VOICES OF THE EASTERN SHORE website has launched!

For many months, our chairman Randy George along with Dr. Ray Thompson of Salisbury and Dreanna Belden of the University of Texas have been delving deeply into the letters of Elizabeth Upshur Teackle and members of her family. Over a thousand letters have been located and are being transcribed.  To this will be added the voluminous business correspondence of Littleton Dennis Teackle, his father John, and his sisters and brothers-in-law.

The Teackle’s writings are opening a view into the interconnected associations of prominent families of the Eastern Shores of Maryland and Virginia. The social, political, economic and cultural lives of the Eyre, Upshur, Teackle, Dennis and Quinby families are emerging and clearly show the importance of these families as participants in the daily life of the New Nation.  They are unfolding, not just as names on a page, but as fully developed, multi-faceted people. 

The initial desire to publish a book of Mrs. Teackle’s correspondence has been overshadowed by the realization that the sheer magnitude of material cannot be compressed into a few volumes. To be available to a larger audience, high-quality digital copies of the original letters along with the transcriptions will be made available online. 

Financial contributions by Trust members and others are finally realizing results. Considerable assistance still will be required from granting agencies, but with your help an exceptional effort is coming to fruition. We will provide updates as the process unfolds.