These are two letters written from Amasa and Mary Hartwell's farm on Old Milford Road in Amherst, N.H., by their daughter-in-law,Isabella Francena (Wardwell) Hartwell.She married Amasa and Mary's youngest son Albert, April 16,1862.
I was surprised at the liveliness of the picture she unconsciously revealed of the family members and how they lived and thought in the late 1800's.I think you will agree that our great-great-great grandparents come shining through the chatter as mighty nice folks.
I have copied the letters in their entirety.Francena's handwriting though small and faded is pretty legible and her spelling and punctuation practically perfect given the style of her time and place in Yankee history.She could not have spent a full twelve years in school(she was 15 years old when she wrote the first letter),but she was a reader of whatever was available and even wrote some poetry.Isabella Francena died in 1864 at age 19,during the birth of their second child.
(Many thanks to Jean Underhill for her efforts in preserving these letters.)
Francena's mother-Jane(Flint)(Wardwell) Austin
Harris Austin-stepfather,a watchmaker,bass drummer,sexton of the Old South Church in Reading Square.(Ma.)
Henry Wardwell- brother, a volunteer,died at the age of 18 in a Washington,D.C. hospital.
Dr.Samuel G.Dearborn,local doctor and surgeon with the 8th N.H. Volunteers.
Grandmother and Grandfather Flint-Came from or had some connection to Milford,N.H.
Uncle George Flint-Calvery bandsman,and Uncle Charles Flint
Aunts Addie and Isabelle Flint-bonnetmakers,found work in New York city in time to watch the troops homecoming parade.
George Hartwell and wife Mary Dow,and his brothers Henry Thomas,William Bainbridge,and Albert.
Hartwell parents Amasa and Mary (Patch)Hartwell