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Editor's Notes |
| Publication Notes | |
| Fact or Fiction? Some of Elsie Perry Barnett's writing in this collection is clearly non-fiction. This includes the the story A True Tornado Tale and two items in the Early Memories section: Francis Henry Gregory Perry, about her father, and Itinerary, about the many places she lived. Even the writing described as stories has some autobiographical content. The Children's Stories reflect the time Elsie lived in Arkansas as a child, from 1902 to 1905, and most of them are overtly autobiographical. Although the names of the narrator and her husband in the Farm Bride series of stories set in Nebraska are not given as Elsie and Clair, the stories seem to be otherwise mostly autobiographical and reflect their early married life near Lynch, Nebraska. For example, in A Hot Fourth, the husband has a younger brother Harold who meets a girl whose last name is Clinton; Clair Barnett had a younger brother Harold who married Hettie (Matilda) Clinton. Other stories, such as, An Idle Morning on the Farm, have a feeling of first-hand experience to them. |
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Sources The original copies of the writings in this collection, as well as the photographs, were supplied by Elsie and Clair's daughters, Margaret Morgan, Catherine Wiley, and Lucile Balderson. The stories in the Children's Stories section, plus the stories An Idle Morning on the Farm and A True Tornado Tale, and the poems Love and Weaning Jacob, were in the form of old newspaper clippings. The newspapers and the publication date are not known, with the following exceptions: • Stumped was published in The Waverly [Nebraska] Watchman, before July 14, 1931 [the date of an election notice on the reverse of the clipping]. • Pride and the Swing was published June 3, 1931. • Fair Day was published some time after World War I [from the news article on the reverse]. • The Little Black Horse was published about 1931 [a business article on the reverse included "...comparison is made with the same period in 1930..."] The stories Them Poor Cows and Beauty Blossoms, the stories in Farm Bride, and the poems To a Friend and To One Far Away were on typed pages. They were undated and, apparently, unpublished. The Them Poor Cows manuscript included a Feb. 1, 1937, letter to The Capper's Farmer of Topeka (reproduced herein) which suggested the availability of similar stories, but the story and letter were apparently returned to her by The Capper's Farmer. Farm Bride was returned to her by The Nebraska Farmer on Dec. 8, 1936. I have only the first chapter of Beauty Blossoms, and do not know if more ever was written. The remaining items were hand-written on lined or unlined notebook paper. She wrote at least two versions of the Itinerary. She gave one to Margaret Morgan, titled Itinerary, and sent a longer version titled Itinerary of Elsa Perry to Catherine Wiley in 1980. The latter version is used in this book, with a few differences from the former version added in square brackets. There are some date inconsistencies between the two versions; I have used the dates of the latter version, but show the former in square brackets. TitlesThe titles for Life in Arkansas and Bentonvillewere supplied by me, as those stories were not published with a title other than Children's Story, a heading with which most of the Children's Stories began. The poems I Went to Ag College Once, I Love the Open Country, and Last Night I Dreamed of You, Dear, were written without titles; the titles used here are the first lines of each. Francis Henry Gregory Perry also originally had no title but begins with her father's full name. Editing I have corrected obvious typographical errors, especially in items reprinted from old newspaper clippings, while retaining most spelling and usages that were probably intended by the author. Occasionally, I have added my own short notes. These are generally in italics, to distinguish them from Elsie Barnett's original text. UpdatesThere may be errors in my interpretation of this material, and I am sure that there are additional pictures, stories, or other information that could be included. In addition, it is possible that I have incorrectly attributed to Elsie Barnett a hand-written and unsigned item that she merely enjoyed and wished to copy. If you have a correction, update, or addition to anything on these pages, please let me know. Thank you. Gordon R. Morgan (a son of Margaret Barnett Morgan) Return to Top |