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Suppose you were planning to visit family
members at a distant place you've never seen before. In fact you've
rarely been as far as 100 miles from home. Your destination is
nearly 800 miles away and you'll be using public transportation.
All sorts of questions must be running through your mind about
the route to take, how to make the best connections, the cost
involved, and what clothes and other items to take along. True
as that might be today, imagine what it was like over a century
ago for two young women!
In late 1901 James and Agnes (Love) Holbrook, with their two small
daughters in tow, moved from Monaca, PA to New Bedford, MA in
search of better employment. Agnes, age 26 and reared in Monaca,
had left behind her widowed mother and seven siblings who ranged
from 14 to 31years of age. Several months later Agnes received
a letter from her sister Elizabeth (age 27), saying that she and
another sister (Christina, age 21) were making plans to journey
from Monaca to New Bedford for a visit. The news prompted Agnes
to write a letter to Elizabeth offering detailed advice on the
best route and modes of travel and several recommendations on
the clothing they should bring. Agnes's letter, recently rediscovered
by Love family descendants, is reproduced here to illustrate the
kinds of challenges faced by travelers in those days.
Some historical background that helped this reader understand
Agnes's travel suggestions is offered here. By the late 19th century
the Pennsylvania Railroad had already succeeded in providing through
passenger service from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, and beyond
as far as Newark, NJ. However, it was not until 1910 that the
railroad was able to tunnel beneath the Hudson River and build
its grand new terminal in Manhattan. Prior to then other means
of crossing the river were necessary, and ferryboats were the
popular choices. Rail travel east of New York City was an even
greater challenge. Between 1826 and the 1880s approximately 100
small and independent railroads were built in southern New England,
but by 1898 a series of mergers and leases of track rights had
given the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad a virtual
monopoly of rail transport in that region. However, differences
in the track gauges used by many of the original lines caused
connection problems that would plague travelers for years to come.
Meanwhile, steamship service offered by the Fall River Line on
Long Island Sound from New York to Newport, RI and beyond to Fall
River, MA had gained prominence and popular favor. With their
gilded interiors that appealed not only to wealthy clientele en
route to and from their Newport mansions but to middle-class passengers
as well, the Fall River steamers were often referred to as "floating
palaces".
Agnes Love Holbrook's letter to her sister Elizabeth, edited for
clarification and reproduced below, refers to several other members
of their family, including:
Jim Agnes's husband, James Holbrook;
Tina the Love family name for sister Christina;
Violet and Vera daughters of Agnes and Jim, ages 4 and 2;
Mr. and Mrs. H. Jabez Holbrook and wife, Jim's parents,
living in Monaca at the time;
Ma Christina (Mrs. Samuel F.) Love, widowed mother of Agnes
and Elizabeth and six other children;
Mern the family name for Marian (age 14), the youngest of
the Love sisters.
Thompson St.
New Bedford , Mass
June 19, 1902
Dear Sister
I received your letter [and] was glad to hear from you and that
you are coming. Jim says for you to go over to Rochester and ask
the station agent what it will take to come to New B[edford] on
right through for he says that cheap fare may only be from [Rochester]
to New York and then the fare from there to Bedford the same as
usual [H]e said to ask if they are having excursion rates and
they can tell you [F]or if that excursion is only from there the
agent here wont know about it. [A]nd Liz whatever you do come
by the Fall River Line for you will have to stop in New York and
get your baggage checked again and transferred to that other boat
and they only come to Providence and it will take 50 cents for
street cars to come here and all that riding [Y]ou can get your
baggage checked in Rochester to New B[edford] straight through
and you will never see it until you get here. it is the best way.
for you see the R.road don't have any connexion [sic] with the
F. River
They tell me if you come by rail all the way you go from N. Y.
to Boston - and then it takes 3 hours riding from there to here
[I]t takes longer They tell me that any person that is coming
here don't come that way. They always come by boat and it is the
cheapest in the end. don't come the way i did. [Y]ou take a first
class ticket and you will have no trouble getting here. When the
train puts you in New Jersey depot you come out and right across
the street you will see in big letters De Morris St. Ferryboat.
