Gamble Boys

From Lori Kohut Bianco, Gamble descendant: Alexander Gamble Jr & William Neill Gamble. My guess is this was one of the photos mentioned in the letters, which they had taken after they arrived in Emerson/St. Vincent & sent back to Beaverton in the late 1870s -- the ages appear to be about right.

I will be attending this year's reunion at the end of next month, and visiting many local sites including my family's old homestead, the cemetery, and if time permits, some friends including Hetty Walker, Chuck's wife...

Gamble Letters: First Peek of Originals

Until we get the scans courtesy of Cindy Adams, director of the Kittson County Museum, these photos taken with a cell phone are a nice preview of the original Gamble Letters, passed on to me by one of the cousins who had the letters temporarily in their possession...

www.flickr.com

Gamble Letters Come Home

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:

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

I responded...

Amazing news!!

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

Today I got this email from Cindy...

Hi Trish,
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 was thrilled to help, and told her so...

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

Gamble Letter: 'New' One Found

Another 'Gamble Letter' has been found! Lori Bianco, Great Granddaughter of the writer, recently found it among her familiy's papers; it had been given to her by her grandfather Neill Alexander Gamble, Lillie's son...

Lillie Maude Griffith Gamble, wife of William Neill Gamble wrote this letter to Margaret Neill.

St. Vincent, Minn.
Oct. 28th, 1917


Miss Margaret Neill
Beaverton, Ont.


Dear Aunt Maggie,

It is a long time since I have written to you. But although I don’t write often. I think of you just the same. We are having an early winter here this year we had snow now for two weeks & guess it is going to stay. Sammie has sold his farm & personal property & has gone to Wyoming to locate. Mrs. Forster has come to St. Vincent to live & Grandpa stays with her. Her husband is a traveler & don’t be home very much. Grandpa comes out to the farm every other day. It seems he cant stay away from the place any length of time.

Allan & Lewis are both going to High School. They are getting to be big boys now. I have a little boy 4 months old. William Leslie he is not very big but is commencing to grow now I think. I have no girl & it keeps me busy with eleven of ourselves & two hired men. Well since I heard from you we are all in the Big War. We had a second call for Liberty Bonds last week & St. Vincent was supposed to give $5,000, & they made $6,000. That wasn’t bad the Gambles, Lapps & Griffith girls put in $13.00. Thirteen boys have enlisted from St. Vincent & about six were drafted.

We had a good crop this year although we didn’t have much in as he has a lot of summer fallow. We do quite a bit of Red Cross work here. We have completed 14 sets of sweater, wristlets pair of socks and a muffler, and have started on 14 more. Besides making hospital shirts & pajamas.

How are you getting along I suppose the weather is fine down there. I think I will quit writing as you will be tired reading this scribble. I hope you are well as we are all well here. With love from all I will say Goodby. Write sometime.

I remain
Yours lovingly
Lillie M. Gamble

NOTES:

"Sammie" = Samuel Moses Gamble, youngest son of Alexander & Mary Ann, and brother to William
"Mrs. Forster" = Alice Gamble, daughter of Alexander & Mary Ann, and sister to William
"Grandpa" = Alexander Gamble -- would have been in his 80s by then
"Allan & Lewis" = the two oldest sons, would have been teenagers
"William Leslie" = youngest son

The Maggie Neill Letters II

Maggie Neill wrote letters to the Gamble family all her life. The Gambles left Ontario in the late 1870's when Maggie was just a young girl, and her last letter was shortly before she passed away. In my opinion, the motivation behind the Gamble letters was Maggie, and we have her most of all to thank for the chronicling of early St. Vincent daily life we have seen reflected in those older letters.

I've decided to share the rest of her later letters in one posting. By this time, Maggie was starting to feel her years. She hadn't expected to live this long, but she did. The one thing that most people have in common as they get older is the realization that they feel inside the same as they were when they were young, that there is never enough time, and that getting old, well...sucks, to put it plainly! I've yet to hear an elderly person proclaim it is their truly 'Golden Years'. You'll see in Maggie's letters that she is striving to remain independent, and to stave off loneliness...

Beaverton
March 7/45

Dear Alice -

I was pleased to hear from you at Xmas & hope you will write soon again. I daresay you have read of our big storms this winter. We had a hard time digging ourselves out of the snow banks.

Beaverton has been hit hard by the war. About a dozen boys won’t come back - they died overseas & some are prisoners & some missing.

I would like to hear how your lads are getting on. Hope you are all well.

M. Neill

(This was on back of a postcard)


Beaverton
August 25th, 1945

Dear Alice,

I was pleased to get your letter, and hope this finds you all well and the boys back home. A number of the Beaverton boys have come back, but about a dozen lost their lives overseas, among them the United Church minister’s son - an only child - and an Anglican minister’s son.

Some have been prisoners so they must be glad the war is over. I never heard what became of your uncle Alicks boys who enlisted.

I never hear from any of your people excepting once in a while from Mrs. Ladyman. I see by the papers there was a terrible railway accident in Dakota. I have not been on a train for years. I am feeling my age now - 85 yrs. But am doing my own work yet.

