November 15, 2006
Caught My Eye Posted by Julie M. Fenster at 11:00 AM EST I am reading more 1856 newspapers than 2006 ones these days—research on a lawyer named A. Lincoln. As usual, when it comes to old newspapers, I am continually haunted by the little stories off to the side. Read this one, for instance:
“A very curious instance of confusion has taken place in a family in Albany. A mother and her daughter were both confined on the same day, each having a little son. In the bustle of the moment, both babies were placed in a cradle together, and, to the confusion of the mothers, when the youngsters were taken from the cradle they were unable to tell which was the mother’s and which was the daughter’s son—a matter which of course must ever remain a mystery—the family is in great distress over the affair.”
That’s not just an article, it’s a recipe for an 800-page novel. Just add a summer on an island and a box of foolscap paper.
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