You take that. You don't pay any fare for that is on the ticket
and it lands you in New York in the Penna. RR depot and you can
see a big flag floating [O]n it is Fall River Line I think it
is pier 28. [Y]ou can ask in the depot and they will tell you
and it is not 2 minutes walk. If you come from Pitts[burgh] at
3 in the morning you are riding all day and you have only a few
minutes to come from New Jersey to the boat [Y]ou will have to
hurry to make it. You can leave Pittsburgh on the express at 10
o'clock at night and get there in the morning between 7 and 8
o'clock [T]here is only 25 minutes difference between it and the
one I took at 7 o'clock in arriving there [W]e were only 25 minutes
in the station when the express got in [W]e could have saved 3
hours riding by waiting for it until 10 o'clock in Pitts[burgh].
You can go to the boat and stay there all day [I]t gives you a
chance to get a rest. You are allowed on the boat and can stay
in the ladies cabin [I]t is all fixed up with parlor furniture.
And [you] can go down stairs and get something to eat. [O]nly
they don't let no one in the rooms until 5 o'clock [Y]our ticket
calls for a berth but you take a stateroom [I]t will cost $1.00
more [Y]ou have to pay that on the boat [F]or if you take that
berth they put you with 6 or 8 others and you won't like that
[W]hen you have a state room you can leave your things in there
and lock the door then you can go out on deck [T]here is a band
on there, and that is where they all go in summer [I]f it is too
bad at night they play inside It is nice on there [Y]ou will not
know the boat is moving [I] didn't until late in the night, and
then there was a storm come up [B]ut for all that it did not make
me sick [Y]ou tell Tina that is the best part of the trip and
it will not make her sick half as much as riding [I] was not 5
minutes out of Pitts[burgh] until I had to go out and vomit [I]was
out three times. Violet and Vera were not sick until after we
were here for 3 or 4 days [A]fter you get here is when you feel
it [Y]ou feel as though you were going up and then down, as though
the floor under you was moving. Tell Tina she will have all the
Railr[oad] rides she wants [by the time] she gets in New York.
she will be glad to be on the boat.
Liz you had better bring a heavy waist (1) for it gets cool here
in the evening [T]hey are wearing heavy clothes here Jim wears
his sweater at night [A]nd don't forget to bring your rainy day
skirt (2) for they wear them a lot here. If you have a new hat
you might bring your last summer hat along if it is not too much
trouble [Y]ou had better wear it for things get dirty coming from
Pitts[burgh] to N.Y. [B]ut on the boat they all wash and dress
up before they come up on deck [T]hey are all nice and clean.
They all have heavy skirts but have nice waists on. Jim says to
be sure and bring your bathing suit [H]e says if you have a golf
suit (3) and ping pong suit (4) not to forget them.
When the boat lands in Fall River you may have to wait a while
but stay on the boat until they call your train [Y]ou step right
off the gangplank onto the train and it brings you to Pearl St[reet]
station. i'll be there to meet you [Y]ou have to show your ticket
before you get off the boat. [D]on't be afraid to ask anything
that you want to know.
On the road coming they told the men they were going to give them
a week for the fourth [of July.] i expect they want to shut down
on the 3rd and not start until a week the following Monday.
How is Mrs. and Mr. H[olbrook] getting along? And how is Ma and
the rest of the Monaca people? I wish I had been home for Decoration
(5) I would like to see that (6) girl [I]f I am better fixed when
that wedding comes off i think I'll invite them here for their
honeymoon.
Violet keeps asking me if you are going to bring Mern [S]he thinks
it is funny for you to come and not Mern. Tell the people in the
factory if they sack you you can get a job here in the mill [T]he
lady upstairs earns 12 and 14 dollars a week. [A] lot of the men
and their wives work and pay a girl to keep house.
Well, I will have to close hoping you are all well and that you
will have no trouble in getting here. Liz, the fare at all times
here is $14.80 for a first class ticket $1.00 extra for a stateroom.
That makes it $31.60 for return so if you can get excurtion [sic]
rates look how much you save. [M]ore than half fare. Write soon
and let me know what they say.
Agnes