Tag: A Letter From Miss Jane

Doctor Byron’s House Gets Built and Other Tidbits from Miss Jane.

On By Ginger Karrick KincaidIn Miss Jane's LettersLeave a comment

From Miss Jane on Friday morning, June 3rd, 1949:

Dearest Son,

     How are you this lovely morning? I got up early  and put sulphur on my roses and Aunt May’s. We have had lovely roses, in all colors. It is really dry in some places in the county, for the last rain seemed to be rather local. We haven’t had the showers yet that the weatherman has promised us.
     I am overseeing Aunt May’s house-cleaning.  She has Charlie D. and Mrs. Reynolds both today. Had Charlie D. yesterday and Mrs. Reynolds the day before – so hope to get it all done today but her room. The upstairs was a sight, together with the presses – but is clean now. Uncle Henry’s room is ready for kemtone [a paint].
     I haven’t been up town since I last wrote you, so don’t know any news.  Haven’t seen Ella.
     Tomorrow is Larue’s wedding day, so Blanche* is quite disturbed – says she isn’t going to cry.
     Burl [Sr.] says Dr. Bryon’s house is going up fast – I want to walk up there late this afternoon and probably up town.
     We are expecting Uncle Rube tomorrow – on his “flying trip.” Why didn’t you come along? ha!
      Burl and Banks [Thompson] went fishing yesterday afternoon, but no luck.
     Now Sugar, I will try to write more tomorrow.
     Aunt May is still improving.  We are just fine.  Daddy said at the supper-table that he felt better than he had for quite a while.

Lots of love, Mother

*We’re not sure who Larue is or why Blanche was disturbed.  It took us forever to figure out that Blanche was a nurse hired by the family to live in the house and care for Aunt May.  We found that from a census record.

An early ad for Kem-Tone paint. 

Letters from Miss Jane and Betty Burton Manley

On By Ginger Karrick KincaidIn Miss Jane's Letters, UncategorizedLeave a comment

This week I have two letters to share with you. The first is one from Betty Burton Manley, who as a child lived across the street from the Kincaids with Mr. and Mrs. Charles Darnell.  You can read her letter first and then Miss Jane’s, who, you will notice, encourages Burl to write Betty. ~Ginger

Mr. Burl working in bluegrass seed.  If you’ve been reading the blog, you’ll know that a lot of Miss Jane’s letters were written to Mr. Burl while he was in the Midwest harvesting seed with Henry Ficklin, Uncle Ruby (Reuben Kincaid, Sr.), and R.W. (Reuben’s son).  
The front of Betty Burton’s note to Mr. Burl.
The note itself, which is transcribed below (complete with the spelling errors and incorrect grammar one would expect from a child her age).

Dear Burl
           How are you getting along. I will be glad when you come home. I miss you when I go to your mother and I don’t know where you could be. I forget where you are. Say Hello to Mr. Ruby and Mr. Ficklin for me. Are you still silly. I want you to hurry back. I want to see you and your mother want to see you to and we all want to see you and Mr. Ruby and Mr. Ficklin to. Have you found a girl yet if you haven’t found one I no one to watch for you her name is Ella Bohon.* Ha! Ha!
 
From your litter friend,
Betty Burton
*Ella Bohon Doggett Goodpaster.  Miss Ella is mentioned quite a few times in the letters, sometimes as a potential girlfriend for Mr. Burl, whose bachelor status was evidently of concern to the town!
Now, Miss Jane’s letter:

 Sunday Morning,
           We haven’t heard since last I wrote, but know you are expecting to hear from us.
           We are all O.K. Aunt May is having asthma, but has some medicine that relieves her.
            Daddy has discovered that the potatoes are rottening.  You know how he has always prided himself on his potatoes. Perhaps it is a wetter place in garden that he has dug from, and too, they are such nice big ones.
           I believe the damage by water in county is estimated at $500,000.  Everyone is telling of their losses.
           It did not rain Fri. night , Sat. or Sat. night, but looks like rain today. It is very hot this morning.
           Lewis is coming to take Burl down to Ruby’s place after dinner.
           Folks are talking about the Horse Fair now, what they will wear, their guests, etc.
           By the number of cars passing yesterday afternoon, there must have been a crowd at Morehead.*
           Marguerite and Dr. Lester** are considering cutting a door in “Guy’s room” on the alley and moving his dental office over there.
           Honey, try to find time to write Betty a card at least.  She said that Ruby had written her.
           Ella*** has come back to work again, starting tomorrow. I want to get finished up house-cleaning and rest awhile before my (or our) Iowa trip.
           Hope we hear from you today. We want to know how things are going since we have had so much rain.
Lots of love, 
Mother

