1919 4 27 Olive Rose to Florence Rose

I will change some spelling and some grammar as I transcribe.  The location is Pine Hill, Ulster County, New York.

My grandmother, 'Olive' Letha Rose Schnack wrote this letter, when she was 10-years old, to her sister 'Florence' Alice Rose Lawler.  'Beatrice' May Rose Camp is their sister and  'Papa' is their father, Elbert Rose.  'Aunt Lin' is Elbert's sister, Malinda Rose Townsend.

I have included a photograph of the school my grandmother attended in Pine Hill and transcribed the words she had written on the reverse side about 1925-1926.  I believe she intended the words for her fiance'/husband, my grandfather, Walter Schnack.  'Dot' was his nickname for her.

Pine Hill, N.Y.
Apr. 27, 1919

Dear Florence,

We got to school all right that morning.  Elsie Smith went with us. We have to get a new English book.  We would have had to get a geography book but John Lasher had one.  We traded our Barnes with him.  We got a spelling book and arithmetic, second hand.

I don't like the school one bit.  Mr. DeSilva is lazy.  He doesn't explain anything.  We are way behind.  We won't pass sixth grade this June.  The exams are 13,14.  There are only fifteen (15) pupils upstairs.  I guess there isn't twenty five (25) in the whole school.  It is dirty.  Last year's calendar is hanging

up.

Friday, I almost froze it was so cold.  Friday afternoon, as we were eating dinner, I got up to get a drink of water and I heard a noise.  I asked Papa what it was and he said it was some kid rolling a cartwheel over the sidewalk.  It kept up till

it was time for us to go to school.

Then Papa put on his coat and came.  He saw a number of people going down toward the lake.  He went down but Beatrice and I were going on to school when we met some girls we knew and we went down, too.  When we got to

the lake, we saw smoke coming from a house.  After we went further, we saw blazes coming from the top of a house.  Do you know where "The Wayside Rest Poultry Farm" is?  Well, that was the house that was afire.  It is in from the road this side of the "New Mountain

Inn".  Papa was down, he helped fight the fire.  Two boys went in to the side where there wasn't any fire and broke out 2 window lights.  The men didn't succeed in putting the fire out until it was almost burned down.  An old lady lived there all alone.

Friday morning it was so cold our water froze up.

Papa & Beatrice walked over to Aunt Lin's today.

Beatrice says she will write next time.

Write Soon
Your Sister
Olive

Written on the reverse side:

This is where I went to school a long time ago.  It is also the place where we often camp & where I hope you & I may go sometime.  Dot.

Below that, most likely at a later date, she wrote Pine Hill.

1919 3 7 Olive Rose to Florence Rose

I will change some spelling and some grammar as I transcribe.  The location is not posted on this letter.

My grandmother, 'Olive' Letha Rose Schnack, wrote this letter when she was 10-years old to her sister 'Florence' Alice Rose Lawler.  Their sister, 'Beatrice' May Rose Camp, wrote the second part of this letter.  'Papa' was their father, Elbert Rose.  His sisters were 'Aunt Addie', Ada Rose Woolheater, and 'Aunt Minnie', Minnie Rose Springer, and 'Aunt Lin', Malinda Rose Townsend.  His brother was 'Uncle Will', William Rose.   'Francis' Springer was Minnie's daughter.

More about the Palmer Method can be found by clicking on the link.
 

Mar. 7, 1919

Dear Florence,

We have a written review in Geography today and a written review in Spelling.

I am enclosing a writing paper.  I practice at home because I am not used to writing Palmer Method.  I wrote the latter in school but I am writing now at 12:15.  Florence, I will send the money now.  Will close but will write a postscript.

Your Sister
Olive Letha

Dear Florence,

I suppose you are wondering why you don't get a letter, but Sunday night he came here.  And, Aunt Addie and Aunt Minnie were down to Uncle Will's and so he had to go down, too.  And, we set up til nine o'clock waitng for him but he didn't come so we had to go to bed.  It is Tuesday night now and he got a letter from Aunt Lin.  So, we had a good excuse to have him

come over.  It was half past night before he got here and we had given up all hope.  If we ran to the top of the stairs once, we have a hundred times, watching for him.

I think that I told you before that Aunt Minnie was coming.  She brought Francis with her and if she isn't fat.  I can't lift her.  You know that we have three goldfish (I mean that we did have) and Francis kept playing with them til she killed one.  Papa told us that Uncle Will was over to Carter's yesterday and last night (of course he sleeps with Papa) Papa thought he was going to die; he could hardly breathe.  Aunt Lin doesn't think that she will be home before April.

