It was a surprise when Alexander Matheson's letters jumped from 1896 to 1916. It signaled a change from the initial correspondence in which he took delight in exchanging news with the relatives he had lost for so long. In the later letter, he wrote about the 20 years they had been in touch and mentions that he visited them three times. I hope for his sake that travel from Letcher, South Dakota to Owen Sound, Ontario had become easier during that time. In the letter leading up to his first visit, he wrote that his route would go through Chicago and take him 2 or 3 days. That first visit happened in January. Not a great time of year for travel in Ontario but, at least the first time he made the journey, Alexander was a farmer so the winter was when he had the time to visit.
I'm still extracting the information from his letters but what I've read so far has deepened my curiosity about Alexander Matheson and the times in which he lived. He was a man who travelled far and lived through interesting historical times. There are places, events and people mentioned in his letters that I want to know more about. I also want to get a better feel for the background; the history of the places he lived in and wrote about and the family connections he mentions, so I need a plan.
While I continue the extraction process, I need to pinpoint items in his letters that need further research. Not only will this be research to find further information about places and events but it will also require delving into the family tree to find out where the people he has mentioned fit in. Perhaps some of them are part of that group that genealogical researchers advise that we look into, the FAN Club, (family, associates and neighbours), but others may actually fit into the Mathison family tree. It looks like this is going to be a multifaceted project.
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