This has been a very cool, very wet summer. To-day we are having a thunder storm & quite heavy rain so I may not get to the post office this evening. Thanks for the clipping sent. I put it in my book. Would be pleased to hear from you soon again. I remain
yours affectionately
Margaret Neill.


Beaverton
February 5th 1946
To Mrs. Alice Edkins

Dear Alice

I was pleased to hear from you again but sorry to hear of your bereavement.

It is hard to see those near and dear to us passing away. I was pleased to hear you had one of your sons home with you at the last. I hope the other son may soon get home too.

I think most of the Beaverton boys are home now but about a dozen died overseas, all fine young fellows they were too.

The United Church minister’s only child - a Captain in the Air Force - is gone. His plane went down over Germany they say.

I had a letter from Mae the other day. They have had colds she said. Jean and Rae have settled in Hamilton, and are going to build a house there - a five room bungalow. Rae got his old position back. I never hear from any of the other Gambles now.

I think the weather about the worst I can remember, this last month or so. And fuel is very scarce which makes the situation worse. We had learned to depend on coal or coke but there is neither for sale here at present, and no word of any coming in.

I have a little coal and wood yet The snow drifts are so deep we can’t get the trucks to come nearer than the boulevards. I began this letter on Tuesday and it is now Wednesday evening and rainy after all the frost. I hope tomorrow won’t be icy so we can get down town, as there are puddles on the streets now.

I will enclose a little valentyne in this. Write soon again.
Yours Sincerely Margaret Neill

(Alice’s husband, Percy Edkins, had passed away 11-27-45. His son, William, was given a leave from the Army Air Corps to come home for the funeral. Their other son, Robert, was stationed in Japan)


Beaverton
Jan. 1949
To Mrs. Alice Edkins

Dear Alice

I was much pleased to hear from you again.

I am not staying in my own house at present. Since the first of April I have been living in a nursing home in town - on Simcoe St. I will be 89 years old next Sunday if I am spared. There are seven other old ladies here at present. We each pay 15 dollars a week.

I just had to lock up my house with everything in it. I did not like to leave it, but help is impossible to get now here and I could no longer keep house alone. I have not seen Mrs. Ladyman for a long time. I am lonesome for my own home of course.

We have to stay in bed every day. There is no cure for old age. I never hear from any of the Gamble family but Mae’s people. I hope your boys are getting along all right. Would be pleased to hear from you whenever you can write.

I got twenty-five Xmas cards and a number of parcels. I could not get out to buy any myself. They are as good to us here as people would be anywhere, I guess. We try to help ourselves as much as possible. Our old neighbors are good to call on us.

I cannot do anything but read - I don’t try to write much. I have no spectacles yet. I have my second sight I suppose, so I can read.

We have lots of snow here now - I supposed my house is snowed in. Well, wishing you all a very happy New Year. I remain yours affectionately
Margaret Neill.


Beaverton, Ontario
November 28, 1949

Dear Mrs. Edkins,
Having promised to let you know from time to time how Miss Neill was getting along, this is to say that the doctor telephoned me yesterday afternoon to let me know that she was taken quite ill. I had been up to see her a few days before and she was sitting up in bed, reading some of her clippings that she had ready for a scrapbook and in spite of a slight cold that did not seem to be bothering her much. She was as chatty and as alert as ever.

The news of her illness was, therefore, a complete surprise to me, so I went at once. Mrs. Teer said that the doctor had pronounced it a touch of pneumonia which, at her age, might be very, very serious. She had no temperature to speak of but not being able to get rid of the phlegm (as is the case with so many elderly people) her breathing was a bit laboured at times. As she did not find it too easy to talk, I told her not to and that I would do the talking for both of us. She did not seem to be in pain at all, but I fancy her goitre may be adding to the distress in breathing at times. She was quite rational of course, and seemed to be glad to see me, but the doctor thinks that she may not be able to regain her strength at all. Mrs. Teer was not so pessimistic, but at her age - she will be ninety in January, as you know - anything may happen, so I wanted to let you know how things were with her.

I telephoned Mrs. Teer as early as possible this morning and she said things were about the same. I am going up again as soon as I finish this and will post it on the way. This is the first outgoing mail since I knew of her illness.

Last night I telephoned Mrs. Ladyman in Toronto. She has a nasty cold herself and wanted to do anything possible, but as no one can do anything at the moment I will let her know each day how things go. Anything Mrs. Ritchie and I can do, of course we will attend to. We are both fond of Miss Neill who has been our neighbor for so long and feel so very, very badly that she is so ill.

With kindest regards to your son as well as to yourself.
Sincerely yours,
Mary Ritchie

(There was one more letter from Mrs. Ritchie, written the following day to let Alice know that Maggie had died that day - the 29th...)

Experiences of an English Soldier

Long-time readers of this blog will well remember the letters of the Gamble Family.

Letters are powerful demonstrations of history. Letters bring obscure and dusty facts to life, and flesh to the bones of names.

WWI: Experience of an English Soldier is one such blog. The blog has been publishing the letters of one WWI soldier on the comparable dates they were originally published. You get to know the soldier - William Henry Bonser Lamin, or Harry - as he shares his experiences in training, and on the battlefield.

