Alexandria Library

Document of the Month

November 2005

Letter from Alice J. Green to Sophie Ford Tackett, August 13, 1903

This letter is among approximately 200 letters in the Fendall-Tackett Collection. (This collection is being processed and will be available soon).

Sophie Ford Tackett was eleven years old -- and recovering from whooping cough in Virginia Beach with her mother and sister -- when she received this letter from her Sunday School teacher Alice J. Green. Other correspondence in the collection reveals some interesting facts:

        Sophie's mother, Nancy Fendall Tackett, had been Alice's Sunday School teacher.
        Sophie's parents (Nancy and John) were married at St. Paul's Episcopal Church;
        Sophie was baptized there.
        After a business failure in Alexandria, John Tackett lived and worked in Norfolk
        for several years while his family remained in Alexandria.

Alice J. Green enclosed three Bible study lessons in this letter to Sophie. Click here to view the front of one of the enclosures; click here to view the back of the same enclosure. The transcribed letter follows:

Thursday
8/13/1903

My Dear Sophie,

I am so sorry to hear that you have had such an uncomfortable time with the whooping cough this summer. I expect you missed Esther last Sunday when you were studying with your lesson. I have only had three scholars for the past four Sundays. I will be glad when the cool weather will bring all of my girls back to me. Mary, Elsa, and Anna have been very faithful and are studying hard. They know the books in the Bible perfectly and I am awfully proud of them. I know you must be enjoying the beautiful ocean. I love to watch the waves come rolling in; it always makes one think of the wonderful power of God. I reckon you will soon be leaving Virginia Beach. Don't forget to send me your address. I have been enjoying have [sic] Esther at the library with me since she has been home. Hoping you are feeling much better I am always your loving friend,

Alice J. Green
(Sunday School teacher)

Transcribed by Leslie Anderson Morales, November 2005

NOTE: Alice J. Green worked as a librarian in Alexandria. She died March 24, 1956 at age 91. Esther was her niece.

Related Sources

• Margery Arden Hall. History of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Alexandria, Virginia, 1810-1932
• Ruth Lincoln Kaye. The History of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Alexandria, Virginia, November 12, 1809-November 12, 1984
• Microfilm: St. Paul's Episcopal Church Records 1809-1902 (microfilm #00265)
• Vertical File: Churches -- St. Paul's Episcopal Church

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