This blog is dedicated to the courtship of William Glass Meggs and Julia Eleanor "Nellie" Lang, which took place over the course of the spring and summer of 1899. The young couple, my husband's great-grandparents, met in the springtime of that year and married on August 10, 1899.
The letters presented here are Glass' letters to Nellie. Although I am certain she wrote to Glass as well, it appears that he did not save her letters, as she saved his. So, we only have one side of the story, but it is easy to deduce how things went over the course of their courtship. Nellie was a strong-minded girl set to be a teacher, Glass a hard-working young man, working for relatives in a general store. They only saw one another about once a week, on Sundays. Much of their new relationship, then, was formed via the written word, using the U.S. Mail, which traveled quite quickly in those days. Glass wrote at least twice a week to Nellie for the four months between meeting, betrothal and wedding.
Nellie kept his letters, and they were given to me and my husband in a neat bundle, tied up with a ribbon. It's amazing that they survived so well in a non-archival environment, and before they deteriorated, I wanted to transcribe them. My husband asked, "Well, what are you going to do with them now?" So, I came up with the idea to post the letters weekly in a blog and share them with our family, and with anyone who stumbles across this blog.
I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did!
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