Between Mary P. and William W. Watts, 1878-1904

These were written while William was in Texas handling business affairs. The letters all contain business notes such as what price cotton sold for. Of particular note are: September 13, 1878 letter in which Watts writes about Jo Walker's black cook and other workers leaving because he beat them so badly. Walker could no longer find workers who would stay. September 25, 1878 letter details the amount of labor used to pick cotton and the average number of bales picked each day. Finally, an October 3, 1878 letter mentions Mr. Armstrong getting drunk. December 3, 1879, Watts writes that northern Texas was experiencing population loss. Cattle hands were abandoning it for Kansas. December 22, 1879, Tom Armstrong talked about making Watts Annie Armstrong's legal guardian. Tom was prone to drinking and was afraid he would squander her inheritance. December 23, 1879, Watts writes a brief note about the murder of Bob Little by "Arnold." He also gained guardianship for Annie and was given $500 for her and the right to rent out the land she owned. December 29, 1879, Watts mentions that the trial of Arnold should have started. He calls Arnold a "demon" and hopes people will rise up and hang him. Also includes letters from a trip Mary and Emma took to Europe. They contain small notes about what had been happening in Richmond, Kentucky while they were gone. Of particular note is a February 2, 1908 letter in which William expresses concern about the kind of people Emma and Mary are associating with while doing charity work. He also mentions the elopement of Mr. Kennedy (Jo's son) to the butcher's daughter.