Treasure Chest Thursday - 1917 Postmarked Envelope, C. B. Sharp to Ida Slesser

This treasure is an envelope without its contents.^[1] Nevertheless, it tells us the residences of the sender and recipient on 17 September 1917. The recipient, Mrs. Ida Slesser was in Carrsville, Kentucky and the sender, C. B. Sharp, attorney-at-law, was in Forsyth, Missouri.

Commentary:

This piece of evidence confirms Ida's residence in Carrsville in 1917. It is consistent with her appearances in 1910 and 1920 U.S. censuses as wife to Albert Slesser in Carrsville.^[2][3] However, it provides some new clues regarding her brother Charles.

C. B. Sharp or Charles B. Sharp is one of Ida's older brothers. Ida and Charles appear together in the same household of the 1870 U.S. census,^[4] and they are both named in their father's 1884 will.^[5] The envelope suggests that Charles moved to Missouri after leaving home. It also tells us he was a lawyer — hopefully with a considerable paper trail.

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1. C. B. Sharp (Forsyth, Missouri) to Mrs. Ida Slesser (Carrsville, Kentucky), envelope, postmarked 17 September 1917, Forsyth, Mo.; Mitchell Family Papers, privately held by Stanley Mitchell, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Mountain View, California, 2015. Envelope inherited from Mayme (Sharp) Mitchell probably given to her by her aunt Ida Slesser. ^↩
2. 1910 U.S. census, Livingston County, Kentucky, population schedule, Magisterial District No. 5, town of Carrsville, enumeration district (ED) 105, sheet 3-A, dwelling 55, family 57, Albert H. Slesser household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Nov 2014); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 491. [See blog post: Census Sunday - Albert H. Slesser household, 1910 U.S. Census, Livingston Co., KY ] ^↩
3. 1920 U.S. census, Livingston County, Kentucky, population schedule, Magisterial District No. 5, town of Carrsville, enumeration district (ED) 119, sheet 1-B, dwelling 13, family 16, Albert Slesser household; digital images, Internet Archive ( https://archive.org/stream/14thcensusofpopu587unit#page/n681/mode/1up : accessed 16 Nov 2014), image 682; citing NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 587. [See blog post: Census Sunday - Albert Slesser household, 1920 U.S. Census, Livingston Co., KY ] ^↩
4. 1870 US. census, Livingston County, Kentucky, population schedule, Carrsville Precinct No. 5, p. 175A (stamped), dwelling 313, family 321, William Sharp household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : downloaded 15 November 2012); citing National Archives micro-film publication M593, roll 482. [See blog post: William Sharp household, 1870 U.S. Census, Livingston Co., KY; Ida is enumerated as "Ader B. Sharp"] ^↩
5. Livingston County, Kentucky, Will Book C:92-93, William C. Sharp will, 2 June 1884; recorded 7 April 1885; County Clerk, Smithland. [See blog post: William C. Sharp's will, 1884, Livingston Co., KY] ^↩