Olive was speaking about the geography test.  I got 99%.  I think that was pretty good.

And, we had a writing lesson that was sent into the writing teacher.  And, always before, I had got unsatisfactory and today I got just one word.  And, that was slant and I was tickled to death.  Will write next time.

Beatrice

Say Florence, I am going to send you three cents to write to me with.  And, Papa wants to write when he sends the money.  

1919 1 24 Beatrice Rose to Florence Rose

I will change some spelling and some grammar as I transcribe.  Kingston, New York is in Ulster County.

'Beatrice' Rose Camp wrote this letter when she was 12-years old to her sister, 'Florence' Rose Lawler.  'Olive' Rose Schnack was their sister and 'Clifton' Rose was their brother.  'Papa' is their father, Elbert Rose.  Elbert's sister, 'Aunt Lin' is Malinda Rose Townsend.  'Aunt Addie' is Ada Rose Woolheater, another sister of Elbert's. 'Eva' Woolheater and Bessie Woolheater Winfield are Ada's daughters.  'Margie' Winfield is Bessie's daughter Marjorie.  'Grandma' is Alice Clayton More.  'Aunt Ella' is Ella Baker More, Alice's daughter-in-law. 'Uncle Will' is Elbert's brother William Rose. 

72 Clinton Ave.

Kingston, N.Y.

Jan. 24, 1919

Dear Florence;

There is no school this afternoon as there are commencement exercises down to the High School.

We didn't have any examinations down here.  Our everyday work counted for promotions.  All of the sixth grade got promoted and we will go in another room tomorrow.  I got promoted although I didn't pass in geography.  I got 66 2/3 and 2/3 counts one or 67.  My class standings I counted out to be

60.  When I told the teacher, she said she didn't believe me; that I would have to figure it over again but I didn't.

I have just got my dishes done and Olive dried them and now Olive is taking the carpet off the stairs.

Say Florence, did you think that we were not going to write at all?  I will tell you how it happened.  Last Sunday, Olive wrote a letter to you and Clifton and Aunt Lin.  And, of course, I thought they had been sent. Last night Papa was here and he asked if we had got a letter from you.  And then, Olive happened to

think that she had not sent them.  Every day through the week, I kept asking Aunt Addie if we had any mail and wondering why you didn't write.  When I heard her say that last night, I was mad to think that we hadn't written.

Eva, Jeanette and Al, Jean's beau, went to Poughkeepsie on Tuesday.  Eva bought Jimmie a bag of chocolate; and, Aunt Addie and Olive and I, a great big bag of hard candy.  Jeanette bought herself a dandy new spring hat; black straw with a little blue feather on each point.  It was a shape of a triangle.  It was beautiful.

Perhaps you saw Eva's shoes that I think were in the closet in your bedroom.  Anyway, they had low heels, brown cloth tops and brown leather bottoms.  Eva gave them to Olive and Papa had them taped and the heels straightened.  They make her a dandy pair of shoes to wear for best but Eva said for her to wear them to school.

I haven't had my teeth fixed yet and they need it pretty bad.  I am not going to have that double tooth crowned because it is too far gone but the two front ones I am going to have filled with gold.

Don't you think that will be alright?

I have not heard from Grandma yet, have you?  When I do, I will thank them for the things.  It was very nice of them.

I suppose you will be glad to get a letter written on good paper, although, the writing isn't very good.  Florence, if you knew how nervous I get when I try to write a letter, you wouldn't expect me to write at all.  I have written so much over to school in a hurry and it simply spoils my writing.  Now when I try to write a letter good, my arm aches so.  But I will have to

get used to it.

Bessie and Margie, Bessie's little girl, are coming up here to stay quite a long time. Bessie's husband, Jim, is going out west and work.

Oh say!  While I think of it.  How long is Grandma and the rest of them going to stay out there?

We, I mean Papa, got a letter from Clifton yesterday.  He said that they butchered Murray's pig and Kate cried.  He said that he laughed right in front of her.  And, he said that the chimney caught on fire up on the farm and the house came near to burning up.  He told Papa to get his furniture insured.  And, some boards came near burning into (we don't know exactly what he means by that) and that Obed cut his leg down to the bone.  And, Papa said, "I wouldn't have cared if he had cut it way off."  Clifton told you about the boy staying at Obed's by the name of John Lasher.  He told Clifton that when the chimney was on fire, that the bricks were red hot.  And, that John Lasher drove the team all over and that they came near to running away from him.

