In the recently digitized Elizabeth Ann Evans collection is a small newspaper clipping. It reads in part, “The recent misfortune of the Nelseco II, which broke her crank shaft when entering Newport harbor on Sunday, resulted in the most modern transportation of mail, delivery by air. It was already a matter of conjecture when this form of postal service would be instituted.” As the U.S. mail was still in the official custody of Interstate Navigation on this September day in 1934, the first mate of the Nelseco II was seated beside this first-ever air delivery of mail to Block Island. After the flight, and with the mail successfully delivered to the island Post Office, the First Mate Billy Evans returned to the mainland by riding Interstate’s other ferry vessel, the Elizabeth Ann. On this very vessel, at some point in the very near future, Evans would meet his future wife Alzadie Mott. Their daughter, born in 1943, would be named after the vessel.This newspaper clipping from 1934 is just one of nearly 200 entries from the Elizabeth Ann Evans Collection that have been scanned and entered into the Historical Society’s new cataloging software. Each digitized entry, whether a
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