I recently shared several great photos I received from Jenny West. Also included with the photos was an old letter that Lewis M. Fowler (1848-1938), my second great-grandfather, wrote to his son, Oliver Wilson Fowler (1875-1951), on Christmas Eve 1920.
I thought the letter was interesting enough to deserve its own blog entry. Photos are great, but having words written by one of my ancestors I never got to meet is a great way to get a glimpse at their personality.
I edited the punctuation and spelling, but tried to leave the wording as close to the original as possible.
| Brownsville, Tenn. Dec. 24, 1920 Well, Wilson, I received your letter day before yesterday. I was glad to hear from you all again. We have been waiting for a long time. We didn’t know what had become of you. [I hope] it may find you all well. We just got done gathering week before last. I have just returned from Jackson. I went to see Daisy and the children. They were all well and I am thinking of going up to Chestnut Grove in a few days after Christmas, if the Lord wills. Mollie says tell you ever since you went back they are all well. What has become of the children? Vassie and Rose Lee used to write to me. And Willie and Otis, where are they? I would love to hear from you all. You asked me if times were hard out here. Yes, times are harder here than I have [illegible]. Lewis Fowler Ed Patterson says his advice is to try to get through the winter the best you can. He says he can live on lizards and grasshoppers until next summer. He says for you to [illegible] and go on trusting in the good Lord. So goodbye. |
When Lewis wrote this letter, he was 72 and living with my great-grandparents, Ruby Fowler Lovelace (1887-1952) and James Luther “Jim” Lovelace (1885-1968). His wife, Sarah Elizabeth Patterson Fowler (1851-1920), had died in January of that year.
This photo of Lewis Fowler was taken around 1933 at his “homeplace” in Haywood County, Tennessee, photo credit: William L. Fowler Jr.
Guy Lovelace (1916-1997), my grandfather, was 3 years old. Also living in the home were grandfather’s siblings Ovid Monroe Lovelace (1906-1983), Earl “Jack” Lovelace (1907-1989), Blanch Lovelace (1910-1994), James Homer Lovelace (1914-1976) and Otha C. Lovelace (1919-1961).
Lovelace Family in 1920 U.S. census
Two Fowler nephews also lived with the Lovelace family: Jesse Thomas Fowler (1906-1952) and William Leslie Fowler (1909-1994). They were sons of Ruby’s brother, Samuel Dalton Fowler (1882-1913), and his wife, Clyde Lorene Mann Fowler Hilburn.
Living two farms over was Edward Mansfield “Ed” Patterson (1880-1944), the man Lewis referred to in his letter. Ed was married to Eva Pearl Lovelace Patterson (1889-1951), Jim Lovelace’s sister. Lewis’ wife, Sarah, was also a Patterson, but I’m not certain of the connection between the two Patterson families.
Lynn Boyd Lovelace (1855-1928) and his family lived just a few farms away in 1920. Lynn was Jim Lovelace’s uncle. Lynn and Jim’s father, Charles Buchanan Lovelace (1858-1938), were brothers.
Even from this short letter, you get a sense that Lewis Fowler loved his children and grandchildren, wanted to know what they were doing and enjoyed visiting with them. If he were around today, he would probably be posting photos of his grandchildren on Facebook.
You can also tell that, although times were hard, Lewis and those around him had a good sense of humor. Ed Patterson’s comment about living off lizards and grasshoppers makes that pretty clear.
At some point in the next 10 years, Lewis went to live his daughter Mollie F. Fowler Parker (1876-1931) and her husband, G. W. Parker.
The 1930 census entry for that household is worth another look. The farm was valued at $2,500 and also living there was their daughter, Geraldine Parker, and Rosa Brooks, a 21-year-old woman the census described as a “servant.”
It’s sad to think our own descendants may not have old letters to discover. They may only have emails, texts and blog posts, if some version of all this digital data survives into the future.
Of course, I’ll continue looking for more old letters and photos. If they are able to read these blogs in the future, at least they’ll have that.
For more of my genealogy research, visit rscottwilliams.info.
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