Letter from 'Grannie' to Mary Anne, sending her childhood memories (page 1)
Book 1, Page 416 ·1920–1934
Transcription
A handwritten letter in dark ink, large loose late-life cursive, on a single sheet folded in half.
Monday.
Dear Mary Anne;
You seemed so much interested in hearing of when I was a little girl, that I wrote some of my memories of that time and am sending them to you. I am going to try and write some more for you.
I know what a bright, happy time mother has given you all, and of how you have
AI Notes
First page of a handwritten letter in dark ink on cream paper, dated only ‘Monday’ at the top. The writer signs herself ‘Grannie’ on the following page (417). The hand is large, loose, late-life cursive. The salutation ‘dear Mary Anne’ and the explanation that the writer is sending her memories of when she was a little girl together suggest the recipient is Mary Ann Walker (b. 8 June 1918, m. Oswald Beverly McEwan 1940) — the compiler Amy’s only daughter and Hunter McEwan’s grandmother. The writer (‘Grannie’) is most likely Mary Ann’s grandmother Mary Anne Perry FitzSimons (‘Minnie’, 1859–1934, after whom Mary Ann was indirectly named), placing this letter in the 1920s or very early 1930s. The reference ‘I know what a bright happy time mother has given you all’ fits a grandmother writing to a Walker grandchild while their mother (Amy) is alive.
Letter continues on p417, which is signed “Grannie.” The “memories of when I was a little girl” referenced here are presumably the typescript “Childhood Reminiscences” signed Amy Perry FitzSimons visible on p414 — though if the writer is the elder Mary Anne (“Minnie”) FitzSimons rather than Amy herself, the memoir would be Minnie’s own. Identification of the writer remains tentative.