Guide to Reading Letter Transcriptions
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| Textual Feature | Appearance |
|---|---|
| passage deleted with a strikethrough mark | |
| passage deleted by overwritten added letters | |
| passage added above the line | passage with added text above |
| passage added on the line | passage with added text inline |
| passage added in the margin | passage with text added in margin |
| handwritten addition to a typewritten letter | typed passage with added handwritten text |
| missing or unreadable text | missing text noted with "[illegible]" |
| uncertain transcriptions | word[?] |
| notes written by someone other than Willa Cather | Note in another's hand |
| printed letterhead text | printed text |
| text printed on postcards, envelopes, etc. | printed text |
| text of date and place stamps | stamped text |
| passage written by Cather on separate enclosure. | written text |
I was so glad to hear about you and your family3
and your summer plans. I am grateful to have good news of Carrie Sherwood4. I have known her a long, long time
— a precious friendship of many years. My first memory of her dates back to the
arrival of my family in Nebraska5. We moved
at once out to my grandfather6's farm, some
eighteen miles northwest of Red Cloud7. On
the first trip I made to Red Cloud in the farm wagon, I was taken by some member of
my family to the frame building which was then Miner Brothers General Store. I
remember a young girl who came up to me, held my hand for a few minutes and talked
to me. She had very bright eyes and looked interested. That was Carrie. The better
you kneow her, the better you will like
liked her.
Information about this letter:
- Source File:
- cat.let1833.xml
- Letter identifier
- 1833
- Contents
- Document is one leaf, typewritten on recto only.
- Person to whom letter was written
- Beatrix Mizer Florance 1
- Date letter was written
- June 12, 1946
- Place letter was written
- New York, New York, United States2
- Location of original letter
- Willa Cather Collection (Caspersen 54), Drew University Library, Special Collections and Archives, Madison, NJ
Person Annotations
Florance, Beatrix Elizabeth Mizer (1875-1963) (“Trixie,”
“Trix”). Cather’s childhood friend. Beatrix Mizer was born in
Ohio in a German-American family. They moved to Red Cloud, NE, in 1884.
Cather later recalled that when she first enrolled in school in Red Cloud,
“Trix Mizer was the prettiest little girl I had ever seen.” They acted
together in an 1888 production of “Beauty and the Beast” at the Red Cloud
Opera House. Mizer graduated from Red Cloud High School in 1893 and studied
voice at the Chicago Conservatory of Music 1897-1898, qualifying as a music
teacher, and at the Chicago College of Music 1899-1900. She married Sidney
Florance in 1903. In 1909 the couple moved to Red Cloud, where they settled
and raised a family. Beatrix’s Chicago musical studies and return to Red
Cloud may have inspired elements of Cather’s novel Lucy
Gayheart (1935). Cather’s correspondence with both Florances began
as early as 1914 and extended through the 1940s.
Florance, Sidney Riddell (1877-1957). Canadian-American banker and amateur poet. Born in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada, a younger son of Edwin Charles Florance and Margaret Riddell Florance, Sidney Florance emigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1881. He was working in Chicago where he met Cather’s friend, musician Beatrix Mizer. They married in 1903, settled in Red Cloud, NE, and had five children. He succeeded his father-in-law, Benjamin Mizer, as head of the Webster County Bank, and handled local business matters for Cather when she no longer had family living in Red Cloud.
1704Mousel, Beatrix Josephine Florance (1905-1994) (“Bicky”). Daughter of Cather's friend Beatrix Mizer Florance. Born in Illinois, only daughter of Sidney and Beatrix Mizer Florance, Beatrix grew up in Red Cloud, NE. She married Dr. Lloyd Mousel of Cambridge, NE, and they had three sons, Donald K. (1932-1994), David L. (b. 1942), and James (b. 1944). The family lived in Minnesota and later in the Seattle, WA, area. In the early 1950s Beatrix’s parents came to live near them in Washington. Cather probably knew the children of her friend Beatrix Mizer Florance from visits to Red Cloud in the 1920s.
