Ella McKinnon to Annie Carlisle July 29, 1906

Mapleton Minn
July 29th 1906
My dear Cousin
I know I have neglected you badly but in the spring just after I got your last letter I was sick for unusual weeks with the grippe and so I got all off the notion of writing and beside the two oldest girls were away from home and I had so much to do I would be too tired even Sunday evening to sit down and write a letter

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and on Sunday morning I usually go to church and S.S. right after so I would be late getting dinner and so my days have gone by. Belle has been to Mankato to the summer school to prepare for teaching and will not be home until the last of this week I do not mind my hard work if she only likes teaching after letting her have the chance to get ready for the work she thinks she will not like teaching

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If she don’t like it she will not have to stick to it but her father is anxious to have her try.
Harvesting will soon be here some oats will be cut this week but there is not much yet that is ready about 2 1 weeks more will see them at it I think pretty busy if there is no more hard storms in some places the hail destroyed the grain last Friday __ night.

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The corn crop look good now too but while they were cultivating it, it would rain about every other day so it did not get as much work in it as some times. I shall soon have sweet corn to eat my garden has been fine this year potatoes are good and promise now to be a big crop.
I suppose your mother is with you again. I don’t remember if I wrote to her or she to me last but I will

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try and write to her soon tell her I think of her often and send her my love & would like to see her but cannot get so far away from home but would if I did not have to go through Chicago to get to her.
Well Annie I have not got on glasses yet what do you think of that I must have the Wisner eyes I guess Uncle Henry never has worn them yet and he will be 80 this summer I have never felt the need of them yet

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Well I hardly know what to write about next only I am looking some for Hermon & his wife out here soon the GAR have their campment at Minneapolis this year and they said awhile ago that they thought of going & stop to see us but I have not heard lately whether they were coming or not I wish they would
Well I cannot think of any more to write this time so will say Good Bye
Love to all from Cousin Ella


I believe Belle was at Minnestota State Normal School. Pictures of the school from this time period including the graduating class of 1907 can be found at Minnesota Reflections. I did not find Belle listed but the pictures are representative of how she would have dress and fixed her hair.

The 1906 GAR Encampment at Minneapolis was held August 16 & 17. I winder if Herman went and if he stopped to see Ella. Annie and Ashley Carlisle and their descendants were very active in the GAR.

Apparently I did not inherit the Wisner eyes.

For more see:
Carlisle - Wisner Letters
Family of William Wisner
Descendants of Maryetta Wisner
Descendants of Sarah Ann Wisner


McKinnon, Ella Hall (Mapleton, Minnesota) to “My dear Cousin” [Sarah Ann Camfield Carlisle]. Letter. 29 July 1906. Digital Images 1-6. Privately held by Apple, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Snowville, New York. 2008. [Carlisle Family, Box #1, Correspondence, Apr – Dec 1906, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 2008.]

Ella McKinnon to Annie Carlisle Feb 6, 1906

Mapleton Minn

Feb 6^th 1906

My dear Cousin

I am not going to write you much of a letter this morning but thought of something I wanted to tell you so thought I would write it before I forgot it again.

I had a letter from your mother a while ago and she asked me very particular if about Uncle George and I told her what I knew about him then but a few days before that I had written to Hermon & asked them about him so

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after I had sent my letter away I got a letter from them and they said that Uncle George was dead they went out to Oregon no it was Washington state years ago and I guess were doing well but last spring he caught a cold and it never left him & on August 10^th he died that is what Itha (Hermons girl) wrote me and Mamie lives in Providence R.I. Rena is in Chicago I believe that is where she was the last time I heard & the oldest boy Lawrence lives near Waukegan on a farm Rents one. & Guy the youngest was with them out west Uncle Henry was down at Waukegan when they wrote Itha said he would

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go out to see your mother only he did not like to go through Chicago he was not very well when he first went down there but went to doctoring & was better when Itha wrote but he is getting old he will be 80 next June I believe If I had a little more room I would have him come out here and stay with me as long as he would be contented he don’t seem to be contented very long in any place I maybe

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will write and see what he will say about it he always seemed to like me pretty well

Well I think I will have to stop now and get my sweeping done or if I have sat down before I got my mornings work done. The girls are washing dishes.

