Grace is suffering from a serious infection and has everyone worried. Glen and Ruth went to Syracuse to see her later in the week and brought back her daughters, Lydia and Eleanor, to stay on the farm until school starts in September.
[Post Card]
August 18, 1936
Tuesday 11:30 a.m.
Dear David,
Just arrived and everything is o.k. We had a fine trip. No trouble and not much traffic. We didn’t drive very fast and made about steen stops so didn’t make as good time as you do.
Hope you don’t worry too much until you get this.
Have purchased our groceries and hit the trail for home.
Lots of love,
Ruth
August 18, 1936
Middleburg, N.Y.
My Darling Wife,
It is 8 P.M. and while I am waiting another hour to listen to the Louis-Sharkey fight I’ll see what I can do about a letter to my honey.1
I watched the time all morning and tried to imagine where you were every time I looked. I decided you were home at 12:00 o’clock. Now I’ll have to wait until I receive your card to see how near right I was. I do hope you made it without any trouble, hon. I don’t like to have you drive so far on those poor tires.
Gee, darling, I have felt pretty small all day for not writing those directions over for you. I can’t imagine what made me put up an argument when you asked me to do it. It is so darned little you ever ask me to do anyway and then I back down on that. I’m sorry, dearest, and I do hope you didn’t have any trouble. I must have been a little out of my head this morning. I would write it all out a dozen times if you asked me to now.
I went up on the hill today and worked, but there isn’t anything more I can do up there now until he sends some stuff to work with. By that time I’ll probably be doing something else. I know of two more jobs to be looked into but both men are in N.Y. and I don’t know if they will be up this weekend or not.
Clayton stopped me again today and asked me if I still wanted that job. Then he went on to tell me he had heard rumors about his brother-in-law going south this winter but he hadn’t seen him yet to find out for sure. I think he is just trying to keep me up in the air so he will have someone to fall back on in case he does need a man.
Fran and Lydia went to M. tonight and they said they might take his mother and the kids to the city tomorrow in our car. He is out of work also until next Monday.
If that job on the barn has to be done right away, you had better tell Mother to get someone else because I want to see what develops down here on these other jobs. If it can wait a couple of weeks and nothing pans out down here, I may be able to do it.
Gee, darling, this bed looks awfully lonesome tonight and I’ll bet my darling wife feels the same way. Keep your chin up, hon, and we’ll make up for it someday.
Goodnight, sweetheart, “I love you”.
Always yours,
Dave
August 18, 1936
Adams Center, N.Y.
Hello Darling,
Gee, sweet, I only left you this morning and I sent you a card this noon but if I don’t write tonight, my poor lonesome boy won’t hear from me until Friday.
When we got home we went down to see Janie and she said Niles had called just a little while before and said Grace had taken a turn for the worse. This morning she was running a temp of 106 degrees. That is 7.2 degrees above normal so she must be in a serious condition. He didn’t tell Janie many of the particulars. He said he was staying in the city with his brother. He said there was nothing we could do if we came down and he will let us know if there is any change. I hardly know what to think about it, but it looks as though she must have an infection otherwise I don’t know why she would run a temp so long after. Janie didn’t tell Mom how high her temp was.2
Sisters Grace and Ruth Parker, c. 1920. “Gee, I don’t know what we would do if anything would happen to Grace. ” – Ruth Coffin, Aug 18, 1936
Mom is awfully worried and nervous about it. She doesn’t know what to do with herself and can’t even sit still. I am plenty worried myself but try my best not to let her know it. Gee, I don’t know what we would do if anything would happen to Grace. It wouldn’t take very much to put Mom back where she was a couple of months ago. It seems as though one thing right after another happens in this family to keep Mom upset. There is always something to worry about.
Harold didn’t say whether or not the windows had to be put in right off or not but I don’t believe they told him any special time. Mom says unless it has to be done right off for you to come up if you haven’t any work and do it if you want to. You might not get your money right off but you will get it eventually. I will try and find out all I can about the Adams job and let you know.