The Faces of the Gamble Family

Long time readers of this blog will know the Gamble family well. Have you wondered what they looked like? Well, wonder no longer.

NOTE: A key to who's who, is at the bottom of this post...







1) December 1890 - Ellen, Jane, Alice, William, and Samuel Gamble

2) "This is and awful bad taken photo will send you a better one of myself later. That is me with the Badge on Coat" - James Gamble

3) Alex Gamble, 1878

4) Sam, Grandma, Winnie, Grandpa, and Willie

The Maggie Neill Letters

The Gamble family will forever fascinate me. They are second only to my own families - the Clow, the Fitzpatrick, the Fitzgerald, and the Short families - in the comprehensiveness of what I know about them as people. Due to the letters, we've been priviledged to entered into a real slice of 19th and early 20th century life of those individuals. Thank goodness for packrats...!

I have recently received correspondence from yet another Gamble/Griffith descendent. Her family saved letters from Maggie Neill. Maggie was a member of the Gamble family through adoption (details of the adoption are not known to me at this time...) While most members of the Gamble family moved on and settled farther west and south, leaving their original Ontario home after initial migration, Maggie stayed at the old place alone, growing into old age. Her connection with those who left was through her letters to them, of which is an example below.

I will let the letters speak mostly for themselves, but from time to time will include comments from the family of what is known about them or the writer...

June 1, 1928

To Mrs. P. Edkins

My Dear Alice,

I received a card from you at Christmas time, but as you spoke of writing one a letter later on I waited for it, but of course it never came; so I decided to write you one instead. I did not hear from little Jean for months, but I owe her one now. Kathleen still writes to me. I was sorry to hear from her that Willie had left his farm.

I hope this Spring was more favorable for seeding than last Spring was out there. We had a cold dry Spring here. The leaves on the trees were a week late coming out, and the ice on the lake was late in breaking up. We can stand fires in our stoves most of the time yet. Indeed I might say we need them most of the time.

Seeding here was quite late, and a nice warm rain would do the crops good. But there were frosts lately instead. My garden looks rather nice now. There are Lily of the Valley and Narcissus and Bleeding Heart and Forget-Me-Not and Columbines etc. etc. blooming now. It looks too nice for some people, for they would like to get it away from one if they could. Of course, the buildings are old now, but it is the site they covet of course.

The street is paved like the City streets now. There is only a strip of grass on each side - where the maples grow and it is near the schools and R.R. stations and stores etc. The Council said if I would will the place to them they would not bother me for taxes - the taxes are very high here now - but I sent them word I would pay what I could and the rest could run on. I was sixty-eight last January and far from strong, and don’t expect to live many more years. There is a young couple in the other house the last two years with three little children.

I hope you and your little ones are quite well. I must now say goodbye,

from yours affectionately,
Margaret Neill

From Gamble descendent Lori Bianco come these comments on this Neill letter:

"Little Jean" would be Barb's mother, Jean (Gamble) Maloney, and "Kathleen" would be her (& my grandfather's) older sister, Kathleen Gamble Jaynes Weber. "Willie" is my great-grandfather, Alexander & Mary Ann's son -- he lost his farm during the Depression.

Gamble Family News

What a wonderful surprise...

I got another missive from a reader, and this reader is from the Gamble family...

Please, how do I get in touch with you?! This is my family that I am researching! I have letters, too, from the Spinster Neill in Canada to my grandmother. I have Griffith information and can fill you in on more Gamble info. Alexander was born in Cootehill, Co. Cavan, Ireland and, yes, went to Dundee, Scotland as a boy. His brother, Samuel, become a police chief there. Would love to see copies of whatever printed info (letters, that marriage cert. you mentioned) you have and am happy to share mine.

Well, of course I responded immediately saying yes, I'd love to share.

Stay tuned!

Gambles...AFTER the Letters

Descendents of the original Gambles that settled St. Vincent have been in touch, and shared this with me about the "story after the story", i.e., what happened after the letters stopped...

I do know a little about what happened to everyone, thanks mainly to my late grandfather, Neill (Bo) Gamble (Willie's son), who sat down one day & went through the entire family tree with me, including the names of almost all of his Gamble cousins.

Mary Ann Neill Gamble was born in Ireland in 1841 and passed away in 1903 (as you know from one of the later letters). (The letter is dated 1902, but the headstone at the cemetery says 1903 -- perhaps a transcription error?). She would have been 61 or 62.

Alexander Gamble was born August 20, 1834, in Coot’s Hill, County Cavan, Ireland, and passed away September 8, 1925, at the home of his daughter, Ellen Gamble Lapp, in St. Vincent at age 91. They are buried in St. Vincent Cemetery; there is a large headstone erected in their memory.

She and Alexander Gamble were married in Dundee, Scotland, on November 5, 1861.

Their children, in order of age:

Elizabeth (Lizzie) was born February 13, 1863, in Dundee, Scotland. She married Hugh Griffith and had five children. Hugh died August 2, 1909 at age 58 -- killed instantly when struck by lightning while atop a haystack. Lizzie died of pneumonia on March 19, 1916 at age 53. They are buried in St. Vincent Cemetery, as is their son, Hugh Jr. & his wife Agnes.

