22 May 1821

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Horatio Hale

Letter to her brother Horatio upon reaching Savannah. She speaks extensively of their trip from New York, which lasted fifteen days due to their encountering bad weather. She mentions several social engagements she has had since reaching Savannah, and speaks of her plans to travel to Washington County, Georgia.

GLC08934.002

31 May 1821

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Horatio Hale

Letter to her brother written to tell him about her first few days in Washington, GA. She reports that the news of her arrival spread quickly and that she has already had several social engagements, and that the boarding house in which she is staying is quite comfortable, including having "three, sometimes four blacks" attend on her and bring her meals. She also writes extensively about taking on the role of teacher in the local school, which is scheduled to take place on June 18.

GLC08934.003

11 June 1821

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah Hale

Letter to her sister, which is apparently the first since she left home. She describes quickly becoming accustomed to the lifestyle in Georgia and says that she prefers it, including the number of blacks in the area: she mentions that they "find it no inconvenience at all to be waited upon." She asks her sister to destroy the letter and to show it to no one but their brother.

GLC08934.004

19 October 1821

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah Hale

There is an enclosed letter from Mary Ellsworth, who is also originally from the north. She has never met Sarah but urges her to visit soon. In Aurelia's letter to Sarah, she chastises her sister for taking so long to write, but expresses happiness that their mother's health has begun to recover. She implores Sarah to remain dedicated to her studies and education, because it is the only way to "command respect" in Hartford or Connecticut. Part of Aurelia's letter has been obscured by other text. A small hole and the remnants of a seal remain on the second letter.

GLC08934.005

4 December 1821

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah Hale

Letter to her sister in which she first speaks extensively about her social arrangements. She then goes on to speak against her sister's prospective marriage, instead favoring the idea that her sister come to Georgia and potentially meet a husband there. She expresses happiness that their mother's health continues to improve. She asks Sarah to destroy the letter after she reads it. Part of the letter has been scribbled out.

GLC08934.006

3 August 1822

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah W. Hale

She spends much of the legible part of the letter waxing poetic to her sister regarding her strong, positive feelings about her family, particularly her brother Horatio, and an overall positive outlook. Part of this letter is crosswritten.

GLC08934.007

29 December 1822

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah Woodbridge

Letter to her mother in which she speaks at length about the school she teaches, including about a recent school vacation during which she spent two weeks at the beach and an upcoming examination. She also speaks about her many social engagements and her experience with the boarding house she is staying at.

GLC08934.008

4 June 1823

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah W. Hale

She references a letter she received from Sarah on May 11, and later goes on to speak about the examination at the school she teaches at. She also talks about the death of her friend Harriett, and says that she does not regret her friend's death because by dying, Harriett has "escaped a thousand a thousand of the misery of life... she has been taken from an unfeeling world." She also mentions hearing from their brother William Woodbridge, though it is difficult to make out further details about their communication because the third page is crosswritten. The third page is also damaged and…

GLC08934.009

19 April 1823

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah W. Hale

She spends some times talking family matters, including news about their sister Abigail and brother James, as well as a discussion about names. She also mentions wanting to send her mother, Sarah, and their sister A. (Abigail?) trinkets. The third page is quite damaged, and large pieces of it are either missing or in very poor shape.

GLC08934.010

20 August 1823

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah W. Hale

This letter talks about a Reverend Mr. Webster, who will be visiting Hartford for a short period of time and who she hopes will deliver this letter in person and make Sarah's acquaintanceship.

GLC08934.011

18 September 1823

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah W. Hale

She talks extensively about her trip from Washington to White Hall to visit her friend Mary, including the a carriage breakdown and fording creeks with horses. She reports having a "delightful" time visiting Mary. She also mentions a gift for her mother that she intends to send in the spring, but declines to tell her sister what it is. The third page of the letter is in two pieces, and along the lines where the paper was at one point folded, it is difficult to read.

GLC08934.012

23 December 1823

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah Worthington

Letter to her mother in which she discusses her job at the school and mentions that their rector has decided to leave to become the superintendent of an academy in Canadogua, NY, which the community seems to be saddened by. She also says that she has chosen to teach at the academy for another year, saying that she has become "overly attached to Georgia scenes, and Geo. friends, and highly gratified by the respect manifested." She ends the letter by talking about several family members, including attempts to contact a cousin who she has heard is residing in a nearby town and questions as to…

GLC08934.013

25 July 1824

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah W. Hale

In this, she apologizes for not answering her sister's letters in months, but says that she had "indispensable engagements" which kept her too occupied to find the time. It is unclear exactly what Sarah wrote in her letters, but Aurelia references what appear to have been multiple mentions by Sarah in them of "indifferent" health, and expresses concern for her sister. She also spends a large portion of the letter talking about God, death, and the afterlife, including "I have not been able to judge from the tense of your letters whether you are serving God, or like myself still continuing in…

GLC08934.014

26 April 1826

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah W. Hale

This letter appears to have been written in response to a letter from Sarah notifying her of their mother's death. Aurelia says that she is glad that their mother's "days of sorrow and trouble are ended," and expresses some of her fond memories of their mother, especially from her childhood. She asks for assurances that their mother was comfortable when she died and for further information about their mother's burial. She also urges Sarah to "regain" her health over the summer.

