good care here. Some of the elderlies on the 6th floor live on and on. One is 98. Several 95, 96, 97. They are a good ad for care, but to me it’s tragic. “Enough is Enough.”
I am enclosing our Lenten 1951 folder (not sure “folder is correct). It may interest your vicar as he is a friend of Dr. Minnis! It was so liked that he duplicated it this year again.
Now about my visit. Why don’t we wait until late spring or before the school ends for the summer. Where your days won’t be so strenuous and you have room. I’m here for life and can be sandwiched any time and as long as we understand it’s all right.
I hope all our fears about War will grow fainter with time. It’s tragic for parents and hard on our boys. To be ? , when just ready to enter college.
I shall think of you four kneeling in church at the alter on Easter Day, and the thought will warm my heart – “The family that prays together stays together” Share my love, keeping an extra for your own dear self –
Lovingly –
Cousin Rosa
Greetings to the Bells
Letter #10:
March 22, 1951
Dearest Ethel,
Our letters crossed. We evidently mailed at same time.
This morning we awoke to find a snow fall had visited us, and it is still here!
I think I answered all your questions in my letter. It will be better for me to visit you when winter is over, and spring is in so we can dress accordingly. Though I didn’t go to bed with my cold & c. it has left me feeling a little under par. So it it’s all the same, to you, let me come to you later on.
So glad Bill is feeling more rested and that you both enjoyed the change.
Happy Easter and much love –
Lovingly—
Cousin Rosa—
New Letter #11 1952:
Event registered in the letter:
May 26, 1952
Dearest Ethel,
Just to enclose some souvenirs of our 100th celebration late and a newspaper clipping of the Bishop cutting the cake. Dr. Paul and the Bishop cook very well but, our President and honorary President cook terrible and both are very attractive women. The tea was a great success. We even had punch [not sure this is right word] with a “Spirit”ual touch, which was appropriate for a church home 100 years old. Our Board “do things up” when they entertain in service and appointments. We were all dead on our feet when it was over. May King came with our Vicar’s wife and took me out to Schraff’s [spelling not sure—an establishment] for a late supper after we had rested some. The house was a bower of flowers from florist, whom the Board patronized sent 100 lovely red roses, another from whom the Chapel buys flowers for alters. Such a large basket filled with roses and spring flowers, besides there were gifts of flowers from trustees and clergy & c. Every window in living room and dining-room was gay with lovely flowers. The caterers took charge of dining-room and the refreshments were delicious. We even had an orchestra! And a dignified door man in appropriate uniform. So our elevator operator could confine her time to elevator alone. I won’t be here to see the next anniversary, needless to say! The N. Y. papers had pictures of some of the residents in 1852 costumes there who had been here for many years. One was feeling [not sure correct word] indignant because they mentioned her age! Which was 75. She is one of these ornery [not sure of spelling] old girls!
Tell me about your cocktail party when you have time for a letter. Hope you had good weather it was a stormy day here and I thought of you, wondering? Give my greetings to the devoted quartette friends and the Bells. They were so nice to me and I did appreciate their attentions. They must thank a lot of you and Bill to be so kind to your little old Cousin Rosa.
Share my love with Bill, Sue, and Tom and pat Mike for me. I have missed you and your good-nights – and good mornings! Hope Inez (Greg?) is still with you.
Lovingly—
Cousin Rosa –
Bonus Letter not from Cousin Rosa. It is a clue to the Huguenin Family:
