Aäron Liesveldt Sleyster

"Zilda's Dream," Aaron L. Sleyster, 1893, from Hours of Pleasure, ca. 1900. Sleyster's poem was written in memory of a former teacher, Fairwater native Zilda Harwood.

July 2: "Zilda's Dream," a poem written in 1893 by Alto area resident Aaron L. Sleyster, has been added to the Fairwater writings page. The poem remembers one of Sleyster's early teachers, Zilda Harwood, a Fairwater native who died in 1863 of diptheria at the age of 17.

In June, 2000, the George Sanders family of Fairwater received a worn book of poems published by an Alto poet around 1900. The book was Hours of Pleasure. The poet was Aaron L. Sleyster. Included in the collection was a poem titled "Zilda's Dream," written in remembrance of one of Sleyster's early teachers, Zilda Harwood, a Fairwater native who died of diptheria on July 21, 1863, and was buried in the Fairwater cemetery. The school has been identified by the Sanders family as the Kolsta School in section 10 of the town of Alto.

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