Name/Title
LetterEntry/Object ID
2020.005.0001Scope and Content
This is a letter from Emma at the Young Ladies Seminary in Benicia to her cousin at the California Military Academy in Oakland. Her cousin is Mr. William H. Sharp of The Dalles Oregon. Emma mentions her sister Sophy also being at school with her. In the letter she tells her cousin that Sophy went home in the "invalid chair" on the baggage car of the train. The letter says Sophy has a nurse and a "Chinaman" cook and is resting in bed. The letter also describes a "Negro minstrel" at the school. It seems the show was put on by one of the classes dressed in blackface. She closes with love to cousin Ed who must be at the military academy with William.
I Believe this to be a letter from Emma Rhoda Sharp Wood (1867 - 1943) from Castoria, San Joaquin, CA. in the 1880 census. Her parents are Peter George Sharp and Elizabeth A. Wood from Ohio. She is writing to her cousin William Henry Sharp (1863 - 1943) who was at school at the California Military Academy in Oakland but living in The Dalles, Oregon at the time. His father was Phillip Thomas Sharp. Peter and Phillip plus another brother came to California in 04/1849 as part of a mining company for the Gold Rush. Emma's older sister Sophia Wood Sharp (1865 - 1903) was also a student at the YLS. Note that she died in 1903 and is buried at the Stockton Rural Cemetery. Can't find her death certificate so not sure what the cause of death was.Collection
Benicia School Collection
