An 1891 dressed-up lady
January 11, 2011 (Tuesday)
In the fall of 1953, I went into a Goodwill store in Fort Worth and purchased an old history book that had been used as a textbook in the public school of Clifton, Texas. Somebody’s old personal library was up for sale volume by volume. The book cost me five cents. The owner at one time had been a young schoolboy by the name of Tandie Easley. His name was written throughout the book on many pages. He also drew pictures, including this one. He drew this in 1891 on the back of a map insert in a section of the book that described the Civil War naval skirmish beween the Merrimac and the Monitor. I’ve held on to this book for fifty-seven years. It is a prized possession of mine. Originally published in 1872, this is the 1885 edition.
The title of the book is “Barnes’ Brief History of the United States.” The preface of the book states that one of the reasons for writing it was to inspire a love for our country “and an intelligent solicitude for her destiny.” With such lofty goals in his studies, one 19th Century kid took the time to write notes and draw pictures in his book. “Boys will be boys.”