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
- Notes and
letters posted on http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html
- Powerpoint
presentation about Earstus Snow and his family
and the letter collection and some things we
have learned about them
- Meet Erastus
Snow
- Erastus Snow
--> Erastus Beman Snow --> Eldon Stafford
Snow --> Donald Ray Snow
- My Dad, Eldon
Stafford Snow, in first graduating class of
Dixie College, 1913
- Our Erastus
Snow letter collection - several hundred letters
total, preserved in libraries now; we use
photocopies; have transcribed about 225 personal
and family letters
- About Erastus
Snow and his wives
- 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
- What letters
preserve
- Excerpts from
the letters
- 1856-05-31 -
Artimesia (SLC) to Erastus (St Louis) -
resigned to living alone since Erastus
traveling until he dies
- 1851-06-24 -
Erastus (Liverpool) to Artimesia (SLC) -
talking via letters, takes 10 months to get
answers
- 1885-07-19 -
Erastus (Mexico City) to Elizabeth (StG) -
keep all my letters since not writing a
journal
- 1851-04-06 -
Erastus (Copenhagen) to Artimesia (SLC) -
pleasant visit with Joseph Smith in his dreams
- 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)
- 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
- Erastus (SLC)
to Elizabeth (StG) - shudders at thought of
returning like a "sore back horse at the sight
of the saddle"
- 1851-04-06 -
Erastus (Copenhagen) to Artimesia (SLC) - "the
old cow did not eat up the grindstone"
- 1851-04-06 -
Erastus (Copenhagen) to Minerva (SLC) - "keep
the light side of the picture up"
- 1884-03-14 -
Erastus (Milford) to (Elizabeth) - "busy as a
______ and happy as a clam ____________"
- 1855-01-14 -
Erastus (St. Louis) to Family (SLC) - bribes
to get the kids to learn
- 1881-03-14 -
Erastus (Colorado) to Elizabeth (StG) -
someone to teach Herbert how to write
- 1887-02-11 -
Erastus (Mexico) to Edward H. Snow (mission in
Virginia) about Julia spending too much
- 1884-07-21 -
Erastus (where) to Elizabeth - Arthur has to
get his homework done to be able to go to the
ranch
- 1882-12-22 -
Minera (StG) to Erastus(Arizona) - about death
of Artimesia
- Compiling and
editing letter collections - find, scan,
transcribe, edit, list of quotes, file naming
- File naming in
systematic form allows finding and showing in
order -- Free program EVERYTHING search engine
from -- http://www.voidtools.com/
-- very helpful program
- To search in
content of letters
- For online
letter collection use Google
- For content
in letters on your own computer use freeware
such as FREE COMMANDER from -- http://freecommander.com/en/summary/
- Conclusions --
have only looked at a little of what's in the
letters; letter collections are good for family
history