TreySav
D-Block General
This story is old but it’s still pretty interesting
The letters exchanged by James Hughes and Mary Rebecca Lee were discovered by their great granddaughter Laura Murphy
They were courting in the middle of Reconstruction — a period chronicled in the Smithsonian’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opens Sept. 24. In 1871, Ulysses S. Grant was president, much of the South was in ruins from the Civil War, and the country’s nearly 4 million emancipated slaves were adjusting to freedom.
Here are some of the letters:
July 18, 1871
My dear Mary,
I shall employ no compliment neither shall I insult your good name by idle promises but should you accept me as your protector through life all my activity will be to promote your happiness and return passion of your heart. You have known me long enough to be a judge of my character and disposition and perhaps my circumstances also in life. I shall therefore content myself with this: making you an offer of my heart and my hand.
Your ever affectionate and faithful friend,
James Hughes.
November 14, 1872
Dear James:
I write to inform you of the receipt of your kind and welcome letter, I am glad to hear you are having such a busy good time. I wish I could say as much. I have received answer to my letter from my father and you can form some idea of the happiness it gave me. It is a very affectionate letter and a very long letter ... I mentioned our wonderful intended marriage and I will tell you all he said when I see you again ... Please excuse this bad writing for I have been busy all day and do not feel like writing.
I have no more to say at present and will love and remain yours sincerely,
Mary
November 21, 1872
My Dear Mary
I cannot let the opportunity pass of writing to one who is (more) dear to me than any other object on earth. And trust we will one day not be very far distant. And you “will be my earthly consolation and companion ...
I hope that this letter will reach you in time so that I may read an answer this week. I must close as it is getting very late. Good night. Pleasant dreams and dream of me.
Yours love truly,
James
In those hard, oppressive conditions for African-Americans, it was unusual for black people to be so learned and to have the education to write so well when it was illegal for black people to be educated.
Most of the letters were written in 1872, and by the end of that year, the couple had gotten engaged — although it’s not clear from the correspondence when that happened.
The letters were passed down from generation to generation, landing in the possession of Murphy, a great-granddaughter of James and Mary Hughes.
Murphy, 60, hails from a prominent Maryland family. She became the first woman and first African-American to serve as the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington legislative office. Her brother, Billy Murphy, is the lawyer for the family of Freddie Gray, whose death in Baltimore police custody sparked riots
Murphy said she isn’t sure whether James or Mary were born into slavery, nor has she been able to determine how they met. They were married in January 1873. Mary was 25, and James was 24.
The couple had five daughters and established a successful Baltimore business, Hughes Catering, that lasted 74 years. They amassed so much wealth that, when James died in 1921, he left each of his daughters $20,000.
Their Great Granddaughter
Link:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...566d4c-5a60-11e6-831d-0324760ca856_story.html
The letters exchanged by James Hughes and Mary Rebecca Lee were discovered by their great granddaughter Laura Murphy
They were courting in the middle of Reconstruction — a period chronicled in the Smithsonian’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opens Sept. 24. In 1871, Ulysses S. Grant was president, much of the South was in ruins from the Civil War, and the country’s nearly 4 million emancipated slaves were adjusting to freedom.
Here are some of the letters:
July 18, 1871
My dear Mary,
I shall employ no compliment neither shall I insult your good name by idle promises but should you accept me as your protector through life all my activity will be to promote your happiness and return passion of your heart. You have known me long enough to be a judge of my character and disposition and perhaps my circumstances also in life. I shall therefore content myself with this: making you an offer of my heart and my hand.
Your ever affectionate and faithful friend,
James Hughes.
November 14, 1872
Dear James:
I write to inform you of the receipt of your kind and welcome letter, I am glad to hear you are having such a busy good time. I wish I could say as much. I have received answer to my letter from my father and you can form some idea of the happiness it gave me. It is a very affectionate letter and a very long letter ... I mentioned our wonderful intended marriage and I will tell you all he said when I see you again ... Please excuse this bad writing for I have been busy all day and do not feel like writing.
I have no more to say at present and will love and remain yours sincerely,
Mary
November 21, 1872
My Dear Mary
I cannot let the opportunity pass of writing to one who is (more) dear to me than any other object on earth. And trust we will one day not be very far distant. And you “will be my earthly consolation and companion ...
I hope that this letter will reach you in time so that I may read an answer this week. I must close as it is getting very late. Good night. Pleasant dreams and dream of me.
Yours love truly,
James
In those hard, oppressive conditions for African-Americans, it was unusual for black people to be so learned and to have the education to write so well when it was illegal for black people to be educated.
Most of the letters were written in 1872, and by the end of that year, the couple had gotten engaged — although it’s not clear from the correspondence when that happened.
The letters were passed down from generation to generation, landing in the possession of Murphy, a great-granddaughter of James and Mary Hughes.
Murphy, 60, hails from a prominent Maryland family. She became the first woman and first African-American to serve as the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington legislative office. Her brother, Billy Murphy, is the lawyer for the family of Freddie Gray, whose death in Baltimore police custody sparked riots
Murphy said she isn’t sure whether James or Mary were born into slavery, nor has she been able to determine how they met. They were married in January 1873. Mary was 25, and James was 24.
The couple had five daughters and established a successful Baltimore business, Hughes Catering, that lasted 74 years. They amassed so much wealth that, when James died in 1921, he left each of his daughters $20,000.
Their Great Granddaughter
Link:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...566d4c-5a60-11e6-831d-0324760ca856_story.html
