Yes, well that's why I said number 2 was "technically" the same answer as number 1. But the intent of the question was clear, I thought. Of course with Kevin, one can never be quite sure of anything in that way. Oh the deviousness of it all. At 07:22 AM 5/2/2010, you wrote: >I'm curious. As the 1853 letter to his mother was published in the >Hannibal journal that same fall, why doesn't that count as the >earliest published use? > >--- On Sun, 5/2/10, Robert Hirst <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > From: Robert Hirst <[log in to unmask]> > > Subject: that makes it two wrong > > To: [log in to unmask] > > Date: Sunday, May 2, 2010, 10:09 AM > > Barb Schmidt points out that the 1 > > November 1856 Snodgrass letter > > beats the "River Intelligence." > > > > Kerry Driscoll points out that Letter IV of "Letters from > > the Earth" > > (October-November 1909) beats the letter to Dorothy Quick. > > > > Now why did I stay up all night to get my answers? > >