Letter from Julia Lawlor to William James Knapp, July 30, 1880

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Date

July 30, 1880

Description

A letter from Julia Lawlor. The letter was sent to William James Knapp. Julia Lawlor told William James Knapp about her life and a fire in the "old museum building." 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. James 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, New York State

Era

Civil War and Reconstruction

Topic

Communication

Repository

Historic Cherry Hill

Identifier

12_1_July_30_JL_to_WJK_

Source

Historic Cherry Hill

Rights

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