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Letter from Elizabeth Byles to Mary Byles, 29 September 1778

Letter from Elizabeth Byles to Mary Byles, 29 September 1778 Manuscript

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    Manuscript

    18.7 cm x 15.5 cm

    From the Byles family papers
    Mary Byles (1750-1832), was known as Polly, and was an aunt of Elizabeth Byles (1767-1808).


    In March 1776, the Byles family fled Boston with the British army for the safety of Halifax, Nova Scotia. In this letter to her aunts in Boston, eleven-year-old Elizabeth Byles shows off her penmanship and describes a sampler she stitched, which included a short poem composed by her father.