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The oldest letter among the papers that may have belonged to Birdie WINCHESTER was dated Aug. 26, 1883; it was written to Birdie from her Aunty Susie.

The letter was written in one long paragraph and had little punctuation. As I transcribed it, I added some commas and periods and divided it into several paragraphs to improve its readability. However, I didn’t change any of the spelling – and hopefully, none of the meaning.

The John mentioned in the letter is probably John Merritt WINCHESTER, Birdie’s older brother. He was born ca. 1872, about a year before Birdie.

I do not know the identity of Bell, Mary, or Dee Henderson.

Birdie’s mom, Maggie, died on 7 Jan. 1882 at age 37 from “heart disease.”

“Detroit, Mich., Aug. 26, 1883

“My Own Sweet Birdie

“Aunty was oh! so pleased to get a letter from you. I expect you will wonder when I tell you that it made poor Aunty cry for you did not mean to darling. But my heart is wrapt in you and John. You do know how much I love you, or how many times every day I think of you both. How I would like to see you.

“I expect you climb the highest tree by this time. When you come to the city to stay a little while with me I will have your pictures taken with me.

“Birdie, I could read your letter right off plain as print. There is no little girl in here your age who can write such a nice letter. I showed your letter to them. They thought you must be more than nine years old.

“Why does not John write to me? It would please me so much.

“And you did not tell me about your dollies, how they are getting along. Or the old dog. And you must tell me how many turkies, ducks, and chickens you raised this year, and if you help Mary wash dishes. And what Grandma is doing if she is well. And who your teacher is.

“Birdie, I am so glad Mary is going to stay with you. You must be very kind to her for she has been a mother to you and John: and you must ask her to learn you to work and sew then when you are a young lady you will not be afraid to do anything.

“I hope papa will have you instructed in music for some day I want to look at Maggie’s daughter as an accomplished young lady. And how proud I will be darling if God will let me live long enough to see that.

“If your dear Mama had lived she would have devoted her life to the culture and education of her children and I know papa will do all he can to have her desire carried out.

“Tell him, Birdie, Bell has been very sick under the Dr care since he was here. She is better now and has gone to Chicago on an excursion, will be home on Wednesday next. She read your letter and is going after you when it gets cooler.

“Tell papa I have not made his shirts – been so busy after Bell got well. Dee Henderson was here sick for over a week — very sick — and now I have written you a long letter and you must answer it.

“A kiss to you and John.

“Love to all. Aunty Susie”

On the back of the letter is the following note.

I assume that this is Birdie’s handwriting.

Among the papers – that may have belonged to Birdie WINCHESTER – were three photographs.

There’s nothing on the back of the first or third photo to identify the women.

Is this Birdie WINCHESTER?

Or, is this Birdie WINCHESTER?

There is some writing on the back of the above photo, but it is difficult to read. I have scanned a copy of the back in hopes of figuring out the writing, but that will have to wait for another day.

If any of these women look familiar, please let me know.

Enjoy!

One of the many reasons that I love doing family history is the mystery. Identifying a women’s maiden name, for example. Or, figuring out why a family moved from one town or state to another. Guessing how life must have been 100 or more years ago.

One of the mysteries that I work on from time to time involves one Birdie WINCHESTER. Who is she? And more, importantly why do I have her stuff?

Let me explain.

A few months after my mom died, my dad handed me an odd assortment of papers he had found while cleaning. There were some letters – the earliest dated 1883 – three photographs, blank World War I-era postcards, recipes, and song lyrics.

But most surprising of all was a will dated 1881.

He thought the information had to do with my mom’s family, but I didn’t recognize any of the names. And, I had been researching my family’s history for well over 20 years.

I’ve come to believe that this material once belonged to Birdie (Birdenia) WINCHESTER, daughter of H.E. (Harlon) WINCHESTER and Margaret STEVENSON. What I don’t know, however, is if Birdie is part of my family.

I have not figured out how or even if the WINCHESTER line is one of mine. If it is not, then why did my mom have this material? Was it something passed on to her from her parents? Or was it something she found when she and my dad moved into their home in 1952?

Birdie WINCESTER’s ancestry is documented in the book John Winchester of New England and Some of His Decendants (1925) by Henry Winchester Cunningham as well as the fantastic Genealogy of the Winchester Family Surname Web site.

The information that I’ve gathered so far about Birdie’s dad, Harlon WINCHESTER, also is available through the Winchester Family Surname Web site. I had written his biographical sketch in May 2007 and posted it to the MI-GENEALOGY mailing list in hopes of connecting with some WINCHESTER researchers. But so far, no luck.

I’ll use these blog entries to share my progress on this mystery – and many of the other ones in my family history.

Part 1 of hopefully many.