Gee, honey, as usual I’m awfully lonesome without you. I thought when we were married I loved you all I could, but every time I’m with you I love you more and more. It is so nice to have you being so sweet to me all of the time even when you are tired. I don’t believe I even thanked my darling husband for the birthday present. I know you shouldn’t have done it, but thanks oodles anyway.
We made out good coming home today. I only got off the road once and that was in Canajoharie. I took the wrong 53 route and went down the wrong side of the river.
I sure was tired this afternoon. I even went to sleep for a while.
Wednesday morning 7:10
I just got up so I’ll try and get the last P.S. written before it is time for the mailman.
Percy was up a while last night. While he was here Kent, Ethel and Edna came. I was so tired it seemed like I couldn’t keep awake.
Edna is coming over this afternoon and paper the kitchen so we have to go to Watertown this morning for paper.3
You should have seen Pat when we got here. She was on the porch as usual and was so tickled she didn’t know what to do. The rabbit is still alive.
I have to get breakfast so will close.
All my love and kisses to my honey boy.
Yours forever,
Ruth
August 19, 1936
Adams Center, N.Y.
My Very Own Husband,
There isn’t a thing to write about but I thought it best to write and tell you that Harold thinks it best to have those barn windows put in as soon as possible on account of the straw. He is stacking the grain and expects to thresh sometime next week. He says it won’t be very easy to put the windows in if he threshes first. If you have any other work to do, don’t leave it, but if you aren’t busy, you might as well be here as anywhere. They won’t get the material to work with until you come and decide what will be needed.
We haven’t heard any more from Grace. Mom is quite worried. She will have to have to have an operation before she leaves the hospital.
I finally broke that thing on my watch this morning that I have been expecting to break for so long. I left it up town this morning. They say I can have it in a week and it will cost $1.50. I sure am lost without it.
We got our kitchen paper this morning and Edna and I got the ceiling on this afternoon. We expect to finish up the sides in the morning.
Glenn and Dot were over this afternoon. The next time you are up for any length of time we will have to go and call on them as they think we are high hat.
I’m sort of tired tonight and it is nearly 7:30 so I think I’ll go me to bed and see how much shut eye I can get.
Janie just came up and said she had called Syracuse. Mrs. Parker said that Grace has a terrible infection. She runs a temp of 106 degrees and is much worse every night. She gets delirious and doesn’t know anybody. Monday night they thought she wouldn’t live and the Dr. has told Niles to watch out for tonight. She seemed a little better this afternoon. Janie has told them to be sure and call her if there is any change. Mom is awfully worried and so am I but I try not to let her know it. Mom has an awful grip on herself and she says somehow she has no hope at all. Oh, honey, I am so worried not only for Grace but for Mom if anything should happen to her. Sometimes I wonder how I can stand any more. Janie says if there is any hell, that certainly is what I have been through this summer.
Thursday morning
We called Mrs. Parker this morning and she says she hasn’t heard from Grace since yesterday. We called Glenn and he says he will go to Syracuse with me to see Grace. Mom wants us to go. They say she knows people in afternoon, but she doesn’t know anyone at night.
I have to get to work so will sign off.
Lots of love to my darling,
Ruth
August 20, 1936
Middleburg, N.Y.
Hello Darling,
Received your letter today and it was swell, honey. You always have something nice to say in every letter.
I was sorry to hear of Grace’s condition. I know how it must make you feel worrying about her and Mother, too. I do hope you get word from her again soon saying she is better. It does seem as though there is always something for my honey to worry over.
I haven’t found out anything about work yet and probably won’t before Saturday or Sunday. If nothing turns up, I’ll try and get up there but don’t expect me because I think something will turn up here.
If it doesn’t rain tomorrow, I am going to take Mom to Albany. She still remembers what I said that morning at breakfast and I had quite a time convincing her to let me take her. Her feelings are very easily hurt and it takes quite a while to get over it.
