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I’m in trouble and wish you were here
Thomas Gray Haile subcollection, cards 34, 68, 64, 65 First up, another flower card — and a cryptic message for us. Clearly there have been tempests of some kind somewhere. It’s easy to speculate, but best to be cautious. For whatever reason, this card indicates Madge was concerned about what Thomas’s other correspondents might report. Quite apart from that, her last line sets up an interesting offer wherein her truthfulness (by which she likely meant fidelity) was potentially contingent upon his trusting her to be true. “Hello Trust me regardless of what others may write you. Received your card. Please write often and be good and I’ll be true if…
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Be good and write often
Thomas Gray Haile subcollection, cards 31, 4, 39, and 35 Introducing Madge. This is the first card from her chronologically, based on postmarks (unless one of the illegible postmarks turns out to be earlier). It’s addressed to Thomas in Gainesboro, Tennessee. Later cards were addressed to him elsewhere in Tennessee (Oneida, Nashville, Flynn’s Lick) and in Oklahoma (Kiowa). The number of cards she sent him, and her ability to direct them to different locales, suggests these were part of an active correspondence. The card itself is rather pretty and in decent shape for the collection (i.e. signs minimal mold/water damage). Her handwriting is fairly legible (this was not always the…
