from Cpl. Lawrence D.Brown to his girlfriend Miss Minerva Maxwell of Brimson, Missouri
postmarked Albuquerque N. MEX. JUL 24 7 PM 1945
Tuesday afternoon
July 23, 1945
Dear Minerva
I have written the folks two letter since I came back but have failed to receive any answers. I guess I will half to raise heck with Fern & get her on the beam I know she has lots of work to do but she doesn't work any longer hrs than I do & I can find time to write one letter a day. I wanted her to write & tell me how the folks acted when she told them we are going to be married. If I don't hear in a few day I will write them a letter & tell them.
You haven't said a word about it in any of the letters I have received now just what have you planned to do. We change shifts next week I will go on days so if you can come out the first or 2nd week in Aug. it owuld suit me fine I don't want you to put if off to long because there is a good chance I might not be here much longer.
We are back on 8 hr. shifts but we might go back to 12 hrs anytime.
Tomorrow is my day off so I can go in town & get my radio out of the repair shp & then go to the show. I also have some washing to do but will get up early in the morning & do that I turned in a pr. of khaki pants the 13th day of June for exchange & didn't get the back till last week & then I had to take a pr. that was too long & have them altered.
I guess it was OK this one time for Clarence & you to go to the show but I don't think it should happen to often. I don't want people running to me & telling me thinkgs that probably isn't half truth. Just so you didn't park along the way I won't be mad. Ha.Ha. Ha. Clarence just didn't want to go to the show before or he was to busy spending his time at the lake was the reason he hadent been to a show. If that Model T will run to Brimson there isn't anything to keep it from going to Trenton.
I have known for quite some time the Chev. needed a new set of rings & the valve ground. I think it will really be in good shape when you have that done. I would suggest that you have the radiator cleaned out with steam right before it is worked over & it will run much cooler.
It is almost time for me to get ready to go to work so will close.
All My Love
Dale
postmarked Fort Leavenworth Kans. 5PM MAR 2 1942
March 1 1942
Dear Sis
Well, I will write a little more as did not have much room to write on a card but I am back home now and plenty of time so I will try and tell you where we have been. left last Friday for Wictacha Falls Texas as cook on troop train it sure was a nice place and a swell trip. It was the Funniest weather down there I ever been in. Would freeze you but would not freeze ice It come down a few drops of snow and they thought that was bad we told some of the girls down there if they would come out we would show them what snow looked like. We came back to KC and went over to the Service Club and took a bath and shaved the went up and see the Memorial town and seen all of the old war things and papers and picture of the last war.
If you ever go to K.C. you want to go down and see them. They are just across from the Union Depot up on the hill.
I won't go to work again until Morning and probly will work several day strait as the boy that was helping is going to get a pass. So I probly won't have time to do much else now for a few days so I will stay in very close and be a good boy.
Your Brother
John Maxwell
postmarked Albuquerque N. Mex. July 19 7 PM 1945
from Cpl. Lawrence D. Brown to Miss Minerva Maxwell, Brimson Missouri
Thursday afternoon
July 19, 1945
Dear Minerva
I sure have been a lazy boy since I came back in fact all I wantto do is sleep. Yesterday was my day off & I had several thing planned but didn't get much done.
I took my laundry in town & then went to the show G.I. Joe which is about Ernie Pyle covering the war in Europe. It was really a good show & I think very true to life. Part of the story was sad & there was some humorous positive it too. If some of these civilians see it maybe they will realize what some of the boys has to go through with & the condition under which they live. I have had it easy compared to some of the boys but I have worked many a day out in rain or snow.
While I was in town I looked at some rings in the store windows & it looked like to me they have just about anything a person wants & at any price a person wants to pay. I believe that this is just as good a place to buy them as Trenton in fact they have 3 times the number of stores as in Trenton. I will just let things ride till you get here & choose what you want & I believe you will be more satisfied.
I checked up on the allotment deal & it was just like I told you. It won't effect the folks allotment at all the only thing they will take $5.00 more out of my pay & send you %50.00 per month. I will have $5000.00 insurance made out to you & that will cost me $3.50 so instead of drawing $40.00 per month like I do now I will only get $32.00. If any more money is taken out of my pay I sure won't draw much but in the long run I think we can save more.