Alexander Jr. (Young Alick) was born May 26, 1865, in Albany, New York. After the death of his first wife, Maggie, he remarried. His second wife's name was Martha, and Barbara Kennedy believed she was the sister of his first wife, from Emerson. He wound up in Idaho, where he worked as a contractor and carpenter. He died in Idaho Falls, Idaho, of complications due to asthma on November 28, 1943, at age 78. I am not sure how many children he had; the letters mention three.

In 1990, I was contacted by a woman with the last name of Gamble from Idaho, who had gotten my name through the Ontario Genealogy Society. She was married to one of young Alex Jr.'s descendants & interested in the family history. I was thrilled to hear from her and sent her a copy of all my research notes to that time, but unfortunately never heard a thing back from her.

Ellen was born in 1868 in Ontario (likely Beaverton), married Richard Lapp and lived in St. Vincent. She died in 1960 and would have been about 92 at the time. They are buried in St. Vincent Cemetery. They had five children, most of whom lived in the St. Vincent area, & some of their descendants are still in the area.

Jane (Jenny) was born in 1870 in Ontario (likely Beaverton). She married John (Jack) Griffith, Jr. on October 19, 1893 (we believe he was a cousin to Lizzie's husband Hugh, not exactly sure of the relationship) and lived in St Vincent until her death in 1950 at around the age 80. They are also buried in St. Vincent Cemetery. They had five children, some of whom lived in the St. Vincent area, & some descendants still live in the vicinity.

William (Willie, also later known as Bill) was born March 17, 1871, in Beaverton, Ontario. He married Lillie Maud Griffith of Winnipeg (another cousin of Hugh's & Jack's, again, not entirely clear on the relationship) in 1901. They had nine children. After her death in 1928 (at the age of 44), he and the younger children lived in Hallock, and he later lived in Crookston, where he passed away in 1952 at the age of 81. He & Lillie are also buried in St. Vincent Cemetery.

Alice was born in the early 1870s in Ontario (Beaverton), married Alec Forrester, and lived in Memphis, Tennessee, where she died sometime in the mid-1960s. She would have been around 90. They had two children.

Samuel (Sammy) was born in 1879 in St. Vincent, and wound up in Golden, Colorado, where he died on May 23, 1964 at age 84. His death certificate listed his occupation as "custodian, Colorado School of Mines," but my grandfather told me he ran a pool hall for awhile and also worked with the police department. He & his wife Thea (who was a schoolteacher at St. Vincent) had no children.

Margaret (Maggie) Neill, to whom all the letters were written, never married and lived by herself after the deaths of her parents. She died in Beaverton, Ontario, on November 29, 1949 at age 89, and is buried in the cemetery of St. Andrew's, also known as "The Old Stone Church," on the outskirts of town.

William & Lillie were my great-grandparents. The only descendants from this part of the family still living in Kittson County (in Hallock) are their grandchildren (my mother's cousins) Dorothy Berard Swan, Kaye Walters Cederholm, and Kenny Walters.

I feel sad to see the letters coming to an end -- even though I've read them before, it's almost been like reading them all over again for the first time. I appreciate your sharing them with the world through the Internet, & especially all the explanatory little links you've added that really add colour & context to the story.

...and thus ends the story of the Gambles, early settlers of St. Vincent, as told through their own words.

Gamble #45-47: The LAST Letters

We now come to end of the Gamble Letters. Below are the final three letters in the collection. No doubt there were more, but they are lost to history, at least for now.

In these last letters, we learn of the death of Maryann...

Boulder, Colo
May 2, 1900

Dear Aunt

I got your kind and good letter a few days ago and would have answered sooner but I did not kno what I am going to do nor do I know yet

But I think I will eather rent or Sell and go home for the Summer and if I find I can live there I will move my dear one back there I will wright more next time you can answer this I will not leve for a good while yet

Alec Gamble
__________

Boulder Colo.
April 16, 1901

Dear Maggie

I suppose you will be Surprised to hear from me after Such a long Silence.

But times have changed and tonight I am a broken harted man I buryed my dear wife on Saturday the 13, and I am left to fight the Sawers [sorrows] of this life with 3 small children to look after But we have to Submit to Gods will he knows what is best for us and I am Sure she is better off tonight She was to good for this world She had finished her work hear and has gone to him who Says come unto me you that is weary and I will giver you rest. My Dear Maggie it nearly kills me to wright this but when I think of how she died a pure good woman there is Some comfort for when my time comes I can meet my wive in Heven where there will be no parting I had too good Doctors and a nurse from the Hospital but all we could do we could not Save our loved one She died of inflammation of the baulles¹ my father and mother came but not in time to see her alive none of her people came Pa and Ma are going home in the morning my father and myself have been talking about what I should do I will have to Stay hear on account of my health...
__________

St. Vincent
March 30, 1902

My dear Maggie

You will be surprised to hear from me now after never answering your kind letter and easter card nearly a year ago, but I was sick all summer and Fall and had another baby boy in December and have been kept so busy I could not find time to write to you, although I often thought of you and felt sorry for you.

