The personal letters that fill the next four chapters are essentially unchanged from their appearance in Ellen Woodworth’s journal. This approach enables the couple to speak for themselves, and it provides immediacy by approaching each letter as written by the author and received by the addressee.
Ellen’s journal notations indicate her letter of March 6, 1865, was not preserved and thus unable to be copied. Several others appear to be missing, including the first one she mailed between his departure and October 12, 1863, and letters from the children.
One consistent revision is use of a full proper name in place of an abbreviation or bracket. Other bracketed names have been taken from either the original or typescript copy.
Other changes include the addition of brackets for clarity, which are noted; the insertion of the day of the week of a letter where none was given; the arrangement of the letters in chronological order of their dating, a slight reordering from the journal. Superscriptions are not repeated.
Spelling and format remain largely unchanged from the original. In most cases, misspelling does not interfere with readability. The term “[sic]” has been used only when essential. A comma used for a decimal point is unchanged. Underlining in the original has been converted to italics.
Footnotes have been added to provide necessary background, context, and clarity.
This volume contains the entirety of the journal. The original of both versions are held by the Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The autograph version is in very clear handwriting and is legible despite the passage of time. The typescript was prepared with care and accuracy; it was proofed for errors, and handwritten proofing notes on the typescript are accurate corrections of the few typos that crept into it. The primary material in this book is accompanied by a digital component, a website that allows students and scholars to interact with the volume’s content. Search for this book on www.ugapress.org for links to the bonus material.