The Alice Hedrick Letters

History

These letters, with few exceptions, were written by Alice Hedrick to her mother Mary Ellen (Thompson) Hedrick (Mrs. Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick) in the first few years following her 1880 graduation from Mount Holyoke before she got married in 1884. Unfortunately, the auctioneer separated the envelopes from the letters and sold the envelopes separately, so I only have the letters. But thankfully, I was able to at least view scans of the envelopes, so I knew the letters were addressed to Mrs. B. S. Hedrick, 3321 North St, Georgetown Station, West Washington DC. A web search yielded her mother's full name, via FindAGrave.

In the fall of 1881, Alice is teaching at Mrs. E. H. Muldaur's Home and Day School for Young Ladies and Children, in Elizabeth, NJ. ("Number of boarders limited to four," according to an ad for the school, placed in The Nation in 1885). Ida and Minnie appear to be two of the students that Alice is teaching. Mrs. Moore, Mrs. Murphy, and "Auntie" all seem to be involved in some way with the school. George is connected to Mrs. Muldaur in some way; perhaps her son. Alice seems to be acquainted with her future husband, Wareham ("Harry") Olcott, already.

Alice teaches in Elizabeth until the summer of 1882, when she returns home to Georgetown. But now her mother is traveling in Albany and Montreal, hence Alice is still writing to her.

There is a break in the correspondence between the fall of 1882 and the summer of 1883. Perhaps Alice was living with her mother in Georgetown and had no need to write to her. In May of 1883, Alice starts writing from Chapel Hill, NC where she is now living with her sister Jennie. They appear to be visiting with family members. Aunt Fannie is Alice and Jennie's great aunt, sister to their grandmother (father's mother) Elizabeth Sherwood Hedrick. Aunt Selina is an aunt from the other side of the family. Alice and Jennie's grandfather (mother's father), William Morrow, had a brother George Washington Morrow, whose daughter was Selina Morrow Thompson. Flora Belle is Selina's daughter.

The letters after 1883 came from different sources.

The Images

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

A Letter Written on Oct 16, 1881: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Oct 22, 1881: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Oct 26, 1881: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Oct 30, 1881: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Nov 7, 1881: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Nov 9, 1881, from Mount Holyoke alum Zella Allen to Alice: page 1 Sent from Elyria, OH. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Nov 13, 1881: page 1 Sent from Elyria, OH. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Nov 16, 1881: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Nov 17, 1881: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter.
A Letter Written on Nov 19, 1881: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Nov 27, 1881: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Dec 2, 1881, from Alice to sister Nell (Ellen Annabelle Hedrick): page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Dec 4, 1881: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Dec 11, 1881: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Dec 18, 1881: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Jan 15, 1882: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Jan 21, 1882: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Jan 30, 1882: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Feb 6, 1882: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Feb 12, 1882: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Feb 19, 1882: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Feb 26, 1882: page 1 Sent from Elizabeth, NJ. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Jun 12, 1882, from Alice to her sister Jennie: page 1 Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Aug 21, 1882: page 1 Sent from Georgetown, DC. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Aug 30, 1882: page 1 Sent from Georgetown, DC. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on May 15, 1883: page 1 Sent from Chapel Hill, NC. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on May 23, 1883: page 1 Sent from Chapel Hill, NC. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Jun 5, 1883: page 1 Sent from Chapel Hill, NC. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Jun 9, 1883: page 1 Sent from Chapel Hill, NC. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Jun 30, 1883: page 1 Sent from Chapel Hill, NC. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter written on Oct 11, 1888, from Ellen Hedrick to sister Jennie Hedrick: envelope Postmarked Oct 11, 1888 on Mt. Tom and Mt. Holyoke. Transit mark Oct 12, 1888 11am in Washington DC. Fancy envelope from Mount Holyoke, the mountain.; envelope Back of the envelope.; page 1 Full contents of letter, though only first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Jun 24, 1900, to Margaret Leavenworth from Nettie Coleman: page 1 No envelope survives. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Jul 20, 1900, to Jennie Hedrick from Nettie Coleman: page 1 No envelope survives. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.
A Letter Written on Jun 23, 1905, to Alice from Margaret Leavenworth: page 1 No envelope survives. Full contents of letter, though only the first page is scanned.