We have had two or three very cold days now and that is about the only real cold snap we have had this winter it is the coldest at least

Well I will have to say Good Bye Write soon

Ever your Cousin

Ella

Added to page 3, written upside down

I thought you could tell your mother of Uncle George’s death better than I could write it

A cousin gave me a death for George Wisner of 10 August 1905 and this letter confirms that. I did not previously know that he died in Washington or Oregon so I will follow up on that. In 1910 his son, Guy, was living in Tenino, Thurstin, WA so I will start my search there.

Lawrence S. Wisner may have still been in Waukegan, Lake, IL in 1906, however by 1910 he is found living in Elkhorn, San Joaquin, CA. George's widow, Julia Ann Barto Wisner, was also found in Elkhorn in 1910. She was boarding with her sister and brother-in-law, Harriett and Julius Arnold.

The names of George's daughters confuse me. The information I have from other family members and census records gives their names as May and Mattie. From a previous letter we know that May E. Wisner Jackson lived in Providence, RI so she would be Mamie. Mattie I. Wisner I know next to nothing about. Rena is a very different name than Mattie. Was Rena, Mattie or was there another child I am unaware of? The 1910 census for Cook Co, IL lists six Rena's that fit the information I have.

Herman's daughter, Itha Glenora Hall married Frederick Cashmore in 1902. By 1910 they lived in Newport and Herman in Waukegan. It appears for this letter that in 1906 Itha & Frederick were still in Waukegan.

Lake County is just north of Chicago so I would think the family would be at least somewhat familiar with the city so I'm curious about Uncle Henry's reluctance to change trains there.

For more see:
Carlisle - Wisner Letters
Family of William Wisner
Descendants of Maryetta Wisner
Descendants of Sarah Ann Wisner

McKinnon, Ella Hall (Mapleton, Minnesota) to “My dear Cousin” [Sarah Ann Camfield Carlisle]. Letter. 2 February 1906. Digital Images 1-4. Privately held by Apple, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Snowville, New York. 2008. [Carlisle Family, Box #1, Correspondence, Jan – Mar 1906, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 2008.]

Ella McKinnon to Annie Carlisle Jan 14, 1906

Mapleton Minn

Jan 14th 1906

My dear Cousin

Belle is going to write to Tamerson so I tho’t I would put a few lines in to you if I can think of anything to write about. I am getting so lazy lately I do not like to write it makes it so much harder to write if one don’t feel like writing the evening of the 4^th of Jan I wrote all the evening. I wrote 4 letters in all I wrote to your mother and wrote 4

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sheets of tablet paper to her and 6 to our oldest boy Ray and 3 sheets to a cousin of my husbands she used to live here in the neighborhood so I could write a good deal to her and a sister of his, I never saw her but I do all the writing to them and I can write long letters to them I feel as if I knew them almost. his two oldest sisters died within a few months of each other and this is the only sister he has left the youngest in the family of all of them his youngest brother died a year ago last fall so he has only 2 brothers living yet that we know of one left here

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eleven years ago and we never heard from him but twice after he left here and have come to the conclusion that he is dead.

We had a lovely winter until after New Years then it snowed for two days and got cold but not so very cold but we have had nice sleighing these last two days has been warm but the snow does not melt much it has got pretty soft and to day the air feels like rain still the wind is cold

Your mother sent me one of those pincushions of the 4 in a

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group. I think she looks a little as Grandma looked just before she died she don’t look any older. You know Grandma was 86 a few days before she died.

I was at church and Sunday school this morning and it is rather late when we get home and it makes my afternoon short so I generally let my writing go until evening but I have another letter to write this evening so wrote this now I have had to take the Bible class because none of the others would so that keeps longer than I would stay a good many times but I think if I can keep the class going I will do so for it will help to keep the rest up too

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Our S. S. is not so vary large any way and I think it will encourage the children more to go if the parents take an interest in the S.S. and go. I have not missed a dozen Sunday’s (I don’t think I have at least) in two years nearly

Well Annie I have not got any glasses yet what do you think of that I do not feel the need of them yet I can read & sew or any thing so well as ever I think I don’t see as anything gets dim or blurred yet

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Well I guess I will quit now and read a while

So with love to you & my best respects to Mr. Carlisle I will remain

your loving cousin

Ella

For more see:
Carlisle - Wisner Letters
Family of William Wisner
Descendants of Maryetta Wisner
Descendants of Sarah Ann Wisner


McKinnon, Ella Hall (Mapleton, Minnesota) to “My dear Cousin” [Sarah Ann Camfield Carlisle]. Letter. 14 January 1906. Digital Images 1-6. Privately held by Apple, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Snowville, New York. 2008. [Carlisle Family, Box #1, Correspondence, Jan – Mar 1906, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 2008.]

