Monthly Archives: May 2011

June 17, 1925

This undated letter was misfiled with a later set, so I’m posting it now (8 September 2011) and backdating the post. Sorry for any confusion.

Wednesday Nite.

Dearest Walter:

I have been trying ever since you left to write to you, but I couldn’t very well do it and take notes on class work at the same time. I didn’t think I would ever write to you with a pencil, but my fountain pen, with several other things that I intended to bring, is peacefully at rest in Uvalde. Maybe I can borrow one at the post office to address the letter. Most of the crowd went on Mount Wesley this evening after the lecture for games and campfire, but I preferred writing.

June 17, 1925 (Ina)

June 17, 1925 (Ina)

We are taking only five courses, and these, in addition to committee meetings, special services, study periods etc. keep us more than busy. I should be studying right now since I haven’t read half my assignments for tomorrow, and I will not have a minute before classes, but, do we care? What I want most right now is to be with you. I had ten thousand times rather be with you than to listen to lectures, go to campfires or anything. It is certainly fortunate for me that there will be no exams here, because just as my instructor reaches the most eloquent point in his discourse my mind is back in Uvalde on Mr. Lewis’ front porch in the swing with my favorite Bird. If it were left with me, I would set sail at once. It seems like an age since I saw you, and I feel like I am losing so much time that I could spend with you. Now, of course these preachers, instructors etc. would thoroughly appreciate my attitude if they knew it.

I thought of you so much on your trip home. I surely do hope you found a better road going back than the one we had coming over. You don’t know how I appreciated the way you had the car fixed for me, and the candy ‘neverything. I divided candy with the Uvalde crowd, and they thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated it. You are just as sweet as you can be to me. I don’t deserve it, but I do love you so, and always will.

Thursday P.M.

I had so many interruptions last night when I was writing you that they ordered the lights out before I could finish.

I have already been to morning watch, and must go to classes now. Will try to write a better letter later.

I love you lots and lots and lots.

Love,
Ina.

June 16, 1925

Stationery from the Uvalde Hotel, “Mrs. R. C. Hollifield, Proprietress.”

Uvalde, Texas, Monday Nite 6/16 1925

My Dear Ina,

Am sorry that I did not see you again before we left Kerrville, but I dreaded to say good-bye even for a period of less than a week. Mervin and I left Kerrville about 9:30 this morning, both of us having slept until 8 o’clock. At that time you were probably attending classes. I wanted to be able to tell your mother than you slept good last night, but I didn’t want to say “good-bye.” We arrived here at 5:30 and did not have a puncture or trouble of any kind.

June 16, 1925

June 16, 1925

After dinner tonight I drove out to your house and I have just returned from out there. Your mother misses both of you and it will be a long week for her too. Thelma Lee and Retha met me at the gate and informed me that both yourself and Claudelle were at Kerrville. They are spending the night out there and were almost asleep when I left there at 9:15 (quite an early hour for me to leave your house, isn’t it?) Some time during the week I am going to take them out to spend another night with your mother. We didn’t set a time but I am sure that your sister will let them go. I think I told your mother the details of the trip and about the camp. I wish I felt sure that you are comfortable and that you are really enjoying it. The first day is the most difficult, and before the week is over I am sure that you will like it. Your mother hopes that Claudelle’s appetite will improve. I hope it will not rain while you are there (no connection with appetite).

Mervin and I returned via San Antonio and while it is about 50 miles further, I believe I would rather go that way and enjoy the good roads. It would be easier on your car and your good disposition. But of course I know that you will return with the crowd. I wish I could come up and be with you on the way back, but I can’t plan it and be sure that I could come. It is quite likely that next Monday will be a busy day for us here.

Mervin had a good time last night and thoroughly enjoyed the trip. He took the Ford and a couple of boy friends to a dance and says he “petted” all the girls there.

Mr. Pettit and I visited at the hotel until about 10:30 and then he returned to Legion by himself. I was surprised to find him getting along so nicely and that he felt so cheerful over his condition. He has had no trace of TB for several months, but has been fighting a kidney trouble. No doubt it is about the same as that of Mrs. Parmans. I told him that there was a possibility that I’d see him again about Sunday, but I doubt if I can arrange to come up then. It is quite likely that he will come out to the Conference sometime during the week and visit with you some more. When in Dallas he was quite a lady’s man.

I am sorry, Dear, that I left you so abruptly and I feel that I might have added something to make it more comfortable for you up there, but I can’t figure out what it would be.

I am going to take this to the bus station and see if it can be posted in San Antonio tonight, otherwise it would probably be here until sometime tomorrow before leaving.

With love to Claudelle (sisterly) and wishing to be remembered to others in the party, I am,

Your
Walter.

Box 509
Uvalde, Tex.

The letter was addressed to Ina “3 miles North of Kerrville, Texas, c/o Rev. Campbell, Methodist Conference.” She was apparently there for some sort of training, probably related to her Sunday School teaching credentials.

May 10, 1925

There’s no letter for this date, but from later correspondence we learn that Walter did get to Uvalde in early May. On the 10th, he proposed to Ina. She accepted.

