Letter from James B. Smith to William James Knapp, July 18, 1880

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Date

July 18, 1880

Description

A letter from James B. Smith. The letter was sent to a friend, William James Knapp. James Smith wrote the letter to update James Knapp about his life. During the Victorian Era, people communicated by writing letters to one another. People thought that a person who wrote well probably had good manners. For example, a person might feel disrespected if someone wrote a letter to them using slang instead of formal English. They might feel disrespected if someone replied late, or not at all. William James Knapp was the great-grandchild of Dinah Jackson, the last person who was enslaved at Cherry Hill. After his mother died in 1854, James became a ward in Richard Van Rensselaer’s household. They lived on State Street in Albany, N.Y. James worked as a butler for the family. Throughout his life, James also worked as a musician, a sales clerk at Hideley’s Music Store, a hospital porter and a nurse. James lived at Cherry Hill for about sixteen months between 1880 and 1884. This item was added as part of the Diversity and Collaborative Knowledge Program funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Type

Written Document

Region

Capital District

Era

Civil War and Reconstruction

Topic

Communication

Repository

New York State Library

Identifer

12_1_July_18_1880_JBS_to_WJK

Source

Historic Cherry Hill

Rights

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