Posted 7 years ago
PhotoDeluxe
(25 items)
I bought a large box filled with paper today and found this 1835 letter. It was sent from Bradford, Massachusetts to Lowell, Massachusetts. Interestingly, the letter was hand delivered by a Green H. Whittier. I cannot find any information about Green Whittier, or even a record indicating there was a person by that name. I know this might be a bit of a stretch, but is it possible this letter was delivered by John Greenleaf Whittier? He was from Haverhill, Massachusetts, which borders Bradford and is not far from Lowell. Could the writer have simply known Whittier as Green Whittier? The most puzzling part would be the added middle initial "H". Does anyone have any idea on whether or not my theory, well guess, is correct?
No idea. The only info I could offer you is that here in California, there is a street named Greenleaf in the city of Whittier??? Maybe there is some correlation?
I can't even read the letter through, I don't quite understand it.
The gist of the letter is a man "D. Wilkinson" of Bradford, is writing his sister and brother Albert Griswold, who is a machinist in Lowell. Wilkinson thinks of Griswold and his sister often, but has not had time to see them. It seems Wilkinson would have visited by sleigh, but the snow melted too quickly. A common acquaintance by the name of Hannah is traveling back to Bradford, and Wilkinson believes she stopped in Lowell. At the end of the letter, Wilkinson tells Griswold that he is sending "this [letter] by Green H Whittier" and tells Griswold "if [Whittier] should stay in Lowell over night I wish you would return a line by him and let us know when Hannah came to Lowell."
The letter is definitely being delivered from Bradford to Lowell by a man named Green H. Whittier, which seems to be a very unusual name, if his first name is actually "Green". The front of the folded cover, where the address is located, notes that the letter is to be "forwarded by G. H. Whittier."