Lydia and Fran have gone down to Jo’s until Monday night. They went down Wednesday night. He is going to help Ralph fix up a brooder house and Lydia will help Jo can beans, corn and pears for half. Pretty lucky way of getting canned food I would say. She left her rings in Schenectady to be engraved. We will have to do that with yours at the first opportunity. Fran and I went to a show while they were shopping. Lydia bought herself a pair of shoes. I paid the balance of the ring so I am about flat now but it seems good to know that all I owe is $8.00 on the studio couch. That is the closest to being out of debt I have been in a long time.
I have been trimming berries all day today and my arms feel as though about ten of your Joe Cuffy cats had been at me.
Howard drove in just after supper tonight. He has been out this way all day after bait and came here for supper. He is still here and Lula and Claude just came but I can’t be bothered going down to talk to them. I would rather sit here and write to my darling wife.
There is one of those pesky skomitos buzzing around and I have stopped a dozen times to try and catch it, but no success. Won’t you please do something about it.
Guess I’ll save myself three cents and an envelope by putting this letter in with the card.
I guess they are having the picnic down at Jo’s this Sunday. Ralph can’t get anyone to take care of his hens. I may go down if no one shows up here. It doesn’t matter much whether I do or not. I’ll feel lonesome either way. Gee, sweetheart, you are so much a part of me that I think of you when I don’t even realize it. All the while I was working today I had you for company. I was thinking back over all the times I went out (or stayed in) with you just the same as we talk about them sometimes ourselves.
I think we have quite a record, honey. Nearly two years we have known each other and never a cross word or thought between us. I wonder how far we can make that go. According to the way I love you, I think it will go on forever. You are the sweetest girl on earth, dear, and I love you more than words can tell. If I can do any little thing to make you happy, it makes me a thousand times more so.
If I go to Albany tomorrow, I’ll take this along and mail it from there. Then it won’t have to lay in Livingstonville a week before it starts out.
I can’t seem to think of anything more, darling, so I guess I’ll quit and go to bed. If nothing new happens, I probably won’t write again until Sunday.
Goodnight, dearest.
Yours forever,
“Me”
August 20, 1936
Adams Center, N.Y.
Hello Honey,
I just got back from Syracuse and I am so tired I can hardly sit in a chair. I suppose it is mostly nervous strain.
We found Grace a lot better than we expected but of course she isn’t out of danger entirely. She seemed to feel better than she has at all since she got so bad.
We brought Lydia and Eleanor home with us until school starts September 8th so I expect to have my hands full for a while.4
Friday morning
Gee, I was so tired and nervous last night that I just couldn’t finish this so of course it won’t be very long.
Edna came over yesterday and would have finished the papering but she ran out of paper. So we have to get to Watertown and get some more paper this morning.
Edna brought me six more Pyrex custard cups and a standard to go with them. John sent me another egg beater.
I’m sorry you felt bad about not writing those directions out for me. I don’t wonder you thought it stupid of me to ask you to do it. I should have known the way anyhow, but I guess I’m sort of dumb. Nothing serious happened so just forget about it. Aside from making a couple mistakes we made out pretty well.
I hope you have good luck finding something to do. Kent finally got a job driving a truck from Watertown to Syracuse. He doesn’t seem to be very keen on his job.
Glenn drove his car to Syracuse yesterday and coming out of the city he ran over something and had a flat. I was glad it didn’t happen to me alone. I don’t think I’ll try driving in Syracuse. It seems a lot harder to drive there than Albany. Maybe it was because I was nervous anyway.
I have to start for Watertown so will close. “I love my honey.”
Yours forever,
Ruth
August 22, 1936 (Post Card)
Saturday
Dear Ruth,
I have to go to work down here Monday morning so you had better tell Harold to get someone else as I don’t know when I will be able to come up.
Will write a letter tomorrow. Hope Grace is better by now.
Happy Birthday and love,
Dave
August 22, 1936
Middleburg, N.Y.
My Very Own Wife,
It is seven P.M. Saturday evening and nothing to do so I’ll start this letter to my sweetheart and wife.
