Rules of Etiquette When You Write In Chester’s letter to Friend Emma on November 29, 1869, we learn that Chester is teaching in Walton. Emma has given him rules of Etiquette when he writes to her. Are they sweethearts, even … Continue reading
The Letters of Chester Beers to Emma Austin, 1869–1878 Emma Austin continued to write to Chester. They correspondeded off and on through 1878. Even though the Civil War had been ended only thee years in November 1868, there is no … Continue reading
When school was done in March 1879, Chester, now age twenty-seven, returned to Walton, New York and continued to farm. Emma Asks a Math Question Emma Austin, now eighteen, wrote Chester. She asked for help with a math problem. The … Continue reading
Parents in Halfway Brook sometimes sent their children to school to live with relatives, as Libby Kyte mentioned in the last post. At some point there was an Academy in Monticello. Mary Ann Eldred (later Austin) had lived with her … Continue reading
Cunel, France, October 11, 1918 On October 11 the attack was renewed early in the morning…Progress was bitterly contested by heavy machine-gun fire and by flanking artillery support, as on previous days. During the night of October 11-12, the relief … Continue reading
McKinley (Mac) Austin’s brother was serving in the Panama Canal Zone. Raymond Austin, Balboa, Canal Zone, to Mort Austin, Eldred September 27, 1918 Dear Father, So you will be glad when the last battle is fought. I think we all … Continue reading
McKinley Austin, 11th U.S. Inf. A.E.F., to Aida Austin September 22, 1918 (received Oct. 23) Dear Aunt, I am writing to let you know I am well. So far I have received all your letters. They did not come in … Continue reading
11th Infantry On September 6, 1918, the 11th Infantry left for St. Mihiel. My grandfather Irwin Briggs, a medic, went to the front lines to get the wounded and the dying during the St. Mihiel battle. He would also help … Continue reading
Hunt for Slackers New York’s draft cleanup, the detection and putting into uniform of young men who fooled themselves into thinking that they could save their precious skins by evading the selective service law, started on a prodigious scale. More … Continue reading
Aida Austin, Eldred, to McKinley Austin, France August 19, 1918 Dear McKinley, We have been having a few cold days and it seems good after the terribly hot weather we had. Your dad’s and Uncle Lon’s buckwheat looks fine. Uncle … Continue reading
