The Letters on eBay

Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard, taken 2011.

A whole new world opened up to me after a friend sent me a link to an eBay site. His last name is Bishop, and this is the second time he informed me of something on eBay relating to Bishop, my mother's surname. I don't believe my friend is interested in genealogy. The item consisted of two letters, by two different people, dated 12 Sept. 1837, it was 3 pages long and included an envelope to Rev. James B. Wilcox of Castile, Genesee County, New York. Best of all, the asking price was $9.50.

Since I hadn't used eBay, I had to set up an account, then the fun began. I won't bore you with the bidding war that went on for several days between novice me and two pros. I am positive that neither was after the letters written from Martha's Vineyard, and mailed from Falmouth, MA, but they were after the 1837 envelope. I want to get word to the new owner and let them know I'd love a photocopy of the letters because I knew all the individuals mentioned, so I am hoping that this blog post will find its way to the letter owner who paid $39.00.

The seller had quite a few other envelopes to sell, and I was very pleased that he did an abstract, with just enough information for me to know these people were mine. Mentioned were my two cousins 4x removed, Eliza Bishop and Phebe Bishop Jenkins, news that my 2nd great-grandaunt, Flora Bishop Colegrove was married and had a 1 1/2-year-old daughter (died the following year), and several others were mentioned.

Several lines from the seller, "Our dear Ct relatives are few & scattered, this renders them doubly near & dear to us ...." and "We often speak of your dear family, although we have little knowledge of you. The fact that there is an Elisa Bishop among your number conveys additional interest to my mind ..." Of course I want to know who Elisa Bishop is too, I haven't a clue.

Now that I have an account, I plan on setting up alerts for letters and envelopes. There is a current offering for a letter written by J. Low in Hartford on December 15, 1828 and addressed to Mr. T. W. Gibb in Hinesburg, Vermont. The letter is sad because it informs him of the death of a brother Ephraphrae Hull of Typhus Fever.