The first one comes from Mrs. Yvonne Paulley of Lebanon Junction, KY. Mrs. Paulley's envelope was marked "Do Not Bend!". Inside the envelope was a single photograph of one Katherine Lois Humes taken about 1980. Mrs. Humes was approximately 84 years old at the time. She was the daughter of George Hume. All of this information was handwritten on the back of the photo, and no other information (letter, etc.) was enclosed. Mrs. Humes is my biological great grandmother. I never knew her, because I never knew my biological mother. This was the first photograph I had ever seen of Mrs. Humes. Mrs. Humes supposedly died within a few years of the picture being taken. The picture was taken by Alvis Hall Hume, Mrs. Paulley's father. My great-great-great grandfather James Peter Hume was Mrs. Paulley's great uncle.
Katherine Lois Humes, abt 1980
The second piece of mail comes from Ms. Susan Rogers of Zionsville, IN. Ms. Rogers is a paper conservator and was returning a historical document that I had sent to her. The document was a Original Indiana Land Grant dated 1838. It was made out to one Gideon Crooks of Parke County, Indiana for land purchased in Crawfordsville, Indiana. In the lower right corner in blue inked handwriting is the signature "MVan Buren". Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States. Unfortunately, research has proven that the signature is not by the hand of the president himself, but rather by one of his secretaries. Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States, ended the practice of the president personally signing land grants because they simply became too numerous and time consuming. Never the less the document is quite interesting and Ms. Rogers did an excellent job of restoring the document. The land grant was part of my grandfather's amatuer collection of history. I also have newspapers from 1795 and 1809 that once belonged to him. The land grant is 16 x 10 and would not fit on the scanner to upload here.
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