Jesse Joe's Letter

This week, I thought I would go back to revisit my first post and highlight the relationship between my grandparents. A few years ago, I was at my grandmother's house looking for writing samples to add to my family tree. I love seeing how different people write, and seeing signatures in particular. My grandmother showed me recipe cards her mother had written. She showed me letters between my great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother. Then, she gave me a letter my grandfather had written her while he was away on duty for the Coast Guard.

He started writing on 13th of July 1987, and he writes a little bit at a time so that it ends 23 July 1987. He is traveling across the Atlantic Ocean during the trip headed towards Thule, Greenland (which he writes as Tule Greendland.) All spelling is as he wrote it, except that he writes in mostly all capital letters, and I capitalized as I saw necessary instead.

Photograph of letter and envelope, taken 2017

It was written on standard yellow notepaper. (I say "standard" because I always remember it being at the house growing up, but it is larger than your typical 8.5"x11" paper. It's even longer than A4 paper.) It is written in pencil (except for the LOVE YOU DEAN at the top of the first page which is written in a pen or marker), and it's four pages single-sided.

LOVE YOU DEAN 

13 July 87 

Hey Dean, 

Well today is Monday evening, just a few lines to let you know how things are going. We are off New York about hundred miles or so, it has cool off nice now--when we departed Norfolk it was really hot. In my forward engine-room it was 127*F--the sea's have be flat, and a little foggy. Hope your operation will go ok for you. So far the engines are running fine. it was good to hear your voice Sat. befor we departed. How is David do-ing now? Throught I write you a little each day if I have time, and let you know what going on. Well untill later, miss you. 

It's now Thu. 16th. All this week it been really foggey. This morning is the first time it's been clear no fog. We are about 1 1/2 days behine our schedule due to operating slow in fog. Other than the fog the weather and sea's have been good. The temp is cooling off 50 and 60*F now. Well today you go to the doctor, I hope and pray everything will go well for you. Miss you alot Dean, I be so glad when you and I retire so we can be together and do all the thing we want to do together. How is the house floor support job coming along? So far all the engines and propulsion system's are operating good, no real problem's. I am go-ing to try to loose some weight this patrol if I can. I would sure like to get down to about 180 lbs. instead of 195 to 200 lbs. range. Sure wish I were back home, so I could do all the things I want to do. But I just have to wait. Well Dean, I write you more later on. Miss you and love you. 

Well, it's Saterday now, this morning the first iceberg was slicated. The sea's are picking up and it is raining. We got about 1,200 miles of open water untill we get to greed-land. My engines are operating good. Well that about all that is happening out hear. I hope and pray this letter will fine you doing ok. Sure wish I was back home instead of being out hear. There so much I want to do around the house, and be with you. I miss you alot's. As Brittany spend the night with you in our big bed? I bet she will be walking when I get back in Sept. We should be back sometime the first week of Sept. and are scheduled to go yard's for three month's Oct. and should be finish in the yards befor X-mas. Don't know where the yards will be, or what the ship will do after the yard's. Boy sure hope I can get the Gentian out of Ft. Macon Mar. 89. That would wipe my 30 years up. I sure going start putting the wheels in motion to get the Gential after the Northwind, I should be able to get it. How is David doing? I hope he got over his cold. Sure glad he got that state road job. Well Dean, don't know what all to say at this time, other than I love you and miss you. I write you tomorrow on Sunday. 

Hey Dean, it's Sunday evening, we are back operating in the fog real slow, it's raining out and it's getting colder in the 30's now and the rain is turning to ice on the deck's. Nice and warm in the engine-rooms. We are now schedule to get to Tule, next Sunday the 26th. There are alreadly two icebreaker up there from Canada. Really don't know why we are still going. If the Coast Guard alreadly got two icebreaker, other than to show the U.S. flag and say the North-wind made it to Tule Greedland. I hope it's asn't been too hot, like it was befor we departed on patrol. If I could send you some of this cold wether I would. Don't know what all to write about, other than to let you know I am thinking about you, and wish I was there with you. Sure do miss you a lots. I bet you have been staying busy around the house, cutting class, going to Jacksonville seeing my mama, taking your mama shoping, going to work in Morehead, ect. Try and take it easy some, and maybe take a weekend off and go see Frank and Fay, you need to get away some. Well Dean I close for now and write you more later on the week before we get to Tule, so you have a long letter from me. Miss you. 

Hello again, it's now Wednesday 22nd. We are operating real slow due to heave for and ice berg's. The temp. is in 30's & 40's. It now staying daylight almost 24 hrs aday. I been busy standing underway watches and doing paper work. The time seems to be going by petty fast. I know I be glad to get back home and see you. Then I got to drive my new truck some, sure have nice truck when I get that body put on. I miss you alots and think about us alots. Dean I love you. Well almost at end of this page, so I say buy for now. Write you a little more later. 

Hello again it's Tue 23th, we are schedule to get to Tule tomorrow evening or Saturday morning, and turn right around and escort a ship back out to sea. Then back to Tule and do it again. Hope we get mail call each time in Tule. Well Death as it now stand's will should be back in Wilmington Labor Day weekend sometime. But it don't look like we will have bery much time in our homeport, for we are schedule to be in the yard by 21st of Sept. and we won't know where the yard period will be untill first part of Sept. What little time we do have in our homeport should be maximum liberty time off. I talked to the EO today about taking 3 wk's off in October during the yard period, for I wanted to build another building. He said it should not be any problem taking leave in the yard's. So maybe Jr. and I can get started and have the foundation all done before the ship depart's for the yard's. Dean I sure will be glad when I can retire and stay home, and then when we want to go somewhere, we can do it together. Only 3 1/2 more year's. You think we can make it untill then? Looking forward of getting to Tule for mail call, and sending this letter. I hope everyone is doing ok, and thing's are going good for you. I know you have a lot on you. Dean take care of your-self, for I don't want anything to happen to you. Well Dean I close this letter for it's 4 pages long. And start another letter. Write when you have time, for as always getting mail from you makes my day brighter. 