1705Florance, Sidney Mizer (1910-1991) (“Pat”). Son of Cather's friend Beatrix Mizer Florance. Born in Red Cloud, NE, Pat Florance married Mary Agnes Grace of nearby Franklin County, NE, in 1939; they had three children, Patrick M. (b. 1941), Robert A. (b. 1943), and Patricia D. (b. 1949). They moved to Kansas, where they lived the rest of their lives. Cather probably knew the children of her friend, Beatrix Mizer Florance, from visits to Red Cloud in the 1920s.
1706Florance, Edwin Charles (1912-2006) (“Ted”). American aeronautical engineer; son of Cather's friend Beatrix Mizer Florance. Born in Red Cloud, NE, Ted Florance was named for his paternal grandfather. He attended the University of Nebraska, then married Carol Pierce, also of Red Cloud. The couple moved to San Diego, CA, where Ted worked for the Boeing Aircraft Company. Cather probably knew the children of her friend, Beatrix Mizer Florance, from visits to Red Cloud in the 1920s.
1707Florance, Ronald K. (1914-c. 2003). Son of Cather's friend Beatrix Mizer Florance. Born in Red Cloud, NE, Ronald Florance attended the University of Nebraska. In 1941 he married Virginia Newkirk in Grand Island, NE. They had three children, Janet M. (b. 1944), James R. (1948-1970), and Jeffrey S. (b. 1956). Ronald Florance died in Huntington Beach, CA. Cather probably knew the children of her friend, Beatrix Mizer Florance, from visits to Red Cloud in the 1920s.
1708Florance, Kirk Riddell (1916-1984) (“Bud”). Son of Cather's friend Beatrix Mizer Florance. Born in Red Cloud, NE, the youngest of the Florance family, Kirk Florance attended the University of Nebraska, where he was active in the cadet corps and student engineering societies. Kirk and his wife Shirley moved to southern California. He died of a heart attack in Los Angeles. Cather probably knew the children of her friend, Beatrix Mizer Florance, from visits to Red Cloud in the 1920s.
Sherwood, Carrie Miner (1869-1971). Sherwood, Carrie Belle
Miner (1869-1972) Civic leader; Cather's friend. Born in Waukon,
IA, to James L. Miner and Julia Erickson Miner, Carrie Miner was the eldest
of their children. The family moved to Red Cloud, NE, in 1878, where the
Miner Brothers store became the largest in town. Cather remembered meeting
Carrie there. In 1884, Carrie, her mother, and siblings were confirmed in
the Catholic church. In 1888, she studied music at St. Mary’s Academy at
Notre Dame, IN. She married bank clerk Walter Sherwood in late 1889; they
had two sons. The Sherwoods travelled often in the West, and visited Europe
in 1930. They built a new house at 3rd and Seward streets in Red Cloud in
1908; Cather sometimes sent materials for Carrie to keep in its spacious
attics. Carrie Miner Sherwood led local Red Cross work during the two World
Wars, served on the Red Cloud school board and park commission, and was
active in the League of Women Voters and in the Ladies Guild of Grace
Episcopal Church. Cather corresponded with Carrie Miner Sherwood throughout
her life and dedicated My Ántonia to Carrie, model
for Frances Harling in the novel, and her sister Irene. Carrie was one of
Mildred Bennett’s chief sources for The World of Willa
Cather (1951), and was instrumental in setting up what is now the
Willa Cather Foundation in Red Cloud.
Cather, William (1823-1887). Farmer; Cather’s grandfather.
Born in Back Creek Valley, VA, a son of James and Ann Howard Cather,
William Cather farmed and also raised sheep. He married Emily Anne Caroline
Smith in 1846, and they had two sons and three daughters who survived to
adulthood. In 1851, William Cather built a brick house he named “Willow
Shade,” where Willa Cather lived in her early childhood. William Cather and
his wife sided with the Union during the Civil War; after the war, William
Cather served his community as sheriff and funded schools. After visiting
his eldest son, George P. Cather, in Nebraska in 1874, he decided to settle
there, eventually bringing their surviving children, including Charles F.
Cather, Willa’s father. Later William turned his Webster County farmland
over to Charles, and he and his wife moved to Red Cloud, NE, taking their
orphaned grandchildren Kyd Clutter and Retta Ayre, with them. Cather
portrayed her paternal grandparents as Grandfather and Grandmother Burden in
My Ántonia (1918).
Place Annotations