You & Fern talk it over & decide when you can come out & then write & let me know. I am working from 4:30p.m. till midnight for this week & next then I go on the grave yard for two week from 12:ooA.M. to 8:AM. I think the best way for you to come out here is by train. The RockIsland will be the best to come on but I will write you more because there is a few more thin I want to find out about the schedule so will write more about this in the next letter.
I didn't half to stand the parade after all because my name was on the list but some of the fellows didn't show up so the 1st Sgt. came through the barracks looking for more men so I seem him before he got to ours so I went out the back door in a run.
I sure have felt a lot better after this last trip than I did when I came back the first time. My stomach has been in a lot better shape & I have been able to eat good. The food in the mess hall has been pretty good to.
Another B-29 crashed last Sat. & killed 13 men one officer is still alive but in a serious condition. The plane crashed just 2 or 3 miles from the field.
This about all the news for now so will close.
All My Love
Dale
is it any wonder I never get anything done? but this is just too damn cute!!!!
Oh, No! Not A Goat!
(pictures: Dale Brown and his Goat, Norma Fay Brown with Uncle Dale's Goat)>When we were growing up, generally one gift at Christmas for each one was the common practice. Our older brother Harry did have a tricycle, but we three younger ones did not have one. Neither did we have bicycles. We did have a sled.
Most children created their own entertainment by playing games, the boys rolled hoops with a paddle, rode stick horses, and played marble games. The girls played hosue with their dolls, dressed up in adult clothing, high heels included, and put on programs. No one had time to be bored.
Dad had a swing made for us using wire cable and a board for the seat. It was fastened to a huge limb of an elm tree in our back yard. If someone pushed you, you could really go high. Many friends and neighbor children enjoyed our swing along with us.
When Dale Brown was 8 or 9 he asked our mother if he could buy a goat. Milton Etter offered to sell the goat, harness and cart for 50 cents. I listened to the conversation and he was told what a nuisance it would be, probably climb up on the chicken house and just be a miserable pest. After a lot of begging, Mother finally said, "All right." I thought that goat would probably bother the clothes on the line at wash day. Since I did a lot of the washing on the wash board, I began to be alarmed.
Well, the goat turned out to be a nice pet. Dale hauled ice, chicken feed, and groceries for different ladies of the town. Needless to say, he always attracted an audience of children that joined to go along. The goat did real well pulling his load, but when he got tired, he just laid down no matter where, and would not budge for a while. One day I remember, I looked out down the street a little ways when we lived on Hannah Street, there the goat took a notion to rest in the middle of the street. The boys that were following along visited and after a while Dale encouraged Old Billy to get on with their delivery. He and the boys around town had much enjoyment playing with the goat.
After a period of time, Dale sold the goat to Jack Herrin for his nephews Don and Ralf Graham. The last he remembers the goat was in the possession of Samp Hughs' sons.
by Mable Clark
from her boyfriend and brother....
thank goodness for my bifocals and magnifying glass!
Princeton Post Telegraph
December 13 2012
Obituaries
ELAINE GRAHAM
Cainsville, Mo.
Elaine Graham, 95, died Monday, Dec. 3, 2012, at Harrison County Community Hospital in Bethany, Mo.
Funeral services were held Friday, Dec. 7 at First Baptist Church in Cainsville, Mo., under the direction of Bethany Memorial Chapel of Bethany. Burial was in Zoar Cemetery near Cainsville.
Mrs. Graham, daughter of Harley and Cora (Stanley) Maple, was born near Brimson in Harrison County, Mo., on Oct. 15, 1917. She grew up in the Akron community and graduated from Cainsville High School. She married Jack Graham on June 19, 1937. They actively participated in their church and community, and were engaged in farming until Mr. Graham's death on Jan. 27, 1990. They enjoyed winters in Texas for 15 years, but her family was her greatest joy.
She accepted Christ at an early age and placed her membership in Cainsville First Baptist Church, and remained a faithful member until her death.
Survivors include her children, Phillip Graham (and wife, Daniela) and JoAnn Johnson (and husband, Philip); six grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and two great-great granchildren; a brother-in-law, Kenneth Bondurant; and cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.
In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents; a brother, Stanley Maple; three sisters, Ilene Thomas, Kathleen Clegg, and Janna Bondurant, and a granddaughter, Sara Johnson.
Memorial gifts to Cainsville First Baptist Church or Zoar Cemetery may be left in care of the funeral home.
