Louisa Goodspeed's Letter

In my last post I mentioned that Louisa Goodspeed wrote a letter to her son Herschell telling him of the death of his brother Theron Goodspeed at Spotsylvania. Louisa's great-grandson Harry had the original letter laminated, and then gave it to me many years ago. The letter is a family treasure, so I am transcribing it here, with Louisa's spelling, in its entirety:

Heman and Louisa Goodspeed

When Heman Goodspeed and his future wife Louisa Albright were very young children, both their families moved from the towns of their birth to more challenging frontier locations.

Samuel and Sylvia Goodspeed

First Cousins

Samuel and Sylvia Goodspeed were the first in our direct line to leave the original home of the Goodspeeds in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Goodspeeds had been living in Barnstable since 1639. It was not until the end of the 18th century that Samuel and Sylvia moved to Vermont.