Cooper and McAmis Families Letters

The collection contains letters and other materials of two sisters, Maggie Cooper of Marion (and later of Brierfield), Alabama, and Mattie McAmis of Birmingham, Alabama. Although none of the letters is correspondence between the two, the letters to Mattie all reference Maggie and indicate that Mattie lived with Maggie and her family for some time.

Maggie's letters, written between 1861 and 1868 are to her mother. The first two, written in January and March 1861, speak of the secession of Alabama and Tennessee from the United States. The other letters tell about her children (Bell, Bama, and a little boy - not named) and the various illnesses the family endures, including cholera and typhoid fever. There is also one letter from Bama Cooper to one of her aunts, written on 4 May 1883, from Birmingham, Alabama. [Note: there are transcriptions of the first two letters included.]

The letters to Mattie McAmis are all from her brother, Jim, written between 1872 and 1873, from Montgomery, Alabama. Jim relates news from various friends and family and always ends by asking Mattie to "give my love to Sam, Mag and the children."

The collection also includes two poems and a list of materials. The materials list indicate that Mattie is a "Wax Work Teacher" in Birmingham, and lists a rose leaf mould, diamond dust, carmine, "crome" yellow and one wax "nife." There are also pattern pieces for at least four flowers, small birthday, Christmas and calling cards, as well as several empty enveopes.