Nellie Correspondence Collection, 1892
PI
Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/9/2025, 9:41:48 PM | Created: 12/9/2025, 7:27:09 PM
Added description
Description
Nellie (Ethelie) Correspondence to Alice Austen, March 1892
Overview
This collection comprises five handwritten letters written by Nellie (Ethelie) to photographer Alice Austen on March 28, 1892. The letters were digitized as high‑resolution JPEG scans and accompanied by OCR‑derived transcriptions. The material is part of the Alice Austen House Museum’s Austen Family Papers (MS1) and is cataloged under the “Correspondence_Nellie” folder.Background
Nellie (Ethelie) was a close friend and social associate of Alice Austen, residing in the Staten Island area. The correspondence reflects the social milieu of late‑Victorian upper‑middle‑class families in New York and New Jersey. The letters were sent from various locations—Staten Island, Middlebush (New Jersey), and Boston—illustrating the mobility of the period’s social networks.Contents
- Letters (5): Each letter is addressed to Alice Austen, detailing recent events, travel plans, household concerns, and social invitations.
- Metadata: A JSON record provides provenance, subject tags (e.g., “social life,” “household management”), and place references.
- OCR Transcriptions: Text extracted from the scanned images, enabling keyword searches and content analysis.
- Notable References: The letters mention contemporaries such as Julia T. Martin (Albany), Bessie Strong, Mr. G, Gunning, the Shirlers, Auntie Haynie, and others, offering insight into the social circle surrounding Austen.
Scope
The collection covers a single day—March 28, 1892—within the broader context of 1890s Staten Island society. It includes personal correspondence, social commentary, and household management topics, but does not contain photographs or other media. The material is limited to English‑language letters and is geographically focused on the New York/New Jersey area.Raw Cheimarros Data
@nellie:person {full_name: "Nellie (Ethelie)", role: "Correspondent"}
@alice_austen:person {full_name: "Alice Austen", birth_year: @date_1866, death_year: @date_1952, occupation: "Photographer"}
@staten_island_ny:place {city: "Staten Island", state: "New York", country: @united_states}
@middlebush:place {state: "New Jersey", country: @united_states}
@boston:place {city: "Boston", state: "Massachusetts", country: @united_states}
@nellie_correspondence_collection:document {title: "Nellie Correspondence Collection, 1892", creator: @nellie, created: @date_1892_03_28, institution: "Alice Austen House", language: "en", subjects: ["Personal correspondence","Social life","Victorian-era customs","Family relationships","Household management"], description: "Collection of correspondence from Nellie (Ethelie) to Alice Austen in March 1892, discussing social events, family matters, and household management.", places: [@staten_island_ny, @middlebush, @boston]}
@date_1892_03_28
@file_pinax -> documents -> @nellie_correspondence_collection
@file_1892_3_28_march_12001_nellie_copy_2_jpg -> depicts -> @letter_1892_03_28_01:document {date: @date_1892_03_28, sender: @nellie, recipient: @alice_austen, ocr: "Miss Alice Austin\nRosebank P.O.\nRichmond Co\nN.Y."}
@file_1892_3_28_march_12002_nellie_copy_2_jpg -> depicts -> @letter_1892_03_28_02:document {date: @date_1892_03_28, sender: @nellie, recipient: @alice_austen, ocr: "To Middlebush with your uncle and attended the lecture... Sunday eve 3/27/92.\nMy dear Olle,\n..."}
@file_1892_3_28_march_12003_nellie_copy_2_jpg -> depicts -> @letter_1892_03_28_03:document {date: @date_1892_03_28, sender: @nellie, recipient: @alice_austen, ocr: "part that you might like the other color better..."}
@file_1892_3_28_march_12005_nellie_copy_2_jpg -> depicts -> @letter_1892_03_28_04:document {date: @date_1892_03_28, sender: @nellie, recipient: @alice_austen, ocr: "Surely Mr. G would have known about it..."}
@file_1892_3_28_march_12006_nellie_copy_2_jpg -> depicts -> @letter_1892_03_28_05:document {date: @date_1892_03_28, sender: @nellie, recipient: @alice_austen, ocr: "this afternoon and stopped in to see the Shirlers..."}
@julia_t_martin:person {full_name: "Julia T. Martin", relationship: "close friend", location: @albany}
@julie_bredt:person {full_name: "Julie Bredt", relationship: "correspondent"}
@violet_me_ward:person {full_name: "Violet M.E. Ward", relationship: "correspondent"}
@isabella_king:person {full_name: "Isabella King", relationship: "photograph buyer"}
@bessie_strong:person {full_name: "Bessie Strong", relationship: "correspondent"}
@mr_g:person {full_name: "Mr. G"}
@gunning:person {full_name: "Gunning"}
@perry:person {full_name: "Perry"}
@barnums:organization {name: "Barnum's"}
@miss_butler:person {full_name: "Miss Butler"}
@eleanor:person {full_name: "Eleanor"}
@oswald:person {full_name: "Oswald"}
@mumroe:person {full_name: "Mumroe"}
@auntie_haynie:person {full_name: "Auntie Haynie"}
@shirlers:organization {name: "Shirlers"}
@kintying:person {full_name: "Kintying"}
@letter_1892_03_28_02:document -> mentions -> @julia_t_martin
@letter_1892_03_28_02:document -> mentions -> @bessie_strong
@letter_1892_03_28_04:document -> mentions -> @mr_g
@letter_1892_03_28_04:document -> mentions -> @gunning
@letter_1892_03_28_05:document -> mentions -> @shirlers
@letter_1892_03_28_05:document -> mentions -> @auntie_haynie
@letter_1892_03_28_05:document -> mentions -> @kintying
@letter_1892_03_28_02:document -> mentions -> @perry
@letter_1892_03_28_03:document -> mentions -> @barnums
@letter_1892_03_28_03:document -> mentions -> @miss_butler
@letter_1892_03_28_03:document -> mentions -> @eleanor
@letter_1892_03_28_03:document -> mentions -> @oswald
@letter_1892_03_28_04:document -> mentions -> @mumroe
@letter_1892_03_28_02:document -> mentions -> @julia_t_martin {note: "Julia & babe are flourishing"}Metadata
Files (5)
OCR Text
Miss Alice Austin Rosebank P.O. Richmond Co N.Y.
