TRANSCRIPTION OF MAY 1819 LETTER FROM
CATHARINE J. CONN TO SALLY WARE (SISTER OF JOSIAH WARE)
Researched and Transcribed by Judy C. Ware
©
Judy C. Ware April 2009
** S.E.T. Ware was Sarah (Sally) Elizabeth Taliaferro Ware –
daughter of James Ware III and granddaughter of James Ware II.
*** Catherine Conn was the oldest daughter of Isaac and Lucy Ware Webb;
Lucy being the sister of James III. Catherine
(Kitty) was 1st cousins with both Sally and Josiah Ware and all three
(Catherine, Sally, and Josiah) were the grandchildren of James Ware II.
OUTSIDE OF ENVELOPE
Paris, Kentucky
MAY 11th
Miss S.E.T. Ware
Snickers
Ferry Frederick
County, Virginia
May
6, 1819
Dear Sally,
I received your affectionate letter by Dr. Conn and I was much pleased to think
that my dear Sally had not entirely forgotten me. I
would attempt an apology but am sensible of the neglect I have been guilty of in not
writing to one of the greatest favorites I have on earth.
I am in great hopes that you will write to me frequently, as I do assure there is
nothing gives me more pleasure than receiving a letter from you. I am very much pleased to hear of your
grandmama’s recovery. I have had four
sons; three are living. My first I call John
Scott after Dr. Scott of Frankfort, my second son Webb is named after my father, my third
is named Joseph Scott after Dr Scott, formerly of Chillicothe (the doctor is now living in
Frankfort,) and Thomas after Grandfather Conn. My
second son, Webb, I had the misfortune to lose (last March was a year) with whooping cough
and measles. Winny Scott has five children;
two sons and three daughters. Lucy Scott has
one daughter; we call her Lucy Catherine.
Fanny Conn
has one only, Mary Catherine, and she is in her 9th year.
Our
connections are well, generally, except my grandfather who I am afraid will never enjoy
good health again.
I am very much pleased to hear Father still has in contemplation to visit Kentucky. I wish you could prevail on your grandmama to pay
us a visit in Kentucky. There is no
acquaintance on earth I should be more pleased to see than your grandmamma, and as to
yourself - I must beg it as a singular favor she will let you spend a few months with your
Kentucky relations.
I have nothing more to say but
Your affectionate cousin until death
Catharine J. Conn
N.B. Give my love to your grandmama
and all friends.
K.C.
K.C. stood for her nickname Kitty Conn
** At the time of this letter, Sally Ware (sister of Josiah Ware) was 22
years old and her cousin Catherine Conn was 28. Catherine
(or Kitty, as was her nickname) was already married, but Sally did not marry until a year
later in 1820.
The “grandmamma” of Sally’s that is mentioned in the
letter was probably her maternal grandmother from her mother, Elizabeth Alexander Ware. The grandmother’s name was Sarah Taliaferro
Snickers and Sally was actually named after her. The
Snickers name was well known in northern Virginia. Sally’s great grandfather and
Sarah’s father (Edward) was the name behind Snicker’s
Gap, Snicker’s Ferry, and the town Snickersville which was later renamed Bluemont. In a letter written by Cornelia Ware Anker in 1945,
she wrote “Edward Snickers was a large land holder with original grants from Lord
Fairfax. He owned land from the top of the
mountain including Bears Den down to the ferry, which he owned & an inn at the
crossing of the Shenandoah, also much land in what is now Clarke County. The town of Bluemont was formerly called
Snickersville. I note that so many of the
family have the middle name of Alexander, but fail to find one to perpetuate the name of
Snickers and I can’t say I blame them.”
The other people Kitty mentioned were:
Winny Scott – She was her younger sister who went on to have 11
children.
Lucy Scott – She was another younger sister who would eventually
have 10 children.
Fanny Conn – She was a cousin; daughter of Kitty’s Aunt Polly
and Uncle Charles Webb. Fanny died sometime
between 1819 and 1830.
It can be assumed
that Kitty was not happy about the move her husband was planning on making. She died a year after this letter to Sally Ware was
written (on May 24th, 1820) of cholera. From
the sounds of a letter that her mother, Lucy Ware Webb, wrote approximately 10 years after
this one, Kitty’s children were no longer raised together after her death. “James
Conn (Kitty’s
husband) moved near the blue licks or rocks and mountains; his wife (Kitty) very much
opposed to his selling or moving. I have no
doubt but it will be his ruin. Kitty’s
oldest son John is living with James Webb. He
(James Webb) got me to write to his (John Conn’s)
father that if he would let him have John (the son), he would educate him and give him whatever
professional character his talents would best suit. He
sent him. Kitty is living with me. The other two, Joseph and Thomas, (Kitty’s other sons)
are with him (James Conn)
– to my sorrow. I wrote a letter to him
the other day that if he would give up their mother’s (Kitty’s)
property that Mr. Webb (Kitty’s
father) gave her (though but little) we would take the other two boys and
educate them and insure to them the property when they came of age. But I did not send it, knowing it would displease
him very much.”
References:
Original long letter
of Cornelia Ware Anker (1945) - This letter is a goldmine of first-hand, intimate family
facts & memories. Cornelia was the
daughter of Sigismund Stribling Ware (son of Josiah William Ware.)
Snickers Acquires
His Fortune – taken from Clarke County Records
Edward Snickers,
Yeoman by: Ingrid Jewell Jones. Clarke County
Historical Association Archives
Letter from
Lucy Webb to her niece, Sarah (Sally) Elizabeth Taliaferro Ware Stribling (sister of
Josiah William Ware) - - written June 5 circa 1828 Transcribed
with background research by Judy C. Ware in 2007 |
