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Mama Margaret is visiting relatives (see the notes below for who's who) and complaining about the food.
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Ionia Nov. 22, 1908
Dear Will,
Aunt Mary and I came here on the 28th of Oct and go home to-morrow. We have been having a fine time, but I am anxious to get home. I know from Eva’s letter that she will be glad to see me home again. It is her first experience in keeping house and I know it has been hard on her. In one of her letters she said she didn’t think she could stand it another day. It made me home sick but I couldn’t go home and leave Mary, so I am glad we are going to go so soon. The weather has been fine nearly all the time. Just a few days ago a cold spell that lasted a short time but it is nice again to-day.
I have had more buggy rides since I have been here than I have had in years before. Uncle Jim is here and has been for a good while. He likes John Hicks but don’t like his wife very well. She is so stingy. That is one thing I don’t like about her. She don’t know how to live. They are pretty well off. John makes a good deal of money but she is too stingy to have anything cooked. I have the best appetite since I have been here, I have gained a good many pounds but it was not because things were so good - I just had to eat. We have visited around among Mary’s old friends then of course we would get every thing.
This country don’t look much like it did when we used to live here. Then it was all woods and now it is cleared off - scarcely any woodland. There are nice big frame houses where it was log houses then. The people here are very friendly - I wonder that Aunt Mary don’t want to stay here. She never could live with John on account of Gazella’s penuriousness, but if I were in Mary’s place I would rent a room in town. I couldn’t live with out a home of my own.
We get the news from Canton. Mary sent for the daily Rep. I had a letter from Alma also Laura a few days ago.
It won’t be long now until Christmas, when Alma will be home. Laura likes St. Louis very much, and I am glad she does. I hope there will be a letter from you when I go home. It seems a long long time since that letter was written saying you were sick. I hope you are well and contented. I think any one is more likely to get sick if they are discontented.
Oliver Hicks is here to-day - he is a railroad carpenter so this is the first we have seen him. He works for the Pere Marquette RR between Detroit Grand Rapids and Petosky a city up north.
I will now close and help to get ready for dinner. We are expecting company this after noon so I thought I would do my writing early.
Take good care of yourself and don’t neglect writing to me.
Goodby
Your loving mother.
Dear Will,
Aunt Mary and I came here on the 28th of Oct and go home to-morrow. We have been having a fine time, but I am anxious to get home. I know from Eva’s letter that she will be glad to see me home again. It is her first experience in keeping house and I know it has been hard on her. In one of her letters she said she didn’t think she could stand it another day. It made me home sick but I couldn’t go home and leave Mary, so I am glad we are going to go so soon. The weather has been fine nearly all the time. Just a few days ago a cold spell that lasted a short time but it is nice again to-day.
I have had more buggy rides since I have been here than I have had in years before. Uncle Jim is here and has been for a good while. He likes John Hicks but don’t like his wife very well. She is so stingy. That is one thing I don’t like about her. She don’t know how to live. They are pretty well off. John makes a good deal of money but she is too stingy to have anything cooked. I have the best appetite since I have been here, I have gained a good many pounds but it was not because things were so good - I just had to eat. We have visited around among Mary’s old friends then of course we would get every thing.
This country don’t look much like it did when we used to live here. Then it was all woods and now it is cleared off - scarcely any woodland. There are nice big frame houses where it was log houses then. The people here are very friendly - I wonder that Aunt Mary don’t want to stay here. She never could live with John on account of Gazella’s penuriousness, but if I were in Mary’s place I would rent a room in town. I couldn’t live with out a home of my own.
We get the news from Canton. Mary sent for the daily Rep. I had a letter from Alma also Laura a few days ago.
It won’t be long now until Christmas, when Alma will be home. Laura likes St. Louis very much, and I am glad she does. I hope there will be a letter from you when I go home. It seems a long long time since that letter was written saying you were sick. I hope you are well and contented. I think any one is more likely to get sick if they are discontented.
Oliver Hicks is here to-day - he is a railroad carpenter so this is the first we have seen him. He works for the Pere Marquette RR between Detroit Grand Rapids and Petosky a city up north.
I will now close and help to get ready for dinner. We are expecting company this after noon so I thought I would do my writing early.
Take good care of yourself and don’t neglect writing to me.
Goodby
Your loving mother.
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1.
Ionia Nov. 22, 1908
Mama Margaret’s date for the letter is definitely 1908, but there's no doubt that it should be 1903. It can't be 1908 because in 1908 Eva was living in New York and therefore not available to do housekeeping for Fred, who was (I think) studying medicine in Battle Creek in the fall of 1908 He might have been still at Oberlin then, I can't remember. But anyway, Mama Margaret was never very concerned about exact dates for her letters. Many of them are dated just "Friday" or some such thing, leaving me trying to figure out the year. But we know about this Ionia trip from a letter from Eva:
1903-10-29 LETTER FROM EVA TO WILL
Mama and Aunt Mary went to Michigan yesterday and I am keeping house for Fred.
2.
Family:
We have three Provines siblings here. (There were lots more.) They are:
Mary Provines Hicks - Margaret’s older sister
Mama Margaret
Jim Provines - Mama Margaret’s younger brother
Mama Margaret and Mary were apparently staying with Mary’s younger son and daughter-in-law, John and Gazella Hicks. Mary’s older son, Oliver, was visiting as well. A month later, Oliver stayed with the Stokeys at Christmas time - see:
1903-12-27 LETTER FROM ALMA TO WILL
3.
