Editor's Notes
Welcome back. After two months off to catch up on letters and take care of some family plans, we're back, I've got a cache of about 50 letter in the bank and have transcribed all the letters through 1921. Our first letter is a throw back to 1920 I found tucked in with the letters from June of 1921. It's a great letter as John seem to have narrowly missed a tornado-although he doesn't seem to realize it.Enjoy!
Hotel Fassett
E. F. Gee Proprietor
All Modern Improvements
Wellsville, N.Y.
July 24, 1920
eight P.M.
My Darling,
I reached this town at about 6:00 o'clock tonight and according to plan will spend Sunday here. Before supper I inquired for mail and was handed two letters from the Co. but not one from you. Hope one will come in tomorrow, but if I don't hear from you, I shall know that you love me just the same. The week has been one of disappointments, but I am not complaining in the least. I have had bad weeks in the past and am bound to have them in the future. They make up the year's work. I have just one order today for $24.85 for blotters. The little towns I have worked this week had been pretty well taken care of by some of my friends. Will not make again some of the towns I made this week.
Wonder if you had a storm last night. I was through my work at Troupsburg, a little island town, at about 7:00 o'clock, and as it began to thunder and lightning something frightful I thought it would not be a bad idea to stay the night there. Well, I'm glad I did. About eight it began to pour, and it kept it up until about 1 o'clock. An awful downpour with some hail and plenty of wind, but not any damage was done right there. When I got down to Greenwood, you should have seen the trees that were blown down. Just before getting to Andover I came to a farm where the roof of barn was blown off, roof from wing of house off and a large apple orchard just across from the home was completely uprooted and beautiful maples along the road all blown down. Andover is a town about the size of Earlville and I can't describe the conditions of this town. There's hardly a shade tree in the whole town left intact. Houses and stores unroofed, glass broken and all things upset. The village had a beautiful maple grove of about 15 acres and there is hardly a tree left standing. I made a side trip between Andover and this town of about 3 miles to see some sights. One place, there were two sets of farm buildings where both houses and every barn was completely wrecked. In one of the houses, a man of about 36 was killed. Pieces of the house and furniture were blown out in a piece of woods, 100 rods distant. I picked up enclosed postal card about 1000 feet from the house and near it was a suitcase and pieces of furniture. You simply can't believe what you see. Hardwood planks 16 feet long were carried up into the lot more than 1000 feet from the site of the business. In that section, there are 28 farms where scarcely a building remains. You simply can't describe it and can scarcely believe what you really see and know it to be true. A stream of cars are going to the scene. I don't believe a storm like it has ever occurred in the state.
Hope to get a letter tomorrow. I'll be mighty lonesome. Have been about homesick all the week.
Love from
John
Russian Cavalry Only 10 Miles From the German Frontier
If you're new to this project, please consider going to our site and catching up with a few letters from the 1900-1910 era. The letters only take 3-5 minutes to read and you'll find the characters more fully develop if you read the letters chronologically.
John has excellent handwriting. However, in some instances, I cant decipher it. If I can't, I simply mark the spot with "xxx"s to signify thank the word isn't decipherable.
Check out our article in the New York Times!
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