“I am going to send some money home before long. Maybe you can use it now to buy cows with. I only have two more months to pay my liberty bonds out in…”
In his thirty-fourth letter home from Camp Lee, Virginia, to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, says he’s been busy packing mule harnesses and drilling. He’s qualified on gas mask school. He refers to Minnie’s “new separator” [probably a cream separator, a common tool on dairy farms]. He says he’ll be sending money how so Minnie can buy cows. He’s paying on his liberty bonds and took out $5000.00 in insurance. He’s ready to go overseas anytime.
In this letter, Les asks Minnie if she knows what their father, Christopher Columbus Scott, meant in his May 10 letter, when he wrote, “I was talking to Cleo Hewett and she says she is afraid she is left on you now.” In response, Les wrote to Minnie, “if you know what he meant about Cleo, he has me guessing.” This happens to be the only instance in which we actually have a letter from home to pair with a soldier’s letter. You can see a couple of photographs of Christopher and an image of his letter as well as the transcription below. His words are also included in the podcast. And he finally reveals the mysterious Cleo’s surname. Look for a future podcast dedicated to Cleo and Les, coming May 23.
The “Liberty Bonds” Les refers to were sold to raise money for the war effort. Marketed as a patriotic duty, the bonds were essentially loans to the government that were to be repaid with interest added after a specified time had passed. Despite these efforts, U.S. debt grew to more than $25 billion by war’s end.
Elsewhere on the same day, Julius Rosenberg, who would be executed along with his wife Ethel 35 years later as Soviet spies, was born in New York City.
Lester Scott was drafted in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, where so many Wheeling soldiers were trained. And, like so many of his Ohio Valley comrades, he served in the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, Battery “A,” 80th (Blue Ridge) Division in France. This is his thirty-fourth letter from Camp Lee, dated 100 years ago today, May 12, 1918.
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May 12, 1918 Letter – Lester Scott to his sister, Minnie Riggle
May 10, 1918 Letter to Lester Scott from his father, Christopher Columbus Scott
Transcription of letter from Christopher Columbus Scott to his son, Lester Scott:
Dallas, W.Va.
May 10th, 1918
Hello Lesslie;
How does this find you? I am well. I am at Wheeling at Burleys. his boy Paul is in the hospital sick with typhoid fever. he is pretty bad with it. I am going to little Washington tomorrow to see your uncle Sam. he is sick in the hospital there with cancer of the stomach. May, Sam and Minnie and Jim are all well. Burley is working in the mold and foundry on war material. he took a hundred dollar bond for him self to help with the war a little. Sam god a 50 dollar one too. I am still working at Majorsville. I got a letter from Will Wallace. he says he is as fat ragged and dirty as ever. I was talking to Cleo Hewett and she says she is afraid she is left on you now. she looks as fat and ragged as ever. I think she is getting ring boned.
Jims runaway horses looks like skeletons now.
Jess Gettings of Seatonsville has left for camp at Georgia. Well I have run out of news so good bye.
Father
Write soon. don’t be lazy and slow answering.
May 12, 1918 Letter to Minnie Riggle from her brother, Lester Scott
Transcription of letter from Lester Scott to his sister Minnie, that refers to the above letter from their father:
May 12 – 1918,
Camp Lee Va
Dear Sister
will drop you a few lines to let you know I am well and hoep you are the same. I rec’d your letter allright and was glad to hear from you. would of ans. sooner but have been very busy packing up harness and drilling. I have qualified on gas mask school. suppose you and Jim are very busy now. I got a letter from dad today. he was at Burley’s when he wrote. I am going to scend it to you to see. if you know what he meant about Cleo, he has me guessing. I suppose you are proud of your new seperatar. Be careful how you use it. they are easy damaged. I am going to scend some money home before long. mabe you can use it now to buy cows with. I only have tow more months to pay my liberty bonds out in. I am going to make it in to a alotment. then that will be $15 per month. then Boss I took $5000 insurance. dont know why you didn’t get it. I asked the first sergeant. he said he would see. but I am ready to go any time. if you should not hear from me some of these times dont be alarmed but not soon. well it is time for the lights to go out so I will close. dont know wether you can read this or not. will write more soon.
Good night
Your Brother
Listen to Episode 48 of “From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle”
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From Camp Lee to the Great War: The letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle” is brought to you by Archiving Wheeling in partnership with the Ohio County Public Library (Wheeling, WV) and the Wheeling Academy of Law & Science (WALS) Foundation.
Sean Duffy is the voice of Christopher Columbus Scott. Jeremy Richter is the voice of Lester Scott. The letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle were transcribed by Jon-Erik Gilot. This podcast was edited and written by Sean Duffy, audio edited by Erin Rothenbuehler with music courtesy the Library of Congress.
[Music for March 17, 1918 episode: “Poor butterfly,” Jaudas, Eugene. (performer)Jaudas’ Band (performer), 1917, https://www.loc.gov/item/00694036/]
Many thanks to Marjorie Richey for sharing family letters and the stories of her uncles, Lester Scott and Charles “Dutch” Riggle, WWI soldiers from West Virginia.
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