Amanuensis Monday: Frank Welch Lee's 1932 Travel Journal

Phi Delta Chi Fraternity Composite
Frank Welch Lee (top row, third from left)
University of Louisville, 1934

In the summer of 1932, my dad, Frank Welch Lee, was nineteen years old and had just completed a year of pharmacy school at the University of Louisville.  A member of  Phi Delta Chi, a pharmacy fraternity, Dad was  elected to attend the fraternity's national convention in Los Angeles, California.  Thus, began my dad's Great Adventure.  For the next few weeks, I'll make use of  Amanuensis Mondays and Travel Tuesdays to share with you the travel journal and the photo album Dad kept during this time.  Those who knew my dad will understand how rare and wonderful this piece of family history is.  For Dad to have traveled is surprising enough, but for this very private man to have documented his trip is almost unbelievable.

When I say that Dad kept a travel journal, what I mean is that he wrote down a few details of his trip in a little 3" x 5" notebook he kept in his shirt pocket. Some of the things he saw and experienced, however, are just amazing. Without further ado, here's Dad's first journal entry.

Entry # 1
Frank Welch Lee's 1932 Travel Journal

Tues--July 19, --32

Left home at 1:40, arrive in Louisville at 9: P.M.  Had a very pleasant trip although was very dusty when arrived.  Spent the night with Jim.  I sure did enjoy talking over old times together.

Kentucky


"Home" in this instance was probably his grandmother's home in La Grange, Kentucky, where Dad often stayed during his breaks from college.  He would have traveled from La Grange to Louisville by train.  The railroad tracks ran through Main Street right in front of the Lee house in La Grange.  The depot was only steps away from the house as well.  "Jim," I assume, was a friend, maybe a college buddy.

At the bottom of the page, written in pencil in a different handwriting, are some numbers and the words "Rains" and "gladiola bulbs."  I think these are probably some notes written by Dad's grandmother, Georgia Lee.  More than likely, Dad borrowed her notebook to serve as his "travel journal."

Amanuensis Monday: Wedding Announcement of Frank Lewis Lee and Elizabeth Welch Rochester

Elizabeth Welch Rochester
Wedding Portrait
1905

Frank Lewis Lee
Wedding Portrait
1905

This week's posts will focus on the courtship and marriage of my grandparents, Frank Lewis Lee and Elizabeth "Bettie" Welch Rochester.  For Amanuensis Monday, here's a transcription of the article describing  their November 15, 1905 wedding as it appeared in the Stanford (KY) Interior Journal of that week.

Wedding Announcement
Elizabeth Rochester & Frank L. Lee
Stanford KY Interior Journal
November 1905

ROCHESTER-LEE.--Miss Bettie Rochester, of this place, and Mr. Frank L. Lee, of Middlesboro, were married in the parlor of the Gilcher House, Danville, at 2:30 Wednesday afternoon, Rev. Gilbert Glass, of this place, performing the ceremony.  Mr. Welsh Rochester, brother of the bride, and Miss Mary Pennington, a cousin, accompanied them and stood with them during the ceremony.  Mrs. Hugh  Reid and Mr. John Owsley Reid, of this place, were also present.  The bride wore a traveling suit of blue, which was exceedingly becoming.  She is a pretty brunette, of amiable disposition and lovely character and is admired by all who know her.  Mr. Lee is well-known and well-liked here where he lived several years.  He is a fine young man in every way and a christian gentleman.  His friends here include all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.  At 3 o'clock Mr. and Mrs. Lee took the train for Paris, where they will visit her sister, Mrs. G. W. Clark, and thence to La Grange to visit Mr. Lee's mother.  They will then go to Louisville for a few days, after which they will be at home to their friends at Middlesboro, where Mr. Lee has a splendid position.  That they may always be as happy as they are now is the wish of their hosts of friends including the Interior Journal.  Tuesday evening Mrs. Hugh Reid entertained most charmingly in her home the bridal party.

An "Off the Cuff" Letter Home

In yesterday's post, I told you about my granddad's various jobs as a young pharmacist, one of which was a brief stint at Setchel Drugs Store in La Jolla, California.  When he and my grandmother decided to return home to Kentucky, Granddad sent a rather unique letter home to his father, Gilbert Lee, in La Grange.

Address and Postmark on Disposable Shirt Cuff
From Frank Lewis Lee to His Father, Gilbert Oliver Lee
Postmarked La Jolla, CA, 1908

The letter, you see, was written on a disposable men's shirt cuff.  Wait--a disposable cuff?  Yes, it seems this was sort of a fad during the late nineteenth and very early twentieth centuries.  According to Giles Slade in Made to Break:  Technology and Obsolescence in America, because doing laundry at this time was so labor intensive, clothes were often washed only once a week--sometimes less than that.  Shirt fronts, collars, and cuffs were the parts of the garment that were most visible and most likely to become stained or dirty.  Thus, detachable and sometimes disposable paper shirt parts were an easy, practical way for a gentleman to present a clean, proper appearance.

