When Bethany Riley’s family purchased a farmstead in West Paris the last thing she expected was to be swept up in the youthful courtship of a long departed resident and the object of his affections.

But that’s exactly what happened. 

While renovating an upstairs bedroom for their young grandson, she and her husband, Michael, discovered a collection of old letters stashed between a dormer ceiling and attic floor of their 1851 house.

And now Riley is curating and transcribing scores of letters sent from Elinor Tuell to Leland Dunham, whose family had lived in the house for generations. She is using old newspapers, farm reports and town records to create a vivid picture of the lovebirds and West Paris culture at the beginning of the 20th century.

“They were sort of hidden, not necessarily meant to be found,” Riley says of the trove of letters. “It looked like someone’s private reading spot, tucked into this little space of the attic. To me it set up this really romantic scene, of someone hiding in the attic and reading his love letters.”

The letters — all written in cursive — were filthy from decades of dust and mice. But because their condition was otherwise perfect, Riley assumed they were not that old.

“You could read all the writing,” she said. “But then I started looking at the postmarks and I saw 1907. I was dumbfounded. It was like ‘wow, how can that be possible?’”

An avid genealogist and history buff, Riley finds herself holding a box of possibilities. She had already started researching her new home’s previous 175 years of life.

Elinor’s coquettish, gossipy prose — which she told Leland were for his eyes only — are opening a narrative of rural life and young love that true fans of old houses dream of immersing in.

“Elinor’s first was written in code,” Riley said. With the primary source records she has, Riley was able to verify and learn about Elinor’s and Leland’s first date: a Fourth of July dance.

“The detail that she puts in her letters is very specific,” Riley said. “They went to church and I found through the newspapers they went to the Universalist Church. They sang and were involved in church activities. 

“And the dances — or balls as they sometimes call them — they mention them in a lot of the letters. She’ll say she’d like him to take her to a ball but she’s not sure because there may be other fellows who are interested in her. It’s very flirty.”

In January, Riley posted to a West Paris community Facebook group, photos and details of Elinor’s first five letters. She includes images that portray the times to round out what the lovebirds may have seen in each other and others, as well as snippets of the Advertiser Democrat and Lewiston Sun “society pages.”

“Last week I was researching Fred Dunham, who was Leland’s dad,” Riley said. “I found a reference to the parents going to one of these dances and it listed what all the ladies wore. That led me down a new rabbit hole where I started looking at what Edwardian fashion was like in Maine. There are unlimited rabbit holes.

“Elinor mentions her friends and talks a lot about Leland’s sister, Grace. So, I get sidetracked into the rabbit holes of the people she’s mentioned in the letters and they become real people who are also in the newspaper for doing various things.”

Riley’s Facebook postings got hundreds of likes and comments from people tagging current generations from the Tuell’s and Dunham’s expanded family, or offering their own anecdotes.

The Riley family, formerly of West Hartland, Connecticut, found this hidden treasure of West Paris life and now Riley is mulling how to proceed, even as she shares the story online. Could she write a nonfiction book? A novel? Create a historical exhibit?

“I’m a guardian of the material, but also a fan of this couple,” she said. “It’s overwhelming sometimes. There have been some nights that I haven’t even slept because I’m so into the research. I love it. It’s a dream for people who love history.”

Riley has started her own Facebook page, Weathertop Acres Farm, where she is archiving the letters and her research as a major part of her family farm’s heritage. She plans to take her time working through all 80 documents (not every one is from Elinor), as she catalogs the community’s happenings. It includes accidents, illness, culture, joy, heartbreak and other surprises.

With her research into the young couple and their lives, Riley already knows how their love story progresses. As in real life today, happy endings are complicated things.