Woman finds 130-year-old letter: When she asks for advice on the Internet, she gets a surprise

Canada - Mary Racine loves old things. The sprightly pensioner regularly rummages through antique stores. But what she found in 2016 would keep the Canadian busy for a long time to come.

Mary tells her story to Newsweek. She found an old Bible in a hospital charity store. "I don't know why I was drawn to it, because I'm not really religious," she explains. She took the Bible from 1880 with her without further ado.

"When I got home, I flipped through the pages and found the letter deep inside, about page 400," she said. "At first I saw the number 94 and thought it was written in 1994, but when I saw the handwriting and the paper it was written on, I realized it was from 1894!"

Despite her best efforts, the finder was unable to decipher the old handwriting. She was only able to recognize the sender, a certain H. Harris from England.

The letter and Bible remained on Mary's bookshelf for the next few years. Until a few days ago.

That's when the antiques lover discovered another Bible from 1880 on the Facebook marketplace. She remembered her own find and began to do some research. Mary asked other users for advice on the Reddit platform.

"I wasn't disappointed," she says happily. Everything fell into place.

One user was able to make the letter readable using AI software, another was able to find out crucial information about the sender.

My dear Irene,

Thank you for your letter and the flowers - almost the last breath of summer. I'm feeling better, but I'm very weak and shaky. Certainly a longer lasting tremor than sixteen years ago - still I hope to carry on a little longer. I completely forgot your birthday this year and just at a strange moment. Was very ill at the time.

Tell the kids I'm always happy to hear from them. I'm glad Charlie is settling in at work and trust everything will go smoothly and successfully with him.

(PS: I think this summer has been a friend of mine - I haven't been far away and have been really sick since mid-July - maybe things will get much better soon). I'm not writing much yet. That's one of the most unpleasant aspects of my illness, that I find it so hard to write.

Love to Tom and all the babies

"He was a doctor and a member of the Liberal Party, practicing in London. We found out that he was incredibly small, but still held in high regard in the medical community," Mary explains. "He died of tuberculosis on April 26, 1895 at the age of 77, not long after this letter was written."

But that wasn't all, Mary reveals. Suddenly, Lesley from England contacted the Canadian. She was the great-granddaughter of Henry Harris and would like to buy the letter from her.

The two women remained in contact. "I found out that he was known as 'the little doctor' and was short because of a spinal condition. He had five children and that she was very touched when she read the letter."

Mary sent the letter and Bible back to the descendants. She refused the money. She says: "I don't want to keep anything that belongs to someone who clearly should have it back"

How a letter that was posted in England 130 years ago could turn up in a second-hand store more than 7,000 kilometers away in Canada, the amateur detective doesn't know. She suspects: "After the Second World War, many Britons emigrated to Canada to start a new life. Perhaps one of them brought the Bible with them."