1908 Small Archive of Letters to Prominent Female Lawyer, Wellesley College Graduate, and Wife of Murdered Attorney General of Wyoming County, Pennsylvania

On offer is a collection of three letters written to Ms. Eulalie Piatt, member of the prominent Piatt legal family of Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. The collection also includes a legal judgment against one William Phelps, who owed money to Eulalie’s grandfather, Mr. William M. Piatt. 

Eulalie Piatt Ogden (1878-1970) was a graduate of Wyoming Seminary (1897), Wellesley College (1901) and a prominent Pennsylvania lawyer. She was the wife of Wyoming County, PA Attorney General Joseph F. Ogden, who was murdered on his front lawn in 1949. Eulalie was the daughter of James Wilson Piatt and granddaughter of William M. Piatt. The men of the Piatt family of Tunkhannock, Wyoming County, Pennsylvania were all prominent lawyers in the area. Piatt and Ogden married in 1917, joining two prominent legal families into one. 

The letters on offer were written in 1908, before Eulalie and Piatt married and after her graduation from Wellesley College. The letters are all written by her friends who are blatantly upper class. These young women can hardly contain their privilege. 

The first letter was written by a friend [signature indecipherable] in September of 1908. This friend had recently returned from a journey on the S.S. Romanic (subsequently renamed the S.S. Scandinavian). She describes the pleasant cross-Atlantic journey and her intention to turn her trip diary into a book some day. She describes a plan to learn European languages with a friend so she may eloquently interact with fellow European travelers in the future: 

“Myself and a friend are holding weekly bouts with the Dago languaes which I hope to speak ‘mucha’ the next time! The next time! Those are words that charm every European traveller”

The next letter was written in December, 1908. This letter is a two page thank you note from a friend in New Jersey. Her signature is also difficult to decipher. In this two-page letter, she thanks Eulalie for “your dainty gift from across the deep blue sea”. Her friend is a teacher who explains that her “fate this semester is to teach double sessions”. 

The final letter is a long, newsy piece written to Eulalie in December, 1908, from a friend named Clara who is entertaining in her affectation. Writing on Le Grand Hotel Venise stationary, she writes over five pages, regaling Eulalie with tales of men obsessed with her, challenges remembering to speak Italian, difficulties with the hired help and her concern about lacking time to hand-make all of her Christmas gifts. 

This collection of three letters and a legal ruling provide a well-rounded view of the life of the rich in the early 20th century. The significance of the circles in which Eulalie ran provide a backdrop when recognizing the prominence to which Eulalie and her husband would rise in the near future.

The three letters and legal document are all in very good condition. Age toning is noted but no rips or tears. All three letters have accompanying envelopes. Overall G+.