The Letters

The thirty letters were folded and the address written on the outside.  According to common practice of the period, correspondents wrote on every possible part of the available paper.  Sometimes they would then turn the letter ninety degrees and continue their letter by writing across their original lines.  Charlotte Slade took her son sharply to task for this, but she also used this method.  In some cases damage to the letters has made transcription difficult or impossible, but overall the letters have survived in excellent condition.  Correspondents at this time did not use punctuation.  To make the letters more readable today, we have added punctuation.  Apart from that, the transcription respects the originals as far as possible.

This chart plots the calendar of the letters for the entire archive:

The letter in February 1840 continued into April.