📄 Letter, Sumner LaRue Tone to Blanche Torrence Tone, Jun 8 1915
A letter from Sumner Larue Tone (1864-1942) to Emma Blanche Torrence (1868-1925). He writes from "Van Eman, Pa", still somewhat mysterious for this family, to her apparently in Bergen, NY.
See also, 📄 Letter, Sumner LaRue Tone to Blanche Torrence Tone, Jun 20 1915. Both found in the same envelope labeled simply "B. T. T." ("Blanche Torrence Tone").
Van Eman, Pa
June 8 1915My dear Blanche & Ma--
We are having a cooler day than yesterday when the thermometer rose to 85º. George is very busy with goats, weed hauling, dog, &c but slept until 7-30 & so feels tip top. Elizabeth did not arrive till 7pm last night on account of their rehearsal holding them at the church till 4-45pm.
I had an odd experience yesterday as after I saw Mr. Moore of the West Penn Rwy Co., I wanted time to think over his unreadable & arranged to go back before 3 p.m. at that hour, I remained so long as to miss the 3pm car & concluded to take the 4pm car. I therefore left his office went down to 1st & Market St to get a price on some pipe, then to unreadable for unreadable for cultivation, then to Allegheny for some unreadable & back to Wood St & 2nd Ave to Wood-- wells [?] & couldn't find the right unreadable. Then as it was 3-50 I hustled to Kaufmans & saw the 4 o'clock car going up Smithfield St. Therefore hurried my purchase of a farm shirt at Kaufmans & rushed down Diamond alley to Wood St. Saw no car coming & watched up to 5th Ave & Wood & after waiting a few minutes, walked up Wood to 6th Ave & as I crossed 6th Ave-- Saw Frank boarding a Birmingham car & my 4pm car not in sight yet. I boarded his car right behind him & slapping him on the back I told him to pay my fare too. He was as much surprised as I was on the car unreadable down to the Carborundum store on Wood St near Wter St. We rode down there & I remained with him for a little visit till my 5pm car. He left at 7-15 for New York. He arrived at 7am from home & phoned unreadable but could not get track of unreadable. Then tried unreadable but could not get any satisfaction. So gave it up. Was it not strange that after all my wanderings I should run him down at Wood St & 6th Ave.
He brought me a pretty good report of ma at least for last Sunday when he was down home to see her, & I was much relieved as Florence letters last week seemed to indicate that ma was inclined to overtax her strength & had perhaps done so.
Having to stay in the city till 3pm yesterday I went to the Duq. Club for lunch where it being annual election of directors, the lunch was free to members. Met a great many friends there who extended their good wishes & dissatisfaction with the Governor's actions: & it was unreadable cheerful to have it too.
Mr. Moore wanted to know if I would consider the Presidency of their Co. & after consulting McCallery [?] I told him I would & he therefore started the matter with some of the Directors. If nothing comes of it, I arranged to go back out McCallery about aught. But don't let it be repeated in Bergen at present.
Excuse the penmanship but pulling weeds, shoring up wash house and darning socks stiffen up my fingers.
I suppose you had a high time in Beaver & the flow of wit was a continuous stream.
Please give ma an hours advice every morning directly after breakfast.
Sally is waiting for this to take up with the mail.
With much love to you both
Affectionately,
LaRue
Notes:
- From the text of this it sounds as though Blanche is in Bergen helping to take care of Catherine D. Spafford (1836-1916), who died a few months later.
- It's not clear where Van Eman, Pa might have been. It's not on current maps. Web searching has turned up a likely location near Canonsburg, Pa, but I have no other record of the family being there.
- There's a Van Eman Street in Canonsburg, Pa
- Mapcarta shows a Van Eman Pump Station east of Canonsburg, between Canonsburg Lake and Chartiers Creek. No other sources that I've found use that name. It's at the approximate location of the Canonsburg Lake Spillway in McMurray, Pa.
- Mapcarta also shows a Van Emman, Pa in the same area, east of Canonsburg and just north of the location they show for the pump station. "Van Emman is a hamlet in Pennsylvania. Van Emman is situated nearby to the hamlets Murry Hill and Morganza"
- All of this is in Washington County, Pa, which was the birthplace of congressman George Van Eman Lawrence.
- Searching for "Van Emman" find some more results than with "Van Eman". Still nothing conclusive.
- Wikipedia says that Cecil Township, Pa includes a village called Van Emman but doesn't say anything about it.
- There are a multiple places known as Birmingham in Pa, the most likely of which seems to be the Birmingham that was later incorporated into Pittsburgh.
- From the street names given in the letter it's apparent that Sumner's day trip was to Pittsburgh.
- The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad ran between Pittsburgh and Canonsburg on the Chartiers branch, which would pass through the likely location of Van Emmon.
- "Frank" seems to be Frank Jerome Tone (1868-1945), since he's mentioned in connection with "ma" and Florence May Tone (1871-1943). I don't know why he would have been in Pittsburgh.
- "Duq. Club" is the Duquesne Club in Pittsburgh, also mentioned in The Years of '86.
- Van Emman may also be the destination of 📄 Letter, Catherine S. Tone to Katharine S Tone, Sep 20 1912, which was sent to "Canonseburgh, Pa. R. F. D."