Carrie married Harry in 1891 when she was about 19, and he was 29. Carrie, who was seemingly raised in a performing family, joined her husband\u2019s show as a guitarist. In 1893, they welcomed a son, A.L. \u201cLeon\u201d Dawson.<\/p>\n
In the existing collection, I found the photographs of Carrie seen here. Her appearance seemed to match her rather melancholic words\u2014dark hair and very pale eyes, in a black silk and lace dress, possibly in mourning (a sister of hers died in 1891), with very rigid, deliberate poses. I began to imagine her as a somber, creative type like Oscar Wilde or Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice<\/em>.<\/p>\n I also found in the existing collection a few letters Carrie wrote to her husband while she was caring for their sick child and he was on tour. She added to her mystique when I read her words from Morton\u2019s Gap, Kentucky in 1895, \u201cI got the money [you sent] all O.K. and many thanks for same, but as it happened I did not need it. [\u2026] I made $1.50 on fortunes at 25 cents each.\u201d I recalled that in her ledger, Carrie had written a poem about telling fortunes as a child by \u201creading\u201d daisy petals that she had sprinkled on the ground.<\/p>\n Dawson Family Collection, M0333<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Soon after that, Carrie contracted TB, at that time called consumption. In May of 1897 she wrote to Harry, \u201cDr. B\u2013 said in his last visit, I must leave the city entirely or I would be within the shadows. He didn\u2019t say it in so easy a way but mighty blunt.\u201d Four months later, she died. She was only 25. Leon was 4. She is buried at the Russiaville Cemetery in Howard County.<\/p>\n A year before her death, with the symptoms of the \u201cwasting disease\u201d bearing down on her, she had written in the back of her poetry ledger,<\/p>\n Leon, my beloved son, the contents of this book has been the work of about ten years. The aspiration and ambition to be something other than an ordinary plodder I bequeath to you.<\/em><\/p>\n While I write this, you sit beside me too young to understand the deep love and tenderness that fills my heart for you. My tears are not so much that I know that soon I shall have to leave you, as that I fear I shall not be able to help you in the struggle which lies before you.<\/em><\/p>\n She goes on to write her hopes for Leon and offers him advice on navigating life. She encourages him to be brave, keep high standards, and maintain integrity: \u201cNo matter whether your work be popular or not, work only for the good of some suffering fellow man.\u201d She expounds on her views on God and science before closing, \u201cThis may not be a fitting finale to my Poems. Yet I do not claim any merit for them, only as a memento of the young mother who loved you dearer than life.\u201d<\/p>\n As my time at the IHS comes to an end, I wanted to leave this example of the innumerable life stories contained within our collections. It has been an honor to work with them, rediscover them, and share them.<\/p>\n The post Witchy Woman<\/a> appeared first on Indiana Historical Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While processing a collection from an individual, it\u2019s not unusual for an archivist to form a mental attachment to them, and a unique feeling of familiarity with them. While sorting out someone\u2019s private papers, letters, and photographs and researching their lives and family histories, it can be hard not to \u2014 especially when you come […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":348568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12032],"tags":[170633],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-348567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-history","tag-witchywoman"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/indianahistory.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/M0333_P_BOX2_FOLDER2_002-300PPI_detail-454x1024.jpg\")
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