Ella McKinnon to Annie Carlisle Oct 29, 1905

Mapleton Minn

Oct 29th 1905

My dear Cousin

I received your and your mothers letters 2 weeks ago Friday & I was going to answer right away but when I went to write I found I had no envelopes so had to wait until I could get them & I have not had time to write until now and to day is a stormy day so I did not go to church and it makes the day so long and lonesome.

We had a lovely fall until 2 weeks ago yesterday then it began raining and has been cold and nasty

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ever since and to day it is snowing but it is not so very cold now it is nearly 3 O’clock.

Our crops were fine our corn is not all husked yet but what they have got out are fine our potatoes did not amount to anything it was so wet we could grow them it came off to dry we had them so we could get some all the time so we could get some all the time just to eat but had to buy for the winter we had to pay 40 cts a bushel for them

Our first frost came Oct 10^th and we have had one nearly every night since.

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I have been doctoring since I wrote last so I feel good again & I have not had to wear glasses yet will sit and read all the evening and fine print at that

You said you did not get away much I do not go much but our Sunday school have an annual picnic every year and I have to help about that I go, then in the fall our church has a supper & fair and I have to do my share of that I am not much of a hand to go ahead but there are some in the church that

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think they cannot get along with out one I don’t know as I help much but they say I have got to be there.

Annie can’t you get your mother’s picture for me I would like it so much. I tried to get Uncle Henry’s when I saw him but he would not get it takin but he gave me the one he had taken with his soldiers clothes on and I think so much of that

I put a not inside that pincushion cover for your mother I could not stuff that & send it very well or I would have done so. So you stuff it for her. It is for your mother.

Ever your loving

write soon Cousin Ella

I wonder if Annie sent a picture of Sarah to Ella? Here's one of Sarah with her husband, Michael Camfield that was probably taken sometime in the 1890's - I wish I had a better date for it.

Annie must have started wearing glasses about this time. I believe this picture was taken closer to 1920.

I wish a picture of Uncle Henry had been sent to Annie! Maybe Ella's copy still resides with one of my distant cousins.

For more see:
Carlisle - Wisner Letters
Family of William Wisner
Descendants of Maryetta Wisner
Descendants of Sarah Ann Wisner


McKinnon, Ella Hall (Mapleton, Minnesota) to “My dear Cousin” [Sarah Ann Camfield Carlisle]. Letter. 29 October 1905. Digital Images 1-4. Privately held by Apple, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Snowville, New York. 2008. [Carlisle Family, Box #1, Correspondence, 1905, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 2008.]

Ella McKinnon to Annie Carlisle Aug 29, 1905

Mapleton Minn

Aug 29^th 1905

My dear Cousin

Well Annie I guess you will begin to scold pretty soon but you must remember I am getting old & don’t feel like writing as I need to do you know that I am 50 years old today and have done a big washing today too and I do get tired I did not mind it last summer doing anything like that but this year seems as if I cannot stand much work I don’t feel sick or any thing like that but I get tired so easy

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My husband has gone off on a visit just now up near Grand Forks N.D. he will be gone about a week yet and it is lonesome I tell you he was never gone in the evening and when it comes night it don’t seem right not to see him here

One of out neighbors have been threshing to day and it has been so warm, to warm for any kind of comfort this afternoon it sprinkled several times but did not amount to any thing it did not stop them threshing so you see it was not much Grain is pretty good here in spike of what was thought in

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the spring. It was so wet every one thought grain was not going to be very much but it seems to be turning out well and of good quality too but the price is going down right along.

Yes Annie it was nice to have Belle graduate and I don’t but what it was lucky she did when she did for she is not fit to go to school now and it begins next week she is lame just now so she can hardly get around and has not seemed well all summer.

I am glad that your mother keeps so well I would like to see her but I don’t

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believe I ever will again.

Give her my love and tell her I think of her often and will try and write to her again soon.

Well I can’t think of anything more to write about so I will have to say good night and pleasant dreams or as a little girl we used to tell Belle

Good night

Sleep tight

Ever your Cousin,

Ella

Happy Birthday to Ella - her husband is gone and the laundry still needs to be done.

