[amypaintsminis]

Ok, my Dad was in the insurance claim business for quite a long time, and his grandfather worked in the same profession. The following is a quote of one of my great grandfather’s insurance papers:

“This letter below is an exact copy of the original. It was written in pencil and is on file in the Claim Agent’s Office of the A&Y RR in Green-sboro, N.C. This letter was written in all seriousness without any attempt to be funny. The writer is Simon Green R.F.D.L, Bear Creek, N. Carolina.

Mr. Falkner,
A. & Y. Railroads,
Greensboro, N.C.

Your railroads rund over my bul at the 20 mile pass las Wenesey. He air not ded yet but mout as wel be, and I want your section bost to repore him ded and pade fur.
Hit mased out bote his seeds leafing him mity little of his bag. Hit teared out a piece of skin a foot squaire twixt his peker and nabul.
He air tiatlly unqualified to be a bul and he air mamed up to bad to be a steer and he air to dam tuff for beef so I want you to repore him ded and pade fur.

Yours ensoforth,
Simon Green

Ps-He war a bad bul but he stans around looking mity dam blew these days.”

Hope you all enjoy this as much as I did

[Enchantra]

I'm going to guess this was from earlier in the 1900's seeing it was also your Grandfather's business. I'm also going to guess the author of the letter had a very poor education. The unfortunate thing is back in the times of our Grandparents when they were growing up (At least with mine) It wasn't required by any laws for you to stay in school till a given age (NY state says 16). In fact many Farming families chose to keep thier children home after a certain age so they could help on the Farm. These families had to do this in order to keep the farm running. So it is entirely possible for someone to be writing like this when your Grandfather had the business.

My Grandmother did not go beyond the 8th grade and my Grandfather never went beyond the sixth grade. In my Grandmother's case she had to help care for her younger siblings. In the case of my Grandfather not only did he have to help with his siblings but he was expected to work to bring in money. Both of them would be considered ignorant by the standards of today. The fact that they could both at least read, write and do basic Math is what got them through. Grandma drove a schoolbus for a long time and Grandpa ended up going into the Plumbers union and spent almost 50+ years as a plumber until he retired.

The farmer who wrote that letter in today's standards would be considered "Functionally Illiterate." Functionally illiterate does not mean you cannot read and write altogether, but it does leave the individual in today's world at a definite disadvantage. When I was teaching on the college level and we were discussing literacy in class, I was stunned to find in research that I was reading through that in our country alone, one out of every eight students graduates highschool functionally illiterate. (This meant in theory I would come across some in my classes since I had over 140 students. I found out who they were when midterm papers were handed in.)

And just an added last note. If that bull was for breeding purposes which it sounds like it was, then yes, it probably was worthless to the farmer after the accident it was in. Good breeding stock at least back then on a Farm was considered to be gold. You guarded it and you maintained it. It was a good way to earn money by allowing others to have their stock studded by a bull or stallion you owned.

[Spike]

YOu have to bear in mind that back in those days, there wasn't much need for an education if you were to be a farmer or tradesman. Even my own mother's mother (who I always thought to be fairly clever and sensible) left school at age of 14 to be a seamstress and started a family at 15 because in those days, age came with a bit more maturity. By MY standards, she could be called a dropout and a child-mother, but someday I'll be judged by my own grandkids' standards..and probably not so nicely.

Old letters are fun to read though. It kind of makes me think that an insurance inspector's job was alot more fun two or three generations ago.

[vejlin]

My late grandmother was into family trees and stuff like that. She'd gathered a lot of different documents about our family. I particularly remember a piece of paper which added up the value of one of my ancestors's properties after he died. It was a couple of hundred years ago, and they counted the value of EVERYTHING, even nails! Kinda funny for a modern human reading this note containing the value of the house, livestock, funiture and then also clothes and nails!

Yes old documents are funny