Letter attributed to Mary E. Elliott, 1876 August 3

Item

Identifier: A2016-101-001

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Content Description

A letter, dated August 3, 1876, and attributed to Mary E. Elliott. In this letter, Elliot, the Grand Worthy Secretary for the Grand Lodge Massachusetts of the Independent Order of Good Templars, offers her support and praise to an unnamed female Temperance reformer whose relative suffered from alcoholism.

Dates

Creation: 1876 August 3

Creator

Elliott, Mary Elvira, 1851-1942 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Materials in this collection may be governed by copyright. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Please contact the Archivist regarding permission to publish material.

Biographical / Historical

In addition to being an advocate for Temperance reform as the Grand Worthy Secretary for the Grand Lodge Massachusetts of the Independent Order of Good Templars, Mary E. Elliot (1851-1942) was a passionate supporter of the Grand Army of the Republic, a Civil War veterans association. In 1878, Elliot helped form an auxiliary relief corps to Willard C. Kinsley Post, No. 139, G.A.R., in Somerville, Massachusetts, and for fifty years, served as the Secretary for the Department of Massachusetts Women’s Relief Corps, the state’s auxiliary to the G.A.R. Elliot also served as a regular contributor to the military department of the Boston Globe for nearly 20 years, where she wrote extensively upon the efforts of women to support the Relief Corps.

Full Extent

1 item/s ; 8" x 10 3/16"; 21 x 26 cm.

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Museum purchase

Transcription

"I wish I could fly to you – if only for a moment—to tell you how deeply I sympathize with you and how I would gladly lighten your burden of sorrow if I could. It seems cruel that one who has saved so many as you have and caused so much happiness should be permitted to see one so dear to her suffer from temptation. If you succeed in this same period in saving him what a glorious triumph it will be, I have for him feelings of the tenderest sympathy and trust that the prospect now looks brighter, knowing as I do your fidelity and devotion I feel confident that the victory will be yours. You have my earnest prayers that this may be the result; that he who is so kind and generous and capable of accomplishing so much good in the world may yet conquer his appetite."