Letters from Annie Fellows Johnston
“My Dear Emmet” A letter from Annie Fellows Johnston to 14-year-old Emmet O’Neal, whose parents, Lydia and J.T. O’Neal owned a summer home, Olde Pine Tower in Pewee Valley and were personally acquainted with the author. The letter was written December 27, 1901 in Walton, New York. Emmet O’Neal was a childhood friend of the real Little Colonel, Hattie Cochran; roomed at Centre College with Albert Conrad Dick; and was the best man at their 1912 wedding. He grew up to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1934-1946 and as the U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines from June 20, 1947, to January 20, 1949. Letter from the private collection of his daughter, Mary O’Neal.
“Struggling with ‘The Little Colonel’s Hero’” A letter from Annie Fellows Johnston to Mrs. Lawton (“Mrs. Walton” in the Little Colonel stories) sent in the spring of 1902. It’s interesting that this was sent from Walton, New York. More interesting is once again the evidence of the tremendous amount of influence that Mrs. Lawton had on the development of the Little Colonel series. This letter answers many of the heretofore unanswered questions about “The Little Colonel’s Hero,” and raises some more.
“A Letter from Lee’s Ranch” from Annie Fellows Johnston to “Mrs. Walton,” Phoenix Arizona, Easter 1902 or 1903.
“Cousin Annie” A letter from Annie Fellows Johnston to Mrs. Henry Lawton (“Mrs. Walton”) from Boerne Texas, April 19, 1908. On the writing of Mary Ware, life in Texas, and maybe a hint to the location Annie Fellows Johnston had in mind of the ‘fictional’ boarding school, Warwick Hall?
“My dear Lilly” A letter from Annie Fellows Johnston to a close friend, Lilly (??We think Lillian Barbour of Evansville, IN), sent from Boerne Texas, in September 1908. This letter is packed with previously unpublished background information on Annie Fellows Johnston’s personal life at the time, as well as quite a bit of insight on The Giant Scissors and Mary Ware, the Little Colonel’s Chum.
“My dear Miss Dickinson” A letter from Annie Fellows Johnston to a Miss Dickinson, sent from Boerne Texas, January 11, 1910 along with a copy of “The Jester’s Sword” Discusses translations of works into Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Braille, and points up some of the dissatisfaction she was known to have had with her publishers.
“The form letter” young readers would often receive from Annie Fellows Johnston.
Letters from Mrs. Lawton (“Mrs. Walton”) to Annie Fellows Johnston
“The Book Party” March 7, 190? (probably 1905 or 1906)
“The Hand that Touched Prince Henry’s” January 3, 1906
“Reunion with the 4th Regiment”: A letter from Mary Lawton (“Mrs. Walton”) to Annie Fellows Johnston, February 21, 1906.
“Two and a Half Daughters” a letter from Mrs. Walton, January 3, 1910. The Valley has changed, the Little Colonel has moved away.