E.C.Barksdales Obsession, 1909

I believe this letter was written by Ella C. Hurt, wife of Nathaniel P. Barksdale.  The letter is addressed to "Cousin John", that would be J.W. Moran but I don't know yet how the Barksdale family connects to the Morans.  In the letter Ella seems obsessed about a misplaced grip (luggage).  She mentions Nona and Gene.  Nona is her daughter, Nona Cecile Barksdale, who married Eugene (Gene) Creed Freeman.  She is listed in Chattanooga City Directories as Ella C Barksdale, widow of Nathaniel, from 1903-1911.  She died September 23 1911 in Chattanooga.

Huntingdon Tenn

Nov 22 1909

Dear Cousin John,

I received your letter yesterday and so very much appreciate your kindness in having my grip sent.  Gene had the operator here to telegraph for it Thursday, but they claimed here not to have an answer from Dresden and Friday morning, said it was not here, so as it was not mine I felt a little anxious about it.  I certainly did not attribute the failure of its being put on the train to any fault of yours, but censured the conductor or porter for not attending to his business as he should have.  Had it not been for your kindness, I suspect some of us would have been left standing there, and I fully realized your efforts to help the lady and babies off of the train, then help us on and the train leaving so quickly that you did not have time to get the grip on, but was afraid some one had picked it up by mistake and you not seeing it, would think that it was put on.  I am sure now that my delay in getting it is due to the fault of Agent here or the transfer man in not attending to his business as he should.  If it had been mine, I would have had it checked, but thought twould be less abused to take it with me.

Nona joins me in truest love to you and Harold.  I do hope you will both come to see us before very long.

Affectionately your cousin,

E.C. Barksdale

For the Bottle Collector in All of Us

 
Everyone needs a monkey wine bottle and we have two! :)

This interesting wine bottle is another example of the unique things that the Moran family held onto over the years.  The label reads "1950 Affentaler Spatburgunder BeerWein Baden."  Other than that I can't tell you a thing about the bottle except it's been in the possession of the Moran family since it was purchased back in the 1950's.

The color of the bottle is a beautiful emerald green and is in perfect condition.

Mother and Child Framed Print

This framed piece measures 21" x 23"

I have no clue where the above print is from.  It captures so perfectly the touching moment of a mother reading to her child.  I especially like the doll in the chair and the picture hanging on the wall in the background.  It reminds me so much of the front parlor of Moran Place.

You can see the line though that goes across the picture which probably means it was folded prior to being framed.  When I removed the picture from the frame to clean the glass I was hoping to find a caption saying where it came from, a title or artist or perhaps a magazine, but no such luck.  So I'm left to wonder if it was a magazine or newspaper insert that caught one of the Moran's eye.

In any case it's a very charming print of a mother and child and now hangs in our hall.