1918 · Mobile, Alabama
by Anne Bozeman Lyon
Mobile, Alabama, 1918. Very good. Toned, letter folds. Spotting and tear to envelope.. Typewritten letter on official letterhead for the League of American Pen Women, from "Sister Annie" (i.e. Anne Bozeman Lyon of Mobile, Alabama) to Mrs. Herbert Harrington, dated May 29th 1918. The writer relays personal news (Frederick has recovered from an illness, your son Harold has a big heart and will be missed when he leaves for war, etc.). Written before the end of the war in November of that year the postscript here reads, "It has just struck twelve—in a few moments the soldiers will go to the train escorted by the Red Cross contingency here. Believe me, I can't keep the tears when I think of Harold [the recipient's soldier son?] and how proud you'd be of him. In spirit I am with you at this moment, just as I know your great mother soul is here in Mobile with your baby. What a hideous coil it all is—the world at war! May Christ lead us to higher, better things when it all ends." Single leaf of letterhead (11" by 8.5"), envelope measures 3.5" by 5.75" with ink revision to typewritten address. Postmarked and stamped. Anne Bozeman Lyon (1860-1936) was a prominent Southern writer from Mobile, Alabama who penned novels, articles, columns and poetry, earning her a place in the 1893 biographical dictionary "A Woman of the Century". By 1918, she had joined the National League of American Pen Women, providing the letterhead here.
(Inventory #: 24003566)