It is now my sorrowful duty to tell you our beloved mother passed away at 12-15 mid night March 30 she had not been feeling well for some years now but was not quite a week in bed it was with diabetes she died she will be buried tomorrow Tuesday at 2 o'clock, she had every care possible we were all with her except Alec and had 2 doctors and 2 trained nurses she was sensible and called us all by name until a few hours before she died but she was to weak to talk much she just slept away. Alice takes it very hard, and my poor father my heart achs for him God alone knows what he suffers. I will send you more about it later, it is likely Pa will write and tell you too I can't write any more now with Love in the Lord to you I remain

Ever your friend
Jennie Griffith
__________

[First two pages missing...]
I was sorry Jack could not have heard him too but he could not get away, His father was down to Ontario for 2 months this winter he has just got back and there was no one we could leave with the children and do the chores I suppose Alice told you about Ellen's boy it is nearly 4 months old, I do not know for sure what she will call him she keeps a hired girl, all the time We heard to-day that Hugh Griffiths father was dead in Toronto and that he (Hugh) left today to go to the funeral. We don't see them very often they live over three miles from us, but it was Pa was telling Jack I guess they must have seen them. Willie has built a lovely new house on his farm it is just a few steps (you might say) from our place he did not finish up stairs now I think he will leave it until summer there is four rooms down stairs a parlor and dining room and bed room and kitchen and a bay window in the parlor and one on the dining room and a veranda on the front, the windows and front door have colored glass in them it looks very nice. I dont know whether he is thinking about getting married or not he keeps every thing very quiet. He is still working in the elevator.

Thank you for the pieces of those girl's dresses they are very pretty I am sure the wedding dress must have been lovely. I have not got any new dresses this year. I am glad you liked the little boys photo I think we will have it enlarged. If we are spared until next fall and everything well I think we will take a trip to Old Ontario. If we go I intend to go to Toronto to see Hughies people, and go from there on to see you. There is a lot of sickness around here and quite a number of deaths. But we have escaped from sickness thus far. I often think that we are not half thankfull enough to God for all his kindness to us.
[Last pages missing...]

¹ - "Redness, swelling, pain, tenderness, heat, and disturbed function of an area of the body, especially as a reaction of tissue to injurious agents. This mechanism serves as a localized and protective response to injury. The word ending -itis denotes inflammation on the part indicated by the word stem to which it is attached - that is, appendicitis, pleuritis, etc. Microscopically, it involves a complex series of events, including enlargement of the sizes of blood vessels; discharge of fluids, including plasma proteins; and migration of leukocytes (white blood cells) into the inflammatory focus. In the last century, cause of death often was listed as inflammation of a body organ - such as, brain or lung - but this was purely a descriptive term and is not helpful in identifying the actual underlying disease..." - From Antiquus Morbus, a collection of archaic medical terms and their old and modern definitions

Gamble Letter #41-44

The winter of 1896/1897...it was a portentious winter, with heavy snowfall. It would lead to one of the worst floods on record. Read about that winter, and more, in these Gamble letters...

St. Vincent, Minn.
Nov. 25, [18]96

Dear Maggie,

I received your letter some time ago I was waiting untill my school closed before answering it, it was so cold the last three weeks, I had to stay at Lizzie's I finished teaching my first three months, last friday.

The like of the fall of snow and cold weather has not been known for many years, it is almost impossible to go any place the roads are so badly drifted. 31 is the coldest is has been so far. Aleck has gone to Colorado Springs, he went with a boy George Ford, who has asthma too, we have had only two letters from him, he says he has not had the slightest touch of asthma, since he has been there. I think he will stay till spring. Maggie had a little girl a few days before he went away, she named it Mary Mildred, Jennie & Jack are living with Maggie helping take care of the place for the winter. They moved their house out of town unto their farm, but it was to cold to fix it up till spring. I think I have told you pretty near all the news this time is is still snowing and stormy. I think this all for this time.

Good by from Yours as ever,
Alice Gamble

- - - - -

St. Vincent, Minn.
Jan 25 [18]97

Dear Maggie,

I received your letter alright I have been waiting to see if something new would turn up before writing, but since nothing turned up only colder weather I decided to write.

It has been dreadfully cold lately Pa says it is the coldest winter since the year he came up 42 degrees [below?] is the coldest it has been yet, we have a snowbank as high as the house on the wash side, it is quite a protection from the north winds. There has been a blizzard almost every day

[1 page missing]

would like to go away with Aleck if they would let me. But I do not think I would be pleased no matter where I went for I am a dreadful crank.

Write soon, Good by from your loving niece,
Alice Gamble

- - - - -

St. Vincent, Minn.
Feb. 6, [18]97

Dear Maggie,

I received your letter today. Aleck is better now he has been sitting up now for two days, we think he will soon be all right again. The doctors did not have much hope for him, "...it was pleurisy he had." He is still very weak. I only seen him once since he was sick and then when he was sitting up. I would not have known him. He was so thin he is going back to Colorado a week from Monday. He has sold quite a lot of his things, but not sold

[1 page missing]

May has been staying with us since Aleck is sick, she likes her Grandpa and Grandma better than her father and mother.

