This letter touches on several important topics. The Bailey’s organized a Sunday School at Tabor; that’s Mt. Tabor Presbyterian, which was the Bailey family’s central place of worship for decades. The Masons formed a lodge: WC’s Masonic career was extensive; read more at the entry on W.C. Bailey. Here, Victoria is referencing that he formed the Bailey Masonic Lodge on November 17, 1868, with 23 charter members. She notes that Enoch Cunningham’s son Tom will be tending business on the first floor of the store house, and boarding with the Baileys — and she makes the joke about running a boarding house. This is reflected in the 1870 census, where the residence is noted as a boarding house and Thomas Cunningham is listed among the boarders; so is Vic’s “tolerable good cook,” who is a 23-year-old woman named Sarah Benson — listed as mulatto.
Regarding the date: the key data point is that she talks about Margaret’s namesake. That has to be Margaret Henrietta Bailey, who in the July 3, 1867 letter is already going by “Etta” — the name she would go by the rest of her life. She was born in 1866, and is apparently already talking/walking by this letter (which pushes it as far from 1866 as possible). It could well mean that she went by “Margy” from birth to this point, and the “Etta” nickname hasn’t developed yet; perhaps it came about over the next few months as Etta was learning to talk and trying to pronounce her own name. However, it’s also possible that this letter is after the July note, the “Etta” moniker is already in use, and Etta has just figured out she also has a first name that’s named after her Aunt Margie — and is reveling in that thought. If so, the letter could be from any point up to 1869, when Estelle was born (and would have almost certainly been mentioned).
This letter from Victoria to her sister holds a delightful denial of her interest in W. C. Bailey, who remains unnamed and simply referred to as the "widower." She would get married to him 9 months later.
This is the last letter from Victoria which mentions her brother Mike, fighting in the Civil War; he would be killed in battle about a week later. This letter, likes the last, mentions her future husband W. C. Bailey, but not by name; she refers to him as "the widower."
