East Hampster, MA 1886 Handwritten Letter House Fire Man Hit by horse killed For Sale

East Hampster, MA 1886 Handwritten Letter – House Fire, Neighbor Charity, Family News

6 pages Approximately 5\" by 8\" with envelope

Original handwritten letter dated October 10 (postmarked 1886), sent from East Hampster (Hampden), Massachusetts to Frank, carried under a period stampedenvelope bearing a 2-cent red U.S. postage stamp with a legible Empster H.N. cancellation.

Written in a confident Victorian cursive hand across multiple folded sheets, this letter is rich with period domestic detail and local news. The writer — signing as Maria — opens by acknowledging receipt of a postal card and reporting on the family\'s health before launching into a vivid account of a neighborhood house fire: arriving to find nothing but \"a lone chimney\" standing on a neighbor\'s place, with cinders still in the road. The fire is reported to have started \"just after candle light\" on a Wednesday.

Additional highlights include:

• Account of a Mr. Dillon killed when a horse hit him on the side of the head, driving the skull into the brain — he \"lived nearly 3 hours\"
• Visit to Gabriell Holt, who lives at the bridge, with lively description of her fine home, china mustache cup & saucers, and generous gifting of her late husband\'s clothing
• Detailed inventory of charitable donations given to a family after the fire — flour, white sugar, cotton cloth, calico flannel, linen table cloths, towels, coats, and more
• References to Ed, Tilda, Myrtle, Georgia, Abbie, Clara Davis, and others by name
• Mention of Clara Davis attending a dance in Washington and coming home with \"rather a plain looking fellow stranger\"
• Insurance on the burned property noted at $700
• Domestic and social commentary typical of late 19th-century New England rural life

The letter spans 8 photographic images of content (recto and verso of multiple sheets), with some cross-writing and marginal notations. Condition is good to very good for age — toning, minor edge wear, small losses at folds consistent with 140 years of handling. Envelope present and intact.

A wonderful primary source document for researchers of New England social history, Victorian domestic life, fire history, and 19th-century correspondence.

Provenance: From an accumulated collection of American postal history and ephemera.