Letter 61 Annie Unknown to Martha Alice Moody Leigh

Date: 11 Aug 1873 [unknown]
Location: Ashland, Virginia
Surnames/tags: Leigh Moody Ashland Aug 11th 1873

Dearest Alice

As Nannie has written to Minnie, I will send a few lines to you in her envelope. I hope you are enjoying yourself very much, but I don't believe you are, for you are not with Dr. L. I know you would rather be with him than anywhere else. But I hope the pure air and the quiet, will be beneficial to you, and you will come back to us well and strong. As for me, I am doing as well as I expected. I didnot of course anticipate any thing for myself, but I think the children are finding it rather duller than they looked for. There seems to be very few persons here. I have met no one yet, but I suppose some of the people I used to know will call on me before I leave. I saw Mrs. Dr. Duncan last night at chapel she is rather pretty and fine looking I believe, but I got such a mere glimpse of her, that I hardly would recognize her, were I to see her again. I suppose I will have an opportunity of seeing her closer. Dr. D. has just returned from one of his preaching trips. Alice Morgan is still here. she has had chills, and looks thin and badly. Mattie seems always complaining, but not sick enough to be in bed. I feel sadder and more terribly alone here than I do in Pts. I shall certainly go back next week. It is dreary returning, and sadder to stay. Oh, if things could be as they were only one short year ago! Alice dear, try to be thankful to God for your happy home and be happy while you may: cultivate thankfulness and make it a religious duty to be satisfied, for a time comes to all of us when we would give all of life for the beautiful past, which while it was present was not appreciated by us. Oh, how I long for my past, which I never can have again. Let me trust God for my future which he is keeping for me-- I have written a long note. I hope you will soon answer, and tell Minnie unless she writes to Nannie this week, she may as well direct to Petersburg. Give my best love to dear "Aunt Mary" and kiss Minnie and Willie for me. My little ones are all well. It is hotter here in the middle of the day than it is in Pts.

Yours in love always,

Annie

[Written on black bordered note paper.]

VLR (Virginia Leigh Refo)

A letter written to Martha "Alice" (Moody) Leigh from a friend who apparently recently lost her husband. Alice is not at home in Petersburg--possibly she is at the family home near Garysburg, NC, or possibly at a spa to recover her health and well being after some incident (illness, miscarriage, etc.). "Minnie" is Alice's oldest daughter, Mary Eulah Leigh, later to marry J. W. Hays, III. Nannie is the author's daughter, and friend of Minnie's. "Dr. L" is Alice's husband, Dr. H.G. Leigh. Mattie and Alice Morgan are unknown to me. "Willie" is Alice's other daughter Martha William Leigh, later to marry James Dunn Mason. In this letter "Aunt Mary" is Mary Charlton, Alice's aunt. "Pts." is Petersburg.

James A. Duncan was an eloquent and respected minister of the Virginia Conference (Methodist). He was President of Randolph-Macon College when it opened the Ashland campus in 1868. He remained President until his death in 1877. He was a former Randoph-Macon student, graduating in 1849. He may have been the son of the Mr. Duncan mentioned in letter #36. I do not know whom Dr. Duncan married.

Acknowledgement

• Many thanks to cousin Virginia Leigh Refo whose research and transcriptions added to this profile. The originals were donated to the Library of Virginia in 2004 by Liz Edens Vermillion with the help of Virginia Refo Moody Family Papers, 1750-1881. Accession 40535, Personal Papers Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.