Uncle Jim is here and has been for a good while. He likes John Hicks but don’t like his wife very well. She is so stingy. That is one thing I don’t like about her. She don’t know how to live. They are pretty well off. John makes a good deal of money but she is too stingy to have anything cooked.
John Hicks's wife was named Gazella, and we have a letter from her, from many years later:
LETTER FROM COUSIN GAZELLA HICKS TO ALMA
Gazella liked Mama Margaret, but I can see how her carefulness might have come across as stinginess.
4.
Mary sent for the daily Rep.
This must be the Repository, the local paper that the Stokeys preferred. See:
1889-07-24 ARTICLE FEATURING PAPA CHARLES
1897-07-27 NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ABOUT FRED'S BIKE TRIP
1903-04-24 LETTER FROM MAMA MARGARET TO WILL
1916-01-06 OBITUARY FOR PAPA CHARLES
5.
Alma kept up with the Hickses - see:
1958-04-07 NOTE IN THE CHARLOTTE NEWS ABOUT ALMA
Ionia Nov. 22, 1908
Mama Margaret’s date for the letter is definitely 1908, but there's no doubt that it should be 1903. It can't be 1908 because in 1908 Eva was living in New York and therefore not available to do housekeeping for Fred, who was (I think) studying medicine in Battle Creek in the fall of 1908 He might have been still at Oberlin then, I can't remember. But anyway, Mama Margaret was never very concerned about exact dates for her letters. Many of them are dated just "Friday" or some such thing, leaving me trying to figure out the year. But we know about this Ionia trip from a letter from Eva:
1903-10-29 LETTER FROM EVA TO WILL
Mama and Aunt Mary went to Michigan yesterday and I am keeping house for Fred.
2.
Family:
We have three Provines siblings here. (There were lots more.) They are:
Mary Provines Hicks - Margaret’s older sister
Mama Margaret
Jim Provines - Mama Margaret’s younger brother
Mama Margaret and Mary were apparently staying with Mary’s younger son and daughter-in-law, John and Gazella Hicks. Mary’s older son, Oliver, was visiting as well. A month later, Oliver stayed with the Stokeys at Christmas time - see:
1903-12-27 LETTER FROM ALMA TO WILL
3.
Uncle Jim is here and has been for a good while. He likes John Hicks but don’t like his wife very well. She is so stingy. That is one thing I don’t like about her. She don’t know how to live. They are pretty well off. John makes a good deal of money but she is too stingy to have anything cooked.
John Hicks's wife was named Gazella, and we have a letter from her, from many years later:
LETTER FROM COUSIN GAZELLA HICKS TO ALMA
Gazella liked Mama Margaret, but I can see how her carefulness might have come across as stinginess.
4.
Mary sent for the daily Rep.
This must be the Repository, the local paper that the Stokeys preferred. See:
1889-07-24 ARTICLE FEATURING PAPA CHARLES
1897-07-27 NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ABOUT FRED'S BIKE TRIP
1903-04-24 LETTER FROM MAMA MARGARET TO WILL
1916-01-06 OBITUARY FOR PAPA CHARLES
5.
Alma kept up with the Hickses - see:
1958-04-07 NOTE IN THE CHARLOTTE NEWS ABOUT ALMA
audio---images---comment---transcript---notes---~LINKS~---site navigation
LINKS TO OTHER RELEVANT PAGES IN THIS WEBSITE
DOCUMENT LISTS FOR PEOPLE:
- WILL: DOCUMENTS ----- Incoming
- ALMA: DOCUMENTS ----- Related
- FRED: DOCUMENTS ----- Related
- LAURA: DOCUMENTS ----- Related
- EVA: DOCUMENTS ----- Related
- MAMA MARGARET: DOCUMENTS ----- Outgoing
- PROVINESES & GRACEYS: DOCUMENTS ----- Related
RELATED DOCUMENTS/PAGES:
- 1889-07-24 ARTICLE FEATURING PAPA CHARLES
- 1897-07-27 NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ABOUT FRED'S BIKE TRIP
- 1903-04-24 LETTER FROM MAMA MARGARET TO WILL
- 1903-10-29 LETTER FROM EVA TO WILL
- 1903-12-27 LETTER FROM ALMA TO WILL
- 1916-01-06 OBITUARY FOR PAPA CHARLES
- 1936-01-10 LETTER FROM COUSIN GAZELLA HICKS TO ALMA
- 1958-04-07 NOTE IN THE CHARLOTTE NEWS ABOUT ALMA
GENERAL LISTS OF DOCUMENTS:
- DOCUMENTS BY DATE
- DOCUMENTS BY WHERE THEY WERE WRITTEN ----- Michigan
- DOCUMENTS BY SOURCE ----- Barbara
- DOCUMENTS 1900-1909
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- THIS PAGE IS: 1903-11-22 LETTER FROM MAMA MARGARET TO WILL
- THE PREVIOUS PAGE IS: 1903-10-29 LETTER FROM EVA TO WILL
- THE NEXT PAGE IS: 1903-12-27 LETTER FROM ALMA TO WILL
- DOCUMENTS FOR THIS YEAR: 1903
- DOCUMENTS FOR THIS DECADE: 1900-1909
- COMPLETE DOCUMENT LIST BY DATE
- THIS CHAPTER IS: CHAPTER 23: DOCUMENTS LIBRARY
- THIS MODULE IS: MODULE IV: DOCUMENTS
- TABLE OF CONTENTS
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