Let me first set the stage for this letter. I am starting to transcribe the 79 pages of my 4th great grandmother Sarah Busick Bright’s application for her widow’s share of her husband James Bright’s Revolutionary War Service Pension. This is going to be a long tedious job as file is all hand written, at times not in the best penmanship. Currently I’m trying to translate this letter that’s in response to Andrew Johnson’s letter of September 1848. At the time he was her representative in the House of Representatives and apparently her lawyer had asked him to help in securing the pension. Yes Andrew would become Lincoln’s Vice-President and President upon Lincoln’s assassination but that was in the future for these letters. Mr. Johnson writes
Will Cal Edwards please inform me what has been done in this case – these papers were left with the comm. before I left the city.
A Johnson
This letter appears next in the file as if to reply (I think)
Here’s what I got so far with blanks for what I can’t make out.
Blountville Sept 7 1848
Dear Sir
I sent you about 2 mo. ago old Mrs Bright’s old P certificate with her application to be continued on the role. – I have not heard from it – Will you please drop me a lin and inform me what you did with it ________ What think you? Is not the election between Cap & Van Buren It seems to me that this old Hero of Buena Vista & Regular(?) after 40 years out do well ___ ____ on the roll of the army. Is it not a strange thing _____ the _______ a party should take a regular _____ ____ and that only of the army and offer him as a candidate for an office of ________ magnitude I tremble for the President
How A Johnson
Yours truly
Saul Rhea
a line by next mail will much oblige
I’m not quite sure how that ending goes with the big pen scribble in the middle there. I don’t get exactly what he’s saying either about the election or what it has to do with Mrs Bright’s application for the widow’s pension.
Any way give the original a look over and see if you can help fill in any blanks or divine the meaning of this reply.
As always love comments, ratings, and likes. You know where to find me until next time!
When making notes for genealogy I enjoy my vast collection of color ink pens. When I change sources or persons being researched I reach in and grab another color to make the notes.
Recently I’ve been playing in my pens with various color inks. I’m such an office supply slut, stationery slut, and pen slut it’s astounding. Any way, I’ve been doing some genealogy notes and to vary the entries as well as entertain myself I’ve been reaching into my giant stash of pens to change color from each person’s notes. It also serves to easily see when I changed sources or persons in a source. In the endeavor I’ve seen handwriting from the late 1700s to my own today. Which got me thinking…
My best friend and I were talking about how poor the handwriting from late teens to early twenty somethings has become. Now granted my penmanship on notes for me isn’t grand nor is it in my personal journal. But if I need to write to someone else I tend to make sure it’s legible, well proportioned, and attempt to be straight in my lines.
As I looked over my own handwriting samples for this entries photos I was surprised to see my notes when working on writing tasks (like researching Male Cherokee given names for a character) tend to be very decently formed block printing. Didn’t consciously make the choice but apparently my subconscious does. However when I’m flowing on plot ideas it’s chicken scratch cursive.
Here I was researching given names for Cherokee men and their meanings for a character.
So why does the younger generation’s handwriting look so awful to us? I think part of it is we were raised going to handwriting/penmanship class daily from Kindergarten through 8th grade. It is because of the work of my parents (mainly my Mom) and many frustrated teachers that I can now with effort write well in block print and cursive if I want to (or my subconscious wants to do it).
Somewhere between my attending those grades and my son attending those grades penmanship was no longer taught beyond here’s how you make the letters in print lesson for half a year in Kindergarten and a few years later here’s how you do it in cursive lesson for a quarter of a year.
This has been an issue with us since Aaron set foot in Kindergarten. It’s no longer taught how to hold a pen/pencil. When we’d correct his hamfisted grasp we’d be told his teacher said he could hold it any way he wanted. During parent teacher conference we were told this is true. Also we discovered penmanship wasn’t something that was even considered in grading for any course. Then again by fourth grade he was turning in word processed work. I thought maybe this was some progressive thinking of that school district but no it’s not. I’ve surveyed parents of children of similar ages and came away with the same answers. Not much writing is taught, even less concern is given to penmanship. Our kids don’t know how to do this well because we never taught them. (Lord knows I tried but TEACHER SAYS)
Sometimes recording those thoughts requires many colors of ink! LOL! I do enjoy pens that glide well or have unique ink.
The combination of not teaching penmanship and the use of keyboards for just about everything has caused the ability to form letters on the page in various styles to become a lost art. I’m not talking calligraphy here just basic writing. I have to admit I regret this. I’ve found so much joy in putting writing instrument to paper. I’ve thrilled at walking to the mailbox to get a handwritten message from a friend far away. I had pen pals from other states and countries all through middle school and high school. I’ve journaled most of my life. If I’m thinking out something I take pen to paper instead of clicking a keyboard. It’s how I get alone with my thoughts.
I’ve journaled most of my life. I go there to play on paper, record thoughts, sketch, doodle, plan, or whatever. Here I was playing with colored pencils and yes that’s a gold pen right there on top. Writes in gold too. OHH!
That’s changing. I should say that’s changed. Kids take notes on the laptops nowadays. They proof on the screen not on paper. They think things through, note reminders schedule activities, contact friends in faraway places all with a keyboard be it on a phone, connected to a cpu or on a tablet. No need to put pen or pencil to paper. It’s not their generation. They don’t judge one another by handwriting (admit it people over 40 you do, you judge lots by handwriting from education to emotional investment in the missive).
I’ve defended the younger generation and their keyboard usage. When a writing teacher said editing on paper was better I commented for us yes but those who have never turned in a handwritten paper in their life (and yes some are in grad school now can say that) working on the keyboard and screen is their life training. It’s a talent I still struggle to master – screen line edits. I do much better with a red pen and printed copy.
I’m fine with technical advancement. I remind myself when I see a new college grad with penmanship that would have gotten me a D in third grade that s/he will never hand write a thing for work or personal life for that matter. Yet I wonder if they know what they are missing. What would they do without electricity for say a month or so? It was six weeks after Hugo before I got electricity back. I could write checks and mail them (oddly the mail was the only service NOT interrupted). I could journal. I could write friends and assure them I’m okay and clean up is going well. I had pen, paper, and envelops.
Total dependence on keyboard or penmanship isn’t good. I think honestly there’s a good mix to be struck here. I think honestly as much as I hated penmanship classes. I was always a mediocre student in them. Yet now I find I’m thankful for the nine years of lessons. There is a joy to handwriting that I don’t want to be lost to those that are younger.
Mary Louise Eklund 