[1 page missing]

- - - - -

St. Vincent, Minn.
March 7, [18]97

Dear Maggie,

I received your letter alright. Aleck has gone to Colorado Springs. He sold his farm, horses, and everything he had on auction sale. The things did not go very high, he sold the farm to man the name of Sandy Blair a scotchman who has been working on the Reid Farm he got $3700, I think and he sold $1000 worth with out the farm, horses and machinery they left here last Tuesday the 2nd he felt bad about going away, he will not be able to work for a while, his address is Colorado Springs Colorado, we have all had somthing like the Gripp. Ma is quite sick yet.

I pretty nearly came forgetting the best news. Lizzie has another little girl. I can scarecely keep track to the Babies there are so many this baby is just as pretty as the other two. I think Maggie & Alice, are the two sweetest little girls in the world. I wish you would see them. Lizzie says she don't know where they got their good looks. Maggie is dark and Alice fair. There is no sign of spring yet. The snow gets deeper and deeper. The natives prophesy a flood. In some places the snow banks are so high that a person walking can touch the telegraph wires. I think I have told you pretty near all the news this time do you know some pretty names for girls Lizzie can't get a name nice enough for her baby. I think you told us some nice names in one letter but I lost it, they were names of our cousins I think or some relation. Good by for this time, I remain as ever

Alice Gamble

Only a month or so after the last letter here, the flood would hit the Red River Valley.

Gamble Letter #40

In this letter, we read the normal sharing of the 'news', but we read more than that - Alice lets down her guard for a moment and admits to the daily drudgery of life during Minnesota winters. In fact, her words could indicate a condition all too familiar to many of us, SAD...

St. Vincent, Minn.
October 22, 1896

Dear Maggie,

As I had a little spare time to night I thought I had better try and answer your letter about a week ago I commenced a letter, but I was so tired I had to give up. The hurry is pretty nearly all over now, although this week I have been busy from morning till night. Ellen and Willie have been away visiting this week, so I had to milk and do all the [word missing] before school. So you see I [word missing] to get up pretty early.

It has been very cold for Oct although clear and dry they say it has frozen up for good. Aleck has been somewhat better, I think he is going away soon, his wife will not go for a while. The babies are all getting along nicely, did I tell you about Jennies little boy she named William Austin. I am sending you the Prize list. The fair was quite a success this year, some of the exhibits were very good I counted forty one quilts. There is nothing going on except presidential excitement. There are meetings every night Pa and Willie are gold bugs. I suppose you see all about the campaign. Every winter seems to get duller than the previous. I cannot see much use in living when every thing is so dull. It is just the same thing from one years end to the other. Sammie is growing very fast he is almost as tall as I, did I ever tell you that I am 5 ft. 8 inches I weight 138 lbs. I am getting quite fat Ellen is the smallest in the family. Aleck has been somewhat better lately he is going away pretty soon, his wife will not go for a while Jennie & Jack will soon move out on their farm it is just a short distance from ours. This is all the news this time, so I will finish as usual by asking you to excust the scribbling, but the pen is bad. Goodby for this time from your loving neice Alice Gamble

P.S. I always enjoying reading your letters you state them so well. Pa is always scolding us because we cannot state them like you but I cannot learn. Hoping this will find you well, I remain ...

Gamble Letter #39

St. Vincent, Minn.
August 24, 1896

Dear Maggie,

I suppose you think I have forgotten you altogether. It is such a long time since you wrote. I would have written sooner only I have been at the summer training school and I was waiting till I came home. I am going to teach this fall. I have a school for six months just 2 1/2 miles from home. I will come home every night, or stay at Lizzie's on rainy nights. We have a new bicycle, I will go to school on it, we do not wear bloomers yet. The summer has been so short we have not had a spare minute. There is scarcely any crop at all around here. We will have very little wheat and our oats is not worth cutting. I suppose you would see in the papers about the hail storm up here, it cut down 40 acres of our best wheat, some people have not a stalk left standing and what was not struck with hail is

[8 lines missing]

along themselves. Sammie and Wille are running the binders. Alick has been very sick this summer, he is going to Colorado, just as soon as he threshes. Janie and Jack have bought a farm they are going to move out, the first snow I came near forgetting another grand event. Janie has a little boy, he was christened yesterday, his name is William Austin, I forget the date he was born some time before the 4th of July. That is the only way I have of remembering events just by some time like the 4th. We got quite a lot of cranberries and strawberries but there will not be any plums. I think I have scribbled about enough for this time. I have a dreadful pen. I will have more time for writing when I start to teach. Now I am trying to do every thing at once, cook and write and aint and make fancy work for the fair. Have

[9 lines missing]

try and make this letter out and excuse writing and mistakes. I am getting the dinner yours as ever,

Alice Gamble

Gamble Letter #38

We're getting towards the end of the letters, only a few left. For whatever reason, a few of the last letters that were transcribed (I have not seen the originals...) have portions missing. I'm not sure if the lines were literally missing, or were in such poor condition they were unreadable. Only a comparison with the originals would clarify this.