April 23, 1925

Stationery: Walter E. Dove, 4529 Reiger Avenue, Dallas, Texas

April 23, 1925

Dear Ina,

Was pleased to get your letter and to know that I can see you occasionally before very long. I know about how you feel toward me and I couldn’t blame you if you didn’t give me a date. I really have been mean though my intentions were not so mean as it appeared. Will tell you how it happened and ask you to forgive me, and if you feel that you can’t, I won’t trouble you any more. I guess if you had had very much temper I would have had a good reprimand, but you were too sweet to do that.

April 23, 1925

April 23, 1925

Am working up a manuscript for the meeting just now and I have been fairly busy but not as much as during last winter. I cannot tell just when we will go to Uvalde and I guess I had better wait until I get there before I ask for a date. I presume there are equally as many as there were last year, so I am speaking early. However, if you don’t feel that I should have your company, don’t do it just for courtesy. I really want to see you, and will be mighty glad to be with you again. Mr. Laake thinks that it will probably be about the 10th of May, which should give me ample time to get the manuscript off my hands. Feel like I have already accomplished a year’s work since I saw you, and I look upon this more like a vacation.

With very best wishes,
Walter.

April 9, 1925

Dallas, Texas,
April 9, 1925.

Dear Ina,

It seemed like old times “a year ago” to get your letter today and I enjoyed it very much. No doubt it will be only a couple of weeks before I see you, and I am anxious.

Am working on a manuscript and also doing some work on the cottage lawn and floors, so I am pretty busy just now. Hope to get through before we leave for Uvalde. The manuscript should be completed as soon as possible as it will be presented the latter part of next month and it has a number of hands to go through yet for the necessary criticism. Have been pretty much on the job ever since that work started and I believe we have a real contribution to make. Am anxious to get as much done as possible before next summer’s work starts, as there will be less credit in having assistance next summer. I am anxious to have Dr. White down there with me and I believe it will be arranged OK. In all probability we will have some one from another Bureau too, and I am not so eager for that. However, we must show the courtesy of an invitation as we are getting into another domain to some extent.

April 9, 1925

April 9, 1925

Had another letter from the little French boy a few days ago. He is a pretty prompt correspondent considering the distance.

I am in hopes that I can see more of you this summer than I did last year, and with a beginning earlier in the season, we ought to be pretty well acquainted before I leave Uvalde. It all depends on how many you are dividing your time with, and provided I can get a share of it. I hope you will be liberal enough to let me see you fairly often.

In what direction are you living from Uvalde? Are you between Regan Wells and Uvalde? I imagine we will be up there again this summer, and as far as I can tell most of the men are going to have their wives with them. This is a good reason why you should be considerate enough of me to let me see you. However, I wouldn’t want you to do this just as a matter of courtesy. Don’t let me impose on that sweet disposition of yours. We will talk it over, and see what we have to say about it.

Am glad that you are enjoying a vacation, and I hope you can come up to the Wells and spend some time with us. I think you would like Mrs. Roark and Mrs. Laake, and with a number of these ladies I think you would be properly chaperoned.

I wasn’t very nice to some of Mrs. Roark’s friends in Washington and she may not like me for it, but I wasn’t interested and I guess I was not very courteous in calling on them. I am yet of the same opinion that the girls don’t grow as pretty in any place like they do in Mississippi*. This is a comp. It would be nice if Mrs. Parman could come up to the Wells and spend a while with you up there, as I know that you two get along nicely together.

Looking forward to seeing you, I am

Sincerely,
Walter.

* Though Ina spent most of her formative years in Texas, she was born in Mississippi.

March 24, 1925

Dallas, Texas,
March 24, 1925

Dear Ina,

I am mighty glad to get back and everything looks good to me. Had a wonderful time at Jax and the work was very interesting but short. I hated to leave there so soon, as a week passed before I realized it. I have plenty to keep me busy and out of mischief while here and I am expected to help the other fellows some. As this includes a trip to Uvalde, I will welcome it with open arms. I have wanted to see you for some time, and before many weeks I hope to come down.

March 24, 1925

March 24, 1925

I had used a sheet of this stationery to write a little 6 yr. old girl at Jax, daughter of my landlady there. She admired the stationery and had kept it as a treasure. Had a letter from my French boy not long ago, and he has made a wonderful improvement in school.

I went out to see the cottage this afternoon and everything is fine. It has not been rented, as I am particular as to whom I get to live there. The Japanese (Yon-o-mus) (I can’t spell it) shrubs were winter killed but all are coming out again. One of the Arba vitas (I can’t spell this either) will have to be replaced. I was surprised to find that the fixtures and even the water hose were not stolen, as I rather expected that I would have to replace them. The floors are pretty dusty as it seems to have been inspected during my absence. The neighbors have probably looked it over.

Had to stop writing when “Bobbie” brought his youngster over. He is a friend of mine and the boy is about a year old. A real pretty baby. A little time makes a great many changes. I am waiting for another boy friend to come by. He has been married and divorced since we three ran together. He made a mistake and they became divorced.

