My Old Ohio Home

Included in the Gratton family files collected by Wilfred Harrison (1905 - 1992), of Tenby, Pembrokeshire, a descendant of James Gratton, was the following letter written in 1869 from Henry and Maria Boswell to Emily Hall. Following the letter is a transcription and some notes regarding the people mentioned.

Transcription

Boyds Mill Street
Attercliff Road
Jan 14th 1869

My Dear Sister,
I should have answered yours sooner but thought I would wait and see if Maria got any better. But I am sorry to tell you she is no better and little Harry is very poorly. We have tried all over to get a woman but cannot. We should feel vary grateful if you could come and stay with us, as I should then know the house was left in honest hands. I think of sending Maria to Buxton to see if that will do her any good, as she had been recommended to go. I hope your mistress will let you come and I will pay all expenses. Be sure to write by return of post.

In haste from your affectionate brother and sister, H & M Boswell

P.S. Mr H Billops called to ask for your address. His mother is dead.

Notes

I corrected or modernized the spelling and added some punctuation. "Little Harry" is their son, born in the 2nd Quarter of 1868 and died 2 years later in the 1st Quarter of 1871. They also had an earlier son Joseph, born in the 1st Quarter of 1866 and died in the 2nd Quarter of 1869.

I don't know who little Maria was. She is not with the Boswells on the 1871 census. There are no matching birth records for a Maria Boswell or Gratton from 1861 to 1869, unless she was born pretty far from Derbyshire. Maria Boswell probably wanted to send little Maria to Buxton because of the thermal mineral waters found there.

Mr H Billops is Henry Billups who married Maria and Emily's sister Agnes on 31 October 1869 in Sheffield. His mother, Jane (Davison) Billups Golding, died 8 November 1868 in Attercliffe.