Letter - Dear Cousin Leon, it is with pain that I take my pen, Alice E. Anderson

Dear Reader,
      The next scores or so of posts will be not my own writings, but correspondences of my Great-Grandfather Leon Gould. This letter is to his cousin, Alice, whom he later married! Great-Grandpa Leon had a large family (of 11 children), and journeyed as secretary to Alexander Smith in the RLDS church before eventually joining the Church of Christ (TL) and becoming an Apostle. His descendants have been blessed with a rich spiritual heritage and many true family accounts of  what can only be called miracles. If you read these letters and are interested in reading more of the Gould family history, look for a book titled "Trek of Faith" by Peggy Tucker. These letters contain the original spelling mistakes and have not been corrected. Feel free to print and keep these letters in your own family history files if you so wish. In the future, a book of Leon's writings will be made available. Enjoy!



                                                                                                                    Bemidji, Minn.
                                                                                                                                                  Jan. 29, 1899
Dear Cousin Leon;-
It is with pain that I take my pen to answer your letter. I hardly know what I want to say or how to say it. I should like to say what I have to say it in such a manner so that it will cause you as little pain as possible. If I know my own heart, and if I do not who does, I shall have to tell you that I do not love you as you wish me to. I will admit that there have been times when I thought I loved you but my heart is fickle, I guess. One week or month or even a few days I will like one person and if some one new comes along why he is all there is for a few days or weeks and so it goes; but I have never thought enough yet of any man I have ever seen yet to consent to give up my liberty for him.
I am sorry for you but that is not much consolation. I am in hopes that some time in the future all things will turn out satisfactorily to all.

                                                                                     deceive
                                                                         deceive sympathetic
                                                                                     deceive

                                                                                                                                               Bemidji, Minn
                                                                                                                                              Jan. 29, 1899
Dear Cousin Leon;-
It is with pain that I take my pen to answer your letter.
I hardly know what I want to say or how to say it. I should like to say it in such a manner that it will cause you as little pain as possible.
If I know my own heart, and if I have to tell you that I do not love you as you wish me to. I will admit that there have been times when I thought I loved you but my heart is fickle I guess. One week or month or even a few days I will like one person and if someone new comes along why he is all there is for a few days or weeks and so it goes, but I have never thought enough yet of any man I have ever seen to consent to give up my liberty for him. I am sorry for you but that is not much consolation. I have read some where that cousins are the same relation as half-brothers or sisters. And it went on to prove the assertion. That is a thought that had never occurred to me. My prayer is that if your heart has been playing you false all this time that you may be able to see the mistake as soon as the Lord wills anyway. If we trust in the Lord it will certainly turn out all right in the end.

                                                                                                              As ever
                                                                                                      Your Sympathic Cousin
                                                                                                       Alice E. Anderson.