This morning I went down and saw those fellows who wanted the hen house and garage built. They want the work done alright but like everyone else they don’t know if they can afford it. Anyway I have to figure the lumber on the two buildings and send them an estimate of the cost. From there I went to see the man who bought the place just above us. He wasn’t home but his wife was and she very capably handled the situation. So well in fact that she had me hurry back from M. where I was going and spend two hours cutting some wood for her to burn.
The story up there is that her husband expects to be in the city most of the fall and winter but is coming up here early in the spring and build ten or a dozen overnight cabins and try to make some sort of swimming place there in the creek. Right now she says she has plenty of work to keep me busy if I want it, mostly cutting wood and brush and some landscaping. She wanted to hire me for a month for one sum but I didn’t like the idea or amount so we finally agreed that I work by the hour but .35 per was all I could get out of her. In view of the work that there may be there next spring, I thought it best to humor her a little so I’m going back Monday morning and see what she has to do. She has too many big ideas and talks too much to suit me. Most of these city people are like that when they first get here but they soon change their minds after spending a little money. The first job I had to do when I got there this afternoon was bury her little white Spitz dog. It had just been hit with an army truck and she shot it.
Gee, hon, I was quite relieved to hear that you found Grace a little better. I hope it keeps up. Is the operation she has to have very serious? I can just imagine how tired you were when you got back and then you even try to write a letter to me. Don’t do it, honey, when you are so tired. A card is much easier and quicker and if it only has your name on it, I’ll know you are alright and won’t worry.
It is quite chilly here tonight and it makes me think of the winter months to come. They are a little depressing to think about but we have got to face them somehow. I know it will just about kill both of us if we aren’t together, but things will certainly have to break better than they are right now if we make it. I suppose I should be sorry for marrying you and getting you into such a jam but I can’t honestly make myself say that I am. No, honey even though it might be hard for us, it is comforting to know that I have a wife like you who is with me a hundred percent. Even if I knew it would be five or ten years before we could be together, I could still get comfort out of knowing we would eventually find happiness together.
Well, darling, I think I’ll quit and go to bed before I get mad at this pen and break it up in little pieces. It won’t feed down at all and it has just about got my nanny.
Goodnight, sweetums. I love you.
Sunday P.M.
It is now eleven o’clock and I just got home from the picnic. It was rather damp here most of the day so we didn’t go out. Had dinner in Jo’s house and after dinner the men went out and pitched horseshoes until dark. Floyd and Evelyn were not there.
Sadie brought you a nice present for the shower, a pair of embroidered pillow cases. Everything went all right until about nine o’clock. Florence went into a rage. Ben was supposed to bring back two chickens and Ralph hadn’t gotten them ready yet when she wanted to go home. She laid it all to Ben for not telling Ralph. I’ve heard her talk mean about Ben but some of the things she said tonight were awful. I felt like socking her in the jaw and I guess everyone else did too.
When we got back to P.H. Fran found a note from Mr. Traver saying he wouldn’t be able to use him anymore. The other man who is doing the work has his own help and won’t use anyone else.
Well, darling, if it wasn’t so late, I could stretch this letter out a little longer by telling you a thousand times or more that I love you, but considering the hour, I’ll take it for granted that you do know just how much I love you and miss you.
I do hope everything comes out all right and I’ll be waiting anxiously to hear. I also hope you found something a little bit cheerful today because today is my honey’s birthday and I want her to be happy.
Goodnight, darling.
Yours forever and ever,
Dave
August 22, 1936
Adams Center, N.Y.
Hello Honey,
Guess I’ll get this started so in case something comes along to keep me from it tomorrow.
It is 8 p.m. and I have another hour to kill before I can go to bed. I am cooking string beans and they have to boil another hour before I can turn them off.
Janie says she has canned 82 quarts and that is all she needs so she gave us enough for thirteen quarts. Yesterday I made a dozen glasses of grape jelly. I bought us another dozen glasses like those you bought for jam. I get half of what I can so maybe we will have a few cans of vegetables, etc. after all. When Harold pays me I think I’ll get a couple dozen of cans just in case I do get a chance to can something. Maybe someone will give us enough string beans to can again. I would like at least a dozen quarts. Mom says she intends to buy corn and tomatoes to can.
