Letters From Addie
Acnowledgements
No one writes a story of this magnitude alone. I, therefore, want to say thank you to the many people who helped make Addie's story possible. First and foremost, to Bettie Fitzhenry, who sat with me hour after hour at the Bell County Museum and helped me hand copy Addie's letters. Secondly, I want to say "muchas gracias" to Terry Smith for her expertise in translating the Spanish portions of Addie's letters and to the late Curt Smith for his warm words of encouragement. Also, to the late Hugh Delle Broadway for her gentle suggestions for improving the readability of the manuscript and to Dr. John and Pat Barton for varying the accuracy of the information related to the Barton family. All of these dear people gave generously of their time, knowledge, and special skills to make Addie's story come to life.
In addition, I want to say thank you to Stephanie Turnham, former director, and Amanda Thompson, former curator of the Bell County Museum, for allowing me to research Addie's personal correspondence. After all, Addie's personal letters are the heart and soul of this publication.
Also, a special thanks to the many other librarians, curators, and archivists who readily responded to my requests for information. Among those are the library staffs associated with J. B. Hill Library, Holland, Texas; Salado Public Library, Salado, Texas; Temple Public Library, Temple, Texas; Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee; International Mission Board Global Research Department, Richmond, Virginia; Roberts Library of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas; Southern Baptist Historical Library & Archives, Nashville, Tennessee; and Texas Baptist Historical Collection, Dallas, Texas.
As mentioned in the Preface, the project of copying Addie's letters and writing her story began in 2005. However, the project was not fully completed until 2018 after Letters from Addie was posted on the Internet for all to read. I extend a heartfelt "thank you" to my son, David Carson, for making this possible through the web site, Central Texas Stories and Legends, he created for me.
Sincerely, Charlene Ochsner Carson, October 2018.