Greetings,

In 1978 Dorothy (Darcy) Thurston traveled to Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania investigating her family history.  In her quest she came across a number of letters that her grandmother, Helen Augusta (Wood) Stage, had saved.  She transcribed her findings and mailed them to various family members.

Dear Kinfolk,

    Here are copies of letters from the attic of Helen Augusta Wood Stage (Mrs. Albert Jackson Stage) written from 1885 to 1897.  I hope you find them as fascinating as I do.
    As closely as possible I have copied the exact wording, spelling, capitalization and punctuation (or lack of).  Most of the writers did not use punctuation.  For clarity, I have sometimes punctuated and sometimes left three spaces instead of two between sentences.  Some of the writers used capital letters indiscriminately and I have done as each writer did.  Underlining has been used where I could not decipher the original handwriting or when I was in doubt about my interpretation.  I have used script typing for the actual handwritten letters and courier print typing for my comments.
    As you read this chronicle of those late days of the nineteenth century you may find people and facts you would like to know more about.  If so, write to me and I'll be glad to help you sort out who's who among our ancestors.  In fact, I am "climbing the family tree" this year and hope to produce a copy of my findings for all of you who would like to have one.
    This is the realization of my long-time dreams - long before Alex Haley's "Roots".

                                                               Dorothy Darcy Thurston
                                                             <address omitted>
                                                              Date:    9 October 1978                                                               

Unfortunately, Dorothy Thurston passed before I came to have an interest in genealogy so the location of the originals is unknown.  I have made every effort to maintain her transcriptions.  It's difficult to type "Childern" when your brain says "Children" but I don't believe any unconscious corrections have in any way harmed the general context.

I've broken the letters into 2 categories: those from the Wood family and friends and those from the Stage family and friends.

I've also provided some commentary, factual information and conjecture in "notes from the peanut gallery" on the bottom of each letter.  If you're tracking the Woods or the Stages (or the Ganoungs or the Thompsons or the Smiths or even the Shengulettes or the Ruppels) I may have information that can help.  Please feel free to contact me at shengunk@nc.rr.com.  Likewise, I'd love to get any information you might have to fill in some holes.

Regards,

Jerry Shengulette

If you are interested in a particular surname, the site is indexed using PicoSearch.  If you're just browsing, follow the links to the individual letters.

Wood Family Letters                                 Stage Family Letters