The Elizabeth Slater Letters

History

All the letters were assembled from different dealers in different states in different years. At first, there was no definitive clue as to who she was, so I hoped more would surface. They are all gooey love letters to a man she didn't end up marrying, if she was a student. (I don't have access to marriage information for faculty and staff.)

November 2005: My first "Elizabeth" letter has been in my collection since at least 1999. The 1894 letters came to me at least six years later, finally identifying Elizabeth and George. It turns out that Mount Holyoke has some of their letters in their collection as well.

October 2017: I found the 1887 letter on eBay. A glimpse into their relationship early in their courting!

The Images

All documents have a portion of the first page scanned, and comments about their contents are included below.

A Letter Written by Elizabeth Slater to George Rogers, Nov 18, 1887: envelope Postmarked Nov 19, 1887 in Wellesley, Mass. Addressed to Mr. George B. Rogers at Williams College.; page 1 Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written by "Lisa," Sep 11, 1892: envelope Postmarked Sep 13, 1892 2:30pm in New York, NY. Transit mark in Pirna on the reverse.; page 1 Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written by "Lisa," Nov 26, 1892: envelope Postmarked Nov 28, 1892 4pm in South Hadley. Foreign transit mark on reverse.; page 1 Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.; page 1 A second letter on Northfield Seminary letterhead is enclosed. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written by "Lisa," Dec 5, 1892: envelope Postmarked Dec 8, 1892 4pm in South Hadley. Foreign transit mark on reverse.; page 1 Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written by "Elisabeth," Feb 24, 1893: page 1 Envelope missing. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written by "Elisabeth," Mar 14, 1893: envelope Postmarked Mar 17, 1893 1pm in South Hadley. Transit marks in Holyoke, Firenze, and Rome.; page 1 Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written by "Lisa," May 26, 1893: envelope Postmarked in South Hadley. Transit mark in Halle (Saale) on the reverse side.; page 1 Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written by "Lisa," May 29, 1893: envelope Postmarked May 29, 1893 10am in South Hadley. Transit marks May 29, 1893 7pm in New York, NY and Jun 9, 1893 in Halle (Saale) on the reverse side.; page 1 Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written by "Elisabeth," Jul 2, 1893: envelope Postmarked July 9?, 1893 10am in South Hadley.; page 1 Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written by "Elisabeth," July 18, 1893: envelope Postmarked July 21, 1893 1pm in South Hadley. Also postmarked Aug 1, 1893 in Halle, and Aug 12, 1893 8am in Albion NY - returned to sender?; page 1 Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A letter from George to Elizabeth Slater, Jan 7, 1894: envelope Postmarked Jan 8, 1894 11am in Cambridgeport Mass. Addressed to Miss Elizabeth Slater at Mount Holyoke College.; page 1 Full contents of letter, though only part of the first page is scanned.
A letter from George to Elizabeth Slater, Jan 20, 1894: envelope Postmarked Jan 20, 1894 7pm in Cambridgeport Mass. Addressed to Miss Elizabeth Slater at Mount Holyoke College.; page 1 Full contents of letter, though only part of the first page is scanned.
A letter from George to Elizabeth Slater, Jun 18, 1894: envelope Postmarked Jun 18, 1894 1pm in South Hadley. Transit mark Jun 18, 1894 3pm in Holyoke, Mass. on reverse flap, and Jun 27 [1894] in Paris on front. Addressed to Miss Elizabeth Slater in Paris, care of Mlle. Chalamandry.; page 1 Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.