Letters - Dear Sir, your old Kussin, 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!


                                                                                                                          Moose, Beltrami Co.
                                                                                                                         Minnesota July 9-99
Mr. Leon Gould
Bemidji, Minn.

Dear Sir:- Yours of the fourth inst. received and if the mosquitoes don’t bother me too much I shall try to answer it. It is raining this morning for a change. It has rained nearly every day last week, so it was almost impossible to get to school and back either night or morning without getting wet. I spent the fourth at home croqueting and trying to sleep.

     May and Raltzor Whitter went to Solway. They tried to get me to go but I thought it too much of a pleasure exertion altogether, to ride over these roads so far and back and then not get to see anybody I cared anything about, either.

     They stayed to the dance at night. Did not get home until four o’clock the next day. They were to a dance again last night, and yet home about five this morning. It is only about eight now and I have written a letter home already this morning. You see we get up early.

    Mrs. LaFever expected company to-day. Mr. Billy Morrison and some friends of his, I never have met them but I am afraid they wont come on accout of the rain.

     Last Sunday was another ‘blue’ Sunday for me. I am glad I only have three more weeks left to teach for I don’t know what would become of me if I had to stay in this country much longer and have the kinds of spells very often that I have had quite often the last five weeks.

     But enough of this I got a letter from home yesterday; they told of the great celebration at Clitherall the fourth. Have received one letter from Maude since you left Moose but it was not near long enough.
I got a letter from Myrtle Andis. She sent her baby’s picture, taken when he was a year old. That just makes seven different pictures she has sent of him.

     I have been studying some for the examination that is to be before many weeks I suppose. I do wish I could manage to get out of taking it, someway. That sounds as though I was lazy doesn’t it. Well to tell the truth about it, I am. Anybody can soon tell that, I guess.
I guess I will change that wish and say that ‘I do wish I knew that I would pass’.

Was Bert Paul a married man?

     I am glad Freem likes his place so well. I hope May and the girl will like it and that my folks will like the country if they come up, too. They are so anxious that I should go home after school is out, I do not hardly think I will go, cannot tell for sure yet. It will depend on circumstances and on what kind of notion strikes me when the time comes, I suppose.

     Did you know that I am “as stubborn as a mule” when I get my head set? Well, I am, I am sorry to say and yet I am not sorry enough to break myself of it.

So you have some vension at last, have you?

     We girls got over that trip remarkably well. I think if I should live down there a year or so longer I would get so I would think no more of taking a ten or twelve mile trip afoot than I used to of taking a mile or so trip.

     So you think that if you cannot get for a wife the one you love, that it doesn’t matter who you get, then. Well I do not agree with you on that point. I think it does matter. You queer boy, don’t you know that your relations would be just as much opposed to your taking up with Mary Jane as they were opposed to your match in that other case. Can it be possible that it is so necessary for you to get married that you must take anybody, just because you have not succeded in getting the one you think you want. Well I do not intend to give you another lecture for never having been in a position like yours of course I can not tell you what would be best, but please do not make any more “rash” engagements. Well I have written a great deal more than you did, but that is the way with me when I get started I do not know when to stop. Your letter was altogether too short, I thought.

     If you should happen to want to hear from me ever again, you know all that you have to do is to write to me. I got a scolding over once for encouraging a certain party by writing to him and keeping company with him, so let me warn you not to let my letter encourage you too much for I am this time a very silly girl and don’t know hardly what I want to do or what would be best for me self and others.
Well I guess I had better stop, I was going to say, while my credit is good, but for fear it isn’t as good as it was before I commenced I guess I wont say it. When you reach the “Sunny south” or in other words Silver Lake, please say “Hello” for me.
                                                                                          From your old Kussin
                                                                                          Alice E. Anderson.