Click the link to read the letter, which is in PDF format.  After reading it, click Back to return to this page.

1928 – These letters were written before Ted and Maggie were secretly married on Labor Day weekend, 1928:

07111928_Ted_to_Maggie:  Ted can make only one trip per week to Morristown.

07161928_Ted_to_Maggie:  Making plans to meet.

07181928_Maggie_to_Ted:  Love is all that matters; Maggie is sorry she was moody.

07241928_Ted_to_Maggie:  Ted got a 16% raise ($1.00); going to help Uncle Carlton operate tomorrow; he is going to remove an eye; new development in the ring business; please cut down on cigarettes; haven’t saved a damn cent yet; want to buy you some ‘joolry’ before our wedding.

Ted and Maggie plan their secret elopement:

08131928_Ted_to_Maggie:  I want to marry you and I want to marry you bad!  I am giving you 15 days grace to be convinced I am not a liar.  Yes, your plan is agreeable.

08241028_Ted_to_Maggie:  Can’t get a car; have to wait until next weekend.

08271928_Ted_to_Maggie:  Are you sure you want to go through with it?  Whittock has invited us to stay at his place for swimming and boating.

08301928_Ted_to_Maggie:  We need to leave very early on Saturday morning.

09011928_Ted_Maggie_mar_lic:  Ted and Maggie were married in the Paris, Illinois, Presbyterian Church on Saturday, Sept. 1, 1928.

09041928_Ted_to_Maggie_wife:  First letter Ted writes to his new wife, Maggie

09061928_Ted_to_Maggie:  Mentions staying with Whittock if Maggie comes to town; vacancy in Kay’s office, only pays $60 a month but Ted encourages Maggie to take it and get apartment with Kay; Uncle Doc needs him; needless wedding ceremony next summer.

09111928_Ted_to_Maggie:  Contains 2 letters; possible plans for New York next year; very difficult to keep the marriage secret; lots of philosophizing by Ted.

09191928_Ted_to_Maggie:  So tired; legs and head ache; making rounds; attending lectures; Bill Dugan saw Ted and a girl in Paris, Illinois; were they going to Chicago?  That was a close shave!  Can’t save any money; I want to succeed for you.

12031928_Ted_to_Maggie:  Hoping for an internship slot; Mrs. Jessup from Greenfield said nice things about Maggie; thinks he made the grade in obstectrics exam today; Maggie thinks Ted is cocky; overflowing with gratitude and feelings of joy.

12131928_Ted_to_Maggie:  Could not come down.  I ache like hell, have tight lungs and bronchi; loosening up a bit with cough.  Can scarcely stand this mode of living apart.  Trying again for another internship.

12151928_Ted_to_Maggie:  It is hard to be separated this way, but we are poor and we must be strong.  Started on G.U. today; have about 26 patients; made rounds with McCown twice today; I think I am going to enjoy the work.  I believe I am going to be a successful doctor.

01081929_Ted_to_Maggie:  They are very dissatisfied with having to live apart.  They plan to ‘officially’ marry in June, after he graduates from medical school.

01101929_Ted_to_Maggie:  Pud and Blanche were here to dinner last night and Father started the explosion about my trips to Morristown.  Pud told Father if they kept up their opposition we would get married for sure.  Pud said if we got married we always had a place at 5616 to stay.  Tom Nobles is taking one of Uncle’s rooms and we are going to move out tonight.

02271929_Maggie_to_Ted:  Maggie writes to Ted and tells him that she would be glad to ‘become his wife’ on Saturday, March 2, 1929.

03021929_Ted_Maggie_mar_lic:  Ted and Maggie were ‘publically’ married on Saturday, March 2, 1929, in Shelbyville, Indiana.

03041929_Ted_to_Maggie:  Pud said he got damned sick and tired of being told about my foolishness, etc.  Grandfather (Dr. William Daniel) will continue to help me until the first of August, even tho he can’t approve of our ‘early’ marriage.  And Grandmother told Pud to tell us she was back of us and would help us if we needed it.  I have no idea where we will end, but we sure as hell are going to be independent and together.  If I have you I have what it takes to get there.  Encourages Maggie to come up and look for a job.

03131929_Ted_to_Maggie_attitude:  I am afraid you don’t know me well enough yet to realize that my usual, customary, regular attitude toward life is one of optimism, light hearted jollity, I might say.  It is normally a borderline attitude of getting as much fun out of life as possible and treating things lightly even though I may think seriously about them.

04021929_Ted_to_Maggie:  Uncle Carlton said, ‘Oh, I have some news!  Tom Noble’s cook’s son says Ted has been married since last fall.’  Mother told him she didn’t believe a word of it.  Has a headache and feel like the devil; must go to bed.