*This was before the interstate was built.
**Dr. Lester was a dentist here in Owingsville and his office was in his house.  That house burned a few years ago. 
***There are two Ellas mentioned in Miss Jane’s letters: Ella Bohon Doggett [Goodpaster] and an Ella (who had a child the family called “Little Ruby”) who worked for the family and whose last name we don’t know, though Tommy Hodge says she is related to him.  We’re still trying to find out more about her, so if anyone knows, please send a message or leave a comment.

Another Letter from Miss Jane: “These are trying times unsettled.”

On By Ginger Karrick KincaidIn Miss Jane's Letters1 Comment
           A super sweet letter from Miss Jane from the late 1940’s – hope you enjoy it! ~ Ginger 
                                                                                                                                 
Sunday Aft.
Dear Baby,
            As some one* said over the radio, “The ‘humididity’ is bad this afternoon.” My hands are sticking to the paper.
            I guess you will write today. We are so anxious to hear how things are coming.
            I went to Sunday School and Church.  There was a good crowd and Bro. Frey** preached a good sermon.  Have you been to church at Boone?*** Don’t forget to pray dear. These are trying times unsettled. I feel you do good by example, but say a word when you can to help some one. Of course you are the dearest child in the world to us. So bright and happy when well. You know when you are happy – we are too.
            I heard that Mr. Add Powers and Mrs. Alt Swetnam are to get married.
           We ate dinner with May, and she came to the table – is doing fine. Daddy will mail this now – Lots of love, Mother.
 
*She uses “some one” twice in this letter. According to my research, the word “someone” began to be used around 1900, and its usage surpassed that of “some one” around 1930. Miss Jane probably learned to write it as two words.
**George C. Frey was a long time minister of the Owingsville Christian Church.
***Boone, Iowa

 

 Boone Kincaid (Miss Jane’s great-grandson) in Chicago.
No, he wasn’t named after Boone, Iowa.

 

Miss Jane Tells About the Horse Show and a Domestic Disturbance

On By Ginger Karrick KincaidIn Miss Jane's LettersLeave a comment
Another letter from Miss Jane from the late 1940’s.                                                                                                             
                                                                           Sunday Night
                                                                            9:00 P.M.               
Dear Burl Jr.
          We have thought you might call tonight, but don’t suppose you will now.  Of course your voice would have sounded good. —— Yes, and it did sound good and we could hear you so well.
           I will be ready to come when you say the word (if all are well), but can’t say for sure about Daddy.  He wants to come, but thinks he may have to stay over his vacation period.
           I went to Sunday School and Church Services. Aunt May had Mary Bell* for dinner, and Little Ruby** had a real nice dinner – fried chicken, beans, ice-cream, cake, etc.
           People and horses have come in ready for the Horse Show.  All rooming places are filled.  They soon ate all that Mrs. Riddle*** had cooked last night.
           Elizabeth Brother**** came home Friday.  She drove through with Logan Ratliff.  Did you know him?  He certainly looks like the Botts’.
           Mr. Horton***** said that some one had been offered 70¢ a pound for their seed.  Have you heard anything like this?
           _______ ________ and his wife had a “big” fight the other night – broke out window lights, then she knocked him cold with her shoe – lick in temple.******
           Marguerite’s glass door and stoop is an improvement to that side of her house. 
           Hope you have a good week.
           Lots of love, Mother and Daddy
*Maybe Mary Bell Ferrin – she worked for Reuben Kincaid at his store in Owingsville.  The store was later Honakers.  Mary Bell’s father owned a hotel at Olympia (the blue house by Crooks’ grocery).  The owners of the Iron Ore Mine stayed in the hotel. 
**We don’t know who Little Ruby is but would like to know because this person is mentioned numerous times in Miss Jane’s letters.  We are pretty certain it is not R.W. (Reuben Kincaid’s son), and we think it is possible that Little Ruby cooked and cleaned for the family.  If you know who Little Ruby is, please let us know as we would be very grateful.
***Mrs. Riddle cooked in the restaurant that was where H&R Block is on Main Street in Owingsville. 
****Elizabeth Brother – may be a member of the Brother family that owned the hardware store at one time (Richart Brother’s family – that family is related to the Dawsons and Miss Jane was a Dawson.)  We don’t know who Logan Ratliff is.
*****W.W. Horton lived on Hart Pike and U.S. 60 and at one time was school board superintendent.
******Our lips are sealed!
 

