Weekly Update

​Happy Saturday!  Last week I was preparing for some hot weather.  It arrived right on time!  Today marks five consecutive days of hot and humid weather, and it looks like the rest of the weekend will hold true to that.  We might see our first triple digit temps of the summer on Sunday.  Sounds like a good nap day to me!
 
One of the early lessons I learned as an historian is that you should always look on both sides of a sheet of paper.  Many times, when looking at an old photo and wondering who or what is in the image, a careful look at the reverse side can reveal old notes that will provide my answer.  Today’s look back was one of those instances where I saw a photo, and by habit, looked at the back of the paper.  That led to some detective work, and the result is a sweet story.
 
Here is a postcard of Pine Grove Poultry Farm, currently the area of 537 Turnpike Street, South Easton, across from Golf Country.  The postcard is a fine photo of one of the many poultry farms that once dotted Easton’s landscape, and in and of itself, is a terrific historic piece. 

Of course, I turned the card over to see if there were any notes written on the back.  Here is what I found!

​At first glance, I noticed an R.P.O. cancellation mark, a 1911 date, and who the card was addressed to.  The publisher of the card, Webster W. Bolton, is also prominent.  The message is not as easy to read.  I immediately thought this might be a cypher, which was a popular fun code between two people, but a second look revealed to my (un)trained eye that this could be written in shorthand!  Why would someone write to someone else using shorthand?  Was someone having some fun with the recipient, or was something else at play?
 
Everett A. Dunn (1885-1953) was an Easton resident who was working in 1911 for the old Brockton Street Railway trolley.  As noted on the bottom of the card, he wore Motorman badge #622.  The card was addressed to him at his place of work, the old Campello (Brockton) Car Barn.  We know the recipient, and many of us remember his family.  But we still had no clue as to the identity, or the subject matter, of the sender.
 
I shared the card with Arielle Nathanson, our Archivist intern, who also became quite interested in this.  Our intrepid intern-turned-detective began the first steps in unraveling our mystery.  Using some online shorthand sources, she tried her best to decipher the note.  Some of the symbols were close to shorthand still in use today, while others had no correlation.  Arielle suggested posting this to Reddit, a web-based community of people with a variety of interests, to see if someone might solve our mystery.  A few days later, we had our answer!
 
Thanks to Reddit user Beryl Pratt, www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand.org.uk, a translation came through our email.  Pitman’s Shorthand was created by Englishman Sir Isaac Pitman (1813-1897) back in 1837 as a way to capture the spoken word phonetically rather than with an actual longhand written transcription.  The system is still in use in the U.K., and still somewhat in use in the States.  When Arielle began trying to transcribe the note before sending it off to Reddit, she was able to find a name: Amy.  A clue?  Yes, and no.  Yes, we had a name.  However, around the time this note was written, there had been several small improvements to the Pitman system, and in the first part of the 20th Century, the writer was using a combination of both the “old” Pitman and the “new” Pitman shorthand.  When we got our translation, things finally came together.
 
The bulk of the note is a thank you for a favor provided by Mr. Dunn.  “I thank you very much for helping us to catch the car this morning.  Can’t you read French and German?  All right, I will write shorthand to you now.  I am very busy in the office now so that I hardly have any time to myself.  I am visiting a friend in Dorchester.”  It was signed “Sincerely Yours, Emma.”  


Using the expert translation from our friend in this sub-Reddit group, the sender’s name was correctly translated as Emma.  Emma L. Howard (1888-1972) was an Easton girl who was working in an office in Boston (where the card was mailed from), and evidently our Mr. Dunn was of great service in helping her get to the right trolley to see her friend near Boston.  She expressed her appreciation playfully with a nicely written thank you.  But why write such an innocent note in shorthand?  If you look at the lower left of her note, there is another small section of shorthand written.  It is there that the story finally comes together.  Emma states to Everett: “You can’t keep me guessing any longer.”
 