I received a very, very sweet card and letter from my very own husband and thanks a lot.
We haven’t heard from Grace since Glenn and I were down there Thursday. We thought they would at least send us a card. I even went to the post office tonight to see if there was anything. I guess all we can do is believe “no news is good news” for sure. We can’t help but feel worried as we know all danger isn’t over. I’ve been so worried since I came home from down there that it is a wonder I have done anything.
We sort of expected to see Lynn and June up this weekend but I haven’t seen them as yet. Does Lynn still go by your house?
I guess Bill is coming home the first of September for a week. He is going to Oswego to try an examination so he can renew his license. He is going to try and get a mate’s job. At present he is getting $99 a month and if he was mate, he could earn $240. He used to earn that plus a bonus. I don’t believe it will do him much good but maybe it will.
It is almost 9:00 so I think I’ll get undressed so I can jump in bed just as soon as I turn the beans off.
Good night, my darling.
Yours always,
“Me”
August 23, Sunday 5 p.m.
Well, dear, I can’t find anything any more exciting to do so I’ll see if I can’t finish this letter to you. As usual this has been a very long day. This has been a nice afternoon to do things if I had been with the right person, but since the right person isn’t here all I can do is sit around and wish it would hurry up and go. Seems like every Sunday that goes by and I’m not with you seems a little longer than the one before. I dread to know the weekend is coming unless I know I will see you.
We had a nice heavy rain this morning. Maybe it will make my tomatoes grow and get ripe. They aren’t very big yet but one is nearly ripe. There are also quite a few string beans out there waiting to be picked. While we were gone the tomato worms ate most of the leaves off the tomatoes.
Mom is awfully nervous today. I guess it is because there are two extra kids here and no doubt not hearing how Grace is has something to do with it. I do think they at least could have sent a card when they know how Mom worries. We have called Fayetteville a couple times and it doesn’t take long to run up a bill at $.65 a call.
I thought either Glenn or Kent would be over today but so far neither of them have showed up.
Harold got a fellow who lives near here to come down and find out what will be needed for those barn windows.
Gee whiz, there were four kids awake and tearing around upstairs this morning at 5:30. Believe me it didn’t take long for me to put a soft peddle on them. These people that wake up at 5:30 sort of get in my hair, unless it happens to be that husband of mine and then I think it is sort of cute.
Come to think of it, honey, I guess maybe we have made quite a record for ourselves. I don’t believe there is much danger of us having many fights, you are too good natured. I feel kind of sorry for you at times when your wife gets crabby.
Well, sweet, I think I’ll end another long, lonesome day by telling you how much I love you. Maybe I can go to sleep and forget how lonely I am.
Yours forever and ever,
Ruth
August 24, Monday 8:15 a.m.
This letter will resemble a diary if I don’t hurry up and send it.
Guess what? Here it is a whole hour before mail time and I am up and have had breakfast already. The wash water is all hot and as soon as I get this finished, I’ll start washing. You see, darling, once in a while I do get up more than fifteen minutes before mail time.
Gee, I sure have some washing. There are eight sheets. Looks like we run a boarding house by the size of the wash.
Some day this week we plan to go to Gouverneur if we hear Grace is alright. The kids start school September 3rd.
Lots of love,
“Me”
Footnotes
- For fans of boxing, Joe Louis defeated Jack Sharkey by knocking him out in round 3. Access to the full radio broadcast can be found here. And visit here for a written overview of the fight, including a detailed history, commentary, photos and video.
- Another photo and a note about Grace’s life is posted here. Fortunately, she survived this illness and gave birth to another son, Philip, in 1938.
- Mass production of wallpaper took off around 1840 and became more affordable to the general public. Prior to this, expensive printing techniques and style restricted this decor mostly to the aristocracy, and was even taxed. For more detailed history, visit here and here.
- Grace’s daughters at this time would have been aged 10 and 6. With June and Billy around at similar ages, they all would have been a handful!
Thank you, Julie. How very interesting to know some of the day-to-day events when Mom was a child. And to witness the strong love your grandparents shared.😊