Early Seattle settler Louisa (Boren) Denny (1827-1916) was born in Illinois and arrived in what was to become Seattle on November 13, 1851. She was the wife and step-sister of fellow pioneer David Thomas Denny (1832-1903), and the sister of Carson Dobbins Boren (1824-1912) and Mary Ann (Boren) Denny (1822-1910). David and Louisa married in 1853 in city's first non-Indigenous wedding, and had eight children together.

In the letter pictured here, Louisa writes to her grandson Edward Harold Denny (1887-1971), just six months before her death. At the time, "Harold" was living in Pittsburgh and employed as an engineer with the U.S. Bureau of Mines. Shortly after the letter was written Harold served in WWI, and by 1920 had married Katherine Seavy Jorden (1891-1963). The couple later moved to Denver with their three children.

Louisa's letter also refers to several other Denny family members: Louisa's nephew Orion O. Denny (1853-1916), who died the same day she dated the letter; Louisa's grandson Norman David Lindsley (1884-1957); Louisa's son David Thomas "Tom" Denny, Jr. (1867-1939), and his children Inez Louisa (Denny) Whiteaker (1893-1963), Walter Claude Denny (1896-1932), and David Thomas Denny III (b. 1898); and Louisa's granddaughters Elizabeth Crocker (Denny) Harris (1895-1968) and Madge Decatur (Denny) Mathieu (1894-1954), who were living with Louisa at the time she wrote the letter, along with their parents Victor Winfield Scott Denny (1869-1921) and Lillie Jane (Frankland) Denny (1867-1931).

Caption information source: "Denny, David Thomas (1832-1903)" by Walt Crowley, HistoryLink.org Essay 1729