04261929_Ted_to_Maggie:  Was elected to present a case on hysteria; wasn’t as prepared as he should have been.  Mother will do what she can to help us get an apartment; she knows we would be happier living by ourselves.

05081929_Ted_to_Maggie:  Looking into a job in Montana; Uncle Carlton will not commit to a job for him.  Will order a stethoscope for Patty Doc if needed.

05271929_Ted_to_Maggie:  Today was his last day of school.  Will be thru with school exams in 48 hours; not worried in the least about them.  We seniors got our class of ’29 group picture today, and I’m in it, baby.

Fredrica_Daniel_to_Ted_06111929:  To Ted from his maternal grandmother, Fredrica Martin Daniel, upon his graduation from medical school.  She sent him $50.  She suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, which made writing difficult.

09111929_VCP_to_Maggie:  Maggie has found a job in Indianapolis.  VCP says, “I’m sure you will be better content if you are busy.  Doing nothing all the time is a difficult undertaking.”

Ted and Maggie lived and worked in Indianapolis in 1930 and 1931.
On Oct. 26, 1932, he got his license for the practice of medicine, surgery and obstetrics in Harrison County, Indiana. He set up his general practice in Corydon.

12041932_Ted_to_Maggie:  Maggie took Ann (2 months old) to Morristown for a visit.  Ted is lonesome.  Pick (their dog) doesn’t match a wife for company, even though he sleeps with Ted.  Half the people at the party in Morristown probably have colds; don’t let them paw over Ann and cough on her.  Ted doesn’t yet fully realize that he has a young ‘un.

06071933_Ted_to_Maggie:  Maggie took Ann to Morristown for a visit.  Ted had to write a paper to present – 7 minutes long, on ‘Etiology of Arteriosclerosis.’  Made a housecall in Mauckport.  Told the client ahead of time that the fee would be $7.50; however, he came home empty-handed but wiser.

10191937_Ted_to_Maggie:  Ted is at a medical conference in St. Louis.  Schedule is long and tight and requires a lot of concentration.  As for heart disease and failure, digitalis and diurectics are the last work still, after rest in sufficient dosage.  He hasn’t tasted Missouri beer since he’s been at the conference.

04011939_Ted_to_Maggie:  Maggie is barely pregnant with Rica (born Nov. 21) and is in Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis having thyroid surgery.  Ted writes her a newsy letter about Ann, Sue and Grace, and tending to Charles Henry Buchanan (1879-1941, Aunt Kitty’s husband), who is ill.

07201942_Ted_to_parents:  Written while Ted was in the army, stationed at Ft. Bliss.  He was hoping to take a course in aviation medicine because of the intensive training in ophthalmology, heart and neuro-phychiatry.  It would help when he sets up a practice in eye, ear, nose and throat specialty after the war.  Just rented a 3 bedroom home that will accommodate his family.  He thanks his parents for keeping the girls and he plans to ask Ruth (his office nurse) if she can bring them to Texas and stay a while.  He will have to go overseas sometime within the coming year.  Life is life and we try to do our duty as we see it.  The last page is a brief note from Bobby (Ted’s mother) to Ted.

07031943_Ted_to_parents:  Was able to obtain a 7 cubic foot refrigerator; previously had a 4 cu. ft. one and was having to buy ice for an ice box to hold the food and milk.  Sometimes a week goes by without being able to get such things as potatoes.  Today we got 3 lbs; that was all they had.  Last week we went through the mental conditioning course, crawling on our bellies toward the machine guns, barbed wire above us and machine gun bullets whizzing over our heads, knowing that if you saw a rattlesnake in your path you still had to stay flat on the ground.  ‘I enjoyed it very much and got quite a thrill out of it.’  We had no casualties except bruises and abrasions of elbows and knees.  The girls are enjoying my birthday candy very much.  Their eyes bugged out when I opened it up and they saw how much there was.  I have made arrangements to be on the staff of the ‘Hotel Dieu’, a hospital downtown so I can deliver my fifth child myself.  Thanks for the start you gave me 40 years ago.

07091943_Ted_to_parents:  We have some so-called psycho-neurotics or anxiety neuroses.  They should be put out of the Army as soon as they are discovered, which is what I do.  They are pitiful, yes, and weak.  War is a man’s job.  Pop, I never found any trouble with your heart, except its age.  When a heart has taken care of you for 65 years, you should take just as good care of it for the next 65 years.  Mother is on the right track and knows enough medicine to take good care of you.  Listen and obey her just as you would any good doctor.  It was such a task on my imagination to keep up the story telling day in and day out, that I finally had to buy some Uncle Remus, Bro. Rabbit, etc., books to get a rest.  But the stories in the books don’t satisfy them as mine do.  I don’t have time to note occurrences I want to remember in my diary, let alone write any of those stories.  The girls won’t remember any of them, either, but they will remember the enjoyment they had in hearing them as I remember those you used to read me and those old Noah used to tell us when you went out to dinner and dance or bridge.  Tell Laura B. she is two behind.  Our fifth will be here soon now, I hope.  Bet you ten to one it’s a girl again.  I hope so – we don’t want a sissy.

