Pulaski City VA
April 10-93
Dear Miss Lydia

Your most welcome letter received and as usual was glad to hear from you     it always gives me pleasure + makes me fell hapyer than ever. you say you would like to receive a letter from me every      well you would like to crecive one from me any worse than I would from you. To be shure I will grant Your pardon    when you ask it in regard to [us] you misunderstanding about us being no more than friends. Of course I will be glad

      to claim you as a sweetheart    and you say no one in Floyd will have anything to do with it     I can safely say no one in Pulaski can keep us from calling one and anothe  weethearts          Of coarse I will side with you     when you said when you got married you intended to please your selfe     now I see whare you are right     I am in the same fix my selfe    pleases every body else all OK and if not same way. I was just joking when I said you could talk to a dozen boys    but you can come as near to it as the next one 

       cant you     And Cousin Albert went to see Miss Hylton     I know you feel bad did you    I hope it wont hurt long. that is if it hurt at All. how is it. and you think if his fortune is in Floyd he will be a long time finding it    well may be he has done found it and it wont do him any good after all. or probly it is somebodys elses he has found and he thinks it is his    Oh yes a false friend is more than none at all. Yes indeed our old frien sweethearts has gone back on us and you say I dont feel my selfe any worse off by it.
       Oh I did not talk much did I when you was over here     you would not give me a good chance. When boys get so they can talk more than the girls they are getting thare    and you say I preached   do you reme remembe what my text was. I would like to know if I preached       I know you know what the text      I want try some one when I see you next. I wish I could see you now and talk a little while if not more than an hour. it would be better than not at all.  
       M Miss Laura and my selfe quit for good     she has told some terrible tales about me wanting to make it up with her     I just passed and [Crossed Out] just rassed my hat to her and I guess that is what she started from. I cant imagine what else it could be. and I dont care I am not going to see her any more     us boys over here [Crossed Out] spoiled her     some times there would be 6 or 7 boys to se her at once and somebody every Sunday    but now she has not so many      I know one she has not and that is Ell.
       Boy, rember the postal I got while you was over here. well she wrote me a letter the other day it was a daisy       she was furious. She doing me terrible     I will show it to you when I see you     and I got a nother postal since you was here. You saw one of Mr Whites letters and you say it was sickinng     I did not know he was so bad untill here of late     I believe Miss Grace Anderson will go back on him yet     he makes his selfe such a fool about her (if I must say such a thing) that it has soured. 

        Well all widawars is that a way to some extent     I did not know he was a widawa untill here of late       Of coarse I wont tell him you [crossed off] saw one of his letters for your sake. Of coarse I felt grande to have your picture to show in Miss Laura presance   who would not be glad to have such a pretty girls picture as yours to show in a case of that kind s especialy     and on all others I look at your picture two and three a day some days. it gives me great pleasure    and my mind was back to the passed when I saw the original last 

       Oh no indeed was not making fun of your picture at all     I was just praising it     I am glad to now it gives you some pleasure to have such a old-heart as mine     for it gives me great pleasure to now and read as you say same in return     I hardily know how to express my feelings. Yes I have done turned my mustache out a gain     the people in Pulaski called me all kind of names. All the ugly peoples names they cou could think of    just because I shave off my mustache       now wont you hold up for me when every body is down on me        well I wont shave them off any more soon. 
Yours affectionately 
Ell B