Letters from Honeyhill: A Woman's View of Homesteading, 1914-1931

by Cecilia Hennel Hendricks

This is an impressive addition to the stock of women's private writing that has been brought to light since feminists began reexamining the meaning of "literature" and "history." The writer taught English at Indiana University before marrying a disabled veteran of the Spanish-American War and going off to homestead in Wyoming. Her letters home tell about building a house, doing farm labor (it was cheaper to pay a schoolgirl for inside chores so she could be "hired man"), forming a rural cooperative, and joining the women's clubs that built friendships and a community. She ran for public office and was a friend of Wyoming's governor Nellie Ross. The style is detailed, polished, and sometimes witty; Hendricks is not introspective but likes to tell a good story.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

704 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Hendricks and her husband began farming near Garland, east of Powell, Wyoming in 1914.

Published letters to her Indiana relatives are packed with details of her life as a homesteader, beekeeper, family and politics. Hendricks was active in Wyoming's Democratic Party and ran for state superintendent of public instruction in 1922.

Reviews

[Lanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

My version covers 1914-1932 and is 700+ pages. As an urban homesteader and beekeeper, I really enjoyed the book. Because it is written in letter form, it took me forever to get through (I'd read one or two before bed each night, rather then 'finishing the chapter').

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books...and it sort of snuck up on me. I had little or no knowledge of what life was like in Wyoming in the lat 1800's and early 1900's. How this bright, relatively sophisticated woman from Indiana made her way to Wyoming and raised a family is a truly exciting story. My only problem with the book was the ending and of course it was dictated by the facts of the woman's life. I read this book about 20 years ago and I still wonder what happened to cause the book to end the way it did.

[Shae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. Not "fascinating", like I couldn't put the book down, but "fascinating" like I kept marking significant letters and the content still floats up in my consciousness even now as another's life experience that appears profound to me. I don't know, maybe this book just came to me at the right time of my life, but I keep telling people about it, not even knowing if they will find it interesting. This book is a collection of letters that Cecilia Hennel Hendricks wrote home to her parents and sisters in Illinois after she left to marry a beekeeper she had only met three times, but corresponded with extensively, to help him homestead in a government reclamation project in Wyoming. Her daughter later edited the letters into this massive book (I read it over about two months)which accounts every aspect of their life as homesteaders. How fascinating to read about the settling of the west through this very articulate, intelligent (she had a Masters degree), and humorous women.

[Joyce Reynolds-Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent epistolary account of homesteading in Wyoming during the early 20th century. Cecilia Hennel Hendricks wrote frequently to her family in the East about the daily business of a honeybee and clover seed ranch of that era. Hendricks and her husband were also very socially active leaders in their community. Her accounts portray a couple actively engaged in building a strong local community. Good background source for someone seeking to write about that era.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It is the letters of the author's mother written from 1916-1922. She was a college professor who left the "ivory towers" in Bloomington, Indiana,married a homesteader and moved to Wyoming. Her writing style is delightful and because she wrote almost daily, she paints a clear picture of life on a bee farm/ranch just after the turn of the century.

[Marjorie Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoying this correspondence, however slowly I'm getting to it due to time constraints. Nice one to sit by the fire with before sleeping...

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any homesteader who has felt the pang of loneliness or the sting of a project failure. As much as technology has progressed modern life, the life is much as it was in 1914-1931. There are the ups, the downs, the annoying neighbors, and the celebration of holidays. This is a valuable account that is both true to the reality of homesteading, and full of the realized positives that call us to this lifestyle.

[Madalene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable read of letters by a homesteader in northern Wyoming. She throws herself into the beekeeping career of her husband and shares all about the early 1900s, including some timely patriotic moves by her own household and community to protect each other from the 1918 Flu.

[P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. What a gifted writer Cecilia was; this was a delight to read. A gem of a book.