Joseph Fremont Dean correspondence

The collection consists of postcards and letters J.F. Dean wrote primarily to his father during the span of two years. Dean wrote nearly every day and always signed his letters “Mont”, which was short for his middle name Fremont. The correspondence varies in length, but in general Dean describes or comments on the weather, whether sales was poor or good, his health and his family’s health, baseball, hotels or towns he was staying in, the difficulty of his travels by train, the challenge of competition from other silver salesmen, and sometimes pens a quick note to let his father know he arrived safely at a destination. In many of the letters and postcards, Dean scolds his father for not writing to him frequently enough. Also included are a few letters and postcards to his siblings Gertrude and Randall, formal invitations from the Freemasons to attend special meetings, and Dean’s travelling schedule listing the towns he will be visiting and when. The correspondence not only provides insight to the grueling travel schedule Dean endured as an agent but also to the close relationship he had with his father. The tone of the correspondence is affectionate and it is apparent that Dean relied on his father for moral support.