27 November 1879 • Hartford, Conn. (MS facsimile: Davis 1981, p. 4, UCCL 02877)
Livy darling, time is moving along at a more & more lively gait with us, every year, but—for, you see, we are growing old. It is one of the signs. Still, what we lose of youth, we make up in love, so the account is squared, & to nobody’s disadvantage. I love you, my darling, & this my love will increase step by step as tooth by tooth falls out, milestoning my way down to the great mystery & the Sweet Bye & Bye.
MS facsimile, Davis 1981, 4.
Chester L. Davis, Sr., probably acquired the MS from Clara Clemens Samossoud sometime between 1949 and 1962 (see Samossoud Collection in Description of Provenanceclick to open link). After his death in 1987, the MS was owned by Chester L. Davis, Jr., but it does not appear to have been offered for sale by Christie’s in the early 1990s.