Love always

Jesse

Archiving Documents

This week, I thought I would give my tips for keeping the precious photos and historical/genealogical documents safe and in good condition. Some of these are common sense, and some of these have been compiled from various genealogical forums and other resources.

Photographs
First, when handling old photographs, only handle the edges of the photo. Even as a kid, I hated the look of fingerprints on pictures, but it's not just an issue with aesthetics. The oils left behind on the face of the photo will ultimately damage the photo over time. If you must touch the photo faces, wear white cotton gloves.

One thing that is a major road block for most genealogists is unlabeled photos. I'm a person who doesn't really label my photos either, so I get it. Unfortunately, even though I know I'm looking at a photo of my uncle, my future grandkids may not know immediately who is in the photo. As a result, they may assume incorrectly the identity of the "mystery" person, or they may be unable to make any kind of assumption at all to his identity.

So, to label a photo, you have two options depending on the type of photo. If the photo is paper-based, use a soft lead pencil. If the photo is more modern (printed on resin-coated paper), use a waterproof, fade-resistant, permanent pen. And, for both utensils, you will want to write lightly. Don't damage the picture by pressing too hard and making indentations.

So now you know how to handle and label your photos. What do you do with them next? Find a way to store them!

I prefer scanning my images and keeping them on an external harddrive. Make sure to scan them correctly the first time so you don't have to handle to photos excessively. Scan them at the highest resolution possible to get the best result. Some home photo scanners can even read old negative strips you may find laying around and pull the photos straight from the source. I haven't scanned all of my photos yet, but the ones of family members tend to be my main priority so I can add them to the family tree.

Also important to know as far as digital photos goes is that JPG files lose a little bit of their content every time they are saved. Because of this, you want to avoid using JPG files if at all possible. TIFF would be a more preferable option.

Then, even though I love having digital copies of my photos, I am a pack rat, so I still like keeping the originals. When storing photos, use an archival-quality box. You can find these at craft stores, The Container Store, or even some department stores. Once the photos are in the proper container, store them in a temperature-controlled setting and keep them off the floor and away from any moisture or moisture-producing pipes or tanks. (If your photos get wet, air-dry them immediately. If you can not deal with the photos within a day or two, freeze them in small batches in Ziploc bags. When you are ready to fix them, unfreeze air-dry them.)

Documents
As with my photos, I love to keep digital copies of all of my important (and even not so important) family documents. Even times when I didn't have my scanner available, I will often find myself taking a photo of the record and then cropping the photo down to size.

For the actual papers themselves, keep all paper documents unfolded when you are storing them. You'll want to store them in an archival-quality folder or envelope. Now, most people tend to store their documents in hanging file folders, but I have noticed that over time, if the folders are not properly compressed, the pages start to sag and start to curl up. So, to fix this, store your paper documents flat. Document boxes work great here.

If the document is already folded, such as a letter, make sure to not force the paper flat. You don't want to accidentally tear the paper. Leave the paper open as far as it is comfortable for a while and see if gravity and the moisture in the air will do the work for you.

Newspapers
One type of document that kind of stands alone as far as archival techniques go are newspapers. Newspapers are not printed on the best paper for archival purposes. So, to assist with this, copy/digitize newspapers as soon as possible and then store the newspapers or clippings in a completely separate box. If you store them in the same box as your other documents or photos, the newspapers could actually damage the other documents.

Books
I LOVE books. All kinds of books. Novels, plays, yearbooks, baby books, family bibles, magazines, cookbooks, etc. take up my entire second bedroom. (I always imagined having a large library in our house when we finally find a place to settle down.)

Of course, I scan whatever I can and store digital copies. Yearbooks have become one of my favorite resources lately (especially when researching my husband's family -- where everyone in his home county seems to be related!). I scan the photos and crop them down to the individual people, clubs, or sports teams. (This is a good example of one of those instances where you don't want to be dealing with a JPG, which loses quality and information every time it is re-saved.)

I also have a fascination with handwriting. The personal messages in yearbooks are such great insights to family history researchers! Did your family member (or at least his or her friends) have a sense of humor? Are there notes of past loves? A lot of people added their phone numbers or addresses too, so it can be great to use that information to recreate your family member's community.

I store all of my books of genealogical importance laying down (rather than standing up in traditional bookshelf fashion). Of course you want the books to be stored in a climate-controlled environment, meaning not the garage or attic, and away from any moisture.

Also, some books' covers tend to be a little sticky (yearbooks are bad for this in particular). They can stick to the book(s) above or below them, and sometimes it can damage the covers. If you find this to be the case for your books, or if you fear this may be the case, you can separate the books with some pieces of acid-free paper.

Finally, some books, especially old scrapbooks and baby books, may be keepsakes you want to preserve despite the fact that they may not have been made on acid-free paper. These may be cases when you would want to seal the book and its contents. Encapsulation is a reversible option for this where the pages or objects are placed in an archival sleeve and sealed with acid-free double-sided tape.

There are, of course, more detailed how-tos and guides out there for archiving documents and heirlooms, but these are the things I find myself using most often since I have very few heirlooms that are not in one of these forms. If you have any questions about any of my techniques or tips and tricks, feel free to contact me. Happy Archiving!