Of course I don't believe in dreams but, it was just a few days, or nights, I mean, that I dreamt that the house came near burning up.

And you know, when I read that letter it made me awful homesick and I don't know why.  I didn't get to sleep till about twelve o'clock.

I think maybe that Olive and I are going to the moving pictures tonight.  I think maybe that Papa will be over tonight and take us all.  Or, if he doesn't come, then Eva is going to take us.

We just got a letter from Aunt Ella today (this afternoon).  She said it was storming up there.

It rained very hard here last night but today it is funny.  The sun

will shine for a minute and then go under the clouds.  It snowed just a little this morning but all it's doing now is the wind is blowing quite hard.

Uncle Will isn't working now.  He has been quite sick.  It is his kidneys now.  The doctors say he'll be alright if he doesn't have the Dropsy.

Since you went away, Aunt Addie has got herself a dandy new coat.  It is something like Jeanette's coat only it has black seal fur collar and cuffs.  And, Eva has a new suit with a black seal collar.  It is wine colored.  She paid $39.00 for it.

And, Jean has got her a new blue serge dress and a new $10.00 pair of brown

shoes.  And, I forgot to tell you that Eva got her a new pair of shoes with kid tops and patent leather bottoms.  And, Olive has gotten a new blue velvet hat with streamers on it.  It was on sale.  It was a two dollars and 87 ($2.87) hat and they got it for a dollar ninety-eight ($1.98).  I didn't get anything new.  Isn't that a shame?

Jimmy gave Olive and I each a stick of gum this noon.

I think if I can get Aunt Ella's letter in with this, in an envelope, I will send it to you and let you read it if you will send it back.  I think you will like to read it.

None of us have been uptown since we got your letter so we couldn't get the dye, but we'll try and send it the fore part of the week.

I forgot to tell you that Eva got her a dandy black seal muff to match Aunt Addie's and her coat.  I mean the fur on their coats.  It is Hudson seal.

You know, while we were washing dishes, Olive thought of a plan.  She said that if anyone slapped faces or pulled hair or quarreled, that they would get shut up in the clothes press and locked in for 15 minutes.  I wouldn't do it

and she got mad and undressed and went to bed.  She went upstairs and we didn't know where she was.  I went upstairs to see where she was.  She had made the bed and was in her night gown, and the window up a little ways.  I told Aunt Addie and she told me to shut the window.  I covered her up and shut the window and it was just two minutes after I was down, that she came down and said she wasn't asleep at all.  Well, will close with love.  If you write just as long a letter as I do, you will do good.

Beatrice

1918 10 22 Beatrice Rose to Florence Rose

I will change some spellings and some grammar as I transcribe.

The location is Delaware County, New York.  This letter was written by Beatrice Rose Camp, when she was 12-years old, to her sister Florence Rose Lawler.  'Olive' Letha Rose Schnack is their sister.  Their 'Papa' is Elbert Rose.  Their maternal 'Grandma' was Alice Estelle Clayton More.  'Aunt Lin' is Elbert's sister, Malinda Rose Townsend.  'Helen' and 'Bertha' are Malinda's daughters.  At the time of this writing, I don't know who 'Uncle Billy' is.  Elbert has a brother William but is referred to as Uncle Will by the girls in other letters.  Please add a comment if you can shed some light on an identification. 

Fleischmanns, NY
Oct. 22, 1918

Dear Florence,

I received your letter this forenoon as I sent you one yesterday in Grandma's letter.  If you remember in the starting of your letter, you said you were wondering what I was doing.  It was half past five when we got our dishes done and as we didn't have anything to do but listen to Papa and the boy that is here talk also, we wrote to Grandma.  I did and Olive put in a letter to you.  You remember that at home we had some games; but, here we haven't anything to do but sit around wishing for some games to play.  After we get our work done, there is always about 3 hours before bedtime, and in the daytime it has been so cold and stormy that we couldn't

play outdoors until today.  It is considerably warm.  Olive is outdoors playing ball, being as that is all we can play.  Mrs. Clansey (that is the name of the woman who lives here) gave us (8) eight marbles.

I like to stay here better every day.  I didn't like it very good first long when I was so homesick, though.

Didn't Grandma tell you that school was closed and we don't know when it will open?

Well Florence, I can't tell you just yet where to write to Papa because he hasn't gone anywhere yet.  He is staying just at present at Uncle Billy's.  I don't know when he will go to Kingston because he is kind of afraid of the influenza.  And, he doesn't want to take us to Kingston  either.

We heard that Oneonta was full of it.

