Letter from Rev. Leverett Hull in 1850

On April 27, 1850, Rev. Leverett Hull wrote a letter to his wife’s parents about the birth of their little girl. At first Rev. and Mrs. Hull were going to name their daughter Belinda, but it turned out they named her Puella Follett Hull, after the name of the daughter of Oran Follett, a dear friend of Rev. Hull. In 1925, the original letter was donated to the historical collections of the Sandusky Library, now the Archives Research Center, by Puella Follett Hull Mason, the little girl whose birth brought such joy to her parents.

Here is a transcript of a portion of the letter:

We are all well at home except Mother, and she is not so unwell but that she has been able to take another boarder. Now as this this boarder is a somewhat remarkable personage. I will try to give you some description of her – she has dark hair and very ruddy complexion and is altogether a fine smart girl, all the neighbors say – Her name is “Belinda Susanah Linda Luta Grindor (or something else) Hull,” youngest daughter of Leverett and Sarah Hull, all of this place. Now don’t be scared about this – because Mother and Belinda are getting along first rate – and Mrs. Bell says Belinda (i.e. Miss Hull)-looks like a baby a week old and we only took her in last Saturday at 7 o’clock in the morning and this is Monday. So she is now just two days old – all this I read with not a little surprise and joy as you doubtless will and made the best of my way home and found it ever so –

Sadly, Rev. Leverett Hull died of cholera on September 3, 1852.
Following the death of Rev. Hull, Mrs. Hull and the children moved to the Cincinnati area. Puella Follett Hull married William L. Mason in 1878. Mrs. Mason wrote two books about genealogy: A Record of the Descendants of Richard Hull of New Haven, Conn. and Lineage of the Tracy Family with Notes of the Lord, Garrett, Russell, and Other Intermarrying Families. Both titles are available full text on Heritage Quest, a database to which the Sandusky Library has a subscription.

To access Heritage Quest, go to the website: www.oplin.org/databases. You will be asked to enter the name your library as well as your Sandusky Library card number. Heritage Quest is available to all Sandusky Library card holders, and is accessible from your home computer.