The Plot Thickens

This week I
continued to work on metadata and upload letters from Charles Frankish. Now
that I have worked on so many letters, I am starting to recognize names and
patterns in the documents. It is almost as if I am reading a long, abstract
novel where characters and events are related to the reader through Frankish’s
perspective. It took many letters before I could recognize stories developing
and a lot of work for me to piece the narrative back together since the letters
are all outgoing mail. However, it is a rewarding and exciting feeling to open
up a file and find a clue to what is happening in Ontario, California in the
1880s. Now, when I see a familiar name I get an idea of how Charles Frankish
will address them, what the letter will discuss, etc. And different events
develop over the course of many letters, such as the construction of the
electric railway that I mentioned last week. Each letter on a certain topic
updates me on the progress and setbacks that Frankish encountered so many years
ago.