As my flair suggests, this is way out of my subject area in terms of place and period in history, but I do work with a lot of manuscripts, so I may be able to help with that angle.

Your comment seems to suggest that you are having some difficulty reading the text (though your proposed transcriptions look pretty accurate). The study of handwriting is palaeography, and there are a few tips I can suggest for making the reading of historic texts a little easier. I recommend taking a transcription of the letter to try and grasp the writing a little better. When handling unfamiliar writing styles, it's important to be able to pick out a few words you can recognise easily, as you have done. I find it often helps to make a note of how the letters are formed in these 'key words' - draw the letters out for yourself in an alphabetical list.

Having done this first pass, go back through the document again. You will probably find that the increased familiarity with a few of the letter forms makes furthering your transcription a little easier. When you get to words where you know a few of the letters but not all of them, transcribe with dots in place of the unknown letters. (e.g. happ..ess). You'll often find you can make some more educated guesses by working out that 'happiness' is a likely word, and comparing the blanks to your hand-drawn letters from the key words list.

Now this manuscript has presumably had a bit of a rough life, with a few faded and stained spots, as well as missing or damaged areas. You should try to take a photo of the image without glare from the frame (the PhotoScan app by google is actually very good at this). I then tend to smash up the contrast on the image to try and pick up some of the fainter words where there has been fading or damage to the text.

Having a full transcription (or close to it) you may find it easier to research the body of the text. Don't forget to look in museum and archive searches as well as Google.

I would also like to note that storing manuscripts in a frame is not ideal unless framed by a specialist. Exposure to lots of light can accelerate fading and can discolour the paper (depending on what it's made of). Should you ever remove it from the frame to view the other side, I have some suggestions for handling the document.

• Don't wear gloves. While conservationists do wear gloves for certain kinds of work, paper documents is not normally one of these. Whatever damage the oils/acids in your hands may do, it's nothing compared to what clumsy hands in gloves would do.

• Clean your hands before handling the document. Try not to touch the areas with ink on them unnecessarily.

• Don't unfold areas that have been crumpled for a long time - they are very likely to break. If you need to pull it open a little to transcribe something, do so with care, but don't force it.

You already have a suspected author of the text, and having completed a transcription, you should have a pretty good feel for their handwriting. If you have access to any archives or museums with examples of holograph texts by this writer, you may be able to match up the handwriting. Look for the way letters are joined together, the ways letters are formed, etc.

Good luck with finding out some more about your family's manuscript, and I hope that any of the above helps with your ability to take down any more of the text. I look forward to seeing any further answers in this thread, it looks like you have a fascinating piece of history on your wall!