Letter from Asbury Coward to his future wife Elise, June 4, 1856
Title
Letter from Asbury Coward to his future wife Elise, June 4, 1856
Subject
Description
Letter from Asbury to his future wife Elise while he is at King's Mountain. He apologizes for not having anything to say because he is so exhausted and promises to write more in his next letter.
Creator
Source
A2009.6, Box 2 Folder 1
Publisher
The Citadel Archives and Museum
Date
Rights
Materials in The Citadel Archives & Museum Digital Collections are intended for educational and research use. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright. For more information contact The Citadel Archives & Museum, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, 29409.
Format
application/pdf
Language
English
Type
Text
Identifier
https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/1576
Coverage
York (S. C.)
Text
[Page 1]
Yorkville June 4th 1856
Sweet Elise
Gladly would I borrow your happy thoughts, could I by so doing, give you half the pleasure your letter afforded me. But were I in possession of them, I should failing in my object, from the fact that none but your own sweet words could give them proper expression. I know mine would utterly fail; for they cannot portray my own thoughts to might. In truth dear, I have never been more completely at loss for something to say, since our correspondence has commenced. Though my heart throbs at every thought of you, yet my brain stirs as sluggishly as if it had lain dormant since my infancy. Nor is my body one whit more vigorous. Two consecutive nights of very late sitting up, and an intensely hot and sultry day, have left me to night completely exhausted languid, good-for-nothing. I cannot ask you to sympathise with me, as I do not think it possible that you have ever experience similar feelings. I can’t find an easy position for my feet, and my head falls listlessly on the desk.
[Page 2]
My nose almost touches the paper and I am looking cross-eyed along the line. In addition to so much misery, I have to write a long letter to the Old-Buck before retiring. Under all these circumstances, I will have to beg you to excuse me until my next. Mr. Gibson will go to Chester next Sunday, and I will have an opportunity of writing a long letter. - Dr. Jenkins is now in Charleston where he is gone to bring up his wife’s Mother and Sisters. They will probably spend the whole Summer up here. Jenkins will go to Orangeburg on Friday. It is his only chance for seeking Miss Carrie until the night he marries. Don’t you think he is excusable?
Give my love to all, and plenty of [illegible] to dear Florence.
Yours devotedly
Asbury.
Yorkville June 4th 1856
Sweet Elise
Gladly would I borrow your happy thoughts, could I by so doing, give you half the pleasure your letter afforded me. But were I in possession of them, I should failing in my object, from the fact that none but your own sweet words could give them proper expression. I know mine would utterly fail; for they cannot portray my own thoughts to might. In truth dear, I have never been more completely at loss for something to say, since our correspondence has commenced. Though my heart throbs at every thought of you, yet my brain stirs as sluggishly as if it had lain dormant since my infancy. Nor is my body one whit more vigorous. Two consecutive nights of very late sitting up, and an intensely hot and sultry day, have left me to night completely exhausted languid, good-for-nothing. I cannot ask you to sympathise with me, as I do not think it possible that you have ever experience similar feelings. I can’t find an easy position for my feet, and my head falls listlessly on the desk.
[Page 2]
My nose almost touches the paper and I am looking cross-eyed along the line. In addition to so much misery, I have to write a long letter to the Old-Buck before retiring. Under all these circumstances, I will have to beg you to excuse me until my next. Mr. Gibson will go to Chester next Sunday, and I will have an opportunity of writing a long letter. - Dr. Jenkins is now in Charleston where he is gone to bring up his wife’s Mother and Sisters. They will probably spend the whole Summer up here. Jenkins will go to Orangeburg on Friday. It is his only chance for seeking Miss Carrie until the night he marries. Don’t you think he is excusable?
Give my love to all, and plenty of [illegible] to dear Florence.
Yours devotedly
Asbury.
Collection
Citation
Coward, Asbury, 1835-1925, “Letter from Asbury Coward to his future wife Elise, June 4, 1856,” The Citadel Archives Digital Collections, accessed May 1, 2024, https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/1576.