OK, so it's understandable that my grandfather would use these paper cuffs, but to write a letter on one and send it through the mail?  While this seemed to me a very unusual way to pen a letter, evidently this, too,  was a somewhat common practice back in Granddad's day.  Mark Liberman, in an article titled "The 'off the cuff' Mystery," says that the practice of writing quick, informal notes on paper cuffs was also a fad at the turn of the twentieth century.  This is where we get the phrase "off the cuff."

Letter Written on Disposable Shirt Cuff
From Frank Lewis Lee to His Father, Gilbert Oliver Lee
La Jolla, CA, 1908

The "letter" written on the back of the cuff is really a series of brief notes and jokes from my grandfather to his father.  The upper right corner notes the date and place the letter was written:

La Jolla Calif

Aug 21--1908

The body of the letter is written haphazardly across the cuff in four brief notes:

Dear Dad:

"Bill Baily" is coming home.  ha! ha!

Keep your shirt on until we arrive.

Shy of paper & have not worn a cuff in two years.

Leave here Sat. 29th

via Salt Lake & Chicago.

Due in La Grange about

Sept 3rd or 4th.  Will try

to phone you from Louisville

or write you later & will

possibly wire if we go by

Cincinnati.

The letter reads to me as if it was written by a young man who's happy and excited about coming home.  It is signed simply--F. Lee

One final, fun detail is Granddad's reference to Bill Baily coming home.  Most of you will probably know this is a reference to the old song, "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home."  A little research helped me find out that the song was written in 1902 by ragtime composer Hughie Cannon, and it became popular very quickly.  I remember my mom and my aunt singing this song to me when I was a little girl, and I also remember seeing Pearl Bailey perform it on television many years ago.  You might enjoy listening to this old, scratchy version as it was sung and recorded by Dan W. Quinn on April 23, 1902, in Philadelphia, PA.  Here's the link:  "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home," 1902


Sources:

Giles Slade, Made to Break:  Technology and Obsolescence in America (ebook), Amazon, 2007

Mark Liberman, "The 'off the cuff' Mystery," Idioms, Language and Culture, August 16, 2012

"Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home," Hughie Cannon, 1902; recorded by Dan W. Quinn, April 23, 1902, Philadelphia, PA;  Library of Congress, Jukebox Collection

Fridays With Frank: Frank Lewis Lee Begins a Career

Frank Lewis Lee
1903

In 1896 in La Grange, Kentucky, Frank Lewis Lee got his first paying job.  He worked doing odd jobs at McDowell Drug Store on Main Street, just a short walk from the Lee home.  He made $1.50 per week. Granddad soon worked his way up and became a clerk at the drug store, waiting on customers who came in for medicine or who stopped by the soda fountain for a treat.  He became very interested in both the business and the science involved in running the drug store, and thus began his quest to become a pharmacist and have his own drug store.

Frank L. Lee (standing on right)
In Front of McDowell Drug Store
La Grange, KY, c. 1900

Granddad passed the State Board of Pharmacy exam in 1902, and soon he was working at Penny's Drug Store in Stanford, Kentucky, earning $6 a week.  It was during his time here that he met his future wife and my grandmother, Elizabeth "Bettie" Welch Rochester.  Courting, engagement, and marriage in 1905 was the course for my grandparents.  (Much more about their love and marriage in next week's posts!)  Before they married, however, granddad moved to Middlesboro, Kentucky, and worked as a pharmacist in the H. H. Sprague Drug Store.

Newspaper Ad for Lee's Drug Store
Eminence, KY, 1907

After Frank and Elizabeth married, they began searching for the perfect place to call home.  Their first stop was Eminence, Kentucky, where Granddad opened his own drug store.  Despite a store on the main thoroughfare in downtown Eminence and advertisements in the local newspaper, Granddad sold his store here and the young couple set out for the west coast.

Letter of Recommendation for Frank L. Lee
Written by Pharmacist D. McDowell
La Grange, KY, 1908

Letter of Recommendation for Frank L. Lee
Written by Pharmacist G. L. Penny
Stanford, KY, 1908

             






In January of 1908, my grandparents traveled across the country and settled in La Jolla, California.  Armed with letters of recommendation from his former bosses, Granddad secured a job at Setchell Drug Store in La Jolla.

Frank L. Lee in front of Setchel Drug Store
La Jolla, CA, 1908

The stay in La Jolla , however, was short, and the couple returned to Kentucky in September 1908, settling in Middlesboro.  Granddad went back to work at H. H. Sprague Drug Store, bought the business  in 1910, and thus established Lee's Drug Store.  In 1913, he moved the business to Fountain Square in downtown Middlesboro.  He would own and operate Lee's Drug Store here until 1958 when he sold his interest in the business.

