Merry Christmas, Erastus

The day after Christmas was a day off for me, so as a present to myself I decided to return to visit the Boston Public Library and the letters of great-great-great uncle Erastus. I even brought reinforcements - Sue, Mary & Aunt Maria joined in to read the 188 letters from 1861-1865. They are fascinating to read and attempt to put into perspective, and although the four of us skimmed through the 5 folders in about 2 hours, it was too hard to narrow down which ones we should get copies of. Thanks to Maria's pragmatism, we all decided "what the heck - we'll ask for copies of ALL of them"! The archivist at the library explained that they are short of staff during the holidays but should be able to have the copies done within a few weeks. Then Mary informed me she has been trying to arrange with the South Carolina Historical Society to get copies of some of their collection. So my Erastus Christmas will last for a while as I wait in anticipation to have these 145 year old letters in my possession to pour over and dwell upon. What a fun new hobby!