Correspondence

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Series 1: Correspondence, 1891-1919, 1940, is comprised of approximately 180 handwritten letters, most with corresponding envelopes, between Charles Davis and Edith Long Davis, and letters from their daughter Letha Davis Kline to her future husband Earl Kline. The bulk of these letters were written between the two couples during their respective courtships, though some letters between the Davises post-date their marriage when Charles was staying in Harrisonburg and likely working in some capacity at the new Masonic Temple. The subject matter of the letters is generally romantic in nature. Both couples talk about missing each other and anticipating the next time they will see each other. The letters provide regular updates on family and community news, reports on the frequency of church and prayer meeting attendance, and are generally newsy and gossipy in their overall tone. The Charles Davis correspondence includes a few letters from his friends, both male and female, in West Virginia written prior to his relationship with Edith. The lighthearted nature of these letters is exemplified in a December 9, 1894 letter from his friend Albert in which he asks Charles, "Are the girls as good looking over there [in Broadway] as they are in old Pend[leton County]?"

Occasionally, the letters touch on relevant political and social topics of the time. In a November 3, 1896 letter from Charles Davis to Edith, he comments on his election fatigue in light of the recent presidential election: "Well the election is over and I have a McKinley headache already." In Letha Davis Kline's February 11, 1917 letter to Earl Kline, she describes her internal struggle with the morality of dancing: "Dancing isn't a sin is it? Sometimes I think it is and then again I think different for if you wished to you could make a sin out of everything."

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