Please visit my blog again in the coming days so I can share with you a very unique letter my granddad wrote to his father to tell him he was coming home from California.  It's priceless!  Also, I'll be sharing some photos and details of my grandparent's courtship and wedding.


The source for some of the dates and details in today's post is the obituary of Frank L. Lee as it appeared in the Middlesboro Daily News, June 11, 1962, p. 1.

Fridays With Frank: Frank L. Lee Grows Up

The Lee Family, c. 1887
(left to right)  Georgia Gill Lee, Frank Lewis Lee, Linus Virgil Lee,
Gilbert O. Lee, Daisy Lee

Sometime between 1883 and 1885, Gilbert and Georgia Lee moved their young family from Trimble County, Kentucky, to Albany, Missouri.  I've been unable to find out much of anything about their time in Albany, but I do know that Georgia's brother, James L. Gill, moved there also at about that same time. While in Albany, two more baby boys were born to Gilbert and Georgia Lee.  Linus Virgil was born on December 1, 1885, and Sidney Orin arrived on February 9, 1889.

Jackson School, Trimble County, Kentucky
Linus Virgil Lee (l), Frank Lewis Lee (center)
Photo taken in 1950

Inside Jackson School, Trimble County, Kentucky
Photo taken in 1950

Gilbert and Georgia soon moved their children back to Kentucky and settled into their old farmhouse in Trimble County.  My granddad, Frank, and younger sister, Daisy, went to Jackson School there.

By 1897, at the latest, the Lee family had moved to nearby La Grange, Kentucky, in Oldham County.  They had a house close to the railroad depot on Main Street in downtown La Grange.  Gilbert O. Lee was now Dr. Lee and opened his dental office in a downstairs room of the family home.  According to the Oldham County Kentucky School Census Reports, all the Lee children attended school in La Grange.  Frank attended until he was 19 years old in 1900.

Dr. G. O. Lee's Home and Dental Office
Main Street, La Grange, KY
c. 2008

Dr. G. O. Lee's name on the sidewalk in front of his home/office
c. 2008

Hope you'll visit the blog for the next Amanuensis Monday to read Daisy Lee's own account of growing up in Trimble County.  AND in next week's Fridays With Frank, Granddad gets a career--and a wife!

Treasure Chest Thursday: Frank Lewis Lee's Chalkboard

Frank Lewis Lee's School Chalkboard
La Grange, KY, 1894

One of the many treasures I found in my granddad's old file cabinet was this small chalkboard that he used when he was in school in 1894.  With a writing surface on both sides, the chalkboard measures about 8 x 11 inches and is surrounded by a wood frame.  There is also a small hole in center of the top of the frame.  Maybe this was used to hang the chalkboard on the side of the school desk or the wall?  Granddad Lee would have been about 13 years old in 1894 and attending school in La Grange, Kentucky.  With no paper or tablets, students in granddad's school used these personal chalkboards or slates and chalk to write down and figure math problems, to spell words, to answer questions asked of them by their teacher.  As a retired teacher myself, this is one of my favorite family treasures.  What makes it even more special is that my dad chose to keep this and pass it on to me, and that it's in his handwriting that the date and owner of the chalkboard are recorded.

My Lee Grandparents

Sometimes I'm awakened in the middle of the night by that little voice in the back of my mind that reminds me of something I need to do.  Last night that voice reminded me that it would be helpful to readers of this blog to provide a basic family tree of my Lee ancestors.  Following is a list of my Lee grandparents with a few dates and places noted.  Do any of these names appear on your family tree?  If so, I hope you'll leave a comment below so that we can connect and share information about our Lee family.


William Lee came to Long Island from England around 1675 and settled his family in New Jersey

Joseph Lee (?-1790) m. Abigail Price

Thomas Lee (1728-1825) m. Dinah Perrine

Peter Perrine Lee (1756-1848) m. Ruth Huntington Gard; in 1790 they moved west to Ohio           settling just southwest of Cincinnati on the Ohio River

Rodney Jefferson Lee (1803-1871) m. Sarah Faulkner; they would eventually move across the Ohio River to Trimble County, Kentucky

Jefferson Francis Marion "Frank" Lee (1835-1912) m. Margaret Shaw Anderson

Gilbert Oliver Lee (1858-1923) m. Georgie Etta Gill; they moved from Trimble County to La Grange, Oldham County, Kentucky

Frank Lewis Lee (1881-1962) m. Elizabeth "Bettie" Welch Rochester; they eventually settled in Middlesboro in Bell County, Kentucky

Frank Welch Lee (1912-2004) m. Betty Jewel Lane

Elizabeth Lane Lee (1961- ?) m. Eugene Price Southworth II; I moved north and settled in Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky