Attorney Frederick Peabody receives a letter with a surprising request from a woman. It is 1894 and less than two weeks have passed since Frederick’s marriage to Anna on September 21st. The newlyweds do not have a residence of their own and are living with Anna’s aunt in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Now, given the gravity of the favor being requested, those reading Frederick’s response today must conclude that he has a close friendship with this female friend. Having much responsibility, along with being newly married, living with his wife’s aunt and having his own law office, Frederick is also running for a position as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts, 10th district. Frederick pens his response on Saturday October 6th - the elections are exactly one month away.
The request the woman is asking of Frederick, and presumably his wife, Anna, is to take care of a young child. On the surface this appears very ordinary indeed. The child, although not mentioned by name in the letter, is a 6 year old girl named Dulcie.
Frederick pens his response on his law office’s stationary which is pre-printed on the top with ‘Frederick W Peabody Attorney At Law 39 Court Street Boston, ________189___’. Frederick has written in the date which reads Oct 6, 1894. Two lines read, ‘I write in greatest haste. My wife will write as soon as I can see her.’. This tells us that time is of the essence. The wording ‘my wife’ suggests that Frederick’s friend didn’t have a very close relationship with his wife, Anna.
AND THEN there also is the most mystifying sentence. It is written at the very top, above the stationary’s pre-printed letterhead. It is an after thought yet is important enough to be put into writing. This additional remark is what makes the request appear so untypical.
This line reads ‘Please communicate with me before sending the child that I may suggest safest way of evading observation.‘
Margaret has kept this letter, the oldest of all, with a bundle of other letters. This letter along with all the other letters must represent very important times in her life. Important, sad or happy and uncertain times are what this entire bundle of letters represents during the ten years out of the life of a person who does carry some importance in the Canadian and United States history books.
