A Very Special Letter
EMMA JOAN ALLEN, the recipient of this letter, was a daughter of CHESTEIN ALLEN (son of FELIX ALLEN) and his second wife, MARGARET SALENA SMITH. Emma lived to be ninety-one years old. One of her daughters, MILDRED KUYKENDALL (MRS FRANKIE L. JONES), was the holder of this letter in 1966.
This letter was written by FELIX MAGEE in 1890 and has a history:
LOVELL SIMMONS handcopied the letter from the original shown in 1966 which WILLIAM N. SIMMONS transcribed in 1993. Unbeknown to them, the original had been photocopied, transcribed, and typed in 1948 by a descendant, Alma.
We believe Alma was a daughter of NEWTON J. ALLEN, a brother of EMMA JOAN ALLEN. Recently WILLIAM SIMMONS received a photocopy of the original letter from MRS BOBBYE FARRIS, another descendant, as well as photocopies of Alma's transcription and the letter she wrote to Aunt Emma in 1948 in regards to her completion of it.
The Allen Family wishes to thank a very thoughtful descendant, Donald O. Simmons, of McComb, Ms who shared this copy of the original by Felix McGee. We would never have had such a full picture of the children of Gabriel without those letters.
To Emma Joan: