Oh my word, faithful readers! Has it ever been an exciting past few days!Alice - one of the descendents of the Gamble family whose precious letters found their way here so all of us could read and learn from them - arrived some days ago in our area, and has been making the rounds visiting the people and places of her ancestors.
What is even MORE exciting however, is that the ORIGINAL letters themselves found their way into the hands of Lori, Donna, and Alice! Yes, the caretaker of those letters for some time now, Warren Griffith, met Lori in Pembina and handed them over. It was discussed by the cousins what to do next with them.
Here's the email history:
Dear Trish:I responded...
Here I am in Minnesota and, having met Lori Bianco and her mother, Donna, I have been elected to tell you the fantastic news (since I have a computer with me):
On the way to Hallock to meet with me, they stopped in Pembina, as Warren Griffith wanted to give them the Mary Ann letters! So, Lori and Donna now have the letters! I've seen them!
If you could get back to us soon, they would like to know what best to do with them to make sure they are preserved. They were going to take them tomorrow to the museum at Lake Bronson, but wanted to check with you first.
Thanks for any help you may be able to give us! Still hope to see you on Friday - I will call you when I get to Fargo in the afternoon.
Alice
Amazing news!!Today I got this email from Cindy...
I'm very sure that Cindy at the museum will know how to best care and preserve them. I would suggest that they be scanned and digitized and submitted to Reflections Minnesota to be part of that online archive, for sure. If there is any chance that someone could get me some scans someday of the originals, email them to me, I'd love to see the actual handwriting!!
Yes, please call me - how exciting!
Trish
Hi Trish,I was thrilled to help, and told her so...
The letters have just arrived! Thank you so much for recommending that these historically valuable letters come to the museum. They are fragile, so before I scan them, I want to encapsulate them to prevent any more deterioration. Once I have done that, I will scan them & email them to you. This is a really exciting addition to our collection. Thanks, again!
Cindy Adams
I'm tickled pink, Cindy. Smiling like a fool. :) So glad they finally made it there. It took some letter writing and talking it through with relatives and others concerned, but they made it. Thanks so much in advance to sharing them with me. It'll be amazing to see the actual handwriting!
Trish
I met Alice (the Gamble descendent that spend the last week in our area) in Fargo Friday night for supper. We each had items to share with one another. Her item was the 'Maggie book', known to the entire family. It had once been a chemistry book over 100 years ago, but Maggie O'Neill used it as a scrapbook, pasting in all the newspaper clippings she was sent from the Gamble family about events concerning the family and/or St. Vincent over a 50+ year period. I got to hold it, look through it, and note pages I'd like scanned and Alice gladly agreed. Once she has scanned the book, she'll be donating that to the Kittson County Museum also. What an amazing privilege it has been to help this family with their history, and see it go to the Museum for long-term preservation!
ReplyDeleteI think this is a real triumph in gleaning the social history of St. Vincent. Again, Trish has contributed mightily to recreating our N.W. Minnesota legacy. I think that the Kittson County Museum is is a perfect repository for this collection. Social history in the form of diaries or letters represents the bricks and mortar of our hidden history. To the bricks and mortar, Trish has contributed "clicks and mortar." Congratulations. Mike Rustad
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