Letter written by Sallie G. to Sallie Margaret Potter

Red Oak Ridge
July 19th, ‘67

I have been waiting for a letter from you for some time anxiously did I await the mail this morning and expected nothing else but a letter from you but no letter Sallie has yet arrived, and my looking & patient waiting, have all proved in vain but I will not complain to much now, but will still be patient. I received a letter from Maggie and Sallie Garrett this morning both of them were well & enjoying themselves finely. Maggie said she was going to church Sunday with her sweetheart. I know she will enjoy it. Well Sallie darling I have nothing of interest to write. I suppose you have been enjoying yourself finely since you left school. I can almost imagine how you look at your new home, you must write and tell me how you like to live down there. I would like so much to see you, have you seen Ella and Laurence? When you see them be sure to tell them to write to me, and tell me how Alice Jordan is getting along and about her Sister. Are you coming back to school & are you going to board at Dr. Slack’s. Sallie Garrett says she is going back. I am not going & I don’t know whether cousin Sallie will go or not. Pa has raised his house higher & is painting it now. We will soon have a nice pleasant house. My sweet heart was here the day he raised the house he is still as sweet as ever only prettier than he was at the examination but looks a little pale. He has been sick. I saw Willie last Sunday & you know he could never look any other way but sweet & pretty. Dave B. has been to see Cousin Sallie & me, we had a heep of fun while he staid. Cora[?] has been to see me and staid all day. I never enjoyed myself so well in all my life. Mrs. Gambit? did not have an examination and so her School is out--she quit teaching much after our examinations. Sallie have you found you a new Sweet-heart down there. I expect you have & poor Bill Sure will be sick of broken hearted and that will be too bad to think about. Have you heard from N-----d? since you left school. I believe she has entirely? quit writing to any one. I saw Mrs. Ford??? at her Church this Sunday. She was looking very well, has a pretty Baby and was saying there was a protracted? Meeting at Cherry Creek commencing the fourth Sunday in the Month & expects to continue it for five weeks. I hope we may be blessed with a good meeting for I am sure it is needed badly. I wish you could attend. I saw Alice Fisher? last Sunday at Church but did not speak to her. B---? S----? was with her and of course she could not look at such as me. Cousin Sallie sends her love to you and says she would like very much to see you and thinks she would enjoy another [?] Old [Priss?] Cousin Sallie has your comb & vail being in a hurry when we left she took them through mistake thinking they were hers. I suppose you got her comb & my vail in the place of yours. I received a letter from Lizzie McNiel not long ago. She was well and having a great many beaus but she had not seen Doc. Well I will close. Write soon and often. Sister sends her love to you, excuse this miserable writing for I haven't a pen that will write. My love to your Ma & accept a heart-full for yourself. As ever your true friend.

Sallie G.$3$ $$

Notes:

$1$ $$ Sallie Margaret Potter Shanahan (1851 - 1921), daughter of Daniel D. Potter and Mary Rebecca Smith and wife of Michael William Shanahan. The Potter family was living in Itawamba County Mississippi when Sallie M. Potter was born. From Itawamba the family moved to Pontotoc County, Mississippi and then migrated from there to DeSoto County. In two letters written by Sallie's daughters Nora Mildred and Sallie Moina Shanahan we are told that Sallie attended [boarding] school in Lexington (Holmes County), Mississippi and that the family moved residence (from Pontotoc to DeSoto) while she was away at school. Nora also states that her mother Sallie returned from Lexington to her family's new home in DeSoto County around June of 1867. Since this letter is dated 19 Jul 1867 it appears to me that the letter writer (Sallie G) must have been friends with Sallie Potter while the Potter family was living in Pontotoc and that both girls must have been sent from Pontotoc to Lexington (perhaps for several years) to the same boarding school. From the way this letter reads, the two girls had last seen one another at their 'graduation' ceremony but then were parted when they had to return to their respective homes - Sallie G. back to Pontotoc County and Sallie Potter to the new Potter home in DeSoto.
$2$ $$ My Dear Friend
$3$ $$ Sallie G. has not yet been positvely identified. Although the letter indicates a location (Red Oak Ridge) I am encountering difficulty pinning this place down. However, from various references in the letter I believe we will find that Red Oak Ridge is located in or near Pontotoc County Mississippi.

Transcribed 22 Oct 2007 by K. L. Rhodes from a scanned copy sent to me by T. M. Rhodes 21 June 2001. T. M. Rhodes accessed & photocopied this letter at the 2001 Shanahan reunion held in Texas; at that time this letter was in the possession of J. E. Shanahan Gray; it is not known if this letter was an original or a copy.

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