OCR Text
To Middlebush with your uncle and attended the lecture. Seemed to me his special form of amusement was setting off flash lights and I kept looking behind people to get away from them. Filled the church with smoke and then froze the people by opening the windows. Wonder if I shall get up there this week. Came down early Friday morn & went on the war path for a girl. Finally went to the intelligence office here and also put an add in both papers. This is Sunday eve & I have not seen any result so far. Will wait until Tuesday and then try my luck in N.L. So much for Sunday eve 3/27/92. My dear Olle, I have just ten letters that I ought to write and no nonsense about it, but on the strength of it all I am going to chatter to you instead. Plague take duty letters! Tell them your sentiments? - So glad you liked the letter opener and that it was one of the things you wanted, for it was not what I started to get at all. It was simply that or nothing. Did you discover the other barrel under the cotton? I thought perhaps when the 17th was
OCR Text
part that you might like the other color better. I made the green one to carry out the day. I must write to Perry & find out about our Boston trip. I think it would be fine. Would you like to go to Barnum's when we take the tots? I propose an adult to each child. Then I think we might all enjoy it. Wish I knew how long it was going to run. The crowds are dreadful now.—The cook question is not decided yet. Miss Butler brought me home the evening after you left me wrestling with the kitchen fire. She was not the one she engaged, simply Eleanor's choice. And another a diary as she promised! Made the bed with soda & of all heart & she thrown away. lent the shoe here on the table with her arms & legs flapping. Eleanor says otherwise why. "Heard as hope at me because we would not give her a washing soda for the clothes. lent us for beer. Your blouse shirt, collar & cuffs would have looked equally well if Oswald had skated over them in air the back yard. Altogether she was a treasure and I ought when she left last Thursday. Those H. came home without being able to get me. I even
OCR Text
Surely Mr. G would have known about it. I wrote to Gunning last evening and asked him if he had been trying to hoax me. I told him if he was playing off on me the day I saw him, that the sooner he went on the stage, the better. Will tell you if he deigns to answer. So hope your photos are good. Let me know as soon as you devil them up. Did Bessie get to do you? I heard something that made me think she had not gone. Can't remember what it was. Must be that Miss B met someone down town. - I got up an impromptu party for Mumroe on his birthday. Don't give him of his little friends and with our horse there was quite a stable full. They had a good time. Would your wouldn't have been here. I got Miss Lang over for some tea and help entertain. We know and they had cleared the table of all the eats. Able I started them in copying books & seek up stairs on the best rooms and I wish you could have seen the house when they got through. It looked as if about of we eye once had about it all at once. But the girls had a good time and that is what we were after. - I have been after a washwoman.
OCR Text
this afternoon and stopped in to see the Shirlers. They wanted me to stay for supper & I said I could not; that they would be waiting for me at home. Finally I came home & found it was seven o'clock. What must they have thought of me, keeping them from their supper all that time? I thought it was not later than 6:15 at the most. Joke on me! Please give the enclosed to Auntie Haynie. Does this kind of a postal card wiggle suit you? Please do like more. Love to all and come again when you can. More factories waiting to be appreciated. Yours affectionately, Ethelie. the boldly question. You remember the young man who offered to wager with you about the sheet of peanut candy! He told me the other day he was so glad you had not taken him up. The sheet weighed about thirty pounds & at 20 cts per lb it would have been serious for the young man, saying nothing of your side of the wager. I wonder if you have blown off steam by this time. You kept up a pretty steady trot after you got home. Glad to hear Julia & babe are flourishing. Who in the world is Kintying? That is a new name to me. I think it is so queer about her Montgomery
Version History (4 versions)
- ✓ v4 (current) · 12/9/2025, 9:41:48 PM
"Added description" - v3 · 12/9/2025, 8:36:20 PM · View this version
"Added knowledge graph extraction" - v2 · 12/9/2025, 7:49:30 PM · View this version
"Added PINAX metadata" - v1 · 12/9/2025, 7:27:09 PM · View this version
"Reorganization group: Correspondence_Nellie"
Parent
No children (leaf entity)