Boring But Historical, Love In an Envelope

Love In An Envelope, A Courtship in the American West, Edited by Daniel Tyler with Betty Henshaw.  Ever the romantic, I was drawn to the book by way of an article in our local QC Times newspaper some years ago.  I was also interested in reading it because the main characters, Leroy Carpenter and Martha Bennett, came from my part of Iowa originally.  The mention of DeWitt,  Calamus, Clinton, Maquoketa, Low Moor, Tipton, and Davenport caught my eye as they are "home town areas" to me.  In abut 1871, Leroy and Martha have met locally through relatives. But his family soon moves to Greeley, Colorado.  They maintain and develop an ever closer relationship through their lengthy letters, written in what the authors say is a typical Victorian standard.  Mostly, flowery, circuitous, lengthy and boring sentences, not unlike my own.  Along the way however I did learn much about the difficult settling of the Greeley area.  The importance of church, Sunday School, community groups and meetings in rural communities separated by only a few miles, but in lengthy walks or wagon rides, was repeatedly scored.  Their relationship was building towards a marriage in April of 1872.  They had recently met when he left. She was teaching in rural schools at about the age of 16!  They got to know each other through their letters.  Health concerns their own, their family's or their community's were paramount in every letter.  All passion is deeply imbedded in Victorian rules of conduct and expressions.  It is my opinion that they were taking a deep leap of faith in their devoted letters to know a suitable marriage relationship was forming.  He hadn't even kissed her!  For those interested in history, women's suffrage, temperance, the early settlement of Greeley, and eastern Iowa families I'd rate it a 8 on my 1 to 10 scale.  For griping excitement "I can't put it down" interest, I rate it a 4 on a 1 to 10 scale.  The most wonderful part is that the letters were kept, in good condition, found and published for posterity.