My Dear Ella

My Dear EllaIn the mid 1880s, Kentuckian Walter T. Connelly moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee and almost immediately became smitten with the charming Ella Ham, also a native of Kentucky. As Walter traveled across the Southeast selling agricultural implements for the Hoosier Drill Company, the American Seeding Machine Company, and the Walter A. Wood Harvester Company, he carried on a correspondence with Ella that culminated in their marriage. The book opens with

In the mid-1880s, Kentuckian Walter T. Connelly moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee and almost immediately became smitten with the charming Ella Ham, also a native of Kentucky. As Walter traveled across the Southeast selling agricultural implements for the Hoosier Drill Company, the American Seeding Machine Company, and the Walter A. Wood Harvester Company, he carried on a correspondence with Ella that culminated in their marriage.

The book opens with biographical information about Ella and Walter and proceeds to descriptions of their descendants. Next are 32 of WalterÕs letters, most of which begin with the salutation My Dear Ella. Written on letterhead stationery from boarding houses in which he stayed, the missives include interesting historical information and articles from publications of that era.

The final section contains several letters that Ella wrote to her daughter, Clara Frances, and son-in-law, David Parks, and to her Parks grandchildrenÑNathan, Connelly, and Janet.