Treasure Chest Tuesday: A Nineteenth Century Secret Identity Valentine

 

Although this mysterious sounding missive from an affectionate and unknown friend seems somewhat secretive, I can tell you the identity of the person who penned the words and provided his initials as a clue:

 

William Lewis Hardy (1874-1957)

William Lewis Hardy was the son of Joshua L. Hardy and his wife Martha Susan Sizemore. William married Alice Samantha Lovelace (1880-1903) on 14 November 1897. Alice was the daughter of Isaac Newton Lovelace and his wife Martha Rebecca Stiller. I am guessing the above note was written to her prior to their marriage. This cabinet card photograph of him may have been taken around that time as well. We know it was taken in Hopkinsville (Christian County), Kentucky. Although part of the photographer's imprint at the bottom is torn, we can infer from what's left that it was likely done by Clarence Anderson, a photographer who worked there from sometime after 1877 to the early 1900s.

Below is another piece of paper on which Alice wrote a song ballad. It also must have been penned before their marriage as she signed it with her maiden name. 

A copy of the only known photograph of Alice (taken after the birth of her daughter Amy in June of 1902 and before her death in April of 1903) can be found on this blog post here where I first discussed the story of these old song ballads.

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