An old Sabbath School book, a photo of a young boy, and a handwritten poem about a frozen girl with a cryptic signature all led to a girl named Phoebe V. Lory and someone with the last name Leer. If you are just joining me on this history detective adventure, start at part 1 to learn what I discovered so far. With the assumption that the last name of the individual Phoebe wrote the poem for was "Leer," I researched all of the Leer families living in and around Latimore, Adams County,...

Discovered between the pages of The Child's Scripture Question Book (1836, American Sunday School Union, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), was a carte de visite (CDV) of a young boy and a folded paper with a handwritten poem. The poem included a curious coded citation at the end. The book was full of engravings (illustrations) and wonderfully worn. I love old books that have been used and handled. All Pictures in this post by Jamanix Books, used with permission. Was the boy in the picture the...

Found in an old children's sunday school book, a popular poem and ballad was handwritten on a folded piece of paper. The transcriber? A mystery. They chose to sign their name in code. Photo by Jamanix Books. Used with permission. Since I had researched the poem, "Young Charlotte," I knew that the original author was Elizabeth Oaks Smith. The letters of her name did not fit the characters in the code. Therefore, it is my theory that the coded name is the name of the person who copied the poem...