Thursday, February 7, 2013

If She Run Away


While Leon S. Bean was busy working on his several contracts in the Redwood City area, his young wife, Ella, had her hands full at home. She had Leona to keep her occupied.

A letter written on her husband’s business stationery by Ella to her father—dated all but the actual year—captures a moment in this young mother’s life. While she certainly sounds like she had her hands full, I’m not sure who is the more interesting character—the child with antics not unusual for someone of this age, or the mother with her own ways of handling parenting.

Ella Bean Leon Bean daughter Leona Bean

                                             Redwood City, Cal., Nov. 24th, 189-

Dear Father:—
            Your letter was received some time ago, and the package received last week, intended to have written before now, but Leona had the Grippe about five weeks ago and it left her with a real bad cough, couldn’t seem to get any thing to stop it, untill I gave her goose oil that was fine. It soon stopped it. One day and night last week I was afraid it was going to turn in something else, as she was so tight, when she would cough, but she is alright now and is such a mischief she talks everything now. This morning she was standing watching it rain, all at once she ached for papa said he would get wet and she was sorry. She don’t climb on the fence any more, and does not run away so much for she saw a woman whipping her little boy. I told her it was because he run away and if she run away the woman would whip her, so she is afraid to get very far from the gate.

San Mateo County northern California 1892

10 comments:

  1. Goose oil?!?! I wouldn't dare cough, just out of self-defense.

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  2. Oh shoot, I wish she'd written that one little number so you'd know the year. What a great letter!

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    1. Debi, I'm finding ways to formulate my guesses...

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  3. Oh yes, if only she'd finished the year date! Quite the interesting letter. I never would have thought of goose oil as a cure for a cough. Actually, I've never even heard of goose oil until reading this leter. :)

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    1. Jana, I hadn't heard of it, either. But when I took a look around at some of the other medical writings of the time, I guess I'd take goose oil over some of the alternates! I saw one that mentioned skunks...

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  4. Fabulous letter! Thanks for sharing! How we have lost the art of letter writing!

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    1. Thanks, Smadar. Yes, that letter-writing skill is not among today's high priorities...a problem for future family history researchers.

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  5. Replies
    1. Yes, I imagine the same verve that made the adult Leona what she was contributed to creating the handful that her mother found her to be. Pulling pickets? That took the cake for me. The girl must not have known her own strength--or maybe knew no limits, once she put her mind to something.

      On the other hand, I found her mother's parenting approach to be rather interesting...

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