In the letter, Eunice tells Blanche that she had wanted to spend Thanksgiving with her and then go see her cousin Dessie Drake. However, her schedule did not allow her to do so. Eunice’s cousin Dessie was Dessie Dell Drake, born in Hopewell Township in Anderson, S.C. on June 20, 1887. In the letter Eunice mentions that Blanche may know her, as she lives only six miles from Piedmont, close to Blanche’s home. Dessie’s parents were James Franklin Drake and America A. Wardlaw. Her father was thirty-five and her mother was thirty-eight when she was born. She had at least six children, four sons and two daughters with John Thomas Compton and lived in the Williamston Township in Anderson in 1940. She passed away at the age of seventy-eight on April 3, 1966 in Spartanburg and was buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Greenville. Eunice also mentioned a wedding in her letter. She said her neighbors, Lilas Carry Fell and John King were married. She also mentioned the fact that Blanche herself was considering getting married. It just so happened that in 1908, the same year the letter was sent, The Historic Hampton House was built. While it did not become a wedding venue until much later, the construction was completed at the same time Blanche was considering getting married. The house was built by Vesta Mauldin, after her husband Waddy Thomas McFall died. McFall had been the mayor of Pickens. Vesta Mauldin had been the daughter of the first sheriff of Pickens and sister of Judge Mauldin. After Mrs. Mauldin, the house changed hands several times until, in 2021, Beth Velner purchased and restored it and began opening it for weddings at the end of 2022.
Citations
”Family Search,” Ancestors Family Search, accessed December 2, 2023. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LZ1W-9VJ/dessie-dell-drake-1887-1966
“Historic Hampton House 1908,” Pickens Azalea Festival, accessed December 2, 2023. http://tinyurl.com/Historic-Hampton-House
Why did Eunice not want Blanche to get married?
Who is Mr. P?
Where does Eunice teach and what was her experience as an educator like?
The following object description information includes basic elements from the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI). An additional notes field is included to list dates from the actual letter, envelope postmark locations, and any other identifying details.
Eleven days before Eunice sent her letter to Blanche, the 1908 film, A Christmas Carol was released. Based on the 1943 novel by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol remained a classic holiday favorite for years to come. The movie was as silent film which stared Thomas Ricketts as Ebeneezer Scrooge and ran for fifteen minutes. In 1908, there were several other significant cultural events that took place. The first ever New Years Eve ball drop took place in time square to start off the Year, Then, Henry Ford launched the Model T, which was the first widely available vehicle. The Ford company aimed to create a product that was affordable, easy to operate, and durable. The Model T was one of the first vehicles to be mass produced, making it the “universal car” that Ford had aspired to manufacture. In the tow decades it was in production, more than fifteen million were made. Fords car mobilized the American people, revolutionized the field of mass production, cemented the concept of the American middle class, and contributed to the redefinition of the U.S.’s physical landscape with suburban sprawl. That same year, the Wright Brothers made public flights both in America and Europe for the first time and airplane companies began hiring teams to show off their products, which created a great deal of attention for aviation. In November of that year, William Howard Taft won the presidential election with the Republicans party.
Citations
“A Christmas Carol,” 1908, IMDB Movies, accessed December 2 2023. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0233449/
“The Model T,” Ford Corperate, accessed December 11. https://tinyurl.com/FordModelTCorperate
Jim Rasenberger, “History 1908,” The Smithsonian Magazine, January 2008. https://tinyurl.com/Histoy1908SmithsonianMag
In Belton, where Eunice is writing the letter from, 1908 was the final year of what is considered the “Mill Boom.” The boom began in 1890, and it was a period of great growth in the town. Their economy had developed around the railroad that the town had formed around, and the product that it transported the most of, cotton. The first cotton mill, “Belton’s Cotton Mill,” opened in 1900. Blair mill opened in 1908 and was the fist in the United States to manufacture terry cloth. As the town grew, it attracted more cotton entrepreneurs and they created some of the state’s largest cotton mills. It was at this time that, due to the great population growth, infrastructure such as electricity, phone lies, central water, hotels, retail shops, paved roads, and increased railroad service were introduced to the town. In prior years the population had been just a couple hundred. By the beginning of World War II, it had reached over 1,500. On the website below, there is a timeline which goes through the development and history of Belton, S.C.
“History of Belton, SC,” Belton Alliance, accessed December 7 2023. https://beltonalliance.com/history/