The letter in this post is one such letter...

St. Vincent, Minn.
April 30, 1896

Dear Maggie,

We received your welcome letter alwright. I am very sorry I neglected answering your last letter. I know you would think it mean of me, but I do be very busy, and sometimes I forget all about it.

I expect you will think the farmers out here are busily engaged seeding, but seeding is impossible, it has rained for three or four days in a steady down pour. There has only been two bright days since the snow has gone. The farmers think they cannot sow any wheat this year. This has been the wettest spring since we came here. I do not be talking to Rieta Lapp very often, she goes to school, and they do not visit but, I will ask her next time I see her. Her father is very strict with her, he will not let her out her hair in front, or go many places but he thinks the world of her. I tell you that about her hair, so you will have an idea how he is bringing her up. I think Liza is the best woman I ever knew.

Lizzie was down on Sunday if she came every day we would consider it a great event. The babies are well. I could never find words to describe Margie and the baby, the baby especially. Lizzie calls baby "Little Blossom". I do be trying to get Lizzie to have their pictures taken, but it is very hard for her to get out with the two of them.

[16 lines missing]

I have finished a petticoat for myself, it took 7 1/2 spools to make. The lace on it is a diamond pattern very pretty crotcheted. I can not knit very well. I am

[16 lines missing]

Gamble Letter #37

In this edition of the Gamble Letters, Alice is writing to Maggie about how it is to spend a long winter in Minnesota near the turn of the century, the 20th century, that is. What is pleasant to discover, is that while she makes clear she has a lot of work to catch up on that summer prevented her from doing, she was still making time to learn new pastimes...to enjoy herself.

January 25, 1896
St. Vincent, Minn.

Dear Maggie:

I received your letter some time ago but of course I put of answering it as usual, it is a very bad habit I have, putting things off. We are having a beautiful winter. The days are just like spring. But I expect February will make up for it. There is not much going on around here of course small events would not interest you; since you do not know the people. I wish it was summer again I am tired of winter already, there is so much work. I always think in summer that I will not have much to do when winter comes but I always get left. I am learning to play the banjo. I can play pretty well now I am just learning myself, there is not anyone around here to give lessons. I am learning to paint, and crayon too, but it is hard work without a teacher. I am going to do you a small crayon picture. I can send it in a paper I am just beginning you know, but I thought perhaps you would like to see some of my crazy workings. Did I ever tell you that Samuel plays the violin very well? The babies are all well. I thing now that Lizzie's youngest baby is going to be the prettiest of them all. Little Maggie calls her dear wee Allie. I like her the best of them all now she has light brown hair and blue eyes and a beautiful complexion she will soon be walking. I think Sammie is going to school he is getting on very fast. Ellen is at home yet. It is getting late so I must stop writing please excuse this crazy letter talk, hoping to hear from you soon I remain as ever

Your affectionate niece,

Alice Gamble

I suppose you will think I am quite giddy by my letters - but I have not patience to write much or very nice.

Gamble Letter #36

Sad news comes in this letter. The patriarch of the Gamble clan has died...

St. Vincent, Minn.
August 31, 1895

Dear Maggie:

We received your letter yesterday and were sorry for your trouble. We were all glad to think that Grandfather is out of pain.

You must not take it too hard for it is a matter of time with us all. In regard to your looking for work you have no need to do that. You can come and make your home here, and be the same as one of us.

We are very busy now stacking the grain, but when we threash we will send you some money. If you could get anything in reason for the property you ought to sell it.


You ought not sell Grandfather's loom, but always keep it.

Only it was such a busy time just in the middle of harvest I would have gone down and seen my father before he died.

You have no tie to keep you there now, so I think you would be better among your own than with strangers.

I am very thankful to those who helped and were so kind to My father and you, in your last trouble. Please excuse this short letter. I will write a longer one next time. We all join in sending our love to you.

Write soon yours as ever,

Mary Ann Gamble

Gamble Letter #35

In this edition of the Gamble Letters, you'll read about how Alice is feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work just to keep the basics together. I have an impression that many people assume our ancestors were this cheerful and stoic people (well, at least the stoic part...!) I personally think that couldn't be further from the truth. I think she did what they had to do, because they had to do it, not because they wanted to do it, and they plenty of times vented about it as any of us would do...

St. Vincent, Minn
June 13th, 1895

Dear Maggie,

I received your letter alwright some time ago and were sorry to hear Grandpa is getting no better. I think it must be very hard for you taking care of him without anyone else to help you. We were very scarce of water for a while this summer but we are having almost to much rain now. There one prosects of a good crop. The garden stuff is doing pretty well. We have quite a good garden this year. The babies are all doing nicely. Aleck called his little boy William Harold. Little Maggie is a sweet little thing and Alice, Liaze second little girl looks an awful lot like Willie. Jennies baby has red hair. I am kept petty busy this summer I have four cows to milk, besides doing all the cooking and my own sewing. I hate to cook I think it is the meanest job ever was. Ellen cannot cook the least bit - she could not make a pancake. I never have time to go scarcely any place, it is all I can do to get time for all the work I have to do. I have not many flowers this year.