It seems Everett and Emma had at least a passing friendship at that time which was ripe for blossoming. Indeed this is a note between two people who, in just a few years, would become husband and wife.  Everett finally asked Emma to join him in the grand institution of matrimony, and the happy couple were married on September 16th, 1915.  They settled at 49 Highland Street, in an old cape on the Williams farm, and there they raised three children (Mildred Cushman, Everett A. Dunn, Jr., and Arthur H. Dunn.)  The house was built before 1825, as it appears on the 1825 map as S. Williams.  It was still in the Williams family up to the early 1900’s, at which time it appears to have been purchased by the Dunn’s where they lived out the rest of their years.  Now we have the answer to our mystery note!  Who doesn’t like a love story with a happy ending?
At first glance, I noticed an R.P.O. cancellation mark, a 1911 date, and who the card was addressed to.  The publisher of the card, Webster W. Bolton, is also prominent.  The message is not as easy to read.  I immediately thought this might be a cypher, which was a popular fun code between two people, but a second look revealed to my (un)trained eye that this could be written in shorthand!  Why would someone write to someone else using shorthand?  Was someone having some fun with the recipient, or was something else at play?
 
Everett A. Dunn (1885-1953) was an Easton resident who was working in 1911 for the old Brockton Street Railway trolley.  As noted on the bottom of the card, he wore Motorman badge #622.  The card was addressed to him at his place of work, the old Campello (Brockton) Car Barn.  We know the recipient, and many of us remember his family.  But we still had no clue as to the identity, or the subject matter, of the sender.
 
I shared the card with Arielle Nathanson, our Archivist intern, who also became quite interested in this.  Our intrepid intern-turned-detective began the first steps in unraveling our mystery.  Using some online shorthand sources, she tried her best to decipher the note.  Some of the symbols were close to shorthand still in use today, while others had no correlation.  Arielle suggested posting this to Reddit, a web-based community of people with a variety of interests, to see if someone might solve our mystery.  A few days later, we had our answer!
 
Thanks to Reddit user Beryl Pratt, www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand.org.uk, a translation came through our email.  Pitman’s Shorthand was created by Englishman Sir Isaac Pitman (1813-1897) back in 1837 as a way to capture the spoken word phonetically rather than with an actual longhand written transcription.  The system is still in use in the U.K., and still somewhat in use in the States.  When Arielle began trying to transcribe the note before sending it off to Reddit, she was able to find a name: Amy.  A clue?  Yes, and no.  Yes, we had a name.  However, around the time this note was written, there had been several small improvements to the Pitman system, and in the first part of the 20th Century, the writer was using a combination of both the “old” Pitman and the “new” Pitman shorthand.  When we got our translation, things finally came together.
 
The bulk of the note is a thank you for a favor provided by Mr. Dunn.  “I thank you very much for helping us to catch the car this morning.  Can’t you read French and German?  All right, I will write shorthand to you now.  I am very busy in the office now so that I hardly have any time to myself.  I am visiting a friend in Dorchester.”  It was signed “Sincerely Yours, Emma.”  


Using the expert translation from our friend in this sub-Reddit group, the sender’s name was correctly translated as Emma.  Emma L. Howard (1888-1972) was an Easton girl who was working in an office in Boston (where the card was mailed from), and evidently our Mr. Dunn was of great service in helping her get to the right trolley to see her friend near Boston.  She expressed her appreciation playfully with a nicely written thank you.  But why write such an innocent note in shorthand?  If you look at the lower left of her note, there is another small section of shorthand written.  It is there that the story finally comes together.  Emma states to Everett: “You can’t keep me guessing any longer.”
 
It seems Everett and Emma had at least a passing friendship at that time which was ripe for blossoming. Indeed this is a note between two people who, in just a few years, would become husband and wife.  Everett finally asked Emma to join him in the grand institution of matrimony, and the happy couple were married on September 16th, 1915.  They settled at 49 Highland Street, in an old cape on the Williams farm, and there they raised three children (Mildred Cushman, Everett A. Dunn, Jr., and Arthur H. Dunn.)  The house was built before 1825, as it appears on the 1825 map as S. Williams.  It was still in the Williams family up to the early 1900’s, at which time it appears to have been purchased by the Dunn’s where they lived out the rest of their years.  Now we have the answer to our mystery note!  Who doesn’t like a love story with a happy ending?

​The Williams / Dunn House at 49 Highland Street.  This was razed and replaced by a new house a few years ago.
 
By the way, here is a mystery for you to solve:  The cancellation is stamped R.P.O.  What does that stand for?
 
Until next week, stay cool, and stay well,
Frank