Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

This collection is made up of letters that friends and family members wrote to Addie Pitts and James Kent before and during the couple's courtship and marriage. The correspondence pertains to everyday life in the Midwest, particularly Ohio and Iowa, in the 1870s and 1880s.

This collection (182 items) is made up of letters that friends and family members wrote to Addie Pitts and James Kent before and during the couple's courtship and marriage. The correspondence pertains to everyday life in the Midwest in the 1870s and 1880s.

Addie Pitts and James Kent received letters from their parents, siblings, and friends, who provided news of their lives in Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, and Ohio. Male and female correspondents discussed mutual acquaintances, their families, farming, and other subjects. Addie's mother routinely requested that she return home from Colorado, and some letters reflect a rift between Addie's mother and Addie's sister, referred to as "Toot." Other female correspondents sometimes mentioned their jobs, including teaching and "chamber work." Some letters to James Kent were written on stationery from a nursery in Kyger, Ohio, near Gallipolis. Many writers mentioned health concerns and illnesses. Carrie Boice commented to James, her brother, on a death by burning (October 24, 1878).