Same letter as page 042 — May's debut in Charleston, 1906 — scanned with the pasted Herrick portrait removed
Book 2, Page 43 ·1906
Transcription
The same letter sheet as page 042, now scanned with the pasted portrait of Myron T. Herrick lifted away, so the previously obscured lines can be read.
Letter (handwritten, brown ink):
May went out in Charleston society in 1906; her uncle Major Theodore G. Barker was at that time president of the St. Cecilia society, so took May to the balls where he served [as her] chaperon, and Cousin Mrs. Daniel Stoney. The night before the first St. Cecilia, Mr. Patrick Calhoun gave a large reception to his daughter; he had many guests staying in his house, among them ex-Governor Herrick of Ohio who became great with Mr. and Mrs. Calhoun. As May entered the room with her uncle — a splendid type of southern gentleman — Governor Herrick turned to Mrs. Calhoun and said “There is the prettiest sight I have ever seen in my life.” The next night in the ball room, St. Cecilia, Mrs. Calhoun brought Governor Herrick up to May, and told her this. I suppose she was a lovely sight, for she was beautiful that winter, said by some to be the handsomest girl at the ball.
She wore a buff crêpe-de-Chine at the Calhoun’s, which set off her brilliant coloring …
AI Notes
The same handwritten letter as on page 042, scanned without the pasted newspaper portrait of Myron T. Herrick that on the facing scan covers the upper third of the sheet. With the clipping absent, the previously obscured passage is fully legible. The text recounts May’s debut in Charleston society in 1906, her uncle Major Theodore G. Barker’s role as president of the St. Cecilia Society, and a reception at Patrick Calhoun’s house where ex-Governor Herrick of Ohio (the man whose newspaper portrait was pasted on page 042) admired May. The admirer is Myron T. Herrick, ex-Governor of Ohio — explaining why the compiler later pasted Herrick’s newspaper portrait onto this letter. The letter records that Herrick ‘became great with Mr. and Mrs. Calhoun’ (i.e., became close friends), and that May wore a buff crêpe-de-Chine at ‘the Calhoun’s’ (the Calhouns’ reception).
Letter continues beyond the bottom edge of the scan. Pages 042 and 043 appear to be two scans of the same physical sheet, one with the pasted Herrick portrait in place and one without — which is why a Herrick portrait was added to this particular letter as a keepsake.