I think I will have to stop writing now as I have to get the supper. So hoping this will find you well, I remain as ever, your loving niece.

Alice Gamble

I am a horrid scribbler - write soon.

Gamble Letters #32, #33, and #34

grippe also grip (grĭp)[French, from Old French, claw, quarrel, from gripper, to seize, grasp, from Frankish *grīpan.] An acute febrile highly contagious viral disease.
Synonyms: influenza

Time marches on, and the younger Gambles, grown up now, have little ones that are coming along.

I give you three letters from the Gamble collection in this post, as they are short in the main, so why not. Their letters are little windows into the everyday life of our forebearers over a century ago...

St. Vincent, Minn.
August 1894

Dear Maggie

I received your welcome letter and was glad to hear you were well. Harvest will soon be over here, they say it is very early this year, we will soon have done cutting. Sammie was big enough to run a binder this year. We will not know how the grain will turn out until we thresh.

We have not used any new potatoes yet so I do not know whether they are good or not.

The fruit has been very scarce around here but there will be any amount of cranberries & plums. I will be glad when winter comes again there is not so much work then.

There is a new Presbyterian Church starting in St. Vincent. I like it much better than the English. Lizzie's baby is getting along well, she is beginning to try to talk. I can hardly wait untill she can talk, and walk.

I think Ellen is going to teach the same school she had before. We have finished cutting all our grain but some oats.

Since beginning this letter I have dug some potatoes and they are quite good. I think I will have to close for this time.

I remain with love to all yours friendly, Alice Gamble

St. Vincent, Minn.
December 2, 1894

Dear Maggie

I received your letter a long while ago but I kept putting it of answering it, and I was sick with tooth ache all last week so I could not write then. It has been very cold already going as far as 25 below zero but it is warmer today. I will send you the prize list so you can see how many prizes we took.

The two babies are getting along fine Lizzie's can stand alone now. I think they are going to morrow to have her picture taken. She can say quite a lot of words too. Sammie has started to school now he is quite a good scholar. Ellen has finished her term but she is going back the 1st of January. We are going to have a Christmas tree for the Presbyterian Sunday School. I have a piece to recite and I have to be dressed up like an old woman. Sammie is going to play a piece on the violin, at least I think he is.

I think I will have to stop writing for I cannot think of any thing more to say so hoping this will find you well, I remain as ever yours,

Sincerely Alice Gamble
Write Soon X X X X

St. Vincent, Minn.
April 21, 1895

Dear Maggie

I received your letter some time ago but I am so busy that I never had time until to day. I am trying to houseclean a little, but I have so much other work to do that I do not get on very fast. I have four cows to milk all myself, and I have to do most of my own sewing, so you see I am kept busy nearly all the time. Ma has not been very well lately, she has a very bad cold. The Grippe is going around again we hear. Aleck has a little boy nearly a month old. They are going to call him William Harold. Baby Maggie can talk quite plain now of course she can only say some words yet. The seeding is all over here now. We have been very short of water all spring but lately there has been a lot of rain. I was to church this morning, Sammie has gone to Lizzie's. I am so glad spring has come. I do not like the winter very well. I always think in the winter I will have lots of time for fancy work but when winter comes we are busier than ever. I cannot cook very well yet so that makes it so much harder for me.

I think I will have to stop writing this time so good by

Yours as Ever
Alice Gamble

I will send you some dress pieces next tme. Write soon. I have a suspicion that Ellen is going to get married pretty soon, but never mention anything about it in any of your letters.

Gamble Letter #31

The Gamble family has prospered much since they came to St. Vincent 25 years before. Children have grown up, and now they are having children of their own...

St. Vincent Minn
October 15, 1894

Dear Aunt Maggie,

I am going to now try and answer your last letter. The reason I did not answer sooner was because we have been so busy. The work has been very hard this last while we were preparing for the fall show, we took considerable prizes. I will send you the prize list next time I write. Jennie has a little girl, she is about three weeks old. I think, I forget the date, but will try to get the paper and send it to you, she is going to call her Mary Alice, Mary for short. She is as fair as she could possibly be. I think she will be very pretty. Lizzies baby is as pretty as a picture and so sweet, she has never been known to cry yet with bad temper. I think her father thinks the most of her, of any person I ever saw, neither babies will have red hair.

Ellen is still teaching school, Sammie has not started to school yet. I always forget to mention Willie when I write, he is much bigger and stronger than Aleck now, and if ever there was a good boy lived Willie, is one, but as "Comical". Sammie is a dear little boy too. I always miss they two more than any of the rest. I am about 5 feet 7 or 8 inches tall and still growng but the growth is all upwards for I am very thin. A person said Ellen and I were the two slimest girls they ever seen please excuse this terrible letter. I think I will stop now hoping this will find you and Grandpa well I remain your loving niece

Alice Gamble

It is 10 oclock and I am up all alone, and am gettng tired, write soon. Good by I am going to dress Lizzies old Doll for her little girl I suppose you remember it we have the same head but it has had different bodies. Good by