Sunday, July 27, 2014

What Happened 100 years Ago?

July 1914
A Young man named Walter was working as a Brakeman on the Clover Leaf RR.
His leg got ran over by a train.....ouch!

There he sits with his left leg up.
While he was there he met this young lady name
Mary Elizabeth or "bessie" as she was called.
she was doing her nurses training

I recently found out she took the picture of Walter
And by July 15 Walter wrote Bessie this letter

Friends?
Really?
move forward 1918
Walter was now in the Army during WWI
and there had been another girl but Elizabeth seems to be his true love.
His letters are so eloquently written for a farm boy with at 8th grade education.
her response
This could of been the end of that 4 year romance?

luckily not or I would not be here writing about this.
These are my Grandparents Walter and Elizabeth,
the owners of 1515.
They were married Sept 2,1919
1957 some 43 years after they had first met,
the young RR worker and the young nurse.
The look in my Grandfather's eyes says it all.

I have been scanning the letters, some of my cousins feel like we are intruding in on their personal feelings.
I think they left the letters for us to find, to read, to understand the struggles and see that somethings are meant to be.

Thank you Grandad and Grandmother

10 comments:

Susie said...

Ann, I caught my breath, when I saw it was your grandparents, and felt like crying for their love of each other. This is to be remember . I would adore some old letters to read through of my family. Your are the memory keeper, you should read the letters. Blessings, xoxo,Susie

Anonymous said...

Oh, Ann, I have a tear in my eye. I think this is so sweet and how kind of you to scan the letters for your family members. Things were so different back then. What a sweet story. Thanks for popping in to see me.
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

Terra said...

You are right to scan and preserve the letters. They tell a sweet story of the difficult beginnings of what became a long marriage.

Donna said...

That is just amazing those letters were kept and survived all these years! What treasures they are. I think your Grandparents would be thrilled that you've taken an interest in preserving them:)

ann said...

What a treasure. I have a post card that my grandfather wrote to his sweet heart whom he addresses as "Girly." So ironic that I've an obituary of my great uncle who at 23 was caught between two railroad cars and crushed, losing both legs and an arm. sweethearts who tweet and text their devotion will not leave behind a legacy of their love, will they?

Pat said...

Ann,
These were truly left behnd for another generation, or two. . .I love their devotion and persistance. Thank you for sharing these with us.
Fondly,
Pat

★Carol★ said...

I like that you're sharing those letters. Your grandparents live on through them, and it shows who they were back when they were young and had their whole lives ahead of them. You've inspired me to ask my Mom if she has any letters that my Dad might have written to her while he was serving in WWII.....

Robin@DecoratingTennisGirl said...

Ann,
Precious mementos! Don't you just love the handwriting! Anyhoo, I have tagged you in a tour on blogand. You answer the questions I have on my latest post, about your blog then tag three others to do the same. I sent this to your email, but it came back? Can you let me know your correct email? Thanks!
Robin

Sally Annie Magundy said...

Hi Ann!
Thanks so much for coming by my sad little neglected blog and commenting.
I love your family history posts. You are so lucky to have so many photos and letters and know the stories.
Do you know anything by chance about researching Scottish relatives? We can't find my husbands great grandmother :(
Happy summer!

Curtains in My Tree said...


Oh it's wonderful you have those letters of days gone by.
I sure wish I had letters that my grandparents wrote.
I do have a post card my grandfather sent me from New mexico when I was about 3 years old. I cherish it
I love reading about your family history