The collection contains about 50 letters and other correspondence, mostly concerning news involving family and friends and other every day subjects. Some of the letters are in original envelopes, but some are lacking envelopes. At least three of the letters to Maggie Hallen are from other young ladies in St. Lawrence County looking hoping to work for her dressmaking business. Other correspondence includes invoices from merchants for sewing supplies, etc. Also included are tax collection receipts from the St. Lawrence County Treasurers office, as well as bank deposit receipts.
Collection Overview
The Hallen family spent at least a portion of their lives in Waddington, NY. The principal character in the collection Maggie Hallen, who worked as a dress maker/seamstress in Waddington in the 1880s and 90s. Other members of the family during the time of the letters hail from Alexandria Bay and Binghamton, New York and Bluffton, Indiana. Maggie Hallen’s father, James Hallen served as town of Waddington Tax Collector in the late 1870s.