ERASTUS SNOW AND FAMILY FROM THEIR PERSONAL LETTERS - Last revised 2015-12-06
7 Dec 2015, Dixie State University Colleagues Meeting -- Pearl Harbor Day 74 years ago!
Donald R. Snow (snowd@math.byu.edu), Retired Professor of Mathematics, Brigham Young University
  1. Notes and letters posted on  http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html
  2. Powerpoint presentation about Earstus Snow and his family and the letter collection and some things we have learned about them
  3. Meet Erastus Snow
  4. Erastus Snow --> Erastus Beman Snow --> Eldon Stafford Snow --> Donald Ray Snow
  5. My Dad, Eldon Stafford Snow, in first graduating class of Dixie College, 1913
  6. Our Erastus Snow letter collection - several hundred letters total, preserved in libraries now; we use photocopies; have transcribed about 225 personal and family letters
  7. About Erastus Snow and his wives
  8. Transcribed by my family and posted on the Internet; searchable with Google; are still editing and adding information and identifying people and places; have several hundred more Church and business letters to transcribe
  9. What letters preserve
  10. Excerpts from the letters
    1. 1856-05-31 - Artimesia (SLC) to Erastus (St Louis) - resigned to living alone since Erastus traveling until he dies
    2. 1851-06-24 - Erastus (Liverpool) to Artimesia (SLC) - talking via letters, takes 10 months to get answers
    3. 1885-07-19 - Erastus (Mexico City) to Elizabeth (StG) - keep all my letters since not writing a journal
    4. 1851-04-06 - Erastus (Copenhagen) to Artimesia (SLC) - pleasant visit with Joseph Smith in his dreams
    5. 1869-11-18 - Erastus (St Joseph, Missouri) to Elizabeth - telegraph wires to go from Nebraska to SLC, if "Union don't burst up" (Civil War)
    6. 1886-10-11 - Erastus (Mexico City) to Edward H. Snow (on mission in Virginia) - about how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon with Seer Stone
    7. Erastus (SLC) to Elizabeth (StG) - shudders at thought of returning like a "sore back horse at the sight of the saddle"
    8. 1851-04-06 - Erastus (Copenhagen) to Artimesia (SLC) - "the old cow did not eat up the grindstone"
    9. 1851-04-06 - Erastus (Copenhagen) to Minerva (SLC) - "keep the light side of the picture up"
    10. 1884-03-14 - Erastus (Milford) to (Elizabeth) - "busy as a ______ and happy as a clam ____________"
    11. 1855-01-14 - Erastus (St. Louis) to Family (SLC) - bribes to get the kids to learn
    12. 1881-03-14 - Erastus (Colorado) to Elizabeth (StG) - someone to teach Herbert how to write
    13. 1887-02-11 - Erastus (Mexico) to Edward H. Snow (mission in Virginia) about Julia spending too much
    14. 1884-07-21 - Erastus (where) to Elizabeth - Arthur has to get his homework done to be able to go to the ranch
    15. 1882-12-22 - Minera (StG) to Erastus(Arizona) - about death of Artimesia
  11. Compiling and editing letter collections - find, scan, transcribe, edit, list of quotes, file naming
  12. File naming in systematic form allows finding and showing in order -- Free program EVERYTHING search engine from -- http://www.voidtools.com/ -- very helpful program
  13. To search in content of letters
    1. For online letter collection use Google
    2. For content in letters on your own computer use freeware such as FREE COMMANDER from -- http://freecommander.com/en/summary/
  14. Conclusions -- have only looked at a little of what's in the letters; letter collections are good for family history