Letter from Mother (Mary Anne Perry FitzSimons) to her daughter Amy, page 3 of 3 — family news, signed 'Mother'
Book 2, Page 93 ·1900–1925
Transcription
Continuing in black ink:
has been at home for some weeks now. Jessica has spent too much in our visit. Minnie — she did not accept the Hammons’ pay, or think of it. She was nice I think as she is independent as she now is. Minnie has kept — a very poor cook, and a mid’ jingle girl to run after the children. Min has Lou Stengel back and is as usual. Clara very busy but happy. I have Julia who is at her best.
Love to Puck.
Devotedly,
Mother.
AI Notes
Third and final sheet of the ‘Wednesday, July 14th’ letter (pages 091–093). Closes with a round-up of household news — Nin’s visit at home, Jessica’s recent stay, the Hammons/Hammonds, two women both called Minnie (referred to as ‘Minnie’ and ‘Min’) and their domestic help, Clara, and Julia — then ‘Love to Puck’ (James Pickens Walker, the recipient’s husband) and signs ‘Devotedly, Mother.’ The lower half of the sheet is blank. ‘Mother’ = Mary Anne Perry FitzSimons (‘Minnie’ / ‘Mam’mie’), the compiler’s mother, per p091. The spelling of the servant’s surname (‘Stengel’) is uncertain.
Lower half of the sheet blank.
The closing surname spelled ‘Hammons’ / ‘Hammonds’ (preserving the writer’s spelling); the surname ‘Stengel’ is uncertain — could also be ‘Skengel’ or ‘Shengel’. ‘mid’ jingle’ is the writer’s own apparent compound (sense unclear: possibly ‘midget’-jingle as a familiar diminutive for a nimble servant girl, or a slang phrase no longer current). ‘Minnie’ and ‘Min’ appear to be two different women: the first is plainly the writer’s daughter or household member, the second is a separate Min.