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HELEN WOOD & FAMILY : 1876 ARCHIVE OF FIFTEEN [15] HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT LETTERS BETWEEN WOOD FAMILY MEMBERS IN BROOKLYN NEW YORK, HANOVER NEW HAMPSHIRE AND ST. JOHNSBURY VERMONT

12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. On offer is an archive of handwritten manuscript letters that belonged to Helen Wood of St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The letters, which date circa 1876 - 1888, interestingly are both to and from Helen. In all there are 15 letters and 7 of those still have their envelopes. Then there are 9 empty covers. These letters will be of particular interest to historians of the era as the correspondents were detailed in their writings. One letter written to Helen by a friend living in Brooklyn New York dated 1887 relates over 4 pages a fascinating account of the way Brooklyn is changing especially 5th avenue. Here are some snippets: "N.H. College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts (Letterhead) Hanover N.H. March 7th, 1886 Dear Sister, I received a letter from you last Tuesday. I do not feel much older than I did last year. We had some rough weather here a little less than a week ago and since Harvey was away I was very busy keeping Culver Hall and myself warm. It was so cold here in my room that both radiators were frozen up a large part of the time. It was pretty cold boarding myself those days, or in fact doing anything. It is quite comfortable now however and my ink etc. is thawed out……..Sincerely Yours, George P. Wood." "St. Johsbury Vt. March 20th, 1886 Dear Folks, It is almost eight o'clock and I am just up. My sleep was disturbed in the night and I woke up about four and heard a queer kind of noise under my window. It sounded some like some one crying fire, then like two or three men fighting, and then I happened to remember that the freshman class from Hanover had their class supper at one at one of the Hotels last night. It must have been lots of fun to run round this building in a snowstorm at that time of day. After they got round they sang two or three songs, gave two or three war whoops and tore themselves away. Judging from their songs they hated to leave us……Love to all, Mary K.Wood." "New York, May 11th, 1887 Dear Helen, Many thanks for your good letter and the beautiful collection of early flowers from the Old Lebanon Hills. They reached here safely though somewhat wilted from the close confinement and the loss of their pure mountain air. They embellished the mantle piece of the dining room for several days. While we all took several refreshing whiffs as we passed by……If you were to take a ride down 5th avenue you would not know the place. On the East Side there is but 1 block, but what is either filled up or has been commenced upon. Even the old Polhemus Mansion cor. 5th Ave. and Carrol St. on that high bluff, has been torn down and the Hill graded down and now covered with brick buildings, mostly flats, 4 stories high with stores underneath. Flat old Mansions on 1st & _______streets with all those beautiful shade trees in front have fallen victim to the march of improvement. The old house has been moved down to 3rd Ave. and converted into a Tenement House. "How art thou Fallen" The entire block is either covered with dwellings mostly 2 story and basements or cellars…….South of 7th St. every vacant lot is being filled up. Across the street from us they are putting up 6.3. stores and basement houses. Above 6th Ave. below the Episcopal Church there are 5 more going up. So it is all about us, 5th, 6th, 7th, & 8th Aves…….Saw the account of your disastrous fire in the evening papers with more particulars this morning. What a severe blow to the village and to so many people that have lost their homes with the savings of years. It will be long years before the place will recover from it's loss if ever……your friend E. Eldridge 356 7th St. So. Brooklyn." VG.. Book Condition: Good

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