So far, I haven't been very successful about following the writing prompt this week was surprise. I have been researching the Bond part of my family tree. I stumbled upon this surprising love story that was all due to a shorthand contest.
Annie Dupre Galliard was the youngest of 4 daughters of James and Susan Gaillard. They wanted their girls to have the best education possible. Annie attended the secondary boarding school, Chickasaw Female College located in Pontotoc, Mississippi under the southern Presbyterian Church.
By Credit: Courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History - Source: http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/cooper/index.php?itemno=3956, PD-US, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36567400
Chickasaw Female College was founded as Pontotoc Female College in 1851 in Pontotoc, MS, for the purpose of educating young ladies to be accomplished wives, mothers and teachers. Courses offered included Latin, Greek, History, Art History, and Bible Study. In 1853 it was taken over by the Presbyterian Church and the name was changed to Chickasaw Female College. Despite assistance from wealthy benefactors, the college closed in 1936 after many years of financial struggles. MS State Archives
Annie was not only educated in academic subjects but also given piano training. This would serve her well throughout her life as she taught piano and played regularly in the churches she attended.
After finishing college, Annie took up the study of Shorthand on her own using a self-help shorthand textbook and a monthly shorthand magazine. Annie was fascinated by shorthand.
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. -link
Early in 1892 the magazine had a contest and offered a gold pen as a prize to the reader who could best transcribe a certain printed story into shorthand. Annie did it for fun, but her sister convinced her to send it in. In August of 1892 she received a letter from the Magazine notifying her she had won. The shorthand transcription was printed in the September 1892 issue giving her name and address as the winner. She received several congratulatory letters from other readers, all of which were young men. There were very few women who had studied shorthand and secretaries were all men. She replied with thanks to all who wrote. One of these letters was from Z.H Lewis of Covington, Virginia. They began a correspondence in shorthand.
Zimri Henri Lewis
Z.H Lewis was Zimri Henri Lewis. You pronounce Zimri - ZIM-rye. Zimri is my 1st cousin 4 times removed. Zim is what his friends called him was born in 1864 in Illinois to Quaker parents, Eber and Mary Lewis . In his early childhood the family moved in a covered wagon to the Kansas Territory from Illinois. During that trip Zimri managed to fall of the wagon and break his leg. Zimri grew up on a farm in the Kansas territory being the youngest of 8. Zim left the farm to attend Baker University in Baldwin, Kansas. College is where he studied business including the newly created shorthand. Upon graduation, Zimri became a professional stenographer /court reporter for Judge Robert L Parrish in Covington, Virginia.
Zimri and Annie's relationship grew through the writing letters in shorthand. Zimri's co-workers teased him over his correspondence. They begged to read the letters. Much to their surprise Zimri let them read them but none of them could because they were in shorthand.
During this time Annie was working as a governess in a plantation home in Woodstock near Memphis, Tennessee for two girls. It was during Christmas 1894 Zimri visited Annie in Memphis. They were impressed with each other and happily married Aug 14, 1995, at Annie's parents' home in Baldwyn, Mississippi where Annie's dad officiated the wedding. After the wedding, they moved to Covington, Virginia so Zimri could continue his work as a court reporter. They lived a long and happy life together and they were brought together by a little bit of shorthand.
Interesting Fact
President Woodrow Wilson had mastered Graham system of Shorthand and even corresponded with Graham. Throughout his life Woodrow Wilson used the Graham method. By the 1950 the Graham method of shorthand had disappeared. Wilson scholars had trouble interpreting his shorthand. In 1960, they found an 84 old shorthand expert, Clifford Gehman who managed to crack Wilson's shorthand and translated Wilson's acceptance speech for the 1912 presidential nomination - link
Details are from a History of Annie Dupre Gaillard by A. M. Stromberg and an ancestry.com family history on Zimri Henri Lewis
