The Susie Lawson Letters

[Envelope]

History

Mount Holyoke identifies Susie's middle name as Mina, but according to a genealogy that her brother Harvey assembled, Susie's full name was Susie Minerva Lawson. Daughter of Edwin and Sarah (Corbin) Lawson, she was born in Union, Conn. on Apr 4, 1874. Her siblings were George Newton (1865), Harvey Merrill (1868), and Mary Eva (1871). Susie graduated from Hitchcock Free High School, Brimfield, Mass. in 1892. Brimfield and Union are about 10 miles apart, so it appears her family remained in Union while she attended high school. Other Union friends also attended Hitchcock, so maybe it was the high school for Union despite being over the border in Massachusetts. Susie graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1898, a little later than originally intended. The letters suggest she took a little time off for health reasons. After graduation, she spent her life teaching. She married John Patterson McCrea, of Pittsburgh, Pa., on Aug 16, 1922.