 

 

The X-Ray Mobile Comes to Owingsville

On By Ginger Karrick KincaidIn Miss Jane's Letters, OwingsvilleLeave a comment

In the summers of the late 1940’s, Mr. Burl, Reuben Kincaid, Henry Ficklin, and R.W. (Reuben’s son) went out west to harvest bluegrass seed.   Don will write more about the harvesting part a bit later, but what I want to share with you are the numerous letters Miss Jane (Mr. Burl’s mother) wrote to them while they were away.  

I love these letters, and I hope you enjoy them as well.  I’ll tag them all with the label “A Letter From Miss Jane,” and that way you can find them easily if you want to share or reread them at some point.  They shed a wonderful light on the Owingsville of that time period. If you want to add anything, please feel free to leave a comment.  We don’t know who everyone is that Miss Jane mentions so we could use your help!

Just a few notes to get started:

  • I’ll transcribe the letters, but also add scans of them. The bolded parts might be of particular interest and if you see an asterisk, I’ll have a note at the end about something.  Footnoting would work better than asterisks, but I need to figure out how to do that on here.
  • I’ll put a _______ instead of a name if I think there is even a chance that something she wrote might cause anyone embarrassment, and I do that in this letter.
Here’s the first letter we’ll share, written on a Thursday morning a long time ago.
 
Dear Son,
          Well, Henry arrived sooner than we expected, got here Tuesday night – and the chicken wasn’t fried – ha!  We were glad to see him.  He had been gone 8 weeks. He was so tired.
          We got your letter of the 20th yesterday.  You had some of the Missouri mud that May has talked about .  Hope you got your car out alright.
           Did you find any more seed?  Will you have more than one car?
           Tuesday and yesterday were very hot days and I believe today will be too.
           We are expecting the copper pipe any day now that Mr. Horton has ordered.  Ernie has promised to put the tub in as soon as the pipe comes.  
           _________ disappointed us in the papering, so Burl engaged George Harris* to come Monday.  I am so anxious to get through.  The porch floor is fresh and bright in its coat of green and the furniture is all out. You painted the chairs last year, I believe.  They look nice and white.  The lawns all through the street have been freshly cut and look so pretty.
          Marguerite** and I had the X-Ray yesterday – you know the X-Ray-mobile is here.  We had letters from Mr. Roschi*** saying this is the teacher’s year for a physical examination.
          There was a very swell wedding in the colored Methodist Church****  yesterday afternoon – a Duncan girl and the groom was from Colorado.
          Ella went back with Dan and Mimi*****, have you heard from her?
          Mr. John Crane is in hospital very ill.  He is up in 80, I believe.
          This is “fishing day” again.  I wish Daddy could have some luck.  Banks****** caught two bass last Thursday.
          We are all alright.
                                                                                                   Lots of love, 
                                                                                                   Mother
 
*George Harris was a prominent resident of Owingsville and a member of the city council (probably the first African-American council member in our town). 
**Marguerite Lester – she lived next door to Miss Jane (the house that burned by us).  Her husband was Dr. Lester.
***Mr. Roschi was the school superintendent.
****I think I wince each time I see the word “colored,” but it was a common term of that time period.  The “colored Methodist Church” she refers to is the A.M.E. church on West High Street by the old water tower.
*****Dan and Mimi Doggett.  Ella is Ella Doggett (Goodpaster).  
******Banks Thompson.  The “Daddy” she refers to is her husband, Burl, Sr. That was what she called him.