A Mother’s Day letter written 104 years ago by an American soldier stationed in France during World War I has finally reached his family.
Chester Carl Lowe wrote the note to his mother in Seattle from the city of Nantes, where he was based, on May 9, 1919. But it never reached her.
Compared with its European allies, the United States suffered many fewer casualties in the war, having entered it late, in 1917. During the conflict, 53,000 U.S. soldiers were killed in action, and 63,000 non-combat-related deaths, in large part due to the 1918 influenza pandemic, were also recorded.
Lowe’s letter was discovered on eBay by a researcher from the genealogy website MyHeritage. The researcher, along with colleagues, set about trying to piece together what happened to Lowe and whether he had any family members who might want the Mother’s Day greeting.
It’s not clear whether Lowe took part in any major battles during the war. Researchers were able to deduce that he was part of the 4th Infantry Division, which was engaged in a number of major battles, such as the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive (Phase II).
MyHeritage
Using military records, the researchers were able to find Lowe’s draft record. They had a name and would soon have the beginnings of a family tree. Through their investigations, they were able to ascertain that Lowe returned home to the U.S. in 1920 and picked up work as a mining engineer.
However, his life was cut short in 1928 when he died of tuberculosis, leaving behind his wife and 6-year-old daughter, Constance. She would live until 2017, contributing to the family that exists today.
Constance’s daughter Jan, Lowe’s granddaughter, lives in Oregon and was finally handed the letter meant for Lowe’s mother.
It reads:
My dear mother,
Tomorrow is Mother’s Day but I know I won’t have an opportunity to write then so will write today. I got an over Sunday pass and am leaving this afternoon for Le Mans to spend Sunday with Clayton. His regiment is released for embarkation the 15th and this will probably be the last opportunity I will have to see him until both of us are home.
On the 3rd of June, I will have been in the army for two years. But sometime this summer I will be out of it, and if in my small way, I have been of any use, along with millions of others, during the past dark years, the time has not been thrown away. Would gladly go again if such a thing is ever necessary. Have had an opportunity to compare our own country with several of the others, and ours is far superior in every way. It is the sacred duty of every American, I believe, to keep it that way.
How I would like to step in and surprise you tomorrow! Which would be happier, you or I? I’m sure I would. Not an hour of the day goes by but what I think of you, and thoughts of you and the much good advice you have always given me has always been a bright star for me to follow. And I shall always have those little visions and nothing in the world can dim the bright guiding light that it is to me.
This is not the type of letter that I would ordinarily write but in each one the same thoughts are ever between the lines. However, in a Mother’s Day letter I think such thoughts should be expressed in words, and words that are heart to heart.
Am mailing the corset cover to you today, which I hope reaches you ok. In the box too, are a pair of gloves for Lotie, and all my love goes with both. (Hope they are the proper size for her.) The most love ever, and God bless the dearest little mother in the world.
Carl
A special video filmed by MyHeritage and shared with Newsweek captured Jan’s reaction to reading the 104-year-old letter for the first time.
“This is just a treasure for me,” she said afterward. “To be able to see the handwriting and read the words that my grandfather, who I never knew, wrote to his mother on Mother’s Day. I can never fully thank MyHeritage for making this possible.”
MyHeritage
Roi Mandel, director of research at MyHeritage, told Newsweek the letter’s delivery was particularly satisfying “because it is a piece of history that has now been put back in its place.”
“The moment we found this very personal letter of a soldier writing to his mother on Mother’s Day from the battlefield—hoping to return home soon—we felt that we had to do everything to return it to his descendants,” Mandel said.
He continued: “It is the kind of treasure that may not have material value, but it has sentimental and mostly historical value. As a family history company, this fills us with a sense of mission. This letter, which has now been returned to the soldier’s granddaughter, will be passed on to future generations.”