This is Wednesday night as Alvis and I visited until 1:30 this morning and I have just gotten back to finish this letter. He is the best boy friend I have ever had, and I always look forward to seeing him.

Have gotten started on my work here and I am anxious to get further developments for the Amer. Med. report in May. If I get it worked up like I want to, there will be little left to interest another Bureau. However, we will have to invite one to join us next summer, but most of the joy will be taken out of the problem before then.

Just before I left Wash. I had Sheetz to mail you some Martha Washington candy. I thought I had better tell you, or you might think that the other fellow sent them. The one who went squirrel hunting with you.

I am anxious to see you and I’ll be glad when the time comes to come down there. I hope I can see you more than I did last year. It sounds good to me that you are going to take a vacation.

With very best wishes,

Always
Walter

March 17, 1925

Hotel Stationery from “The Everett – European Plan”

Jacksonville, Fla. March 17 1925

Dear Ina,

Was pleased to get your letter this morning as I had considerable doubt as to whether or not you would answer. I am looking forward to my return to Dallas and for the time to come for us to go to Uvalde. I want to see you and lots more than you think I do. I don’t imagine I will ever square myself with you, for you have an awful opinion of me at present. However, I am not really so mean as it has seemed.

March 17, 1925

March 17, 1925

The winter has gone so quickly that I don’t realize it. I was so busy that I almost forgot about everything. I arrived here the 13th and Sat. Dr. K.S. and I went about 100 miles south on a fishing trip. Fished all day Sunday and had a real good time. Have had some work to do here and within a few days I expect to go to Dallas. Will be busy preparing a report for the American Med. meeting which is held at Atlantic City during the latter part of May. Dr. K.S. will be there with Dr. White, but I’ll not go to this one. Will get credit for my work just the same, and probably more credit than I am entitled to claim. Will tell you all about it when I see you. If you are not working then, I hope I can see you a great deal.

You mean more to me than you think, and I am anxious to see you.

Sincerely,
Walter.

Box 208
Dallas

March 8, 1925

Washington D.C.
March 8, 1925.

Dear Ina,

I haven’t had an answer to my letter and I wonder if I will get one or if there is some doubt in your mind as to where to send it. May be I don’t deserve an answer, but I’d like one just the same.

I expect to leave here about Wednesday for Jacksonville and I’ll be there for at least a week. Am looking forward to a good fishing trip while there. Dr. Kirby-Smith says they are biting good. Mr. Bishopp is getting anxious for me to return to Dallas and I am equally as anxious to get there. I certainly had some job here but it was worth the effort. With the exception of a very few evenings I have been on the job constantly since the middle of November. I did stop long enough to eat Christmas dinner with one of the men and his family. I have made between fifty and sixty thousand sections from the skin tissue taken at Jax this summer, and am able to demonstrate the thing in five instances. This was mighty good news to Dr. K.S. as he has been searching for the thing during the past fifteen years. There are no less than fifty reports in medical literature, dating back to ’92, and none have found the thing that causes the majority of the cases. During the past week have worked with a photographer in getting photos made, and I imagine it will take us until Wednesday to get prints and slides made. I hope to have Dr. White with me at Jax next summer, and possibly also Dr. Ransom. They will probably be there during the clinic.

March 8, 1925

March 8, 1925

I am in hopes of being at Uvalde during the spring, and there is no one in the world whom I want to see more than I do you. I trust you will grant me permission. I have something to tell you, and when I have told you I hope you won’t think I am so mean and heartless.

With every good wish, I am,

As ever,
Walter.

P.S. This is swell stationery for me to be using, and I only use it when I write to you.

January 30, 1925

Washington, D.C.
Jan 30, 1925

Dear Ina,

I really would love to hear from you more often but you would not believe it from the lapse of time since I received your letter. Since I arrived here the middle of November I have been on the job almost constantly, evenings and Sundays included. I have seriously neglected my correspondence, so please don’t feel that I did it intentionally. I have thought of you a great many times and I wish that I could see you. I am sorry that you have been disappointed in me, but I hope you will understand when I see you.

January 30, 1925

January 30, 1925

I have had hopes of returning and it takes so much more time than I had anticipated. If I can get away by March 1st I will be doing well. Mr. Bishopp suggested that he would like to have me in Dallas at that time, and I am anxious to get back. Then I’ll be anxious to come to Uvalde.

We are well pleased with the progress of the Florida work and feel that we have a real contribution to make at the American Med Assn next June. It has been a long tedious job to run down the cause, but we have it and find the same thing whenever we find one. I am now sectioning a piece of tissue taken from the back of a little Jew boy*. The piece was divided into twelve pieces, and each of these will average about a thousand sections. That will be twelve thousand sections from one piece of tissue, which was about the size of a half dollar when removed. They are mounted on slides of about 18 to each, but each slide goes through about 20 solutions. I am glad that I took most of the sections about the size of a finger nail.

I will be anxious to hear from you,

Always,
Walter.

* Please see the new note on political correctness on the “About” page.