I came home to my parents’ house this weekend because my aunt is visiting. My mom had found a book that she had gotten from her grandmother’s house when her grandmother died. The book was given to Agnes Russell on Christmas Day, 1881. My mother knew there were some papers in the book, so we started to look through. There were some drawings of ladies in robin-breasted dresses and pouffed hair. To us, these are old-fashioned gowns, but the girl who drew them drew them from life. That was how the ladies around her dressed. Someone–probably Agnes–pressed some flowers into the book.
But even more interesting than the drawings, the flowers, and the dedication weren’t all that interesting, compared to a little envelope I found stuck in between the pages. Inside were amazing little cut-outs of women and girls in the dress of the 1880’s. They were very carefully cut out with a lot of skill. From a little slip of paper included in the envelope, it looks like they may have been a reward for being good in Sunday school. The slip is almost certainly from Sunday school.
The most interesting part, however, was a little note that was included in the envelope. Written on it in a young girl’s hand was, “Before I am 22 years old, I will be married. Grandfa. bet $2.00.” And, “I bet I won’t.” It’s dated Dec. 16, 1895. On the front of the envelope, it says “Bet with Grandpa due Dec 26, 1906.”
Edna Russell was my grandmother’s aunt. Edna Russell was a girl in the 1880s when the bet was taken. She never married and lived until 1959. Apparently, she won the bet with her grandfather. I’m utterly fascinated by the bet, the motive behind it, and by the fact that Edna never married. From what my mother’s told me, the family was fairly well-off, though not rich, and Edna was a very pretty young lady. It’s amazing to think of that little piece of paper telling so much and so little.
Here is a photo of Edna from 1909, a few years after the bet was due.