Mary Belle McKinnon was born 29 Sept 1887. I have no idea if there is any connection to Jake's trip to North Dakota but when Belle eventually marries she and her husband will relocate there.

For more see:
Carlisle - Wisner Letters
Family of William Wisner
Descendants of Maryetta Wisner
Descendants of Sarah Ann Wisner

McKinnon, Ella Hall (Mapleton, Minnesota) to “My dear Cousin” [Sarah Ann Camfield Carlisle]. Letter. 29 August 1905. Digital Images 1-2. Privately held by Apple, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Snowville, New York. 2008. [Carlisle Family, Box #1, Correspondence, 1905, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 2008.]

Ella McKinnon to Annie Carlisle Jan 5, 1905

Mapleton Minn

Jan 5^th 1905

My dear Cousin

I have waited a good while before I answered your letter twas not because I forgot about it, it was just because I was too lazy. I spoke about it times enough but when I should have written I would get a lazy streak on and would put it off until another time so tonight I thought about it & did not stop to read awhile but went at the writing

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and now that I have begun I don’t hardly know what to write about.

We have had a fine winter so far there is some snow but still there is no sleighing what little snow there is, is all in drifts that is the f___ of living on the prairie if the wind blows only just a little the snow drifts A week ago last Tuesday that was the 28^th of Dec. we had a regular old time blizzard it was white all day and if the snow had lain still there would not have been very much. Jake said in the woods where it did not

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drift any there was not 4 inches

How was Christmas & New Years with you? Santa Claus visited here and left a good many tokens not very expensive ones but just remembrances we had a Christmas tree in the Church for the S. S. we do every year We go to the Congregational church. Our children all get something for each other and for us & I have to get some thing for each one but my husband only gets me something he says he can never pick any thing so he does not

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Did your mother get my letter I wrote I meant to have written it so she would get it her birthday but I did not get at it until the day so I thought she would like it just the same How is she this winter

I don’t hear from the folks in Ill very often so I cannot tell any thing about them I wrote a while ago but they have none of them answered my letter. I cannot tell any thing about Uncle Henry or Uncle Wirt for I never hear from them I have written but they never answer my letters so there is no use in my writing when I never hear from them

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Well my other sheet got full if I did not think I could write much when I started.

I have such a small corn on my little toe tonight I can hardly sit still and I don’t like to pull my shoe off yet

The children are all reading or trying to but when they get to talking as they do some times it is hard to work trying to read or write.

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Ray my oldest boy is in Wisconsin with Elizabeth he went down there a year ago just after Christmas and has not been home since and wrote awhile ago that he would not come this winter

Myrtle the oldest girl went up town the other evening and while crossing the street slipped on ice and fell breaking a ligament in her foot so she is laid up for a few days she does not step on it yet it was done Monday night the Dr bound it up (and she had to stay the night)

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he told her she would need to keep it bound up for 2 weeks if it got loose he would have to fix it up again her foot would sprain if he did not. It is not very sore

Well I cannot think of any more this time only my husband had his back catch him last night and he can hardly get up out his chair. the rest are well with the exception of slight colds

Well I will close this now hoping this will find you all enjoying good health

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Wishing you many more Happy New Years if it is a little late

I remain

Your affectionate

Cousin

Ella L. McKinnon

For more see:
Carlisle - Wisner Letters
Family of William Wisner
Descendants of Maryetta Wisner
Descendants of Sarah Ann Wisner

McKinnon, Ella Hall (Mapleton, Minnesota) to “My dear Cousin” [Sarah Ann Camfield Carlisle]. Letter. 5 January 1905. Digital Images 1-4. Privately held by Apple, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Snowville, New York. 2008. [Carlisle Family, Box #1, Correspondence, 1905, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 2008.]

Making Waves

AARP has a short video, Making Waves, that has some information and wonderful pictures of the women who joined the Navy to serve during WWII. My mother was a WAVE so I found it particularly interesting. The video promotes the book, Making WAVES: Navy Women of World War II by Evan Bachner. I'll be checking the library in town to see if they have it.

WAVES = Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service

This is a picture from my mother's collection. She's the one top right.

