Financial History Issue 113 (Spring 2015) | Page 16

single tax idol, as one of her friends. The younger George worked as a reporter in Brooklyn and eventually served as a US representative from New York. Lizzie found work as a stenographer and typist for the chief clerk of the Dead Letter Office, the receptacle for the nation’s undeliverable mail. The Dead Letter clerks, many of them women, were responsible for sorting lost envelopes and parcels, and for disposing of the unclaimed mail, either by destroying it or by auctioning off its contents. In the evening after work, Lizzie pursued literary ambitions, writing poetry and short stories, and, as a player in Washington’s nascent theater scene, performed on the stage, where she earned praise for her comedic roles. Courtesy of the Anspach Archives moved his family to Canton, where he purchased a half interest in the Canton Register. In 1866, Elizabeth, soon known as Lizzie, was born, to be joined a few years later by her sister, Alta. The family was solidly middle-class, with James continui