The letters and drawings of Edson

[AAAndrew]

I was contacted through my website by a women who has a set of letters and drawings from her great-great-grandfather. She sent me one example but it was of such poor quality I could barely tell there was any writing on it. It was the lyrics to a song, but one thing I could tell was that the paper was framed in some very nice flourishing.

She's currently in a dispute with her family who doesn't want any of the letters shown to anyone. She would like to have them preserved and appreciated. Meanwhile she did share a clearer image of one of his drawings because that one is hers outright so she can do whatever she wants with it.

As far as we can tell, it was her ancestor, Ed, asking out her someday great-great-grandmother to go for a ride. So, basically it's a note asking for a date.

Here's what we've been able to decipher.
Big Leaf: "If Providence permits and the [something] ad[something] would you like to h[something]e (have? hire?) [something]dation(?) of our former ride on Saturday? - Ed.
Second leaf: I desire(?) your consent only  when it's pleasant for you to go.

I thought some of you might appreciate this. It's probably from 1880's. (they married 1888).  It promises some really nice things from the other drawings, and if we can ever get a view of his writing.

If I'm able to get more, I'll share it here.

Andrew

[AAAndrew]

BTW, as far as my correspondent knows, he ran a grocery store in Cleveland all of his life. He would draw and write these in his free time.

[AnasaziWrites]

Here's what we've been able to decipher.
Big Leaf: "If Providence permits and the [something] ad[something] would you like to h[something]e (have? hire?) [something]dation(?) of our former ride on Saturday? - Ed.
Andrew

@AAAndrew
Wonderful. Would love to see more as you get them. What is the size of this card?

I read it as "If Providence permits and the weather admits, would you like to have a second edition of our former ride on Sunday?"

[AAAndrew]

I'm not sure. The owner is away from home and this was just one she had on her phone. I'm hoping to get more pictures and more information.

I've told her about this forum and that there are plenty of people here who would truly appreciate these. I have hopes to see more, and if I do, I will share them.

I think you've got the wording right. I'll pass that on. I thought that second line was some admits, but wasn't sure. And I was stumped by the "...tion" on that "second edition." 

I think he had some talent as an illustrator.

Thanks again for helping with the interpretation. I'll let you know if I get anything else.

[AAAndrew]

I've heard more from the decedent of Edson. What we're looking at now is a possible connection between her ancestor Edson Healy and Lyman Potter Spencer.

Edson was studying near Newburgh, Ohio. He was friends with James A Garfield (they have letters between Garfield and Edson), and family lore says that around 1862 Edson, along with "his teacher Mr. Spencer", enlisted in the army for the Civil War. We do know that Lyman Potter Spencer did join the Ohio 2nd Heavy Artillery, and Lyman and Garfield were also friends.

She has also sent another low-resolution image.  I'm not allowed to share the whole thing, because a cousin owns the original and my correspondent does not have permission from the owner. I've excerpted a bit of it below.

The page is a decorated page with drawings of birds, flourishes all around, a drawn book with "Newburgh, Cuyahoga Co. Ohio August 29, 1864" on it, and a drawn scroll, below, that has written on it  "According to the Celebrated Spencerian System."

The question I'm going to try and help her nail down is if Lyman could possibly have been Edson's teacher.

If we can show this connection, it seems like it would add a whole new level of importance to these drawings and documents.

I'll keep you up-to-date. And if anyone has detailed info on Lyman and where he taught, especially before the war, I would greatly appreciate it.
@AnasaziWrites

[AnasaziWrites]

The question I'm going to try and help her nail down is if Lyman could possibly have been Edson's teacher.

If we can show this connection, it seems like it would add a whole new level of importance to these drawings and documents.

I'll keep you up-to-date. And if anyone has detailed info on Lyman and where he taught, especially before the war, I would greatly appreciate it.
@AnasaziWrites

@AAAndrew
It looks likely that if Edson joined the military "around 1862" with his teacher, Mr. Spencer, that Mr. Spencer would be Lyman, who enlisted in the Second Regiment, Ohio heavy artillery in June, 1863 (and was "called out" to be a "Squirrel Hunter" to protect Ohio from invasion in 1862).
As to Lyman's teaching prior to 1861, he did assist PRS in the revising and reprinting of the 1859 copy book in 1861, and this was prior to his studying at Oberlin college, which, I believe was around 1862 (I have an envelope from PRS to Lyman in Oberlin, O. dated July 7, 1862). Garfield's first meeting with PRS was in 1857 (according to Garfield) at the Eclectic Institute, where Lyman was said to study (or soon after) as well as assist possibly in teaching, as Spencer and Sons took over the department shortly thereafter, where Lyman doubtless met Garfield. Other sons assisted PRS in teaching as well, but the military service and Eclectic Institute connections make Lyman the most likely person to be the "Mr. Spencer" referenced in family lore.

[Erica McPhee]

Absolutely fascinating. Thank you for sharing @AAAndrew! Well done Mike on the interpretation!

I do not understand the family's hoarding of the work. Perhaps they feel there is some value in keeping it secret? Have you contacted Michael Sull to ask about Edson?

A fabulous discovery and I do hope she will share more with the world.