April 22, 1870

PULASKI, Virginia

Health/Death, Migration/Transportation, Women

When Typhoid fever and other diseases hit Appalachia, they hit hard. In 1870, Ella Painter wrote her Aunt Lena many letters from Dublin, Virginia, with updates and inquiries about Lena's new husband and children. On her fourteenth birthday, Ella wrote her Aunt a lengthy letter which she felt was long overdue. Ella's love and admiration for her Aunt is clear as she nearly begs her to come back and visit....