On March 8 and 9, 1896, my great-great-great grandmother, Susan Ferrington Johnston, mentioned laundry when she wrote to her granddaughter Maud Ferris (my great-grandmother) about how sick the little boy next door was. Scarlet fever is mentioned later in the letter, but this may have been typhoid.
Our houses are so close together + they have to have windows open, it makes me shudder, + they have washing out every day right by my fence, + when he dies all those things will have to be put out doors + we shall have to breathe that air. ….Monday morn. Dell is still living + as long as there is life there is hope, allthough it is very slim. I have got my washig [sic] done + hung my clothes upstairs, I am afraid to put them out.
I just love to see into the past through the eyes of your family! I of course wonder, did Dell die? Bless you for sharing this world with us.
I’m sorry to report that I know from other letters that Dell did die.
Wow, that’s vivid. Life was pretty hard in those days. Though I remember getting a letter when I was away one summer as a teen that the young boy across the street had died, so I guess life always has its rough spots. But what a chore laundry day used to be.