I found Helen Keller's letter in an old Autograph Book

We're getting ready to move to another house in the next few weeks so today I spent time going through our several hundreds of books to determine if I can possibly eliminate some of them. I discovered this little autograph book that we had purchased many years ago at a Used Book sale. As I  opened it, I found these first two pages:

The book was obviously a possession of a Ronald Simpson, whose mother was Mrs. S. O. Simpson, and whose sister was perhaps Carolyn Simpson. 

Tucked inside this book was the following letter:

One of the pages of the Autograph Book also holds Helen Keller's autograph, written in pencil.

I invite you to take a minute to read the letter. It offers a rare personal look into the heart and mind of Helen Keller and offers a valuable perspective into the life of a deaf and blind person. It's well worth the time to read it! 

I feel privileged to have this letter and look at it as the reward for my hard work in sorting through books and my willingness to consider letting some of them go. I may have missed this little gem otherwise. 

This chart shows how Helen Keller is my cousin.

Not just any old books!

I've been gathering treasures at my Dad's house and came home this week with a box full of old books. Not just ANY old books, but books that have been saved in my family for the past 100 years. My grandfather was born in 1900 in Russell County, Kansas, USA, but his parents immigrated to the United States from the Volga region of Russia in 1886. My grandmother, born in 1902, immigrated with her parents and two older brothers through Ellis Island in 1904 from Kratzke, Saratov, Russia. Her name was Amalia Koleber. My dad, Ernest L. Margheim, who lives near me at age 91, was born in Kansas in 1921. His next younger brother was born in Kansas in 1923, but passed away in Colorado at age 9, in 1933. Then his twin brother and sister Leonard and Laverna were born in Kansas in 1929, 9 days before the Stock Market Crash that ushered in the Great Depression. 

My Margheim family were strong and devoted members of the Lutheran Church. I say this as an introduction to the library of books I've inherited. Many are Lutheran catechisms, Lutheran hymnals and prayer books. Many are the text books the family had in school. I'm posting a few pictures here, but have created an album here on Picasa Web of the books I've brought home to date. If you see a book cover, the following photo shows the inside of that book, or the name of the family member who owned it.

My dad's "Student" Bible from his teenage years in the 1930s.

John and Amalia "Mollie" Koleber Margheim with sons Ernest at left and Alfred at right. 

Notice that my Uncle Alfred wrote "if you want to know my name, look on page 200". 

And on page 200, he wrote "did you ever get fooled well you did this time".

This was probably the most special "find", because inside were papers of homework that Uncle Alfred had completed. They were dated Feb 22, 1933. He passed away 22 March 1933.