GLC08934.015

19 August 1825

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah W. Hale

She discusses her work in education at the academy, which she describes as "arduous" but also notes that she is "richly compensated" for her services. She also mentions that the number of applicants that her school receives is far greater than the number of spots, and that the commissioners refuse to admit any number over the limit, which she does not like, because the structure of her pay means that having more students would grant her more money. Part of this letter is crosswritten.

GLC08934.017

10 April 1826

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah Worthington

She apologizes for her negligence in answering letters but assures her that it is not for lack of affection, but lack of time. She expresses sympathy and concern to her mother regarding both her and Aurelia's sister Sarah's ill health, and hopes that they both improve quickly. Of her mother, she comments that "your life has been one continual scene of sorrow and trouble, but few roses have scattered your path." She also expresses interest in her brother Horatio, who she has not heard from recently.

GLC08934.018

11 June 1821

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah Woodbridge

First letter to her mother upon arriving in Georgia. She briefly mentions her trip from Hartford, which took exactly four weeks, and goes on to discuss her social engagements and upcoming work at the academy as a teacher. She wishes she could write more but says that she is too busy, and expresses that she is very content and happy in Georgia thus far and expects to remain that way.

GLC08934.020

23 June 1826

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah W. Hale

This letter was sent to her sister shortly after their mother's passing. She spends a good deal of time talking about the concept of death in general, saying: "We shall soon, my dear sister, reach the ocean of eternity. A few more days of sorrow and trouble may roll away before we go down to our graves; but that time will come, and is approaching with rapid strides." She also talks about their mother's death and expresses regret that she was unable to help care for her physically or monetarily, though she comments that her expenses are much greater in Georgia than they would be in Hartford.…

GLC08934.021

9 September 1826

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to James W. Hale

She appears to have received word of their brother's death, and is very upset by the news because she considered herself quite close to him. She also expresses worry that he did not die a Christian, saying that if she was confident that he had, she would "rejoice" that he had "left this troublesome world." She goes on to discuss a fever that has been plaguing Washington, Georgia - a man who also lived in her boarding house died in the night, and the physicians are overwhelmed with the number of sick people in the area. She comments that this is very unusual, because it is usually a "healthy…

GLC08934.022

26 December 1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: Certification of Aurelia Hale's service at the academy

A short note certifying Aurelia Hale's time at the academy.

GLC08934.023

January 23, 1827

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah W. Hale

This is the first letter sent to her sister Sarah since Aurelia's relocation from Washington, GA to Mount Ariel, SC. Sarah's last letter took many weeks to reach her, but has finally arrived. She briefly talks about her experience settling into a new area, and indicates that she has many social engagements and is quite busy. She also says that she unfortunately cannot send their brother James money for their mother's gravestone nor Sarah money to visit, because she will only be paid at the end of the year. In a post-script at the end, she requests that they send her their brother Horatio's…

GLC08934.024

1 May - 2 May 1821

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Horatio Hale

Letter to her brother Horatio, sent upon docking in New York on her way to Georgia. She talks briefly about life on board the ship, including dining with several men from her hometown of Hartford, and complains that they docked in New York three hours late due to adverse weather conditions. She also indicates that while she misses home, she does not regret leaving.

GLC08934.001

25 June 1825

Hale, Horatio, fl. 1821-1826

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah W. Hale

This letter is from Horatio Hale to his sister Sarah, written from Brazil. In the letter, he refers several time to Sarah's health, advising her to show "a degree of fortitude beyond most of your sex," because he thinks that positive thinking has a stronger effect on disease than any medicine does. He also talks briefly about their family, before going on to talk about women in Brazil in general and his wife in particular, who apparently favors American styles.

GLC08934.016

05 May 1826

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Horatio Hale

This letter to her brother may have gotten wet at some point, because much of the text is blurred and difficult to read. She mentions concerns about "negroes" several times during the letter, saying that an area which she traveled to (the name is obscured by water damage) had a very different culture than Savannah and Augusta. She describes many of the people wearing little or no clothing, and compares the fervor with which residents hunt runaway slaves to fox hunting, also saying that it is a "common amusement." She also mentions is being unsafe to travel late in the evening "on account of…

GLC08934.019

27 May 1828

Hale, Aurelia, 1798-?

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah W. Hale

This appears to be the first letter to her sister in many months. She speaks at length about matrimony and says that she has spent eighteen months deliberating on it. She says that she has been reflecting on whether to "marry a respectable, pious and smart young man (that had my affections) with barely a competency - or marry for riches and perhaps without love." Despite her original intentions of marrying a "rich planter," she chose to marry for love, and on May 1 married Thomas Jefferson de Yampert, whose family has some money but who is a younger son. She says: "I feel confident that I…

GLC08934.025