Frances Elvira Alexander Owens to Samuel Owens, December 26, 1941

WCU Author/Contributor (non-WCU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Melody Chandler (Creator)

Institution

Western Carolina University (WCU )

Web Site: http://library.wcu.edu/

Advisor

Brian Gastle

Abstract: Within the Samuel Owens Collection, we have several letters to Samuel Owens, the ninth child of Mrs. Frances Elvira Alexander Owens (Mar. 28, 1879- Jan. 7, 1965) while he is in active service during WWII. As with any mother, she has great concern for her son while he is actively serving in the military during wartime, and her mother’s heart can almost be felt as we read her letters, as she begs for him to write her as soon as possible, as she expresses concern for his safety, and as she writes of her letters to him being unanswered.In her December 26th letter to her son, Samuel, Mrs. Owens emotions are evident. It’s just after the holidays, and she has two sons away at war. She begins this letter with elation over Samuel’s telegram, but says that she has not received a letter from Samuel since September 1. Later in the letter, Mrs. Owens mentions the “lattment,” which I discovered was allotment. She mentions how much that it was helping the family, but that she hated to think of what he was having to go through to get it. This interested me greatly, so I spent a bulk of time researching this topic.The envelopes have no personal notes on them, only the appropriate addresses and then a purple stamp that states, “Return To Sender By Order Of Navy Dept. No Postage Due.” We can only imagine the emotions she felt when this letter was returned to her eight months after she sent it to her son.

Frances Elvira Alexander Owens to Samuel Owens, December 26, 1941
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Created on 12/14/2017
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Other

Language: English

Date: 2017

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