Ella McKinnon to Annie Carlisle June 5 1904

Mapleton Minn

June 5, 1904

My dear Couisn

I have promised myself that I would write to you for several weeks but when Sunday came I would be so tired I could not get interested enough in any thing to sit still long enough to get a letter written & if I did was to write to Ray my oldest Boy he is not at home and has not been since Christmas Myrtle was too but she came home at Easter time.

I suppose you have not heard of Emmit’s death it was

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quite sudden the Dr told Hermon that he would only give him six months to live and said that he (Emmit) had “Locomotion Ataxia” or creeping paralysis but it was only about one month after when I goy word he was gone he died the 23^rd of April being in bed only about one week so he did not have long to suffer at the last he left $3,000 life insurance in the Woodsmans Lodge so he has left his family provided for there is his wife & 2 girls the oldest one is married and has a home of her own it will be a year in August since she was married

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so that now there is only Hermon Elizabeth & I left of all of us & we cannot ____ which one will be called next nor ____ _____ and they were all young yet Emmit was 54 last fall Jen was 44 & I think Deette was 40 and Myrtle was only 30 and you know Father & Mother were not very old when they passed away a little over 70.

We have a very cold spring not very wet but every thing is backward my garden is doing well now though if it is cold we had lots of rain lately but today it is cold again we may have a frost again

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crops look well now

This is the last of our school the children or a pert of them have gone this afternoon to the Baccalaureate sermon and tomorrow night the graduating class have their Program & receive their Diplomas there is 6 or 7 I forget which

Well I guess I have told you all I know for this time

Give my love to Aunt Sarah Ann if she is their and tell her I will try & write to her soon.

With love to all I remain your cousin

E. L. McKinnon

Ella's oldest child, Donald Ray was 23 years old at the time of this letter and staying with Ella's sister, Elizabeth, in Poynette, Columbia Co, WI. Elizabeth was a widow, however I do not know when her husband, Ephraim Belden, died; on the 1900 census she is listed as married but it is just here and her daughter, Effie, in the household. She may have moved to Wisconsin to be closer to her sister Deette or she may have moved there after Deette's death in 1898 to help with her children. Then again she may have had other reasons, I am just guessing. I don't know if Ray went to help Elizabeth out or to look for work. Ella doesn't say where Myrtle has been.

Emmit's death has obviously upset Ella, three of her siblings have died quite young. But who was Jen (Jan?). Was there another sibling? I believe she must be referring to Martha who died in 1893 at the age of 40.

I wish Ella had given more information on Emmit's daughters. Eva May Hall was born 10 March 1877 and Lulu Belle Hall 20 January 1880. Beyond this I have no information on either.

I wonder if Ella's son, John Albion McKinnon, was one of those graduating? He was born 14 April 1886 so he would have been 18 in June 1904.

For more see:
Carlisle - Wisner Letters
Family of William Wisner
Descendants of Maryetta Wisner
Descendants of Sarah Ann Wisner



McKinnon, Ella Hall (Mapleton, Minnesota) to “My dear Cousin” [Sarah Ann Camfield Carlisle]. Letter. 5 June 1904. Digital Images 1-4. Privately held by Apple, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Snowville, New York. 2008. [Carlisle Family, Box #1, Correspondence, 1903-1904, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 2008.]

Summer Time!

The journaling prompt this week at Miriam's AnceStories2 is Summer which is my favorite season. Hopefully I'll find time to expand on some of these prompts.

*How do you feel about summer? Is is a favorite season, or do you prefer another?

Summer is definitely my favorite season! Four months of being able to be outside in the garden. Spring, aka May, is ok, it promises that summer is coming. Fall, aka October, is sad, signaling summer’s end. Winter is 6 months of misery.

*What are your favorite summer activities? Do you enjoy being outside, or would you rather curl up with your air conditioner?

I love to be in the garden, full of beauty, birds and bugs. I like playing outside with the kids. I am often found outside under the shade of a tree or in the screen room with a book or my lap top. In the evening I like to curl up on the glider and watch the dance of a small fire.

*Do you have a favorite summertime sport to participate in or watch?

Tanning and people watching! I don’t enjoy watching organized sports much. Baseball and tennis are incredibly boring to watch. I like to play kickball, volleyball and badminton but with my current health problems I don’t participate as much as I’d like.

*What is your typical summer outfit?

Shorts, tank top and clogs.

*Do you take a summer vacation? Where do you normally go, and what kinds of activities do you do there?

