The Clue in the Cupboard: A Letter from Albert Edwards

I thought there was a letter from Albert somewhere. . .  The letters are stored in my Family Archive inside archival file folders inside archival boxes, but I haven’t finished indexing or transcribing them, so it’s a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack to find one exact file. The dates aren’t complete in my genealogy database, either, and I’m unsure of where Arline was living and what she was doing at this time.

Fortunately, one of my last tasks was to organize the letters by date, more or less. This mixes up authors, but does make it easier to locate a particular letter if you have some idea of the year or date it may have been written. I don’t recall any other letters from Edwards, but this one reveals quite a bit about the mysterious man —

U.S.S. Kilty
June 9, 1919

My Dear Wife
I will drop off
a few lines to let you
no that I still love
you and I am well and
happy but very lonsome
for a letter from you
I have bin to france
a cuple of times and 
I am leaving a gin
soon for how long I 
due not no I will give
any thing if I had a 
small picture of you or
any kind just to look
at when I am lonsom
for you I will never
for get you Dear
I made out an allotment
to you when I first
came in if you have
not received it yet let 
me no they take it out 
of my pay every month
so you can have it
I will forget the past
Dear and start all over
a gain Arline for no
I love you with all
of my hart and wont
you be the same I will
when we was taking
those walk in helper 
and the Parks in
Salt Lake I will
send you lots of 
Presents if you will
write to me Dear for
I am always think
of you 
I will Close with
lots of love as of
old  You Loving
Husband

Albert Edwards
U.S.S. Kilty
c/o P.M. New York

I’m afraid this doesn’t paint a very good portrait of Arline. She sounds like a heartless new bride ignoring her soldier-husband. One can only wonder about the “other side of the story.”

In 1919, Arline was 29 years old. She had a ten-year old daughter, Lucile, by her first husband LeRoy Paulen, and another daughter Bernadean. The envelope is addressed to Mrs. A.F. Edwards in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but forwarded twice, first to Pueblo, Colorado where Arline’s mother lived, and then to the Page Hotel in Denver, Colorado, where Arline supposedly received the letter.

Edwards letter points to a man without much education, or at least with poor spelling and grammar skills. He mentions the walks in Helper and Salt Lake. I think the photo of Arline and Albert posted yesterday may have been taken in Helper or Beulah, at Arline’s mother’s ranch.

Next questions: Why was Arline in Minnesota, and then Denver?

Source:  Albert Edwards (USS Kilty, New York) to “My Dear Wife” [Arline Kinsel Edwards], letter, 9 June 1919; Arline Allen Kinsel Papers, 1890-, privately held by Denise Levenick, [address for private use,] Pasadena, California. 2012.

Note: USS Kilty (DD-137), U.S. Navy destroyer launched 25 April 1918 by Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, commissioned 17 December 1918. Sailed to Europe Summer 1919 and returned to San Diego. Decommissioned 5 June 1922.

Source: Wikipedia contributors, “USS Kilty (DD-137),” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USS_Kilty_(DD-137)&oldid=443425306 (accessed January 26, 2012).