07201943_Ted_to_parents:  Ted has been very busy processing Certificates of Disability and recommendations for discharges from the Army for 123 men.  The temperature has hovered between 80 and 95, which feels delightfully cool.  No day can be too hot if the nights allow a restful sleep.  I have spoken to the Colonel and can take as many days leave as necessary when our next girl is born.  I can stay at home and look after these four little devils.  I have stopped 73 1/2 times while writing this letter.

07211943_Ted_to_parents:  Ted’s letter to his parents, announcing the birth of their 5th daughter and their last child (Barb).

07221943_Ted_to_parents:  One day after his last daughter (Barb) was born.  Maggie said she will always grateful to Ted for taking care of her, even if he gets young ideas and runs away with another woman someday.  Anyone who would run away from a family of five daughters and their mother would deserve the worst fate that could befall him.  Howsome-ever, these four are a fist full to look after from 0630 to 2030!  They are on all sides of me at all times.  There is a feud to be broken up before it gets a start, questions (usually foolish) to be answered, stories to tell, bad habits to be curtailed, proper food to be seen to, stools to be flushed, washing and cleaning to be done, and so on and so on, ad infinitum.

07251944_Ted_to_Maggie:  Written by Ted while he was stationed in England during WWII.  He wishes he had studied some French in school; needs a heater for his room; would love to be home with Maggie in the old, even tempo of their ways; Ted asks nothing more of God or life than to be allowed to spend his days with Maggie beginning in the not too distant future.

11061944_Ted_to_Maggie_Kingston_Lacy:  Ted was stationed at the American Army Hospital at Kingston Lacy near Dorset, England, in WW II.  Kingston Lacy is a country house and estate near Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England, now owned by the National Trust.  It is magnificent and its history goes back several centuries.  This letter describes some of the magnificence to be found there.

11061944_Ted_to_Maggie_Kingston_Lacy_w_orig:  Same Kingston Lacy letter as above, but includes jpg files of Ted’s original letter (large file).

02101945_Ted_to_Maggie:  Ted is still in England.  Heats water in a fire bucket to wash his clothes; woolen undershirts and sox take a long time to dry; Sunday suppers are putrid so he will munch on cookies and candy bars; wants to save leave money for when he gets out of service; if he were an ophthalmologist or/and otolaryngologist, he’d like to move to a place out west that has weather like El Paso; his watch needs a new cog wheel; remember to get the Parker 51 ink for his pen.

04101945_Leona_Funk_Keller_to_Ted:  Letter from Leona Funk Keller to Ted while he was stationed in England.  Leona was the mother of Robert Funk Keller, who died in France during the war.  Ted, Leona and Robert were from Corydon, IN.  Eloise was the wife of Robert.

04211945_Ted_to_Maggie:  The war is winding down, but Ted doesn’t know if he will still be needed in the army or will get to come home.  Some personnel are being sent to the East to the CBI (China-Burma-India theater). He has periods of depression but tries to overcome it. “What must be will be and we must make the best of it.  We only hurt ourselves by resenting and bemoaning our lot in life.”

05121945_Ted_to_Maggie_with_orig:  Interesting letter that describes Ted’s trip by ship from Brunswick, NJ, to England in 1944, as a medical officer in the Army.

05271945_Ted_to_Maggie:  Ted is uncharacteristically despondent, because he doesn’t know if he is going to have spend more time in the Army or will get to go home.

07071945_Ted_to_Maggie:  “Your old man is now – as of about 1400 this afternoon – the Executive Officer of the 106th – second in command of the unit.  It is a big job – only the C.O. has higher authority.  Our orders should be in any time now.  I am living out of my val-pak now & hope not to have to continue that too long.”

07081945_Ted_to_daughters:  Girls, it looks like you are going to have a daddy again for about 30 days late this summer.  I hope I get home before school starts so I can spend a lot of time with your mother, you girls and my daddy and mother.  You girls are much bigger than when I left you 14 months ago.  I hope you four big girls are working at your music.  Take care of your mother and my mother for me, will you?

1948-49_Ted_to_parents:  Written while Ted was attending medical school at New York Polyclinic, specializing in ophthalmology.  We rented a large home on the beach on Long Island Sound for the nine months he was attending school.  He took an early train into NYC every weekday morning.  He talks about specific classes and procedures he performed in school.

The Man in the Glass:  This poem was in one of Ted’s letters written during WW II.

influences_on_Maggie:  People who influenced Maggie