"Your obedient servant" and its variations were not only used to close
letters by at least the early seventeenth century (and probably much
earlier), this form  was the most common greeting and "good-bye" used among
the genteel (and genteel wannabes)in spoken conversation of the eighteenth
century.  It appears to have been used somewhat less often in conversation
by women than by men.

Cathy Hellier
Dept. of Historical Research
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

-----Original Message-----
From: Randy Cabell [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2001 2:28 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Your obedient servant......


I just received an E-Mail from a young Virginian, and he signed it instead
of "Yours truly", or "Sincerely", but "Your obedient Servant." I have
letters to and from my Grandfather back in the late 1800's and they all end
with that.  It has a real nice 19th century ring to it, and since people
accuse me of living in the past, I am considering switching my letter
closings to that.  But I thought it best to canvass VA-HIST for a bit of
history on the rather stilted greetings and closings we still use today.

"Dear" and "My Dear" are used whether we are writing our mother, or the
dishwasher repairman.  And  "Yours truly" and particularly "Sincerely"
likewise, in a letter, imply a heck of a lot more intimacy than I have with
most people.  I am about as far from anybody's "obedient servant" as one can
get but did this phrase in 19thC Virginia serve much as "Yours truly" and
"Sincerely" do today?

Randy Cabell

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