Helen Genette Root was born in Huron County, Ohio, on June 3, 1829, the daughter of Josiah Root (1793-1866) and Nancy Green Root (1800-1850). The family moved from Ohio to Indiana and then on to Dallas, Texas, arriving on January 4, 1847. They did not stay in Dallas long as Helen married John Rufus Lowe (1823-1887) in La Porte County, Indiana, on April 30, 1848. The Root family moved to California sometime after Nancy Green Root's death in 1850. John and Helen Root Lowe had four children: John Morris Lowe, William Olin Lowe, Effie Gennette Lowe Montgomery, and Walter Franklin Lowe. Helen Root Lowe died in San Fernando, California on December 20, 1908.
This letter was written by Helen Genette Root to her maternal uncle, John W. Green, a physician in La Porte, Indiana, within a week of the family's arrival in Dallas, Texas. She reports living in spartan conditions to which they were unaccustomed. Their temporary living quarters was a house with no window or door; timber and water were scarce; and the only food available was bread, meat, and coffee. Helen's mother Nancy appends the letter with a note that describes the country as the "handsomest" she had ever seen, discusses agricultural matters, and urges her brother to move to Red River County where she saw "more pale faces that I ever saw in one place before."
Open for research. This letter forms part of the Texas General Manuscripts Collection, AR570.
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Purchased from Michael Brown Rare Books,
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Accessioned as number 2011-81.
Helen Genette Root Letter to John W. Green, January 10, 1847, Texas General Manuscripts Collection, AR570, Box Number, Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Library.
Letter is very fragile. Please use the photocopy instead of the original.
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