I get 4-9 weeks of vacation every summer. We often go away for a week or two in the summer but not always; we have no plans to travel this year. Rather than return to the same spot over and over we would rather go someplace we’ve never been before.

*What is your favorite summer holiday, and why?

The 4th of July is my favorite because we have an annual barbecue and most of my family is then altogether in one place.

*What kinds of summer foods or drinks do you enjoy?

We do a lot of grilling and have lots of different salads in the summer and I like to sample various Finger Lakes wines.

*Share some favorite memories of summer vacation from when you were a child.

Camping was the highlight of our summer. We had a tent camper and went to the Adirondacks or Vermont every summer.

*What is your least favorite thing about summer?

Deer flies and mosquitoes.

*Do you enjoy summer storms?

I love summer storms, especially watching them build and push across Lake Ontario. One year when we had a camp at Sylvan Beach, on Oneida Lake, I gathered everybody out on the glass enclosed porch to watch a storm. I small tornado went through just a block from us and that was the last of our storm watching there.

*What is the hottest summer temperature you remember experiencing?

121° on a trip to Laughlin, NV. I don't remember it ever hitting 100° here in CNY.

*Do you have a memory of a cool or cold summer? Has it snowed on the Fourth of July in your area?

We have had a few summers where we never it never reached 90°. I tend not to focus on unpleasant memories. We have never had snow in July or August that I can remember. May and September occasionally see snow.

*What family birthdays, anniversaries, or events are commemorated in the summer? Are there any significant family history events that occurred during summer?

There are too many summer family events to list here. When the nieces and nephews were younger and still living nearby there would be one huge birthday party in August because there were simply too many to celebrate individually.

My great-grandfather, Ashley Carlisle, had an annual picnic for veterans of the Civil War. It was held in honor of his birthday which was the 5th of July but I have seen newspaper articles that say the picnic (and his birthday) were on the 4th.

*What summertime hobbies do you pursue? If you are a genealogist, do you travel to ancestral locations during this season?

My hobbies have changed over the years. Currently I garden. When my kids were young summer time revolved around them. I have made very few trips for research and none in the summer. Genealogy is my winter hobby and does not get as much attention when I can be outdoors.

Ella McKinnon to Annie Carlisle Nov 22 1903

Mapleton Minn

Nov 22^nd 1903

My dear Cousin,

I have thought to write to you often enough to have written a number of letters but I did not get at it and have not very much news to write.

I had a letter from your mother the other day and was glad to hear from her again but she writes good for a person of her age it don’t look uneven and weak at all. I will answer it soon. Is her address the same as ever I just don’t remember it so will direct to you and you send it to her if

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you will or if you write soon send me her address.

Well the children are all in bed but John & Belle so I can write they keep the table on the jump so any one can hardly write.

We have not had any rain for about six weeks now and only a little flurry of snow it is cloudy tonight and has been sleeting some but not much but last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty cold days not I will tell you it was disagreeable to be out still all the children that go to school but Hermie the youngest

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went and they had to face the wind coming home they have the R.R. to walk on and hey have to go straight N.W. at night bit they did not complain of being very cold when they came home.

Have you seen Uncle Henry yet? we heard from Ill twice and they said he was talking of going out there. I hope he will go he said last fall that he would like to go but did not like to go alone. I wish I could have gone with him but he is old too he was 77 his last birth day.

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Our crop was pretty poor this year we only had 170 bu of oats and 450 bu of wheat and part of that was a setting that stood over from last year and we hadn’t much corn and our potatoes all rotted so we had to pay a man here in town brought in a carload from S. Dakota and we got some of him they are nice ones but we had to pay 75¢ abushel for them.

Well I cannot think of any more this time

So with love to all I will say “Good night”

E L McKinnon

Ella had eight children. John and Belle were Ella's 3rd and 4th eldest.

For more see:
Carlisle - Wisner Letters
Family of William Wisner
Descendants of Maryetta Wisner
Descendants of Sarah Ann Wisner



McKinnon, Ella Hall (Mapleton, Minnesota) to “My dear Cousin” [Sarah Ann Camfield Carlisle]. Letter. 22 November 1903. Digital Images 1-4. Privately held by Apple, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Snowville, New York. 2008. [Carlisle Family, Box #1, Correspondence, 1903-1904, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. 2008.]