Handwritten letter, page 2/3: Saturday evening arrival, Mr. Jett 'dreadfully strange,' Miss Louisa settling in, the Scotch Church on Sunday
Book 1, Page 189
Transcription
An open-book scan showing two facing leaves of a handwritten letter in brown ink on lined paper. The left leaf is paginated 2 at the top centre, the right leaf 3. Cursive throughout, beginning and ending mid-sentence.
Left column (page 2)
They arrived after dark / on Saturday evening. / Nell, Addy & I received / them. Addy came in / just a few minutes before / & it was very nice for / us to have her & for / them to meet her / here as it relieved / Any awkwardness & / too much feelings. / Mr. Jett dreadfully ^strange / as the house was Entirely / changed by the winter / arrangements & that it / was some Consolation / to Miss Louisa to feel / She was not the only / Strange forlorn feeling / thing — He was very funny / about it & said when / “I want to go home to Mulberry / & Argyle”—
Right column (page 3)
Carpets etc. always alter / the look of things, & we have / never lived in the house / in winter before. So he / had nothing to fall back on / He was so lost. I had / to go about with him / & show him the / different places & when / he got to his dressing / Room, where he recognized / his “Key,” “Table” & South / Sea bench he looked / thankful — Every thing / is so bright pretty /
tasteful& comfortable / that they soon got to / feel at home — They / went to the Scotch Church / on Sunday morning, & he / announced when he came / home that he had set
AI Notes
An open-book scan showing two leaves of the same wedding/reception letter that runs through pages 187, 188, 190 (paginated ‘10’), 192 (paginated ‘12’), 193, 195, 196. The left leaf is paginated ‘2’ at top centre, the right leaf ‘3’ — placing this scan as the second and third pages of the letter (chronologically earlier than the ‘Friday — last pages’ marked on 187R). The writer recounts the Saturday-evening arrival of guests (Mr. Jett and Miss Louisa, the bride and groom or family party), Addy’s helpful presence smoothing the awkwardness of the first meeting, Mr. Jett’s bewilderment as the house had been entirely changed by the winter arrangements (‘I want to go home to Mulberry & Argyle’), and the consolation this gave Miss Louisa, who was no longer the only one feeling strange and forlorn. The right column describes the writer guiding Mr. Jett through the house to his dressing Room — where he recognized his own ‘Key,’ ‘Table’ and ‘South Sea bench’ and looked thankful — and the party’s settling-in before going to the Scotch Church on Sunday morning. Significant corrections include interlinear ‘strange’ (was missed), ‘Carpets etc.’ opening of right column (was ‘Carpets etc. always all sorts’), and identification of the column-3 pagination.
Letter continues on next page. The bracketing 2/3 paginations show these are earlier pages of the same letter whose ‘last pages’ appear (out of order in the album) on 187/188; the full sequence runs 189 (2/3) → 187/188 (‘Friday, last pages’) → 190 (10) → 192 (12) → 193 → 195 → 196. Mr. Jett’s “South Sea bench” is one of his own pieces of furniture identifying his room. The Scotch Church is the Second Presbyterian/Scots Kirk in Charleston.