Charlotte Leavenworth, my great aunt, taught several generations of children in Eldred. Charlotte was referred to in a letter from 1908 when she was 19. Charlotte started teaching in 1908 in Fosterdale. She walked 1/4 mile to school and taught 8 grades with 50 students for $540.
E.M.S., Fosterdale, N.Y. to Lillie Austin, Cortland, N.Y.
October 13, 1908
My dear Lillie,
I can’t go anyway for I have whooping cough not very badly, but enough so that I should stay away from people who might
take it.
Charlotte Leavenworth, you may have heard, has the school and is with me. She is a very nice girl indeed. I like her personally very much and hope that she may do well with the school. If she will only be sufficiently “ugly.”
Miss Bush is going to walk out and stay with us tomorrow night and get a little acquainted with Miss L., that she (Miss B.) may not feel so entirely alone when she is among an Institute of York State teachers.
All of Angie’s children have the cough. Also Mary and myself who are old enough to be immune. Also Edna and all the Edlemens, Harold, and an assortment of younger Magans, and the Wormuths. And now the well part of the school has been exposed, including Miss L. who has never had it.
We are very badly off for water.
Barks is getting his winter coat and looks very dark and handsome. He had his first skunk episode last week. He was not very smelly, not as skunky dogs go.
I have my outside work all done, what few apples I have gathered, are in barrels, and sent away. Also, Mr. L. bought one. Most of my garden stuff gathered and taken care of.
We are chestnutting and mushrooming. We had sausages and mushrooms (fried in the gravy) for supper last night. We had some fried plain. Tomorrow we will go again.
