Little Help With a Letter

[J. D. Stevens]

A puzzle some of you might enjoy. On November 2, 1863, three daughters Lou, Lizzie, and Jo, ages 15, 12, and 10 respectively. Each wrote a short letter to their Papa, Philip Gathings, stationed in Galveston. Below is the first page of a 4 page letter from his 10 year old daughter. Beginning the letter is a strange symbol immediately below the salutation word "Dear" which I have not figured out. To me, the word is "Since" but how do you get that from what appears to be "HDs" or something similiar. Could it be something a 10 year old girl made up? My transcription of the first sentence is:
"Since sister Lou was writing I thought you would be glad to get a little letter from your Darling little Jo."

I was hoping some one may have run across this symbol in you transcribings or have an idea if it meant something unknown to me used in the 1800's. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

 

[Grim Sentinels Research]

Speculating, due to the other capitalized letters being rather eccentric maybe the first word is "As"? "As sister Lou was writing..."

 

[bobinwmass]

My thought also, an attempt at a fancy "A" for "As".

 

[milhistbuff1]

A puzzle some of you might enjoy. On November 2, 1863, three daughters Lou, Lizzie, and Jo, ages 15, 12, and 10 respectively. Each wrote a short letter to their Papa, Philip Gathings, stationed in Galveston. Below is the first page of a 4 page letter from his 10 year old daughter. Beginning the letter is a strange symbol immediately below the salutation word "Dear" which I have not figured out. To me, the word is "Since" but how do you get that from what appears to be "HDs" or something similiar. Could it be something a 10 year old girl made up? My transcription of the first sentence is:
"Since sister Lou was writing I thought you would be glad to get a little letter from your Darling little Jo."

I was hoping some one may have run across this symbol in you transcribings or have an idea if it meant something unknown to me used in the 1800's. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.


View attachment 570380

I concur with the other responses, do any of the other pages/letters have a capital A to compare to?

 

[Allyn]

Jo was 10, and maybe didn't spell too well. Like the others, I think it might say "Has sister Lou" - meaning "As sister Lou." Jo was really being fancy - look what she did to the M in "My Dear Papa" and the tails of all of the y's and g's. It's a sweet letter.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Jo was 10, and maybe didn't spell too well. Like the others, I think it might say "Has sister Lou" - meaning "As sister Lou." Jo was really being fancy - look what she did to the M in "My Dear Papa" and the tails of all of the y's and g's. It's a sweet letter.

That would make sense for a child of that age.
(The young Lady was apparently well educated in penmanship)

For the most part, I found this little 10 year old much easier to read than many adult letters of the same period.
It was indeed a sweet letter from a young girl to her "Papa".

I'm afraid I can't offer anything about the transcription, but I'm sure some of our experts can.

 

[lelliott19]

I agree with @Allyn The initial line is "My Dear Papa." Jo has added a fancy curly que on the "M" and an ink spot spoiled the page in the same location. That line is followed by "As sister Lois was writing I thought you would be glad to get a little letter from your Darling little Jo. Darling Papa I am going to school..."

 

[JOHN42768]

It is actually pretty straight forward with some extra flourishes.

 

[J. D. Stevens]

Thank everyone for their responses. I agree, she was writing "As."

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

I agree with @Allyn The initial line is "My Dear Papa." Jo has added a fancy curly que on the "M" and an ink spot spoiled the page in the same location. That line is followed by "As sister Lois was writing I thought you would be glad to get a little letter from your Darling little Jo. Darling Papa I am going to school..."

I also noticed the ink spot immediately.
But IMO, that does not negatively reflect on the little girl's handwriting skills.

My favorite part of her letter is the closing sentence:
" Darling Papa I am going to school..."

That's so typical of a 10 year old child.

 

[JohnG0609]

I think it's Lois, not Lou.

 

[CWdiaryPA]

"HDs sister Lois...."

 

[J. D. Stevens]

My favorite part of her letter is the closing sentence:
" Darling Papa I am going to school..."

I meant to reply to your post earlier but got sidetracked and forgot. The rest of the letter reads:

Darling Papa I am going to school every day and I am going to try to learn fast though I don't think there is much use of going this winter. It will be so wet and cold before this school is out. Darling Papa I hope you will be home soon with us so we want have so much trouble about you. I will close my long letter. I expect you will get tired of reading it.
Your Little Josie