Samuel Gardner and Lucy Hartwell Pond correspondence

Samuel Gardner was a teacher who lived in Kewanee, Illinois. Gardner had been orphaned at a young age, and grew up with relatives in Bedford, Massachusetts. He considered his cousins Lucy and Alzina as his sisters and seemed to care for them deeply. Gardner did not have a good relationship with his aunt and uncle, and in 1859 he left their home in Bedford to move west. From his letters to Alzina and her parents, it seems as though he left very suddenly, and perhaps secretly. He did not want to take over his family’s farm, and moved to Kewanee, Illinois, to start a new life. Gardner began teaching school and attended high school for some time. He taught at several schools in the area each year, as school terms were often only four months. Gardner later became a superintendent in the area, and might have moved further west later in life. In his letters home, he stated he did not like the west, and intended some day to move back east to Bedford.

Mary Alzina (Hartwell) Fletcher was born 21 February 1839. She lived in Bedford, Massachusetts while growing up. She became a teacher at some point, then married Matthew R. Fletcher 1 January 1861. The couple lived in Arlington, Massachusetts, for some time, and then moved back to Bedford in 1884 to live on Alzina’s mother’s property. Alzina was Samuel Gardner’s cousin, and Lucy’s sister.

Lucy Webber (Hartwell) Pond was born 16 January 1837. She lived in Bedford, Massachusetts, until her marriage to Hannibal S. Pond 25 November 1858. The couple lived on a farm in Springfield, Vermont, but they may have also lived in South Bedford for some time. Lucy often wrote to Samuel, her parents, and her sister to describe farm life, home life, and local news. She became pregnant some time in 1859, but there is no record of a birth. She died by being thrown from a carriage 2 October 1860, although both Alzina and Samuel seem to think she was murdered.