1900 Letter from Wilton to his Mama

In July 1900 young Wilton Booksh boarded the Texas & Pacific Railroad in New Orleans to visit his Booksh relatives in Grosse Tete, Louisiana. On July 16 he wrote his mother this letter:

Letter in pencil from Wilton Tisdale Booksh to his mother Belle Tisdale Booksh with child's railroad ticket #646 Texas & Pacific Railway, written July 16,1900, and envelope stamped New Orleans July 15, 1900.

Transcription:

                                                                                                Bookshville La

                                                                                                July 16 1900

Dear Mama,

        I arrived here safe and sound, uncle Fred met me and I took dinner at uncle Freds house and then went down to uncle Georges and told them all helo and now I am at uncle Cabe's. Many says thanks for buying his autoharp. On the way up the conducter didnt take my ticket and you will find it in this letter. Tell Frank and all the rest of the boys that

[Page 2] I am going on a fish fry Friday and come back the next day. I caught three perc h today with my little line and a turtle bit the hook off. Manny told me to tell you that he has learned two peaces. This evening Manny and I are going away down the creek fishing. As I came up the Morgan and the T and P had a race and the frunt of her engine came about twenty five yds. from our back platform of the sleeper. Cousin Carrie says pleas send a patent

[Page 3] over that keeps people from working.

                                                                                            byby

                                                                                            from Wilton

P.S. Send some stamps. The freight agent punched two holes in my ticket when I checked my valise.

The people listed in Wilton's letter are:

    Uncle Fred - Frederick Scott Booksh (1858-1914), brother of Wilton's father

    Uncle George - George Washington Booksh (1851-1928), brother of Wilton's father

    Uncle Cabe /Clabe - Thomas Claiborne Booksh (1846-1902), brother of Wilton's father

    Cousin Manny - George Emanuel Booksh (1887-1967), son of Claiborrne Booksh

    Cousin Carrie - Carrie Belle Booksh (1873-1949), daughter of Claiborne Booksh

In the 1900 U.S. Census there are five Booksh families listed in the Grosse Tete area:

Charles Edouard (1838-1911) – Living with second wife Presidia Meyer in Belle Place, Iberia Parish. They were married 30 Oct 1888 in New Orleans. He had eight children with his first wife Mary Adelaide Crain.

Joseph Edgard (1842-1913) – Living with wife Zepharine Daigre and three daughters in Grosse Tete. He had seven children with his first wife, Elizabeth Adelaide Crain.

Thomas Claiborne (1846-1908) – Living with wife Erefile Joffrion and five of their seven children in Grosse Tete.

George Washington (1851-1928) – Living with wife Francis Effie Brooks and nine of their children in Grosse Tete.

Frederick Scott Booksh (1858-1914) – Living with wife Mary Emma Wallace and her daughter Kinta Duffel in Grosse Tete..

It's no wonder Wilton referred to the village as Bookshville.

A Christmas Present from Sam Booksh

On December 25, 1875 Belle received a Christmas present from Samuel Walker Booksh.

Carte de Visite album c 1870

It was a little leather photo album for the small calling card sized photos known as Carte de Visite which were made from 1854 to 1905. They were most popular in the 1860s.

 This album was made by 
  A. J. Holman & Co. of Philadelphia.

On the first page Sam has written:

Miss Belle Tisdale
From her .....
Sam'l W. Booksh
Dec. 25/75

















This is the earliest mention of Sam Booksh in Belle's papers.  They must have met when she was staying with her Grandma and Grandpa Pratt in East Baton Rouge Parish. His family lived across the Mississippi River in Grosse Tete, Iberville Parish.  Perhaps he was her beaux and from his inscription it seems he wanted to be more, maybe her fiance. Was this part of a marriage proposal?  They married in April 1878, a little more than two years later.

The first carte de visite in the album is not a photo but  a reproduction of a romantic painting titled Tender Chord. 





When I first saw the album it was filled with photos. Grandpa Booksh was able to identify most of them for me. Many were of Sam's brothers, his sister and other relatives. Was this his way of bringing her into his family?

The photo of Sam in the album bears a striking resemblance to my brother. It has been enhanced by the photographer, A. D. Lytle. No doubt Sam's blonde hair and blue eyes were under exposed. In the family we have titled this one "I wish I had a penciled-in moustache."

Samuel Walker Booksh   1853-1930

The back of the photo has the inscription:

Miss Belle Tisdale

From her friend

Saml. W. Booksh

and the word "rememberence" written just

above the photographer's name.

Samuel Booksh was born on the 4th of July 1853 in Grosse Tete, Iberville Parish, Louisiana, son of Charles Booksh, 1808-1886, and Marie Eliza Elizabeth Leonard, 1819-1897. He was the eighth of ten children, nine boys and one girl. He married Arabella Maria Tisdale on 23 April 1878. They moved from Grosse Tete to New Orleans in 1893. He died 3 November 1930 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Another photo in the album is of a more casually

posed Sam with his older brother Thomas Claiborne

Booksh, 1846-1902.                                                                             

Thomas Claiborne and Samuel Walker Booksh, c1875