Rick Just
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Author
  • Speaker
  • Contact
  • Subscriptions
  • Heroes & Villains

Letters and Letters Found

8/25/2021

Comments

 
The Just-Reid family is celebrating the Sesquicentennial Plus One of Nels and Emma Just settling in the Blackfoot River Valley near Blackfoot. We had planned to celebrate last year, but that got put on hold along with so much else when COVID hit.
 
In honor of Sesquicentennial Plus One, I’m devoting the Speaking of Idaho blog to my family’s history during August.


If you’ve been reading these posts the past few weeks, you’ve noticed several references to Letters of Long Ago by Agnes Just Reid. In addition, some posts used whole chapters of that book.


Agnes Just Reid was the only living daughter of Nels and Emma Just. She was my great aunt, and I was fortunate to know her quite well. Years ago, it occurred to me how young our family’s pioneer history is, even though our history in Idaho began the same year it became a territory. Agnes, who was born in 1886, could have met someone who knew George Washington. As far as I know, she did not, but it is another illustration of how young our country is. 


Because of Agnes, the Just and Reid families are so aware of their history and why we are dedicated to keeping it alive.


Letters of Long Ago is a classic pioneer story that has endured for more than a century, finding new fans within the family and outside of it with each of its four printings in 1923, 1936, 1973, and 1997. Reid used letters as a literary device to tell the story of her mother, Emma Thompson Just, who came to Idaho in 1863. The letters Emma wrote to her father, George Thompson, had been lost. Their re-creation for the book was essentially the recording of an oral history.


Emma Thompson Just approved each of the “letters” as they came off the typewriter, so we have reasonable assurance of their accuracy so far as memory would allow.


A year after the death of Agnes Just Reid, her niece, Mabel Bennett Hutchinson, who had illustrated the original book, found a similar manuscript. Although much shorter than the original, it still features the simple yet powerful writing of the first, again using the device of letters from Emma to tell the story of her earlier life. This time the letters were written to her “Cousin Lucy.” They were published in a limited edition in 2000 for the first time as The Lost Letters, by Agnes Just Reid.


How well does this account in this manuscript tell the early story of Emma Thompson Just? It is questionable whether Emma ever saw this manuscript. She died November 8, 1923, before she ever got a chance to hold Letters of Long Ago in her hands. Did Agnes Just Reid write both manuscripts before her mother’s death, choosing to publish only the years from 1870 to 1891? I believe that is unlikely. Letters of Long Ago reads like a book complete unto itself from beginning to end, as does The Lost Letters. It is far more likely that Reid was encouraged by the first book’s success and set out to write another about her mother’s early life. Why it was never published is anyone’s guess. Perhaps the author did not think it was up to her standards. Maybe she thought it was simply too short. If her daughter wrote the manuscript after the death of Emma Thompson Just, it did not have the benefit of Emma’s review. Keeping that in mind, it is still an important record. Agnes Just Reid knew her mother, as well as any daughter could. She had access to letters and diaries that would help her fill in the blanks. Most of all, the book is believable because Emma was an uncommonly frank woman. 


The Lost Letters completes Emma’s story. It is a story of agony and achievement, pride and pain. Emma speaks to us from across a century through her richly talented daughter when Idaho was barely an idea.


I’m pleased to announce that The Lost Letters is once again available to readers in book form and as an eBook from Amazon. 
Picture
Bob Reid and Agnes Just Reid. This photo was taken in 1916, seven years before the publication of ​Letters of Long Ago.
Picture
Both books by Agnes Just Reid are now available in paperback and as eBooks.
Speaking of Idaho history posts are copyright © 2020 by Rick Just. Sharing is encouraged. If you don’t find a button that lets you do that, find the post on Speaking of Idaho. If you’re missing my daily posts, select the RSS button, or select See it First under the Facebook Following tab.
Comments
    Picture
    The first book in the Speaking of Idaho series is out. Ask for it at your local Idaho bookstore, find it on Amazon, or, if you want a signed copy, click the button.
    Picture
    The second book in the Speaking of Idaho series is out. Ask for it at your local Idaho bookstore, find it on Amazon, or, if you want a signed copy, click the button.
    Picture
    Rick's book about Fearless Farris is available on Amazon! Click the picture above to be taken to Amazon. If you'd like an autographed copy, click the button below.

    Author, Speaker

    Rick Just has been writing about Idaho history since 1989 when he wrote and recorded scripts for the Idaho Centennial Commission’s daily radio program, Idaho Snapshots. One of his Idaho books explores the history of Idaho's state parks: Images of America, Idaho State Parks. Rick also writes a regular column for Boise Weekly.

    Rick does public presentations on Idaho's state park history and the history of the Morrisite war for the Idaho Humanities Council's Speakers Bureau.idahohumanities.org/programs/inquiring-idaho/
    ​


    Check out Rick's history of Idaho State Parks.

    The audio link below is to Rick's Story Story Night set called "Someplace Not Firth"

    Archives

    July 2025
    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018

    RSS Feed

Speaking of Idaho history posts are copyright © 2025 by Rick Just. Sharing is encouraged. If you’re missing my daily posts, select the RSS button, or select See it First under the Facebook Following tab.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you follow a link (generally to a book) from my page to an Amazon page, I get a tiny percentage of any purchase you may make.