Is that so?

You telling me to take care of myself made me laugh because we have not been off of the yard since school closed.  And every time we go out, someone hollers, "Put on your sweater and cap now, girls".  It is always Helen or Aunt Lin and I thank them for it, too.  So, if we get it you can't say that we have caught it from anyone, can you?  And almost every night we burn a good lot of sulpher.

I will tell Papa all you have asked me to.

I am very sorry I can't give you Papa's address.

Will close.
Your sister,
Beatrice

P.S.
Yes, I would like to come up there and live with you.

Aunt Lin and Helen expect to go to Richfield to see Bertha in about 9 months.

1918 10 21 Olive Rose to Florence Rose

I will correct some spelling and some grammar as I transcribe.

My grandmother, Olive Letha Rose Schnack, wrote this letter when she was 10 years old to her sister, Florence Rose Lawler.  The locations are in Ulster County and Delaware County in New York.  'Papa' is their father, Elbert Rose.  Their maternal 'Grandma' is Alice Estelle Clayton More.  'Aunt Lin' is Elbert's sister, Malinda Rose Townsend and 'Helen' is her daughter.


Fleischmanns, NY
Oct. 21, 1918

Dear Florence,

I suppose Grandma told you that there wasn't any school because of the epidemic.  There are quite a few cases of the influenza in this place.  Papa came over here yesterday; he stayed all night and went away this morning.

Elizabeth Cure has the influenza and pneumonia set in.  She is very sick.

They brought Rhoda Tarbridge home dead from Kingston.  She had the influenza.  The undertakers didn't have enough caskets to bury the dead in down in Kingston.  So they sent up to Phoenicia

for a casket to bring Rhoda home in.

We have to get all new books.  That is if we get any because of the school being closed till the 28th of this month.  Papa thinks that we won't have to get any.  We won't be here over 2 more weeks at the least.  Our teacher is a German.  Her name is Miss Shafer.  The first day we went to school, a little fellow got a whipping.  They had a Fourth Liberty Bond rally.  They raised $22000.00.  Oct the 13, we didn't see it though.  Is the Normal closed?  R.S.V.P.

Monday A.M.
Helen and Aunt Lin are washing.  Will have to close.

As ever, your sister,
Olive Letha

1918 10 12 Alice More to Florence Rose

I will correct some spelling and some grammar as I transcribe.

Pine Hill and Kingston are in Ulster County, New York.  Roxbury is in Delaware County, New York. The letter is written by Alice Estelle Clayton More to her granddaughter Florence Rose.  The 'Father' and 'Dad' and 'he' referred to is Elbert Rose, father of Florence Rose.  Lin is Elbert's sister Malinda Rose Townsend.  The Helen on page 3 might be Lin's daughter and Arthur might be Elbert's brother.  Adda is Elbert's sister, Ada Rose Woolheater.  Hattie is Harriet More Burgett, a daughter of Alice's.  Seward is Hattie's husband.

Pine Hill
Oct 12, 1918

Dear Florence,

I have been waiting to see what your father was going to do.  He went over to Lin's to get her to take the girls. He came back from there feeling pretty good.  He said she was glad to do it for him.  That was Friday.  Saturday, she came over to get dad to

not break up his family; to stay on the farm.  I see where the shoe pinched.  She had lots of reasons why she didn't see how she could take them.  Your Dad is bent on going to Kingston.  You can't talk him out of it.

 Well, Lin stayed all night and today Dad took her home and the girls.  I felt awful sorry to see the little girls go

 bag and baggage.  Lin says they can stay till she gets her sewing done and the Influenza is subdued.  Then, she and Helen will go to Arthur's and then to Bertha's.  Then, the girls will go to Aunt Ada's in Kingston.  I think that is awful for those poor little girls to be toted around.  And, Dad will get a job in Kingston.  It is awful lonesome tonight without them.  Well, I

have lots of work to do.  Wish you were here to help me pack.  Then you could take some things back with you.  I have packed all the best bedding in trunks and have burned all the paper rags and all the girls trunk.  He is going to pack every thing in the room where we slept.  I have the parlor and the bedroom all straight.  He is going to draw writings Monday and wants to let Obed

move in the fifteenth.  I don't see how I can get it all done.

Well, I must get to bed.  You must let Hattie see this.

He hasn't sold the bull.  I haven't seen _____ and the cider apples are still on the ground.  I wish Seward would come down and let you come, too.

Hastily,  Grandma

PS
He will have to put the date the 20th before he lets them in.  I think I will go to Roxbury before I come up.